The celebrations to mark her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee have officially begun. with events up and down the country over the coming months. One woman who's preparing her own very special tribute to the Queen is 92 year old Margaret Seaman. Margaret made headlines last year with her 'knitted Sandringham' which painstakingly recreated the palace and grounds of the Queen's Norfolk estate. Margaret joins Emma from her home in Great Yarmouth.
Imagine finding out the love of your life never existed. Donna McLean first heard about undercover cops having relationships with female activists in 2010 when Mark Kennedy, an undercover police officer who had spent years pretending to be an environmental campaigner, was unmasked. She didn’t realise until years later she was also a victim of the Spy Cops scandal. Over 40 years, British police officers were sent undercover to infiltrate left-wing activist groups. Over 30 women, so far, have found out the men they fell in love were actually spying on them. In 2015 a message from an old friend turned Donna’s life upside down. She found out the 2 year long relationship she’d had with locksmith Carlo was in fact a lie. He was an undercover police officer. She has written a memoire Small Town Girl: Love, Lies and The Undercover Police.
You may have heard the term 'pregnant people' being used in place of 'pregnant women'. It's intended to be inclusive of trans men and nonbinary people who are having a baby. Today a global group of women's health experts publish an article in the journal Frontiers of Global Women's Health, arguing that there are unintended consequences to shifting the language of reproduction in this way. They say these include compromising the accuracy of some medical research and results, and the dehumanisation of women by using terms that refer to them only by body part or function - for example 'cervix haver' or 'birth-giver'. Jenny Gamble, Professor of Midwifery at Coventry University, is one of the co-authors of the article and joins Emma.
The Gilded Age is a new TV series created by Julian Fellowes - of Downton Abbey fame - which follows the lives of high society women in 1880s New York. But who are the real historical figures who inspired the series? We speak to social and fashion historian Elizabeth Block.
Lata Mangeshkar, one of India's most beloved singers, has died aged 92. Described as the 'nightingale of Bollywood', she had a career that spanned more than half a century and her voice was the soundtrack to hundreds of Bollywood films. Her funeral took place earlier today in India, attended by Prime Minister Modi and stars of the entertainment industry. Two days of national mourning will follow. To reflect on her extraordinary legacy, Emma is joined by BBC presenter Nikki Bedi.
Image: Sandringham as knitted by Margaret Seaman Credit: Keiron Tovell