The Conversation

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women from South Africa and Germany about reclaiming the craft of brewing beer - something which was historically the domain of women. Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela is a brewmaster and the first black, female co-owner of a craft brewery in South Africa. Her award-winning range of Tolokazi beers pays homage to the female brewers of Africa, inspired by the Tolo Kingdom’s rich brewing history and celebrate ingredients unique to the African continent such as marula fruit and the rooibos bush. Apiwe regularly trains graduates - most of them women - in the art of beer-making at her brewing facility in Johannesburg. She is also an international beer judge and taster. Ulrike Genz is the brewmaster at Schneeeule Brewery in Berlin, which she founded in 2016 after years of developing a recipe thorough scientific study of the Berliner Weisse, a beer that had its heyday in the middle of the 19th century. Once celebrated far beyond Berlin’s borders as the “Champagne of the North” the beer is now, according to Ulrike, a “barely drinkable, mass-produced industrial beer”. Schneeeule Brewery’s mission is to give Berlin back a piece of its culture back…served, of course, in the correct glass! Produced by Hannah Dean (Image: (L) Ulrike Genz credit Markus Raupach. (R), Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela beer4change.)

From mushrooms to sea kelp: Two female foragers in South Africa and Japan tell Datshiane Navanayagam about how picking wild food has helped them to feel more connected to their natural surroundings. Emily Smith is from the UK and lives in rural Japan. She moved there to explore her Japanese heritage and says she felt a deep and calming connection to her natural surroundings. She spends her days learning all she can about edible plants and mushrooms from books, the internet and, most importantly, her elderly neighbours. She is currently working on a project about Japan’s seventy-two micro seasons. Roushanna Gray is a wild food forager, based in Cape Point, South Africa. She’s passionate about teaching people how to source food for free. She takes groups into forests to forage mushrooms, berries, greens and edible weeds, and to tidal pools for seaweed and kelp. Roushanna teaches her international guests about how they can use their senses, as well as the seasons, to find the most nutritious food. Produced by Mora Morrison (Image: (L) Emily Smith, credit Joshua Atkins. (R) Roushanna Gray courtesy Roushanna Gray.)

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women from France and Finland who service and create timepieces. Camille de Rouvray is a French watchmaker from a family of horologists. One of her ancestors was the official clockmaker for King Louis XV in the 1740s. Centuries later, when Camille was 35 years old, she decided to change careers completely to continue her family's legacy and follow her true passion. After training in Paris, she opened a watchmaking studio in Mirmande, a small village in the South of France. Camille is especially enthusiastic about antique clocks and feels a deep connection to the original creator when restoring them. Paula Pyhälä from Finland is a service manager at Lindroos, Finland’s largest privately owned watch service provider, established in 1878. She leads a team of nine watchmakers, four administrative staff and one polisher. Paula graduated from the Finnish Watchmaking School in 2008 and continued her training at the prestigious WOSTEP Watchmaking School in Switzerland. She says she often feels like a crime detective when servicing watches. (Image: (L) Paula Pyhälä, courtesy Paula Pyhälä. (R) Camille de Rouvray courtesy Camille de Rouvray.)

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women from Italy and US about the craft of film restoration and the importance of bringing movies, especially those by women, back to life. Sandra Schulberg is the founder and president of IndieCollect – a nonprofit in the US that has restored more than 85 films since 2016 and rescued thousands of abandoned film negatives. She describes the independent movies they care for as ‘orphans’ and says it’s vital to keep these films alive as they’re not just cinematic heritage, they’re cultural history. Italian-born Elena Nepoti is the film conservation manager at the British Film Institute National Archive. She’s particularly focussed on the restoration of films from the silent era and is currently managing an ongoing major project – restoring a series of Sherlock Holmes pictures from the 1920s which were given approval of Arthur Conan Doyle himself. Produced by Hannah Dean and Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Elena Nepoti, courtesy Elena Nepoti. (R), Sandra Schulberg credit Barbara Katz.)

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women running orchestras in Hungary and the UK. Orsolya Erdödy is the managing director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra working alongside founder-conductor Iván Fischer. The BFO is rated among the top ten orchestras in the world regularly performing at the world’s most prestigious concert venues. Orsolya is also chief musical advisor of the Benedictine Archabbey of Pannonhalma, founded in 996 one of the oldest buildings in Hungary. She regularly appears on the Forbes list of most influential Hungarian women. Sarah Bardwell is the Managing Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK. An orchestra of around 100 musicians it tours globally performing with a range of international artists including Lang Lang, Diana Ross and Andrea Bocelli. As well as marketing, income generation, finance, staff and board management, Sarah is ultimately responsible for all the Orchestra's activities including touring, performances, artistic planning, conductor/artist selection, learning and community partnerships. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Sarah Bardwell, credit Tim Lutton. (R), Orsolya Erdödy credit Halász Nóra.)

