The Conversation

Fighting fires and stereotypes at the same time - Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two senior fire women in India and the UK. Dany Cotton joined the London Fire Brigade at 18, just a few years after it opened up to women. She has worked her way up to be the force's first ever female Commissioner, and is now spearheading a campaign for the general public to stop using the term 'fireman' because it's sexist...

At the 2018 Women of the World Festival in London, Kim Chakanetsa brings together two extraordinary women who have been instrumental in the fight against racism and police brutality. In 2013, three women came together to form an active response to systemic racism in the US. They'd just learned that the man who shot dead an unarmed black teenager called Trayvon Martin had been acquitted for the kil...

Marching with fellow women for a cause - Krupa Padhy meets two women who have tackled violence against women head-on, by organising eye-catching and sometimes controversial street protests. Finn Mackay is one of the UK's most influential feminist activists. She founded the London Feminist Network in 2004, the same year that she revived the Reclaim the Night marches, after seeing shocking statistic...

Is there a secret formula for finding love and marriage? Two modern-day matchmakers working within the Jewish community and the Hindu community share their unique insights into dating and relationships. Aleeza Ben Shalom is a Jewish-American matchmaker based in Philadelphia, USA, who describes herself as a love coach for marriage-minded singles. Her approach is not necessarily to find someone a ma...

Two women who shape the look of a film, from sets to props to locations - and have huge influence on our screens. But despite their success, this is still a field dominated by men. Hannah Beachler has translated the African fantasy world of Wakanda onto the big screen in the much-anticipated new superhero movie, Black Panther. She is also the creative force behind the look of the Oscar-winning fil...

Two swimming stars look back on their extraordinary careers and talk frankly about sexism in the sport, how they overcame major challenges to keep competing and how they dealt with their period ahead of a race. Natalie Coughlin is among the greatest female swimmers in history, with 12 Olympic medals to her name. However when she was a teenager, and already a rising star in the pool, she suffered a...

Can women stop their intimate photos being published online without their consent? Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women fighting back against so-called 'revenge' porn Nyika Allen is President and CEO of the New Mexico Technology Council. In 2015, Nyika's ex-boyfriend began posting compromising photographs of her on Twitter. As they were viewed by complete strangers she was overwhelmed by shock...

Cutting off men's ties, throwing sequined stilettos and storming City Hall - carnival may at first appear to be a frivolous occasion, but Joanna Impey speaks to two women who say that feminist and even revolutionary ideas are at the root of carnival traditions, and are still highly relevant today. Staci Rosenberg is the founder of one of the few all-female Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. When s...

Are women treated unfairly on social media, and is the situation worse for women of colour? Krupa Padhy meets two social activists who unexpectedly found themselves at the centre of a digital storm, and asks what happened next. Munroe Bergdorf is a British model, DJ and social activist who came to public attention in 2017 when she was employed as the first transgender model in a L'Oreal cosmetics...

Two women who are spellbound by the power of storms talk to Kim Chakanetsa about why they are drawn to danger, what it feels like to be trapped inside a Category Four hurricane and the thrill of the chase. Karen Kosiba is a scientist based at the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder, Colorado. She chases extreme weather events to study the wind structure inside tornadoes and to measure th...

Do women wield any real power in the boardroom? Kim Chakanetsa gets together top female executives from India and Ireland to discuss. Named one of India's most powerful women by Fortune India, Roopa Kudva has extensive experience of sitting on the board, both as a CEO and as an independent director. She currently leads the philanthropic investment firm, Omidyar Network, in India and also sits on t...

Two award-winning photographers on the importance of having women behind the lens. They tell Kim Chakanetsa what drives them, the challenges they face in the field and how they justify the amount of travel they do in the name of reversing climate change. Cristina Mittermeier is a Mexican photographer who grew up alongside indigenous Mexican tribes, and witnessed their struggle to maintain their wa...

