Woman's Hour

Heading to the British coast on holiday this year? The fascinating Heather Buttivant tells us what wonders we can find in the common rock pool, and how to interest kids in them.

In the next of our summer series of practical How to guides, we talk about how to be a good friend. There will be tips on how to make, keep and politely shed friends at different stages in your life. We’ll discuss the tools you need to navigate tricky things like being over or underwhelmed by contact with your friends, and what to do if you don’t like your mate’s partner. Jane is joined by the bro...

As the neutral pronouns they/them start to enter the public consciousness, so too has the idea of gender-neutral parenting. Sarah Davies is a new mum to baby Quinn and talks about her experience of practicing gender-neutrality in a highly gendered society. Prof Melissa Hines from the University of Cambridge and Dr Brenda Scott from City University have both studied how children’s gender identity a...

Michaela Coel’s BBC drama ‘I May Destroy You’ has brought to light a number of interesting dilemmas, particularly within the realm of female friendships. Today we ask – is it okay to leave a friend on a night out? If a friend is too drunk or too disorderly to take care of themselves, but refuses to leave the venue or get in a cab, what can and should you do? Harriet Marsden is a freelance journali...

Karen Gibson aka “Godmother of Gospel” who shot to worldwide fame in 2018 after she appeared conducting The Kingdom Choir at the Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan – tells me about the Choir’s new single Real Love. We hear from the writer Caitlin Moran about her new film based on her memoir How To Build A Girl. We discuss why Black people are more likely to end up in the mental health system and be...

How To Build A Girl – based on Caitlin Moran’s non-fiction memoir of the same name - has now been turned into a film It introduces us to Johanna Morrigan, a young Wolverhampton local who’s struggling to get to grips with the “incredible unfolding” that comes with puberty. The screenplay is written by the woman herself and was filmed in and around the City. She joins Jenni to talk about what it mea...

The mental health charity, Mind is calling for the government to publish their White Paper on the Mental Health Act. They have been pushing for reforms so that fewer black people who are disproportionately represented, are sectioned and those that are sectioned treated with more dignity. So why is it that despite being among the top demographics to be diagnosed and four times more likely to be sec...

Karen Gibson aka 'Godmother of Gospel' shot to worldwide fame in 2018 after she appeared conducting The Kingdom Choir at the Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan. She joins Jenni to talk about the choir's new single, her passion for gospel music and her recent experience on Celebrity Masterchef. British Gymnastics, the UK governing body for the sport of gymnastics, has announced that there will be an...

In a landmark ruling handed down at York County Court, housing benefit discrimination has been judged unlawful and in breach of the Equality Act. Research carried out by the charity Shelter shows that ‘No DSS’ policies put women and disabled people at a particular disadvantage, because they are more likely to receive housing benefit. The historic hearing took place virtually on Wednesday 1 July, i...

Tomorrow the United Arab Emirates will launch its first ever mission to Mars. The probe, called Hope, aims to give the most complete picture yet of the Martian atmosphere – and will cement the UAE’s role as a space-exploring nation. We talk to Her Excellency Sarah Al-Miri Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and the Deputy Mission Project Manager for the Emirates Mars Mission and Professor Jim...

A highly-critical review of three medical treatments for women in the UK found thousands of lives had been harmed because officials failed to listen to safety worries and often dismissed them as "women's problems". The Cumberlege Review examined responses to concerns about a hormone pregnancy test, a drug for epilepsy, and vaginal mesh. We spoke to the BBC Health correspondent Anna Collinson, and...

It's 41 years this Sunday that Olive Morris died. She was a Black British feminist and civil rights campaigner. A couple of weeks ago, Google marked what would have been her 68th birthday with a drawing of her on its header. So who was Olive Morris and who are some of the other Black British female activists from the past who we should know about? We talk to Angelina Osborne, a researcher and lect...

One in 5,000 women are born without a womb and many may have to have it removed because of cancer or other conditions. In the past decade there’ve been significant advancements in the development of human uterine transplants – with 56 having taken place world wide – though none have yet been carried out in the UK. Jenni talks to Mr Richard Smith, clinical lead at the charity Womb Transplant UK abo...

