The Conversation cover image

The Conversation

Latest episodes

undefined
Dec 31, 2018 • 28min

Women Styling Bollywood and Hollywood

A floor-length gown, a strong pose and hundreds of flashing cameras: Kim Chakanetsa brings together the women behind the glamour, making actors and models look good on the red carpet, on stage and even on the street. They are stylists working for some of the most photographed women in Bollywood and Hollywood. How does fashion shape these celebrities' careers, and how do they handle the scrutiny and criticism their clients can receive?Tanya Ghavri is one of Bollywood's busiest stylists. With a decade of experience in the business, Tanya has styled India’s A-list including the actors Kareena Kapoor, Frieda Pinto and Katrina Kaif. Tanya says traditionally Indian designs tend to gain more traction on social media, but Western styles and brands are all over the high street. Some of Tanya's celebrity clients have faced a backlash for wearing more revealing outfits. Emma Watson, Chrissy Teigen and Chanel Iman are among the stars Anita Patrickson has dressed. She grew up on a farm in South Africa and is now an established stylist based in Los Angeles. She began her career working for Condé Nast, and now styles editorial and advertising campaigns as well as the red carpet. She says while her work is focused on making her client look fabulous and feel comfortable, it is also about developing a strategic relationship with a brand.L: Tanya Ghavri (credit: Neha Chandrakant) R: Anita Patrickson (credit: JSquared)
undefined
Dec 24, 2018 • 28min

Parkour women: The city is my playground

Gaining freedom and strength from your everyday environment. The sport of parkour involves moving around urban obstacles as quickly as possible. Athletes run up walls, scale fences, and jump between roofs. Two female parkour enthusiasts tell Kim Chakanetsa what this sport gives them in areas where women can feel unsafe in the streets.Reem El-Taweel is a parkour athlete from Egypt, living in Dubai. She says when she was living in Egypt it was tough to train because of the street harassment she faced. When she first started she was the only girl, but now more girls are getting into it. She moved to Dubai to follow her dreams and become an assistant parkour coach. She says as a hijabi athlete she is also breaking a stereotype. Silke Sollfrank is a professional parkour athlete from Munich. Her gymnastic background allowed her to quickly develop her own playful style of movement, which has attracted a lot of attention in the parkour scene. She has more than 20k followers on Instagram and landed a spot on Netflix's intense obstacle course series Ultimate Beastmaster, where she was the last female finalist. Silke is the only female athlete in her parkour team.Left: Reem El-Taweel (credit: Katy Vickers) Right: Silke Sollfrank (credit: Matthias Voß)
undefined
Dec 17, 2018 • 27min

War Through A Woman’s Lens

As a conflict photographer you need bravery, passion and an ability to bear witness to unimaginable horror. Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women who are exceptional photojournalists and asks do female photographers look at conflict differently?   The American photographer Lynsey Addario is one of very few women on the frontline, documenting major wars and humanitarian crises around the world. During her career she has been kidnapped twice, but despite the toll on her personal life, she remains committed to revealing the cost of war. Though she says she has received criticism for working while pregnant, being a woman has given her unique access to the lives of women in war zones. Her work has garnered her numerous awards and she was part of the New York Times team that won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2009. Her most recent book is called Of Love and War and is her first published collection of photographs.   Poulomi Basu is an Indian documentary photographer who has been described as a visual activist for her fearless examination of systemic injustices. Her lens focuses on stories that often go ignored or underreported, particularly those of women in isolated communities and conflict zones. She says it is important to bring the perspectives of women of colour to photojournalism. Her images have appeared in a wide range of publications and she has received a number of photography awards, including a Magnum Foundation Award and a National Geographic Grant. Image: Poulomi Basu by Flora Thomas (L) Lynsey Addario by Nichole Sobecki (R)
undefined
Dec 10, 2018 • 27min

