Woman's Hour

With this year’s UN Climate Conference – COP27 – just under a month away, political leaders and activists are preparing to visit Egypt which will host the event this year. Climate activist Farwiza Farhan and Patience Nabukalu join Jessica to talk about the power that women hold when it comes to climate conservation. Amy Loughren is the woman who helped to secure the conviction of notorious serial...

Merope Mills’ 13-year-old daughter Martha died in hospital in August 2021. An inquest concluded that her death had been preventable, and the hospital has apologised. Merope, who is Editor of the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, says her daughter would be alive today if doctors had not kept information from them about her condition, because as her parents they would have demanded a second opinion. The...

Anita Rani talks to Sheila Atim the award-winning British-Ugandan actor about her new film ‘The Woman King’. She plays the warrior Amenza, part of the Agojie, an all-female army who battle fearlessly against marauding European slavers to protect their empire in 19th century Dahomay, in West Africa. Her role is Lieutenant to Nanisca (AKA Viola Davis), the formidable head of that female military reg...

Merope Mills’ 13-year-old daughter Martha died in hospital in August 2021. She had sustained a rare pancreatic trauma after falling off a bike on a family holiday, and spent weeks in a specialist unit where she developed sepsis. An inquest concluded that her death had been preventable, and the hospital has apologised. Merope, who is Editor of the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, says her daughter wou...

Nicola Rollock, Professor of Social Policy and Race at King's College London and an expert on racial justice, has a book out, The Racial Code: Tales of Resistance and Survival. in which she explores the hidden rules of race and racism, how they maintain the status quo, the pain and cost of navigating everyday racism and how to truly achieve racial justice. The Crown Prosecution Service has apologi...

Alex Scott is one of the most high profile names in women’s sport. The former Lioness started playing football for Arsenal when she was just eight years old, later, as a semi-professional player for the club she washed the men's team kit to earn extra money on the side. Alex went on to play for England 140 times and now presents on the BBC and Sky Sports. She has recently released her memoir entit...

What is a gentle parent? Does it really mean never saying ‘no’ to your child? And how did #gentleparenting attract more than 2.6 billion views on TikTok? Emma Barnett talks to TikTok content creator Kelly Medina Enos and psychologist Dr Penelope Leach about the rising popularity of this parenting approach. Only yesterday the Prime Minister Liz Truss said her government would be sticking to the mea...

Record numbers of nurses are quitting the NHS in England, according to new data analysis by the Nuffield Trust for the BBC. More than 40,000 have left the health service in the past year. Another report published this week from NHS Providers said the squeeze on pay amid rising inflation is forcing nurses and other staff to stop contributions to their pension, skip meals and take on second jobs. An...

A woman posted a thread on Mumsnet about wanting to take time off work while going through a break up with father or her child, the responses she got were mixed. We want to know whether you would ever consider this but also would you be open about taking time off to help deal with a break up? We speak to relationship expert Mel Schilling and blogger Meera Narandan. We talk to Chi-chi Nwanoku from...

'Ladies shall we have some fun?' Some of you may recognise this catchphrase and be thinking of the sex and relationship expert Oloni, who built an online community by speaking openly about sex and relationships. Her new book – The Big O – is out and goes into detail about how we can close what she calls ‘the orgasm gap’. Oloni joins Emma. The Bank of England’s intervention yesterday to calm financ...

Sir Keir Starmer delivered his speech to the Labour Party conference yesterday. It comes as YouGov polling shows women would be more likely than men to vote Labour if an election were held now. What's behind this? Former Tony Blair aide for over 10 years Baroness Sally Morgan joins Emma Barnett alongside Anoosh Chakelin Britain Editor at the New Statesman. Actor Gwyneth Paltrow decided to pose nak...

In her new novel "Best Of Friends" the award winning writer Kamila Shamasie explores the personal and political in Karachi in 1988 and London now. Fourteen year old Maryam and Zahra have been friends for 40 years but can they ever really know each other? Tonight's File on 4 will highlight the shortcomings of the Police and the National Referral Mechanism – the government pathway set up to provide...

Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

The number of women gambling is expected to rise as the cost of living crisis continues. Hear Jo’s story of what happened when she became addicted to gambling, and advice on the warning signs and how to get help from the chief executive of GambleAware Zoe Osmond. When Max Dickins needed to find himself a best man, he realised that he had no male friends. When he discovered that this is something l...

Sheep farmer Marie Prebble speaks to Woman’s Hour about how she sheared 370 sheep in eight hours to set a new world record in female sheep shearing. She’ll be giving us an insight into what it takes to prepare for such an event and telling us a bit more about being one of the few female sheep farmers in the UK. More than 100,000 people in part-time work could face a benefit cut if they fail to pro...

What role does music play in providing hope and solidarity when facing the horrors of war? The concert pianist Anna Fedorova is a member of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra which performed in concerts around the world over the summer. Ahead of a documentary on BBC 2 this Saturday called Ukraine's Musical Freedom Fighters, she joins Emma to talk about the experience, how she is continuing to support...

We're all aware of red flags, the indicators that a potential partner may exhibit a lack of respect, or interest in your relationship. But a new flag has emerged on dating apps - the beige flag. These are indicators on dating app profiles which suggest a person has nothing of interest to say, and may well be boring. Emma Barnett is joined by Caitlin MacPhail, who coined the phrase, and comedian He...

183 key workers and community volunteers were amongst royals, politicians and world leaders in Westminster Abbey for the Queen’s state funeral on Monday. One woman who was asked to be an eyewitness to this historic day was Lynn McManus, from North Shields, in Tyne and Wear. She's the founder of The Tim Lamb's Children's Centre and Pathways4All, a parent-led charity providing play and leisure for d...

Julia Gillard, former Australian Prime Minister – and the only woman to have held that role – reflects on the death of Queen Elizabeth II and her status as a global female leader. What will it mean for Australia where King Charles automatically became Head of State last week? Ophelia Lovibond, best known for playing Izzy Gould in the BBC mockumentary series W1A, discusses her new TV series Minx an...

More than 33 million people have been affected by the flooding in Pakistan. How has the flooding impacted the thousannds of pregnant women. who require maternal health services to ensure a safe pregnancy and childbirth? We hear from midwife Neha Mankani and founder of the Mama Baby Fund. In a bid to close stubborn gender pay gaps, several states in the USA have passed laws requiring salary ranges...

Dame Sheila Hancock tells us about her memories of the Queen. Just short of 90, she has lived her life in parallel. Earlier this year she said: "throughout my life, I have been grateful for the Queen's reassuring presence." Julia Gillard, former Australian Prime Minister – and the only woman to have held that role – speaks to Emma about the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and her status as a global f...

A heartfelt statement was released from from the Princess Royal, who accompanied her mother’s coffin on its long journey from Balmoral to Buckingham Palace. The Royal Editor of the Times Newspaper Roya Nikkhah joined Krupa to discuss the role Princess Anne has played in the Queen's life. Queen Elizabeth II was the head of state in 15 of the 56 Commonwealth countries. Professor Chandrika Kaul joins...

King Charles the Third is our new monarch. At his accession to the throne, his wife Camilla became Queen Consort, and his daughter-in-law Kate is now the Duchess of Cambridge and Cornwall. Royal Editor at the Daily Mail Rebecca English and historian and author Dr Estelle Paranque join Emma Barnett to talk about what this means for the female royals. Emma also speaks to Diana Parkes about her exper...

Woman's Hour special following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We'll be talking to Historians Tracy Borman and Kate Williams. Editor of Hello Magazine Rosie Nixon. Helen Lewis from the Atlantic. And artist Tracey Emin.

It's understood that there will not be a specific women's minister in Prime Minister Liz Truss' government. Amber Rudd, former women's minister who held the post whilst Home Secretary - tells Emma why she believes the move is 'regressive' and 'baffling'.