The Conversation

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.)

Whitley 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 Najwan Noor. (R) Lei Ying Lee credit Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.)

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from Nigeria and the UK who are trying to ensure what we throw away doesn’t go to waste.Esther Fagbo is a partner at Wecyclers in Nigeria – a for-profit social enterprise that pays waste pickers and households for their recyclable rubbish in densely populated Lagos. Alongside her work at Wecyclers she has carried out projects with Fair Plastic Alliance, an NGO that supports the health and livelihood of waste workers, including a 2024 documentary Heroes of Recycling.Maxine Mayhew is chief operating officer, collections and specialist services at Biffa, one of the UK's largest waste-management companies. They work out what can be recycled and deliver to recycling centres. Maxine oversees collections and sorting of household waste for local authorities, as well as all industrial and commercial collection and waste from construction and demolitions. She also heads up the company shop group which stops goods that could be in the food chain going to landfill, so that they can instead go to those facing food poverty.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Maxine Mayhew credit Biffa. (R) Esther Fagbo credit Fotovillager/Asere Oluwatunmise Samuel.)

Spoken word poetry is a powerful tool for storytelling, activism and self-expression. Ella Al-Shamahi speaks to two award-winning poets who use the craft to amplify issues they care about.Sofie Frost is a Norwegian actor, slam poet and spoken word artist. She won the Norwegian Poetry Slam Championship in 2017 and was a finalist for Norway's Got Talent the following year. Sofie's poems have repeatedly gone viral, amassing millions of views online.Wana Udobang from Nigeria is a writer, poet and performer. She has released three spoken word albums that explore the themes of familial relationships, womanhood, joy and the body. Wana's work has been commissioned by organisations including the Edinburgh International Festival, Deutsches Museum and the Gates Foundation.Produced by Emily Naylor(Image: (L) Sofie Frost credit Astrid Sand Samnøy. (R) Wana Udobang credit Boye Oyewusi.)