Women Opening Up Classical Music

Why is classical music still so male and pale, and what can be done about it? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two leading female musicians who are working to challenge the status quo and open up orchestras to more women and people of colour.Of Nigerian-Irish parentage, Chi-chi Nwanoku realised that 30 years into an illustrious career as a double-bassist she was still one of vanishingly few non-white faces on the classical music stage. So in 2015 she started Chineke!, Europe’s first majority-black and minority ethnic orchestra. Her project is already bearing fruit, with one of her members Sheku Kanneh-Mason, playing solo at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.Mei-Ann Chen is a conductor from Taiwan, and Musical Director at the Chicago Sinfonietta - a professional orchestra founded in the 1980s to showcase the talent of African American and Latino musicians. As well as insisting on diversity in her orchestra and the music they play, Mei-Ann is passionate about opening up the overwhelmingly male-dominated world of conducting to more women, and says she would never have succeeded without a female mentor. You heard extracts from:Dances in the Canebrakes by Florence Price, performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta conducted by Mei-Ann Chen, which will be included on a new CD released in March 2019 on Cedille Records.The second movement of Dvorak's Ninth Symphony in E Minor "From the New World" performed by the Chineke! Orchestra, conducted by Kevin John Edusei. Available on Hyperion Records.(L) Image and credit: Mei-Ann Chen (R) Image: Chi-chi Nwanoku (credit: Eric Richmond)
undefined
Dec 3, 2018 • 27min

Disabled Women Challenging Stereotypes

Nelufar Hedayat unites two women with disabilities from Toronto and Mumbai, who are challenging misconceptions about their sexuality and what they’re capable of achieving. Maayan Ziv is a fashion photographer and entrepreneur from Toronto, Canada. She uses a wheelchair and became frustrated with the lack of information about accessibility of venues in her city. Having discovered early on that technology can alter the day to day life of disabled people all over the globe, she decided to develop an app. It is called AccessNow and uses crowd-sourcing technology to create an accessible map of a city. It's now operational in 35 countries around the world. Nidhi Goyal is an activist and comedian from Mumbai. At the age of 14 she began to lose her sight, which she maintains allowed her to ‘see more clearly’ the barriers that disabled people face. She is India’s first female disabled stand-up comedian, using humour to challenge the way people think about dating with disability and sexuality. She founded the non-profit Rising Flame which advocates for women with disabilities, and delivers disability and inclusion training to companies across India. Produced by Katie Pennick for BBC World Service.Image: (L) Nidhi Goyal Credit: Sahil Kotwani (R) Maayan Ziv
undefined
Nov 26, 2018 • 27min

Wrongfully Convicted Women

Take your baby into prison or leave them behind? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women from Kenya and the US faced with that reality when their lives were up-ended by their wrongful imprisonment. They talk about how they found a purpose while serving time, and have since gone on to support others.Sunny Jacobs was sentenced to death for her role in an alleged double murder in the US in 1976. Separated from her two children, she served five years in solitary confinement - and was only finally released on appeal in 1992, after 17 years behind bars. Sunny met and married another man who had served time on death row. They have set up a sanctuary at their home in Ireland, for others who have been wrongfully incarcerated.Teresa Njoroge served time in Kenya for a financial crime she didn't commit. When her sentence began, she chose to take her three-month old baby into prison with her. Sharing a cell with 50 to 60 other inmates, she was shocked by the plight of the women she met and the revolving door of crime and poverty. After her release - and exoneration - she set up Clean Start Kenya, an organisation that empowers female inmates to better prepare for reintegration into society.Left: Sunny Jacobs (credit: Alexander Duyck) Right: Teresa Njoroge (credit: Titus Kimutai)
undefined
Nov 19, 2018 • 27min

Beauty Pageants: What's in them for Women?

Gowns, glittery bikinis and a lot of hair spray: thousands of women around the world wear them on stage every year, hoping to win a beauty pageant. Many say these pageants are demeaning and outdated but others argue that beauty pageants can be life changing experiences that help contestants to go on to academic and professional success. Kim Chakanetsa brings together two beauty queens to find out what's in it for women? Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers is an Anguillan-British barrister and former athlete who is the first black woman to represent Great Britain at a Miss Universe pageant. She says that since winning her title this year many women of colour have reached out to congratulate her for representing black female beauty. She says that she entered pageantry for self-development and hopes that future competitions will change their requirements to allow single mothers to compete. Jamie Herrell is a Filipino-American business entrepreneur who won Miss Earth for the Philippines in 2014. Initially she thought pageants were degrading for women but entered to earn some extra money when her father became unwell. She says there are many different sides to pageantry and many different reasons why women compete. Since winning she has launched an eco flip-flop business to help tourism in the Philippines.Producer: Sarah KendalImage: (L) Jamie Herrell Credit: Euguene Herrera (R) Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers Credit: Kev Wise
undefined
Nov 12, 2018 • 27min

