Woman's Hour

Glenda Jackson tells us about her latest work playing the poet, writer and critic Edith Sitwell and what books she would recommend during a period of isolation. The Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd discusses why women need to be more involved in Covid 19 decision making with Caroline Criado Perez author of Invisible Women and Simone Schnall from Jesus College Cambridge. The curator, writer and lec...

Tantrums are an inevitable part of living with a toddler. But with the prospect of weeks or even months of families cooped up together ahead of us, how can parents keep meltdowns (by toddlers and themselves!) to a minimum? Emily Jones is a professor of infant neurodevelopment and autism at the Birkbeck Babylab and she tells Jane what’s happening when a child has a tantrum, when and how to interven...

The Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson has confirmed that all schools will close in England and Wales and there’ll be no GCSE or A Level exams this summer. How are schools and pupils proposing to cope? Ruby is a 17-year old pupil in Somerset, due to take her A levels shortly. Charlie is 25 and is doing an access course to be a paramedic. It involves cramming 2 years of A-levels into...

In the latest in our series of Family Secrets a listener called Helen got in touch to tell us about the discovery she made after the death of her mother and the suicide pact she kept quiet about for nearly forty years. Last week’s budget saw a series of big public spending and investment projects announced. These focused on physical infrastructure. But what of social infrastructure – the investmen...

We consider the latest advice for pregnant women when it comes to coronavirus. Jane speaks to Jess Brammer, editor in chief HuffPost UK, who is currently on maternity leave and Dr Mary Ross-Davie - Director for Scotland, Royal College of Midwives. And in other coronavirus news: many offices, shops, bars, restaurants, schools, are likely to close. Many workers and businesses will see their income c...

Jane Garvey takes your calls on Covid-19. Joined by Psychologist Laverne Antrobus and Sarah Stewart Brown Professor of Public Health at Warwick University . What measures are you putting in place? How will you manage with young as well as older children, do you face particular problems with those that have special needs. What about work ? If you are someone who can work at home do you have the tec...

We hear from the singer turned interviewer Jessie Ware and her mum Lennie about their hit podcast Table Manners, where they cook dinner for a different celebrity every week. They’ve turned their favourite recipes into a cook book. Black Women and sexual violence. What are the cultural barriers making it difficult for black women to discuss and disclose sexual violence? And what is cultural betraya...

Over the past few years we have seen a number of high profile men being publically accused of sexual abuse and assault. It’s become a pinnacle aspect of the #MeToo movement. So why is the act of speaking out still met with so much resentment? Why is it so difficult to criticise male celebrities who have large followings? And how much more complex does this issue become when it intersects with race...

Jessie and Lennie Ware on their relationship since making their Table Manners podcast

BBC Young Reporter Competition is in its second year. More than 2000 young people suggested an original story idea that they wanted the BBC to report on and it was Kay from Bristol who won gold this year. She's 19 now but when she was 12 she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. She's now volunteering at a hospital and it's been life-changing. Our reporter Ena Miller met Kay and her mum, Eile...

We’re celebrating women in music with this special collaboration between Woman’s Hour and BBC 6 Music, recorded at the 6 Music Festival in Camden, North London. Presenter Georgie Rogers goes backstage at the historic Roundhouse venue to speak to some of the brilliant female artists on the line-up about the women that inspire them and their experiences of the music industry. Brittany Howard of Alab...

If you are man and own a cat, you are a man with a cat. If you are a woman with one, you are a crazy cat lady. Recently the term crazy cat lady has been reclaimed in a positive way on social media but many say it is a pejorative term used against women who break from tradition. Alice Maddicott is the author of Cat Women and writer Kat Brown has two cats, Ambridge and Genevieve and has written abou...

Friendship can be one of the most powerful and important aspects of any woman’s life. We explore what sisterhood means to different women at different points in their lives. Kelechi Okafor, Danielle Dash and Seyi Akiwowo all met online. They all have large social media followings and talk about the importance of digital sisterhood. Foreign correspondent Christina Lamb has reported on wars for over...

Popstar turned podcaster Jessie Ware and her mum Lennie Ware discuss working together in their hit podcast Table Manners where they cook dinner for a different celebrity every week. Should racing be doing more to celebrate the fact that it is one of the few sports where men and women compete in the same events? We speak to Jockey Lizzie Kelly - the first woman to win a Grade One race in Britain an...

The power of crying - Keith Brymer-Jones, one of the judges on the Great Pottery Throw Down, the psychoanalyst and psychotherapist Susie Orbach, and voice coach Joanna Cross discuss. Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, was an astronaut in the team that launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. After mastectomies the aim is to make breasts look and feel as they did befor...

Jenni Murray presents Woman’s Hour live from the Southbank Centre in London where the Women of the World Festival will be celebrating their 10th anniversary this weekend. Founded by Jude Kelly a decade ago, Jenni will be speaking to her about what inspired her to create an organisation that has involved two million people in 30 locations on six continents. What have been her stand out moments and...

Reducing anxiety in children, and helping them protect themselves and others.

We hear about the impetus to chronicle the civil rights struggle in 1960s Mississippi from photographer Doris Derby Women will be disproportionally affected by climate change. But they’re also at the forefront of campaigning against it. One of the most famous, Greta Thunberg, was in Bristol last week addressing crowds of young people. But have things changed since her first school strike in 2018?...

Abi Dare has written a novel about house girls in Nigeria. It's called The Girl with the Louding Voice. The main character is Adunni who's 14 and has been sold into domestic servitude. She becomes a victim of rape, abuse and poverty but more than anything, she wants an education. Coronavirus is dominating the news. There's a risk that the TV, radio, and social media coverage can be scary for child...

Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, was an astronaut in the team that launched the Hubble Space Telescope on April 25th, 1990. She joins Jane to talk about her experience of being a female astronaut in the '90s, and maintaining and repairing the most productive observatory in history. The UK government is a world-leading investor in research on the prevention of violence a...

Hadley Freeman has written a memoir, House of Glass, the story of her Jewish relatives across the 20th century, her grandmother and great uncles who fled Poland for Paris after the anti-Jewish pogroms in 1918. We discuss the pros and cons of crying particularly if you're in public. What's it like trying to stay in touch with your children when you're in prison? And what happens when you're on the...

On Monday, Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of committing a criminal sexual act and third degree rape - and could go to jail for over 20 years. He was acquitted of two counts of predatory sexual assault. While some are celebrating the verdict as the start of a new era and a sign of changing public attitudes towards sexual assault, Weinstein's lead attorney Donna Rotunno promised to appeal, saying...

Helen Lewis discusses her new book ‘Difficult Women: a history of feminism in 11 fights’ and why she believes that today’s feminists could gain from being more generous to the feminists of previous generations. A new Care Quality Commission report says that in a three month period in 2018, 899 sexual incidents or incidents of alleged sexual abuse were reported that took place in adult social care...

Childhood cancer is thankfully rare and the past few decades have seen dramatic improvements in the outlook for children diagnosed with the disease; today more than three-quarters survive. We hear from three mothers – Sam, June and Jenny - whose children were diagnosed. How did they cope day to day watching their offspring struggle through endless treatment? How does it impact the rest of the fami...

Astrology concepts such as retrogrades and returns are no longer niche, they’re meme-worthy, and horoscopes have evolved from a bit of fun into revered life guidance. This isn’t the first time astrology has been part of the Zeitgeist, but it’s definitely enjoying a mainstream moment. So as Mercury the planet that rules technology, travel and communication is retrograde for the first time this year...