Datshiane Navanayagam speaks two women from the Czech Republic and the UK about the ways in which they use horses to promote human physical and mental health. Vera Lantelme-Faisan’s professional background is in Equine Assisted Physiotherapy in the Czech Republic. Between 2004 and 2009, she played a key role in establishing a EAT centre for children at a rehabilitation hospital in Saudi Arabia and last year she assumed the role of president of The Federation of Horses in Education and Therapy International (HETI) - a leading international resource for all those involved in Equine Assisted Services. Claudia Nicholson's personal experience of horses providing the support and sanctuary she needed throughout the angst of her teenage years is one of the reasons why she wanted to help people experience the therapeutic benefits of horses and other equines in their own lives. She now runs her own centre for Equine Assisted Learning at Downmere Farm, in the South Downs National Park where she prioritises working with vulnerable children and young adults - building up confidence and self esteem through non-ridden ground work exercises with the horses as active participants. Produced by Hannah Dean

While confidence is widely understood as important, actually building and maintaining it can feel like an impossible task. A comedian from New Zealand and a body positive writer, speaker and influencer from the UK tell Datshiane Navanayagam about how they grew their self-confidence and give advice for others on how to get it. Megan Jayne Crabbe is a British bestselling author, presenter and body confidence advocate known for helping people improve their relationship with their bodies. She produces empowering content around body positivity, mental health and feminism which is shared with her more than 1.3 million social media followers. Her latest book is called We Don't Make Ourselves Smaller Here, which explores what we can do to live life as our fullest, boldest and most confident selves. Alice Snedden from New Zealand is a comedian and television actor, director and writer renowned for her confidence. Alice studied law at university but never practiced it. The night before she was admitted to the bar, Alice performed her first stand-up comedy set and never looked back. Television shows she has been involved with include Alice Snedden's Bad News, Starstruck and Break Clause. Produced by Emily Naylor (Image: (L) Alice Snedden courtesy Avalon. (R) Megan Jayne Crabbe credit Kiran Gidda.)

The global housing crisis continues to grow, with the UN’s urban development agency estimating 40% of people worldwide lack access to adequate housing. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to female architects in Tanzania and Spain designing cheaper, more sustainable homes. Victoria Heilman founded the Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity (TAWAH), a group of architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and scientists. TAWAH tackles housing poverty and gender inequality by teaching women construction skills. The training enables them to build affordable, environmentally friendly homes for elderly residents who would otherwise be living in unsafe and uncomfortable housing, at a time in their lives when they are most vulnerable. Cristina Gamboa is a Spanish architect and co-founder of Lacol, a cooperative of 14 architects established in 2014 in Barcelona. The group design homes, offices, community buildings and art spaces that are environmentally sustainable, affordable and bring people together. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Victoria Heilman courtesy Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity. (R) Cristina Gamboa credit Lacol.)

Two women from Greece and Sweden tell Datshiane Navanayagam about the dog training process and the prejudices service dogs still face when it comes to broader societal acceptance. Lia Stoll is a Greek-Canadian guide dog trainer and co-founder of Lara Guide Dogs school in Greece. She was inspired by her father, who was also a guide dog mobility instructor, as Lia grew up with guide dogs and working with people who are blind and partially sighted. Anki Celander is a dog behaviourist and trainer who co-founded an assistance dog school in Sweden and now helps people with disabilities to train their own dogs to become certified assistance animals. She has over two decades of experience. Produced by Emily Naylor (Image: (L) Lia Stoll courtesy Lia Stoll. (R) Anki Celander courtesy Anki Celander.)

Two women from Italy and the US tell Datshiane Navanayagam about following the movements of growing wolf packs in Yellowstone National Park and the Italian Alps. Elisa Ramassa started work as a park ranger in Italy's Gran Bosco di Salbertrand, near Turin, in 1997. That same year the park recorded the first sightings of a wolf pack. They'd been extinct in the Italian Alps since the 1920s. She's spent the whole of her career tracking the local wolves, observing pack behaviour and family structures, while watching the population re-establish itself. Erin Stahler is a biological science technician and the programme manager for the Yellowstone Wolf Project. Wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995 and there’s now 10 packs making up a steady population of around 100 wolves. She says the wide open spaces of Yellowstone National Park make it a perfect place for studying the fascinating behaviour of wolves. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Elisa Ramassa courtesy Elisa Ramassa. (R) Erin Stahler credit NPS.)

