Oscar-winning Michelle Yeoh’s career has spanned four decades. Starting out as a martial arts actor, she became a key figure in the Hong Kong action scene. But it was her role in James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies that catapulted her into Hollywood. She's since starred in many hits including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the multi-Oscar winning movie - including for her own performance - Everything Everywhere all At Once. Now, she’s in the film adaptation of the musical Wicked. She joined Nuala McGovern live in the studio to discuss it.
BBC analysis suggests that the rate at which primary school pupils are being suspended from state schools in England has more than doubled in a decade. Permanent exclusion rates of primary-age pupils have also gone up, by almost 70% in the same period. Campaigners say children excluded from school at a young age experience long-term impacts. It's worth also stating that nearly 90% of those permanently excluded over the past five years also had special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The government has acknowledged the situation is at "crisis point", and says it is determined to "drive up standards" in schools. Anita Rani spoke to Lydia, whose son Eddie has been suspended from school 14 times this year.
Twenty-four year old product design and technology graduate Olivia Humphreys is a Global Medical Winner of the James Dyson Award 2024. Her invention, Athena, is a portable hair-loss prevention device for chemotherapy patients. She talks to Nuala how the product works and how her mum inspired it.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson is the double World and double Commonwealth Games heptathlon champion. This year she won the Olympic silver medal in Paris, her first ever Olympic medal. Katarina joined Anita to talk about her new book, Unbroken, in which she opens up about the pressures of representing Great Britain as a 19 year old at the London 2012 Olympics, her struggles with body image and the relentless resilience and determination she has shown in coming back from career-threatening injuries.
Bethany Hutchison is one of eight female nurses who are taking their NHS Trust to an employment tribunal for allowing a trans woman to use their changing facilities at work. Bethany spoke to Nuala about why she feels she needed to bring this case, and how she hopes it will be resolved.
The film Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as Lucius and Connie Nielsen returns to her role as Lucilla. The sequel also includes a female gladiator for the first time, Yuval Gonen plays the role of Arishat. Anita is joined by classicist and author Dr Daisy Dunn and the film critic Larushka Ivan-zadeh to discuss how accurate this portrayal is and the role women play in the film.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Rebecca Myatt
Woman's Hour 