Woman's Hour

Forty years ago this week, 36 people from a campaign group called Women for Life on Earth marched from Cardiff to the Greenham Common RAF base in Newbury in Berkshire to protest against the British government allowing US nuclear missiles on British soil. They stayed there for almost 20 years. Last week another group set-out from Cardiff to follow the route of the original protesters. We speak to R...

It is not an exaggeration to call Claudia Roden a culinary pioneer. For over 50 years she has been collecting recipes from home cooks throughout the MIddle East and Mediterranean. She shares with Emma details of her new “Med” based on remembered dishes that she’s encountered over decades. Care home managers in England say they're terrified of future staff shortages because of the 'no jab, no job'...

We get the latest on Afghanistan with BBC journalist Sana Safi and talk to Seema Malhotra MP whose constituency in West London has a large Afghan community. She explains the help that's being provided to refugees. We go live to BBC Sports Correspondent Katie Smith in Tokyo who talks about female success at the Paralympics in Tokyo. We hear a live performance from the Zizi Strallen who plays Mary P...

Alice Bromage served in Afghanistan as a Major and left in 2016. She tells us what's she is hearing from the troops serving on the ground in Afghanistan. A recent survey revealed that tradespeople are £35,000 better off than university graduates. But only 14.5% of the construction workforce as a whole is female, and that drops to just 2% when it comes to skilled manual trades, according to CITB fi...

Two explosions hit Kabul airport yesterday, killing some 90 people and at least 150 people were also wounded in the attack. The UK government has just announced the final stages of the evacuation... which means the processing centre at the airport has been closed and no further people will be called forward. So what is the situation on the ground for the women and children in Afghanistan? Anita sp...

Parental Alienation is the unjustified rejection of a parent by a child, encouraged by the other parent. We hear from one woman who hasn't seen or spoken to her daughter in six years. Dr Amy Baker, Parental Alienation expert, and Louise Barretto, a divorce and family solicitor, join Emma to discuss the impact on children, and the belief that a child's voice should always be listened to in a court...

Circo Rum Ba Ba describe themselves as an exuberant troupe of all women performers who bring extraordinary spectacle and performance into unconventional settings where it is least expected. Founder and artistic director, and Woman’s Hour listener, Marianne Grove, a trained actor explains why she went from performing in theatres into the street bringing the magic of the circus and theatre to a wide...

What should we do with all our attic memorabilia? Vicki from South Wales talks about the joy of clearing our her attic with her daughters and Maryam from Rotherham talks about her mother's suitcase brought over from Pakistan in the 1950s. The desperation of many thousands of people trying to get out of Afghanistan in the last couple of weeks has been on our screens and the front page of our newspa...

A recent survey revealed that tradespeople are £35,000 better off than university graduates. But only 14.5% of the construction workforce as a whole is female, and that drops to just 2% when it comes to skilled manual trades, according to CITB figures. Barbara Marshfield has been a painter and decorator for 25 years, and got in touch. She joins Emma to discuss, along with Steph Leese who has her o...

The actor Lesley Manville on her mission to change the way the world sees older women - not least in her latest TV performance in Channel 4's I am series. Lesley plays Maria, who at 60 and after 30-odd years of marriage, is finding it suffocating and decides she wants more from life. The BBC journalist Zarghuna Kargar who used to present Afghan Woman's Hour found herself translating a Taliban pres...

How common is it to experience ‘hate’ towards someone you once loved? We tend to think of 'hate' as one of the strongest emotions we can have, so what happens if you find yourself 'hating' your former partner, particularly if you have children with them. We discuss why some people experience this during or after the breakdown of their relationship, and how to move on from it. In the early 1990s Ru...

We continue reporting on what's happening to women and children in Afghanistan. We hear from our BBC corespondent in Kabul, Secunder Kermani. Also Larissa Brown who's Defence Editor at The Times tells us about women soldiers in Afghanistan, and we speak to Zarghuna Kargar who used to present Afghan Woman's Hour and this week found herself translating a Taliban press conference. It was her voice te...

The UK government has announced plans to resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees over the coming years, with 5,000 coming to the UK in the first year. This will be in addition to those such as interpreters and teachers who helped UK forces on the ground, and are already being offered homes here. Emma speaks to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, on how the announcement will aim to prioritise vulnerable women...