Two women from Australia and Germany tell Ella Al-Shamahi about their work in robotics: from tackling loneliness with humanoid companions to making industrial robots more accessible. Australian Grace Brown began building robots at 15, but it was the isolation of pandemic lockdown - five months without human contact - that led her to create Abi, a friendly humanoid companion robot inspired by Disney and Pixar characters. Working in secret while her family believed she was completing her master’s degree, Grace instead launched Andromeda Robotics from her bedroom, testing early prototypes in Melbourne nursing homes to help combat loneliness. Grace was recently named one of Forbes Australia's 30 under 30. Maria Piechnick is a German engineer and co-founder of Wandelbots, a company passionate about making robotics accessible to everyone. Her mission is to democratize the field of robotics and enable small and medium sized businesses to be able to deploy robots for any task with ease and efficiency. Maria's work spans a wide range: from enabling a cake company to decorate its products with robotic arms to developing advanced systems that safely defuse unexploded bombs from the Second World War. Produced by Emily Naylor (Image: (L) Maria Piechnick credit Wandelbots. (R) Grace Brown credit Andromeda Robotics.)

Two women from Nigeria and the Czech Republic speak to Ella Al-Shamahi about what it's like to lead adventurous expeditions for other women to countries not usually on the tourist trail. Lenka Hrabalová is an expedition guide and academic from the Czech Republic. Her PhD focused on the destruction of cultural heritage in the Muslim world. Lenka uses her knowledge to lead adventurous expeditions across the Middle East and North Africa, many exclusively for women. She is the author of several books including Sahara Stories and Mosaic of Iran. Temi Popo from Nigeria has always loved to travel. She was inspired by her grandmother’s legacy as a pioneering diplomat and educator, as well as having lived in seven countries. Temi is the founder of Girls Trip Tours, a travel company that aims to transform the tourism industry in Africa by centring women. They create travel experiences that empower women while uplifting local communities throughout Africa. Produced by Emily Naylor ((Image: (L) Temi Popo credit Khalipha Nkloko. (R) Lenka Hrabalová credit Petr Florián.)

Two doctors from South Africa and Australia tell Ella Al-Shamahi about rewards of working in rural communities and the challenges of being hundreds of miles from the nearest large hospital. Dr Melanie Matthews runs a medical centre in Maningrida, about 500km east of Darwin. She’s a GP with the Mala'la Indigenous health service in the Arnhem Land, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO). GPs working in these services are ranked as Australia’s most satisfied GPs, but it can be a challenge, with complex health needs in the community she serves. Dr Lungile Hobe-Nxumalo is South African and after training returned to the place she grew up - a rural reserve in the remote northern part of KwaZulu-Natal near the Mozambican border. She’s medical director of Mseleni Hospital. Part of her medical studies were funded with the support of Umthombo Youth Development Foundation which addresses the shortages of healthcare staff in rural hospitals. She’s also past-chair of the Rural Doctors Association of South Africa. Produced by Jane Thurlow

An Indian chef who opened a patisserie in Jaipur and a Syrian chef with two pastry shops in the heart of Paris tell Datshiane Navanayagam about adding new layers to French classics. After training at le Cordon Bleu school in Paris Tejasvi Chandela returned to her hometown of Jaipur to open Dzurt, the first pastry shop in the city. She also teaches masterclasses at cookery schools around the world to show to what extent the techniques and flavours of Indian mithai are compatible with modern European-style pastry. Myriam Sabet has two pastry shops in Paris. Originally from Syria Myriam’s first career was in finance but she changed direction to baking after the birth of her daughter. She founded Maison Aleph with her husband where she focuses on crunchy pastry which reminds her of the sweets of her youth. Myriam brings together classic French pastries with a twist, like crispy phyllo nests featuring pistachio and ice cream enriched with za’atar, honey, and apricot. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Myriam Sabet credit Jacques Gavard. (R) Tejasvi Chandela credit Bhuvan Gaur.)

Two women from Hungary and the UK talk to Datshiane Navanayagam about the intensity, skill and resilience required for modern glassmaking. Mira Davida is a Hungarian glass artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. She specialises in flameworking, a technique that uses a high-temperature hand torch to shape borosilicate glass. Her sculptural works often draw inspiration from botanical forms and the natural landscapes of Sweden. Phoebe Stubbs is a British glassblower with nearly two decades of experience. She is the founder of Gather, one of the last remaining hot glass studios in London. Phoebe combines traditional furnace glassblowing with contemporary design to create tableware, lighting and sculptural pieces. Produced by Emily Naylor (Image: (L) Phoebe Stubbs courtesy Phoebe Stubbs. (R) Mira Davida credit Oscar Nord.)

