Woman's Hour

Being evicted from your home is an incredibly distressing time for anyone. Something 56-year-old Heidi Dodson is about to experience, she's being evicted by her private landlord from her home. She approached her local council for priority housing but was declined. In a letter from Thurrock Council, she was told she should be able to function 'reasonably well' if she ends up on the streets. Thurrock Council say they are 'truly sorry for the language used in this letter and the distress it has caused. Heidi speaks to Clare McDonnell along with Polly Neate, Chief Executive of housing charity Shelter. What is it really like to be a co-parent? Hayley Allen’s son spends the weekdays with his dad and she takes care of him at the weekends. Carly Harris’ two children spend 80% of their time with her and are looked after by their dad every other weekend. Clare talks to Hayley and Carly about the difficulties and benefits of co-parenting.Dr Jessica Taylor is a best-selling author and chartered psychologist who runs the research consultancy VictimFocus. Her new book, Underclass, is a memoir, detailing her childhood on a council estate in Stoke, the trauma and abuse she suffered and her journey to becoming a professional campaigning on behalf of other victims. Jessica joins Clare to talk about why she wanted to write it.As the second wife of Henry VIII Anne Boleyn’s life and death have been well-documented but what about her sister Mary? A new play, The Other Boleyn Girl, has opened at Chichester Festival Theatre based on Philippa Gregory's best-selling novel. Lucy Phelps plays Mary and Freya Mavor is Anne – they join Philippa Gregory in a conversation with Clare. Presenter: Clare McDonnell Producer: Emma Pearce

Research by internationally-renowned sex expert Dr Debby Herbenick from 2020 found that 21% of women had been choked during sex, with this being nearly twice as prevalent among adults under 40. Why are more young people including this as part of their sex lives and what are both the short and long-term health consequences? Dr Debby and Medical Director of the Institute for Addressing Strangulation, Dr Catherine White, talk to Clare McDonnell.As talks reach a conclusion in Ottawa this week on a legally binding global treaty on plastic pollution, we speak to film director and campaigner Eleanor Church. Her documentary, X Trillion, comes out this week, and takes the viewer on an all-female expedition to the North Pacific gyre, where much of the world's plastic waste ends up.What sort of responsibilities do employers have towards women who are abused online because of their job? Dr Rebecca Whittington is the Online Safety Editor for Reach Plc, which publishes newspapers including The Mirror and The Express. She explains how she protects journalists from online harm. Presenter: Clare McDonnell Producer: Kirsty Starkey Studio Manager: Neva Missirian

Catherine Carr has two teenage sons and, through talking to them and to other parents of teenaged boys, she became aware that boys were experiencing confusing and often troubling messages about their role in society. Catherine decided to speak to boys directly and, in a series which is running all week on Radio 4, About the Boys features the voices of teenage boys around the country discussing topics like sex and consent, masculinity, friendship, life online and education. She joins Clare McDonnell to talk about what she has learned.The trial of three men charged with the murder of Belfast journalist Lyra McKee begins today. Lyra McKee died aged 29 in April 2019 after being hit by a bullet during rioting in Londonderry/Derry. Her death made headlines all over the world, and her funeral was attended by hundreds of people, while thousands more watched online. BBC Ireland Correspondent Jennifer O'Leary speaks to Clare from outside court in Belfast.Perinatal suicide, while thankfully rare, is the leading cause of maternal death in the UK. A new study from King’s College London is the first of its kind to focus on the causes. The perinatal period runs from the start of pregnancy to a year after giving birth – and the suicide rates among these women has recently risen. Clare speaks to Dr Abigail Easter, the lead researcher, and Krystal Wilkinson, who shares her own experience.This week marks 30 years since South Africa’s first democratic elections following the end of apartheid. Millions of South Africans braved long queues to take part after decades of white minority rule which denied black people the right to vote. Clare talks to the BBC's Nomsa Maseko about her own memories of 30 years ago, and what has happened in her country since.

Zeinab Badawi discusses her book on African history, highlighting overlooked female leaders. Ashley Mullenger shares her journey from office job to Fisherman of the Year. Topics include stalking survivor experiences and menstrual vocal challenges in opera singers.

Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood film producer, has had his 2020 rape conviction in New York overturned. The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that he did not receive a fair trial, because prosecutors called witnesses whose accusations were not part of the charges against him. The trial was pivotal in the #MeToo movement, the awareness campaign against sexual abuse. Katie Razzall, the BBC’s Culture and Media Editor, and Rowena Chiu, who claimed she was sexually assaulted in a hotel room by Harvey Weinstein when she was his personal assistant in 1998, join Anita Rani to discuss the impact of the new ruling. In 2012, Ashley Mullenger signed up for a fishing trip on the coast of Norfolk which would change the course of her life. Her memoir, My Fishing Life, follows her journey from a 9-5 office job, into the overwhelmingly male fishing industry, to becoming 'Fisherman of the Year', in 2022. Ashley joins Anita to talk about stormy weather, new and old boats, friendship on the water and her personal tale of self discovery and acceptance. As part of the returning noughties fashion trends, ballet pumps are back. The flat, round-toed leather shoes that can be worn with anything. But why are they back? And should we be embracing them or avoiding them? Fashion Editor at The Times Harriet Walker joins Anita to discuss.The Comeuppance is a new play on at the Almeida Theatre in London where five former high-school friends meet up, 20 years on, to reminisce and reconnect. Instead, they end up drinking, fighting and ruing the disappointments of their middle-aged lives. Ursula, Caitlin and Kristina are played by Tamara Lawrance, Yolanda Kettle and Katie Leung who all join Anita in the Woman’s Hour studio.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Rebecca Myatt Studio manager: Donald MacDonald

Susie Hargreaves from IWF discusses disturbing child sexual abuse online. Beaux Harris shares her BRCA1 gene mutation story. Cassie Werber explores open relationships in her novel.

