Woman's Hour

Hundreds of children were caught up in riots with well over 100 arrested and a number charged last summer after the murder of three children in Southport. Since then far right extremism and racism in schools has intensified - an everyday experience in primary and secondary schools, according to the teachers union, the NASUWT. The top priority at their annual conference next week is a motion on beh...

Varada Sethu joined Woman's Hour to talk about stepping into the iconic role of the Doctor Who companion. She tells Datshiane Navanagayam how she went from a guest star to landing the role of Belinda Chandra, why this character feels like her most personal yet, and what it means to her to bring cultural authenticity to the Tardis. With a background in science, classical dance, and Star Wars fandom...

A new type of drug for one of the most common types of breast cancer is now going to be available in the NHS in England. In Wales, the drug is approved for use but its funding is still to be decided, and the drug hasn't been approved for use in Scotland and Northern Ireland yet. Some 3,000 women a year could benefit after a clinical trial showed it can slow the progression of the disease. Nuala Mc...

Varada Sethu joins Datshiane Navanagayam to talk about stepping into the iconic role of the Doctor Who companion. She shares how she went from a guest star to landing the role of Belinda Chandra, why this character feels like her most personal yet, and what it means to her to bring cultural authenticity to the Tardis. With a background in science, classical dance, and Star Wars fandom, Varada brin...

Grace Davidson was a teenager when she was diagnosed with a rare condition that meant she did not have a uterus. But, following a transplant using her sister's donated womb, she gave birth earlier this year to baby Amy. Nuala McGovern speaks to to Isabel Quiroga, the surgeon who led the transplant team at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, and to Lydia Brain, who is currently on the waiting list fo...

If you've been watching The White Lotus, you might be counting down the hours until the season three finale airs tonight. One of the themes central to this series has been female friendship, and it's left us wondering - is three a crowd? This dynamic plays out in the show between the trio of friends Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie, played by Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb and Carrie Coon, who alternate be...

One manifesto pledge of the incoming Labour government was to provide over 3000 new nurseries in empty school classrooms in England. The first 300 of these will open by September and offer an average of 20 places each. Nuala McGovern speaks to Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, about this announcement and also about the current state of provision and funding for children with sp...

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood believes “prison isn’t working” for women and wants to reduce the number of female prisoners. So what has gone wrong? Nuala McGovern speaks to Scarlett Roberts who is a former prisoner and is now a Churchill Fellow and to former prisoner Jules Rowan, now a personal trainer, who co-hosts the Life After Prison podcast. They are joined by former prisoner officer...

Chinese PHD student Zhenhao Zou was recently convicted for drugging and raping 10 different women in both London and China. Police only managed to identify two of those 10 women, but have just announced that a further 23 women have now come forward with allegations. No victims have given media interviews before but Wanqing Zhang, senior reporter from the BBC’s Global China Unit, has managed to mak...

One manifesto pledge of the incoming Labour government was to provide over 3000 new nurseries in empty school classrooms in England. The first 300 of these will open by September and offer an average of 20 places each. Nuala McGovern speaks to Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, about this announcement and also about the current state of provision and funding for children with sp...

Irish actor Caitríona Balfe was nominated for a Bafta for her performance in Kenneth Branagh’s film Belfast and is also known to many as Claire in time travel drama series Outlander. Caitríona joins Nuala McGovern in the studio to discuss her latest role in new film The Amateur, playing a Russian spy alongside Rami Malek. There has been a "significant increase" in the number of female swimmers hav...

Eid is a celebration of strength and gratitude where Muslims all around the world come together to mark the end of Ramadan. Nuala McGovern is joined by one of the first Muslim headteachers in the country, Bushra Nasir, author & podcaster Shelina Janmohamed and Executive Board Member at the Muslim Council of Wales Jamilla Hekmoun to discuss what roles they have on this day, from acting as the ‘...

In the documentary Growing up Gypsy, Stacey Dooley gets to know three young English Romany Gypsy women. Invited into the traditionally private community, Stacey discovers the complex balancing act the young women face growing up in one of Britain’s most maligned ethnic minorities. She meets 23 year old Chantelle who prides herself in keeping with the ‘old’ Gypsy values her granny Rita taught her a...