Hot flushes are probably the first thing you associate with going through the menopause. But Radio 2's Liza Tarbuck had an interesting angle on it she wanted us to investigate - gums! Decreases in oestrogen can have a significant effect on your dental health including bleeding gums, burning, a dry mouth and even tooth loss. But the link to menopause and perimenopause is often missed. Dr Uchenna Ok...

Many bigger-busted women find it difficult to find clothing tailored to their chest size. The last time a national size survey was conducted in the UK was back in 2001, so why don’t clothing manufacturers take our bra sizes into account? Edaein O’Connell is a 32H, and has written about her struggle to find well fitting clothes. Dr Kathryn Brownbridge is a Senior Lecturer in Fashion and Design at M...

Dating apps have seen a growing trend towards individuals disclosing that they have a mental health disorder in their online profiles. Jo Hemmings a behavioural psychologist and Beth McColl a lifestyle journalist, tell us how and when to tell someone you are dating that you live with a mental health condition? We look at the issue of maternal discrimination with Dr Katie Lidster a scientist who ha...

Joy Crookes was nominated for Rising star at the BRIT awards 2020. Born and raised in Elephant and Castle, London, the daughter of a Bengali mother and an Irish father, she grew up listening to an eclectic mix of genres – everything from Nick Cave, to King Tubby, Kendrick Lamar and Gregory Isaac. She came to the public’s attention at the age of 15 when she uploaded a cover of "Hit the Road Jack" o...

Some mums may take a while to bond with their baby after they're born. This can be for a variety of reasons and is in fact very common among new mothers. Journalist and writer Natasha Lunn decided to write about her experience of not falling in love with her daughter immediately. She joins Andrea along with Dr Karen Bateson, Head of Clinical Strategy and Development from the Parent Infant Foundati...

Earlier this year, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female black Asian American Vice President in history. 6 months on, some polling has been interpreted as saying she's the most unpopular Vice President in history. To discuss the recent polling and her work to date we are joined by Sharon D Austin, a professor of Political Science at the University of Florida and Melissa Milewski, a Lectur...

Today will mark the first time that there will be a single results day for the whole of the UK with AS and A level, vocational qualifications, Welsh Baccalaureate, and Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers grades all at the same time. Although education is a devolved matter for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, all four nations adopted a system of awarding grades this summer based on...

It's a year today since the disputed elections in Belarus. They sparked unrest because the election was widely believed to have been rigged in favour of Alexander Lukashenko, who's held power since 1994. Three women joined forces to challenge Alexander Lukashenko. One of the woman - Maria Kolesnikova - is now in prison and facing trial. Maria’s sister, Tatyana, speaks to Emma on the anniversary of...

Will the young women smashing it at the Olympics in the new urban sports of BMX freestyling, Skateboarding and Sport Climbing inspire a new generation of girls to follow in their footsteps? Skateboarder Hannah Shrewsbury and BMX freestyler Kayley Ashworth discuss. Women trash-talking men has gone too far: that's what the journalist James Innes Smith believes. He shares his viewpoint with Fiona Stu...

Anita Rani talks to Emma-Jean Thackray about her debut album Yellow, which has debuted at number one on the Jazz & Blues Chart. Will the young women smashing it at the Olympics in the new urban sports of BMX freestyling, Skateboarding and Sport Climbing inspire a new generation of girls to follow in their footsteps? We talk to skateboarder Hannah Shrewsbury and BMX freestyler Kayley Ashworth....

Bette Davis was one of the biggest names in Hollywood, nominated for ten Oscars and her extraordinary career spanned almost sixty years. An outspoken and dedicated actress, she created some of the most compelling characters in cinema history. As the BFI launches a whole season dedicated to her this month, we hear about her life and legacy. The new NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard has urged peopl...

The shift to mask wearing and homeworking saw many of us ditch our make-up during the pandemic. Perhaps not the best time to launch a new beauty business – but that’s what Bobbi Brown has done. She talks to Emma Barnett about her new beauty range and her career in the industry. Phantom of the Opera was first performed 35 years ago in London’s West End. It’s the second longest-running musical here,...