The broadcaster Zeinab Badawi joins Krupa Padhy to discuss her first book, An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence. The book has taken her seven years to research, travelling across 30 countries. She explains how the female African leaders that shaped their countries have often been written out of history. At the start of the year, acclaimed opera singer Sophie Bevan took to Twitter to ask if other female singers also had voice struggles around the time of their periods. This led to her discovery of premenstrual vocal syndrome, which is when hormone changes cause vocal issues. She talks about the impact this has had on her career, alongside Dr Alan Watson, specialist in the biology of performance at the University of Cardiff.Democrats in the US state of Arizona are attempting to repeal a law from 1864 that bans nearly all abortions. Also the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in an Idaho hospital case, on whether hospitals can override state abortion restrictions in order to save a mother’s life. New York Times correspondent Elizabeth Dias explains how abortion rights are shaping this year’s presidential election and which camp could benefit from the abortion debate. Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Olivia Skinner

Ten Men, A Year of Casual Sex is a new book from the author Kitty Ruskin. It follows a year of her life when she attempts to embody Samantha from Sex and the City and enjoy all the advantages of being young, free and single. As she details 10 men in 10 chapters, the stories range from sexy and funny to at times deeply confronting and violent, including rape. Kitty joins Krupa Padhy to discuss.Today, the government has accepted an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill they say could be a big step forward for rape victims. The amendment will help ensure extra protection for victims’ counselling notes, by raising the threshold that needs to be met for the police to ask for them. It’s something that charities like Rape Crisis and the End Violence Against Women Coalition have been campaigning for. Joining Krupa is Baroness Gabby Bertin, the Conservative peer who tabled the amendment.According to new research, people who are 65 think that old age begins just before you turn 75. However, 74-year-olds think old age starts at 77. Women think old age starts later than men do. So when are you 'old' and what does 'old' mean? Krupa speaks to Steph Daniels who re-joined her local hockey team at 75, after a 40-year gap, and has just started managing a band again.ARFID stands for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Commonly underdiagnosed as picky eating, we’ll hear how the eating disorder manifests in children and what it’s like for parents. Krupa speaks to a mother, Lisa Hale, whose son has the condition and Professor Sandeep Ranote, Clinical Spokesperson for the eating disorders charity BEAT.An adaption of Muriel Spark’s novel The Girls of Slender Means is currently on at The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. Set in the summer of 1945, it follows the adventures of a group of young women who are caught between hope and unhappiness. As each girl grapples with what happened in the war, they begin to imagine what lies ahead of them in peacetime. Actress and writer Gabriel Quigley tells Krupa how she felt adapting the words of one of the greatest British novelists.

The Kenyan distance runner Peres Jepchirchir won yesterday’s elite women's London Marathon, breaking the women’s only record with her time of 2:16:16. She beat the previous record set in 2017 of 2:17:01. This was the fastest time in a race without male pace makers. More than 50,000 people ran and some gave themselves an even bigger challenge than just running the course. Laura Bird from St Ives in Cambridgeshire ran with a fridge strapped to her back - aiming to earn a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Peres and Laura both join Krupa Padhy.Rhianon Bragg spoke to Woman’s Hour back in February about her concerns for her safety regarding the imminent release of her ex-boyfriend from prison, despite the fact that a Parole Board ruled a few months earlier that such a move would not be safe. In February 2020, Gareth Wynn Jones was given an extended determinate sentence of 4.5 years in prison, with an extended licence period of five years for the crimes of stalking, false imprisonment, making threats to kill and possession of a firearm. Now two months since his release and coinciding with National Stalking Awareness Week, we hear from Rhianon and also Emily Lingley Clark of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, has just been released. We thought it was a great excuse to look at the female poets, past and present, who could be considered ‘tortured’… Or is it more of a male trope? Classicist and author of Devine Might, Natalie Haynes, and Irish Indian poet Nikita Gill discuss.A BBC investigation has traced how a deadly form of synthetic drugs have been getting into the UK from China - and exposed the role of major social media platforms. Nitazenes, which are illegal in the UK, have been linked to more than 100 deaths in England and Wales since June 2023. We hear from Claire Rocha, whose son died after taking drugs unknowingly laced with Nitazene, and Caroline Copeland, a senior lecturer in toxicology and pharmacology at King’s College London.Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Kirsty Starkey Studio Manager: Emma Harth

This podcast explores the innovative Shift program in Greater Manchester, focusing on empowering at-risk youth through strong relationships and early intervention. It shares moving stories of vulnerable teenagers and a mother's heartbreak over her son's involvement in criminal activities. The episodes highlight the importance of trust, support, and understanding in helping troubled youth break free from negative cycles and rediscover their self-worth.