In the documentary Growing up Gypsy Stacey Dooley gets to know three young English Romany Gypsy women. Invited into the traditionally private community, Stacey discovers the complex balancing act the young women face growing up in one of Britain’s most maligned ethnic minorities. She meets 23 year old Chantelle who prides herself in keeping with the ‘old’ Gypsy values her granny Rita taught her an...

Technology journalist and author Lara Lewington asks how artificial intelligence can improve women’s health, and what we are ready for it to do for us? From prevention and diagnostics to testing and tracking, we speak to female experts, scientists and practitioners. Contributors: Madhumita Murgia, AI Editor of the Financial Times Nell Thornton, Improvement Fellow, The Health Foundation Dr Ellie Ca...

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to make further cuts to welfare benefits and government departments when she speaks in Parliament later. The government already announced big welfare spending reductions last week - but the Chancellor's been told by the Office For Budget Responsibility her reforms to the system won't save as much as planned. Now dozens of women’s organisations have written to Rachel...

Deaths by suicide among victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales have overtaken the number of people killed by an intimate partner, for a second year in a row. The figures are revealed in the annual national police report on domestic homicides published today, although police chiefs say the increase is due to improvements in recording, rather than a rise in the number of such cases. They've...

Last night saw the fifth night of fierce protests across Turkey, after the main rival politician to the country's President Erdogan, was formally arrested and charged with corruption, having been detained on Wednesday. Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, has been declared as the CHP - the Republican People's Party's 2028 presidential nominee - in the last few hours. Women are being seen on the...

The Sugababes started their music career together in 1998 but, after Siobhán left the band in 2001, it wasn't until 2019 that Mutya, Keisha and Siobhán came back together as the Sugababes. All three members joined Nuala McGovern to celebrate the release of their brand new single, Jungle, and their biggest ever UK and Ireland tour. Five years on from the first Covid lockdown, what can be done to su...

Long before they can speak, babies are brilliant communicators and all that those who care for them have to do is to listen to them, to be curious about them and to be ready to discover who they are, and everything else will fall into place. That's what child psychotherapist and mother of four Marie Derome has written about in her book for new parents - What Your Baby Wants You To Know. She joins...

Disabled women in the UK face significant barriers in maternity care, with new research highlighting higher risks of stillbirth, lack of support, and negative attitudes of staff. Labour MP Marie Tidball is camplaigning for change. She joins Kylie Pentelow to describe her own experience, along with Professor Hannah Kuper, one of the researchers behind the report, who details her findings.  The Adve...

Broadcaster June Sarpong co-founded the Women Inspiration and Enterprise Network, and in 2019 was appointed the first BBC Director of Creative Diversity. She joins Nuala McGovern to discuss championing inclusion, and why she has just published a biography of Una Marson, the poet, playwright, feminist and activist who made history as the first black female broadcaster at the BBC. Yesterday the gove...

The Sugababes started their music career together in 1998 but, after Siobhán left the band in 2001, it wasn't until 2019 that Mutya, Keisha and Siobhán came back together as the Sugababes. All three members join Nuala McGovern to celebrate the release of their brand new single, Jungle, just as they get ready for their biggest ever UK and Ireland tour – which kicks off in Leeds next month. To mark...

Five years on from the first Covid lockdown, what can be done to support the 200,000 ‘Lockdown babies’ born when lockdown was at its most restrictive, between 23 March and 4 July 2020? These babies have extraordinary young-life stories: Mums giving birth alone; doctors in hazmat suits; babies meeting fathers and grandparents for the first time online; no health visitors; no family cuddles; no baby...

Do you have a business idea that you would realise, if only you had the time? Sara Davies firmly believes we’re all capable of creating a successful business from scratch, in just six minutes a week. The Dragon’s Den star set up Crafter's Companion while she was still a student and has since built it into a multi-million pound business. Now she’s sharing what she’s learned in her new book – The Si...