A Dangerous Place To Be A Woman

The most extreme hate crime against women is femicide, the act of killing a person because they are a woman. But there is a growing movement of women who are taking a stand against this crime and demanding that their community takes it seriously. Nelufar Hedayat talks to two activists from countries where the death toll for women through violence is high: Mexico and Pakistan.Khalida Brohi grew up in Pakistan and saw her family being torn apart when her cousin Khadija was strangled to death with their uncle suspected of having killed her. This spurred Khalida on to fight against so-called honour killings. She says the problem with so-called honour killings is that people merge religion with tradition and are ignorant of what the Quran actually says about respecting women. She decided to work with tribal leaders to change attitudes. Through her organisation Sughar, Khalida gives women practical skills, empowering them economically and giving them confidence. She has written a book about her experiences called I Should Have Honour. Andrea Narno Hijar is a graphic artist and activist in Mexico, where the UN estimated in 2016 that 7 women a day are being murdered. Using her skills as a graphic artist, Andrea is trying to draw attention to this, even though she says it's something most Mexicans don't want to talk about. She says as a woman living in Mexico she faces harassment and violence everyday. She designs posters and puts them up around Mexico City to raise awareness about femicide and to challenge machismo in her culture.Image and credit: (L) Andrea Narno Hijar and (R) Khalida Brohi
undefined
Nov 5, 2018 • 27min

Campaigners for Gay Women's Rights

Campaigning for gay rights in Uganda and Sri Lanka - Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women activists in countries where homosexual acts are punishable with a prison sentence.Kasha Nabagesera has been described as 'the face of Uganda's LGBT movement'. Since her twenties Kasha has fought for the rights of her fellow lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, which has brought her into conflict with the authorities. She says she faces daily harassment and serious threats, and doesn't walk the streets alone for fear of attack, but it's worth it. Kasha now runs Kuchu Times, a multi-media platform for the sexual health and rights of queer Africans.In Sri Lanka, consensual sex between women was only criminalised in 1995. Rosanna Flamer-Caldera is an activist who returned to Sri Lanka after living in San Francisco and founded an organisation called Equal Ground, which educates and lobbies on behalf of LBGT+ people. She says as a lesbian she has to be hyper-vigilant at all times, and can't really have a personal life. Rosanna wants to achieve decriminalisation of homosexuality in her country by 2020. Image: (L) Rosanna Flamer-Caldera (R) Kasha Jaqueline Nabagesera Credit: Christine Dierenbach
undefined
Oct 29, 2018 • 27min

Women demanding equality in sport

Is women's sport still not taken as seriously as men's? What needs to happen to achieve the same pay, prize money and media coverage as their male counterparts?  Presenter Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women about how they have fought to get equality with men in their chosen sport.  Kathryn Bertine was a professional cyclist in the US for five years. She was shocked to discover that the average earnings of a professional female cyclist are well below the poverty line.  She was so outraged that she lobbied successfully for a women's version of the Tour de France. But Kathryn believes that this new race is 'tokenism' because it lasts for only one day. Kathryn has gone on to co-found Homestretch Foundation, a charity to support female cyclists financially as they train for events and compete.  Hajra Khan is the Captain of the Pakistan women's national football team but says they are given less priority than the men. When she first got into football she says sportswomen were looked down on in her country. Although attitudes are slowly changing she says that there is still a huge wage gap and her club has had to train on local cricket grounds. Hajra is organising a match in Pakistan with female players from around the world to raise awareness and to get better opportunities for female footballers.Produced by Sarah KendalImage: (L) Hajra Khan. Credit: Huma Akram (R) Kathryn Bertine. Credit: courtesy of Cylance Pro Cycling.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode