Woman's Hour

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

Today is primary school offer day in England and Wales, when parents will be finding out where their children might be starting school in September. A new government-backed campaign has been launched to help parents and carers as figures show that over a third of children are currently starting reception without the basic skills they need for the classroom. Datshiane Navanayagam is joined by BBC Education reporter Kate McGough and Felicity Gillespie from children’s charity Kindred Squared, to talk about what parents and carers need to know. The singer-songwriter Jessie Ware's new album, Superbloom, was released this week. As well as being known for her music, Jessie's family’s passion for food led to the weekly podcast Table Manners, that she co-hosts with her mother Lennie, featuring celebrity guests like Ed Sheeran and Kylie. Jessie joins Datshiane to talk about her new album inspired by disco and funk and how she became more confident in her 40s. Autism Central is an online support service for the parents and carers of autistic people. Set up by NHS England in 2021, it has now been expanded to offer help for everyone in the support network of autistic people, including grandparents, partners, friends, and adult siblings. It’s paid for by NHS England and run by the mental health charity Anna Freud. With growing numbers being diagnosed with autism - and waiting for a diagnosis - what can this type of online help offer? Datshiane is joined by Victoria Jackson who has been using the service, and Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, Director of Autism Central at Anna Freud. Katriona O’Sullivan’s childhood was marked by extreme poverty, neglect, addiction and abuse. She became pregnant at 15 and experienced homelessness, but went on to become an award‑winning academic and bestselling author, with her memoir Poor adapted for the stage. Katriona's new book, Hungry, explores her lifelong struggles with her body and the unrelenting drive to feel, “enough”. Katriona talks to Datshiane about how trauma, class and gender shape how women see themselves. Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producer: Rebecca Myatt

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

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

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

Student Jodie Morrow tells Nuala McGovern about her ordeal of being arrested after her stalker falsely accused her of stalking him. He has now been jailed after pleading guilty to harassment and perverting the course of justice, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland has acknowledged "shortcomings" in how the case was handled. Jodie is now helping the police to try to improve how they handle stalking cases. How does light inspire and motivate us, and how can we harness it and use it to our advantage? GP Dr Radha Modgil joins Nikki Bedi to discuss the impact of light on our health and wellbeing. The largest display of Queen Elizabeth II’s clothing has opened at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. The exhibition, 'Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style', marks the centenary of the late Queen's birth and brings together around 200 items. Spanning all 10 decades of her life, it showcases the full breadth of her wardrobe. Anita Rani visited the gallery for a tour with its curator, Caroline de Guitaut. Do you think that having kids makes you happy? A new study from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus suggests not. It drew on data from more than 5,000 participants in ten countries, including the UK, and concluded that there is no strong evidence that parenthood leads to a measurable increase in positive emotions. To discuss the findings and weigh up their own experiences, we hear from two mothers of two - Ella Whelan author of ‘What Women Want,’ and Iko Haruna, a family photographer and former presenter of ParentLand, the BBC World Service’s podcast. Indigo Reign, formerly known as Lady MC, is one of the first female MCs in jungle music. She's just been part of a landmark moment for global music culture, bringing the 'godfathers' of drum and bass, Fabio and Grooverider, to headline the first-ever jungle and drum & bass festival in East Africa, called NURAFest and it took place in Kenya. Born in prison, she grew up around gang culture and found her voice in jungle music, becoming an award-winning MC and artist, who turned disadvantage on its head. She's also the founder of the Young Urban Arts Foundation, helping thousands of young people through music. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Dianne McGregor