Two women in Iceland and Bolivia talk to Ella Al-Shamahi about creating female-centred walking tours that help people get to know the cities of Reykjavík and La Paz. Tinna Eik Rakelardóttir from Iceland says that the urban planning of her country's capital doesn't necessarily reflect its progressive values. Inspired by a tour she took in Ljubljana in Slovenia, Tinna combined her expertise in anthropology and business development to launch the Reykjavík Feminist Walking Tour. The walk highlights 200 years of the nation’s drive for gender equality as well as the experience of being a woman in contemporary Icelandic society. Emma Rada Villarroel is a Bolivian feminist communicator of indigenous heritage and one of the co-founders of La Paz: The Feminist Tour. The tour explores the historic and ongoing struggles of the women of the city. Weaving her way through the streets of the highest city in the world, Emma shares stories about what’s it’s like to live in La Paz today as a student, an immigrant, a mother or merchant whilst also spotlighting the powerful women who have contributed to the city's history. Produced by Hannah Dean (Image: (L) Emma Rada Villarroel courtesy Emma Rada Villarroel. (R) Tinna Eik Rakelardóttir courtesy Tinna Eik Rakelardóttir.)

Ella Al-Shamahi speaks to an ex-circus performer from Bulgaria and a skydiver from France to find out what it takes to achieve some of the world’s most extreme records. Bulgarian Getti Kehayova grew up performing in the circus alongside her world-record-holding family. Inspired by her sister, who once held the record for spinning 97 hula hoops at once, Getti wanted a record of her own. After a year of intense training, she earned the Guinness World Record for spinning the largest hula hoop ever for a female: 5.18 metres (17 feet) wide. Domitille Kiger is a French world champion skydiver who has been involved in ten world records. She led the largest mixed-gender head-down free-fall formation of 96 skydivers and took part in a record-setting night jump with a 42-person team. Every member had fireworks strapped to their feet. Produced by Emily Naylor (Image: (L) Getti Kehayova courtesy Getti Kehayova. (R) Domitille Kiger credit zerOGravity.)

Whitely Fund for Nature 2025 winners from Brazil and Nepal tell Datshiane Navanayagam about their efforts to save the plants and animals they love from extinction. Reshu Bashyal is working to stop illegal poaching of wild orchids and Maire’s Yew trees in Nepal. Both plants are prized for their medicinal properties. Reshu is the research lead at Kathmandu-based Greenhood Nepal and has interviewed hundreds of yew harvesters to understand their motivations and harvest techniques. She is now restoring 1,000 hectares of habitat for orchids and Maire’s Yews, creating a community forest to promote best practices and developing an app for law enforcers to identify 100 plants that are trafficked. Dr Yara Barros has revived jaguars from the brink of extinction in Iguacu National Park in Brazil where numbers plunged to just 11 individuals. Her solutions include setting up a 24/7 rapid response unit where local people can report sightings or attacks by jaguars. Yara started her career working with the last Spix's Macaw in the wild before going to work in a zoo. A face-to-face encounter with a male jaguar called 'Croissant' convinced her to devote the rest of her career to protecting the apex predators. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Reshu Bashyal credit Whitley Fund for Nature. (R) Yara Barros credit Whitley Awards.)

What happens when children break the law - and how does juvenile punishment vary across countries? Ella Al-Shamahi speaks with two women from the Netherlands and Finland about what’s working, what isn’t and what needs to change to better support young people in the justice system. Marlen Salonen from Finland used to be a personal trainer but two years ago became a prison officer at Vantaa Prison in Finland, a remand facility for male prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing. She works on the juvenile ward supporting boys held in custody. Fleur Souverein is a psychologist from the Netherlands. She currently works as a senior researcher at the Academic Collaborative Centre for Youth at Risk and as a postdoctoral researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research focuses on youth delinquency - particularly organized crime - youth justice institutions, restorative justice and the impact of inequality and institutional racism within the justice system. Produced by Emily Naylor (Image: (L) Marlen Salonen courtesy Marlen Salonen. (R) Fleur Souverein courtesy Fleur Souverein.)

Ella Al-Shamahi speaks to professional wrestlers Xia Zhao from China and Divya Aale from India about their passion for the sport and what it’s like to be a woman in this industry. Xia Zhao from China started martial arts at eight years old and later became a professional athlete in Chinese martial arts, known as wushu, including kung fu and kick-boxing. In 2016, she attended wrestling try-outs in Shanghai, which led her to move to the US and become the first Chinese woman to compete in a WWE ring. Her stage name today is Lei Ying Lee, and she was formerly known as Xia Li. Divya Aale from India has been captivated by American wrestling since she was four years old. In her early twenties, she trained at the Continental Wrestling Entertainment academy in India, founded by former WWE star Dalip Singh Rana - better known as The Great Khali. She was the only woman living at the academy alongside 200 male wrestlers. Today Divya teaches women's wrestling in Singapore. Produced by Elena Angelides (Image: (L) Divya Aale credit Anjwan Noor. (R) Lei Ying Lee credit Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.)