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety review has been released this morning. Baroness Cumberlege led the review into the the effects of vaginal mesh, the hormonal pregnancy test Primodos and the epilepsy drug Sodium Valproate. She discusses its recommendations and her experience of hearing so many moving testimonies from women across the UK. Jenni also hears some initial reaction fr...

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, also known as the Cumberlege review, is finally being published tomorrow after being delayed by Covid-19. It will focus on three health scandals that have severely affected women’s lives including vaginal mesh implants, an oral pregnancy test called Primodos, and an anti-epileptic drug called sodium valproate. The precise medical details...

“Gendered power dynamics underpin the AI debate,” says Ivana Bartoletti. She’s an expert in data privacy and has set up a network called, Women Leading in AI. Ivana believes AI is linked to inequality and oppression. She talks to us about getting more women into coding, our addiction to being online and female cyborgs like Alexa and Siri. Why is the issue of HPV only discussed in relation to young...

The Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 is currently making its way through Parliament, and will reach the House of Lords by the end of July. For the first time there will be a statutory definition of domestic abuse. The Centre for Women’s Justice is asking for an amendment to the Bill, to create a free-standing offence of non-fatal strangulation or asphyxiation. We hear from Sandra who was strangled by a fo...

What do you do when your toddler is a fussy eater? A guide for parents about fussy eating which has been available for over ten years, has just been re-evaluated by 25 mothers. Jenni hears from Amanda, a mother of two daughters, plus one of the academics behind the guide, Claire Farrow, Professor in Children's Eating Behaviour at Aston University, Birmingham. The system of proxy voting for MPs on...

Lynn and Lucy is a new film about the lives of two best friends in a close-knit community in Essex whose relationship is tested after a tragedy happens. It stars Nichola Burley and Roxanne Scrimshaw in her first acting role. Roxanne joins Jenni to discuss female friendship, community, motherhood and the depiction of working class women on screen. The Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 is currently making it...

The stereotypical view of a gamer is a socially-isolated teenager who could be doing something better with their time. Liz Vickers is a 74 year old gamer from Manby, Lincolnshire, and so is her good friend, Bridget Odlin, aged 75, from Louth, Lincolnshire. They’ve been playing together, and separately, for almost more than 20 years. Lotta Haegg, an avid gamer herself, speaks to them. A new governm...

Dawn Bilbrough is a critical care nurse from York who in the early stages of COVID-19 posted an emotional video on social media that went viral. She was appealing to the public to stop panic buying as she was unable to get the basics in her supermarket after her shift ended. She joins Jane to discuss the impact of the video and what it has been like working on the frontline. This week Woman's Hour...

Last week Johnson & Johnson announced it will cease production on two lines of skin-lightening products sold in countries across Asia and the Middle East. At the same time, Unilever, who own the skin-lightening cream Fair & Lovely, have announced that they will change the product’s name. How significant are these moves? And why does the skin-lightening industry continue to be so popular, d...

How might our relationship with our bodies and appearance change after the pandemic? As part of the BBC's Rethink series, Laura Bates, the founder of the Everyday Sexism project, Kate Lister, Lecturer in the School of Arts and Communication at Leeds Trinity University, and Shahidha Bari, Professor of Fashion Cultures and Histories at the London College of Fashion discuss. Dr Amanda Brown has been...

Today’s Rethink essay comes from the musician and artist Brian Eno, he asks what the response to the pandemic has taught us about leadership, and how what we want and need from our future leaders might have changed. To discuss the future of leadership Jane speaks to Dame Heather Rabbatts, Chair of Time’s Up UK, Inga Beale, former CEO of Lloyds of London and Professor Ngaire Woods, founding Dean of...

Michaela Coel’s new drama “I May Destroy You” on BBC 1 is receiving rave reviews on Twitter and in the papers. The story centres around a writer called Arabella who is drugged and sexually assaulted but has no recollection of the assault except in flashbacks and has to piece together what happened to her. How effective is the way the story is told and what questions does it raise about consent, re...