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

The Church of England is planning to issue an apology for its role in forced adoption, according to a draft seen by the BBC. During the 1950s, 60s and 70s tens of thousands of babies were forcibly taken from their unmarried mothers, women who had been sent away to homes run by the Church and state. The news of a potential apology comes just a fortnight after the House of Commons education committee published a report of their inquiry into the issue and called for a state apology from the Government. Anita Rani is joined by Labour MP Helen Hayes, chair of that committee, along with Diana Defries, Chair of the Movement for an Adoption Apology, whose daughter was taken away 12 days after she gave birth. The largest display of Queen Elizabeth II’s clothing ever to be staged will open on 10 April at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. The exhibition, called Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style, marks the centenary of the late Queen’s birth and includes around 200 items, about half of which are on display for the first time. It charts clothing worn in all 10 decades of Queen Elizabeth’s life, many designed by Norman Hartnell, and it spans the full breadth of her wardrobe, from couture eveningwear to impeccably tailored off-duty clothing. Ahead of the exhibition opening to the public, Anita went to meet its curator, Caroline de Guitaut, to take a tour. Once thought politically unstoppable, recently Italian voters said 'no' to Giorgia Meloni’s proposed judicial reforms in a referendum. So what does that rejection tell us about her current political position after more than three years in charge? And why, earlier this morning, did she feel the need to address the Italian Parliament? In October 2022 she became Italy’s first female Prime Minister and as of September this year she will have had the longest continuous term in office in Italy since the Second World War, surpassing the late Silvio Berlusconi’s record. Anita is joined by senior BBC European reporter Laura Gozzi and Director of the Institute of International Affairs Nathalie Tocci. Indigo Reign, formerly known as Lady MC, is one of the first female MCs in jungle music. She's just been part of a landmark moment for global music culture, bringing the "godfathers" of drum and bass, Fabio and Grooverider, to headline the first-ever jungle and drum & bass festival in East Africa, called NURAFest and it took place in Kenya. Born in prison, she grew up around gang culture and found her voice in jungle music, becoming an award-winning MC and artist, who turned disadvantage on its head. She's also the founder of the Young Urban Arts Foundation, helping thousands of young people through music. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Andrea Kidd

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

Women in Northern Ireland who have had a miscarriage - along with their partners - will now be entitled to two weeks paid leave. The government is planning to bring in at least one week of leave for families in England, Scotland and Wales next year. Nuala McGovern is joined by Niamh Campbell, Reporter for the Belfast Telegraph and Erin Sharkey who is a volunteer with the Miscarriage Association in Northern Ireland. Last August, 250 harvest mice were released into a nature reserve in Devon to replenish the natural stocks of this little animal that is under-threat. The project wasn’t conceived by a big conservation group or local wildlife centre – in fact it barely involved adults at all. It was the dedication of two 13-year-old naturalists, Eva Wishart and Emily Smith, who bred the mice at home in empty fish tanks, using plants from their garden, and a custom-built release enclosure. We hear from them and we have an update on the success of their project. Do you think that having kids makes you happy? A new study from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus suggests not. It drew on data from more than 5,000 participants in ten countries, including the UK, and concluded that there is no strong evidence that parenthood leads to a measurable increase in positive emotions. To discuss the findings and weigh up their own experiences, we hear from two mothers of two - Ella Whelan author of ‘What Women Want,’ and Iko Haruna, a family photographer and former presenter of ParentLand, the BBC World Service’s podcast. Thousands of rapes are reported every year across the UK in fact, and the numbers continue to rise. ‘Sophie’ was raped by a man pretending to be a taxi driver after a night out in Glasgow in 2022. She decided she wanted to talk publicly about her experience and approached BBC Scotland newsreader Laura Miller, presenter of Scotcast, who tells us more of Sophie's story. What if people who have affairs were sent off, in their extramarital pairings, to an unknown city to spend time together? All the while their 'real' lives were put on pause and waited for them to come back. How long would the paradise last for? This is the premise of a new book, Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh. Sophie joins Nuala to discuss it. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Easter Monday in the Christian calendar means Christ is risen and symbolises a shift from darkness and death to life, hope and light. We’re also in the middle of Passover which signifies spiritual illumination, freedom, and the transition from darkness to light. So in this special edition of Woman's Hour, Nikki Bedi focuses on women and light. How does light inspire and motivate us, and how can we harness it and use it to our advantage? Nikki speaks to GP Dr Radha Modgil about the impact of light on our health and wellbeing. We hear from Paule Constable, an award-winning lighting designer with Olivier and Tony awards for best lighting design for her work spanning theatre, opera, dance and pop music. She is joined in the conversation with Nikki by Ruth Kelly Wasket, a lighting director at engineering consultancy Hoare Lee where she advises architects and engineers on lighting choices in public buildings. In May last year, we dedicated a whole programme to women and farming. When thinking about the impact of light on our lives, who better to ask than early rising farmers? We catch up with Sinead Fenton, an edible flower and herb farmer in East Sussex, and dairy farmer Lorna Burdge. We discuss light's influence on how our ancestors behaved and what they believed with Carolyne Larrington, Emerita Professor of medieval European literature, University of Oxford and Dr Jennifer Wexler, curator of history for English Heritage. How can you recreate light in other art forms? Cecilia McDowall, who is one of the UK’s leading composers of sacred and secular choral music, tells Nikki about writing music inspired by light and the changes in the seasons. Presenter: Nikki Bedi Producer: Corinna Jones