Braving rough seas to make a living - it's not easy being a fisherwoman, but for our two guests it's about much more than the catch. They talk to Kim Chakanetsa about working in the open air, forming unique bonds with their crew and about their hopes for a sustainable future of fishing. Claire Neaton is one half of Salmon Sisters, a commercial fishing and nautical clothing company, based in Alaska...

A surrogate mother and a mother who used a surrogate - Kim Chakanetsa explores the ethics and emotions of carrying a child for someone else, with two women from the United States and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Krystal Wallace is from Texas and already had two children of her own when she saw a TV programme about surrogacy and thought it could be for her. After a rocky start, she has now bee...

Finding out your father is a serial killer, and living with the consequences. Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women from the US and Australia who share this unusual experience, and asks why they both decided to speak publicly about it. Jenn Carson is a teacher in California and the daughter of Michael 'Bear' Carson, who committed three murders in the US between 1981 and 1983, alongside his seco...

Two librarians running vastly different libraries in South Africa and the United States share their passion for books and their secrets for inspiring children to read. Carla Hayden runs the biggest library in the world, the Library of Congress. As the first woman and first African American to take on the role she made history when she was nominated by former President Barack Obama. Carla now overs...

What exactly is the role of the first lady? It's an unofficial position, that comes with enormous expectations, and some obvious pitfalls. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to the First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos, and the former First Lady of Iceland, Jonina Leosdottir. Monica Geingos is a lawyer and businesswoman who married Hage Geingob in 2015, shortly before he became President of Namibia. Monica has...

What happens when women try to hammer out a peace deal? How does it differ from the way men do it? According to the United Nations, fewer than 3% of signatories to peace agreements are women. We meet two women who hope to change that. They made history in Northern Ireland and in Colombia by bringing the gender issue to the forefront of the peace process. Monica McWilliams is a Northern Irish peace...

Opening a bank account and praying in peace - just two things blind women cannot take for granted in Ethiopia and India. Kim Chakanetsa has a revealing conversation with two women who are taking on these challenges and more. Yetnebersh Nigussie recently won the Right Livelihood Prize - widely referred to as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' - for her work promoting disabled people's rights in her coun...

A Syrian architect who watched her city destroyed around her talks to an Irish architect who helped create community spaces in a migrant camp. They emphasize the importance of authenticity, simplicity and boundaries when it comes to designing buildings and public spaces. Marwa al-Sabouni runs an architectural practice together with her husband in the Syrian city of Homs. She has watched her city b...

The joy of coming together through song - Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who have created choirs that go beyond simply making music. Mika Danny started the Rana Choir in 2008, with a clear mission to unite Arab and Jewish women in song. Mika lives in Jaffa in Israel and says that while women from Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities find it almost impossible to discuss what they call 'the s...

Pushing the limits in the name of science: Two women who have lived and worked in some of the most extreme conditions on earth talk to Kim Chakanetsa about the challenges of cold and dry conditions, the bonds they form on base, and what draws them back to these remote places. Carolyn Graves is a Canadian meteorologist currently working for the British Antarctic Survey. In 2016 she travelled to the...

Top female casting directors in the UK and India chat to Kim Chakanetsa about fighting for the actors they want in a film, their proudest casting moments, and the painful job of telling someone they didn't get the part. Nina Gold is the woman behind the casting of the HBO series Game of Thrones and the new Star Wars films. She has also cast Oscar-winning movies such as The King's Speech and The Th...

Women who ink and get inked talk to Faranak Amidi about why they were drawn to the world of tattooing, how they developed their signature styles, and why getting a tattoo of your partner's name is a big no-no! Claudia de Sabe is an Italian tattoo artist, who works at Seven Doors Tattoo in London. She got into the culture as a teenager when she was listening to punk music and hardcore bands. Her fi...

Leftover food, animal dung and an invasive water weed - Faranak Amidi talks to two female entrepreneurs in Nigeria and the US who have found profitable uses for stuff that no-one else wants. Pashon Murray is the founder of Detroit Dirt, a company that collects food waste from businesses and animal dung from the zoo and mixes them together into rich compost, or 'black gold'. Inspired by her grandfa...