Childhood epilepsy, medical treatment, and the power of a mother and son working together. Filmmaker Emma Matthews and her son Louis Petit have created a new film, along with his father Chris Petit. D is for Distance focuses on Louis’s own experience of severe, drug‑resistant epilepsy. He suffered hundreds of seizures, frightening drug withdrawals and years of uncertainty — until they travelled to the Netherlands to get medical cannabis. Their film opens today at the British Film Institute in London. Emma and Louis join Anita Rani, along with Professor Finbar O'Callaghan from the Epilepsy Research Institute. The sale of second hand clothing is forecast to rise this year to £217bn globally. Here in the UK it's estimated the market has grown to more than £7bn, and nearly one in four fashion transactions. So why are women turning to resale sites like Vinted and Depop? Consumer expert Kate Hardcastle, founder of Insight With Passion, tells us where this growth is coming from and discusses future trends. Composer Tansy Davies tells Anita about The Passion of Mary Magdelene, which has just premiered at The Barbican in London and will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday 4 April at 10.30pm. The piece tells the story of the crucifixion through Jesus’s most important female follower and the first person to witness the resurrection. Tansy talks about why she wanted to focus on Mary and examines the conflicting views about Mary Magdalene. In her new book Herlands, BBC global reporter Megha Mohan explores the history of women-led communities both physically and virtually, from co-housing for older women in Paris to the controversial feminist online trolls of South Korea. Megha travelled around the globe to hear from the women who created and care for these communities, which offer refuge, resilience, and connection to the land. Producer: Melanie Abbott Editor: Sarah Crawley

Nasa's Artemis II spacecraft has blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and is now orbiting the Earth in the first crewed mission to the Moon in half a century. If all goes well in the next few hours, it will head off to go around the Moon. The mission should take 10 days, with four astronauts on board including one woman. Anita Rani speaks to Sian Cleaver, a spacecraft engineer on Artemis II. The Women’s Six Nations is just around the corner and after last year’s Rugby World Cup win, the expectations for England’s Red Roses are sky high. Over 70,000 tickets have already been sold for the women's opening game against Ireland on Saturday 11 April, and the team have announced a new captain, Meg Jones. There’s also the release of a new documentary England Meet England on ITV. So, is the team feeling the pressure? Red Roses' new captain Meg Jones joins Anita. The Ministry of Defence has been accused of failing women who are suffering domestic abuse at the hands of their partners in the forces. A dossier of cases has been compiled by the Survivor Family Network, which supports domestic abuse victims in the family courts. Their investigation alleges that battlefield techniques are being used to inflict violence on wives and girlfriends. And when they try to report it, they say the military closes ranks. Anita talks to the director of the Survivor Family Network, Natalie Page. Former lawyer turned author Ella King’s new novel, Dear Darling is the story of Lauren, a young teenage girl who has a relationship with a much older man. When she’s an adult and a mother herself, he comes back into her life and Lauren decides to confront him and the harm that he did to her. Ella joins Anita to discuss the novel and how her former work with victims of abuse and domestic violence have informed her research. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Rebecca Myatt

The week marks one month since the United States and Israel attacked Iran. We take a look at the impact the resulting war has had on the women and children of the country. Krupa Padhy is joined by BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet and Ghoncheh Habibiazad, Senior Reporter from BBC News Persian. Recurrent miscarriage is when you experience more than two or three pregnancy losses, and it affects around one in 100 women. A device designed to offer more care and dignity during miscarriage, and that could aid greater understanding, is now being used in 28 hospitals across the UK. Engineer Laura Corcoran created a miscarriage collection cradle after she suffered the loss of her third pregnancy. She is calling for a wider roll-out of the device. Laura speaks to Krupha, along with Siobhan Quenby, Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Warwick. A new exhibition at Kensington Palace is celebrating the 150th birthday of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh – the Punjabi princess and suffragette. The Last Princesses of Punjab exhibition explores her life and five other women who shaped her. Krupha talks to the curator Polly Putnam and journalist and Radio 4 presenter Anita Anand, author of Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary. Another chance to hear our interview with Janet Willoner, known as the tree growing granny. Janet has grown more than 4,000 trees in her garden. She forages for seeds, grows them, and they eventually grow in forests in her local area of North Yorkshire. Zoom bombing involves crashing into a meeting and taking it over - more often than not showing shocking content including pornography. Businesswoman Lou Robey was holding a meeting on International Women's Day when it was zoom bombed. Lou has put out a call for action for media platforms and the wider community to act. She and Gina Neff, Professor of Responsible AI at Queen Mary, University of London join Krupha to discuss.

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

Christina Koch is ready to make history. She is one of the four astronauts of Artemis 2 which is set to head around the Moon in the next few days. During her career as a Nasa astronaut, she has spent more than 300 days aboard the International Space Station, and she was part of the first all-woman spacewalk with Jessica Meir. This mission will take her and her crewmates on a 10-day journey, further into space than any humans have ever gone. Joining Krupa Padhy to talk more about Christina and the importance of having women in space, is planetary and space scientist Professor Caroline Smith, Chair of the European Space Agency Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee and also Head of Collections at the Natural History Museum, and Natasha Carr, PhD researcher at the University of Leicester, who is researching planetary sciences and space instrumentation. Millions of voters will head to the polls on Thursday 7 May for the biggest set of elections since the 2024 general election. Today a group of organisations, including the Electoral Commission, are calling for the elections to be free from abuse. The Commission’s most recent research, following the 2025 local elections, found that 61% of respondents experienced harassment or security threats during the campaign and previous research found that respondents who were women were twice as likely to report serious abuse and those from ethnic minorities were three times as likely. To discuss the impact of this, Krupa is joined by Niki Nixon, Director of Communications and External Affairs at the Electoral Commission, and Hannah Perkin, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Faversham Town Council in Kent. According to the NHS, one in eight known pregnancies end in miscarriage. For some women, they will experience more than one miscarriage, and for those who have more than three, then this is known as 'recurrent miscarriage', which affects around one in 100 women. It is a hugely devastating experience for those going through it, and is one that is often underrepresented on screen. A new BBC drama, Babies, aims to bring this issue in to the light, as it follows a young couple on their journey to parenthood. Siobhán Cullen plays Lisa and she tells Krupa about playing the role. They are joined by Zoe Clark-Coates, CEO of the baby loss charity The Mariposa Trust. The countdown to May's Eurovision song contest in Austria is on. As critics and fans analyse all 35 competing entries, it's Romania's song that is attracting a lot of attention. Choke Me is performed by Alexandra Căpitănescu and is facing criticism from sexual violence campaigners. The song repeats the phrase ‘choke me’ around 30 times in three minutes, raising concerns that it glamorises strangulation, a practice linked to brain injury and even death. Alexandra Căpitănescu has defended the track, saying the lyrics refer to the feeling of being overwhelmed by emotion and ‘being suffocated by self-doubt’. Krupa hears from Dr. Catherine White, Medical Director for the Institute for Addressing Strangulation, and Lisa-Jayne Lewis, Broadcaster and Commentator specialising in the Eurovision Song Contest. Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Andrea Kidd

Dame Sarah Mullally is installed as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church’s 1,400‑year history. What unique skills and priorities will she bring to the role, and what challenges lie ahead for her as she takes on one of the most influential positions in the Anglican Church? Kylie Pentelow explored the questions with Reverend Martine Oborne, chair of WATCH Women and the Church; and Professor Andrew Atherstone, author of a new biography of the Archbishop. Emmy award-winner Elisabeth Moss, best known for Mad Men and The Handmaid’s Tale, and Kate Mara from House of Cards and The Martian joined Kylie in the Woman's Hour studio. Playing best friends – they discussed their new drama series, Imperfect Women. Non-monogamous relationships appear to be having a pop culture moment, with polyamorous couples on our screens and open marriages profiled in numerous books on the topic, alternative relationships appear to be everywhere currently. Molly Roden-Winter, author of the memoir More: A Memoir of Open Marriage, and The Times journalist, Sarah Ditum joined Anita to discuss. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Dianne McGregor

A young woman in the US has successfully sued Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp - and Google, owner of YouTube, over her childhood addiction to social media. In an unprecedented case, a jury in Los Angeles has found that the companies intentionally designed addictive platforms that harmed the 20-year-old's mental health. The woman, known as Kaley, has been awarded $6 million dollars (£4.5m) in damages. Both tech companies say they disagree with the verdict and will appeal. Anita Rani is joined by BBC Tech reporter Shiona McCallum. Non-monogamous relationships appear to be having a pop culture moment, with polyamorous couples on our screens and open marriages profiled in numerous books on the topic, alternative relationships appear to be everywhere currently. Anita will discuss polyamory with Molly Roden-Winter, author of the memoir More: A Memoir of Open Marriage, and The Times journalist, Sarah Ditum. Spain is to formally pardon 53 women survivors who were among thousands incarcerated by the Franco regime for being supposed 'fallen' women. Anita speaks to BBC Mundo journalist Alicia Hernandez and freelance journalist Cristina Garcia Casado about what happened in the 1940s when, as adolescents, the women were locked up by the Board for the Protection of Women, a collection of institutions run by religious orders and overseen by Carmen Polo, the wife of the dictator Gen Francisco Franco. Actor Katherine LaNasa is starring in the second series of HBO’s award-winning TV medical drama The Pitt. She plays Dana Evans, a nurse; a part for which she won an Emmy. Katherine talks to Anita about nearly throwing in the boot before landing this role, how she and the rest of the cast were trained for hospital scenes and how her real-life experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer has impacted her work. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Rebecca Myatt

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

Today marks a historic moment for the Church of England as Dame Sarah Mullally is installed as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church’s 1,400‑year history. What unique skills and priorities will she bring to the role, and what challenges lie ahead for her as she takes on one of the most influential positions in the Anglican Church? Joining Kylie Pentelow to explore these questions are the Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek; the Reverend Martine Oborne, chair of WATCH Women and the Church; and Professor Andrew Atherstone, author of a new biography of the Archbishop. A campaign backed by charities, MPs and peers is urging for more checks on pornography websites to protect children and vulnerable people. It’s looking to change the law to get websites to verify the age of people appearing in the content that’s published, and to guarantee that their consent has been given. To discuss the proposals, Kylie is joined by Baroness Bertin, author of an independent review into the regulation of online pornography, and Naomi Miles, founder of the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation charity. The revolutionary Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli is being celebrated in a dazzling new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Sonnet Stanfill, Senior Curator of Fashion at the V&A and curator of Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art and fashion historian, Justine Picardie, author of Fashioning the Crown, discuss her life and work. What can Taylor Swift teach us about the economy? Associate Professor at the University of Kansas, Misty Heggeness, explains how her concept of Swiftynomics shines a light on the true value of women’s work and influence. Presenter: Kylie Pentelow Producer: Emma Pearce