logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2022
50m 3s

Women who made history

Bbc World Service
About this episode

To celebrate International Women's Day, a special edition on five women who've made their mark on history. US feminist Gloria Steinem remembers founding Ms Magazine in 1972; Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi discusses the human rights campaigning which won her the Nobel Peace Prize; and a friend of Anna Akhmatova remembers the great Russian poet. Plus, a leading Italian feminist on the international movement in the 1970s which demanded women get paid for housework; and the Australian women who helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War.

Picture: Gloria Steinem, centre, at the offices of Ms Magazine in New York circa 1974 (Credit: PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images)

Up next
Nov 22
Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain and ending the Bosnian war
<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Mercedes Peñalba- Sotorrío, a senior lecturer in modern European history at Manchester Metropolitan University, England.</p><p>We start with the death of General ... Show More
1 h
Nov 15
Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis
<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor.</p><p>We start with an archive interview of American Chuck Yeager who became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed ... Show More
1h 1m
Nov 8
The largest dinosaur and creating Miffy
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Darja Dankina, who's a palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. We start with the discovery of the largest dinosaur ever, uncovered by ... Show More
1 h
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
Gloria Steinem
<p>For over sixty years, Gloria Steinem has been at the center of American culture and political life, where she has been instrumental in shaping our ideas about feminism, humanity, and equal rights for all people. She joins to talk about her legendary career as an award-winning ... Show More
1h 14m
Mar 2022
Afghanistan's women's newspaper
Aina-E-Zan, the first women's newspaper in Afghanistan, was launched in 2002. Edited by Shukria Barazkai, the newspaper covered women's rights issues in depth, as well as criticizing the warlords who controlled much of the country at the time. Even though this was a relatively op ... Show More
9m 1s
Mar 2022
The Wages for Housework campaign
They called it "The only work you never retire from, the only work you never get paid for" and in 1972 the Italian Marxist Feminist group Lotta Feminista tried to change that. Inspired by the work of feminist theorist Mariarosa Dalla Costa, they launched an international campaign ... Show More
11m 55s
Jun 2023
Season 6: Hear the lives of some of history’s most notable women
In season 6, we hear about some of history’s most notable women. A 'Mother of the Nation', a communist revolutionary, an aviation pioneer, an unconventional artist, a politician and a survivalist. Winnie Mandela out on Friday, June 23rd! Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, ... Show More
1m 36s
Mar 2022
Women’s March on Pretoria, 1956
<p>This 1956 march was a protest against pass laws that were part of South Africa&rsquo;s system of apartheid &ndash; and specifically the requirement that women carry passes. The protest was simultaneously part of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and the movement for ... Show More
33m 34s
Oct 2022
The Iranian Revolution and women
Many women supported Iran’s 1979 revolution against the monarchy but some later became disillusioned. Islamic rules about how women dressed were just one of the things that women objected to. Sharan Tabari spoke to Lucy Burns in 2014 about her experiences during, and after, the I ... Show More
11m 4s
Mar 2024
Women’s History Month, Policy Issues, and Fighting for Gender Justice
March is Women’s History Month where we celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States throughout American history in a variety of fields. Charlotte E. Ray. Belva Lockwood. Sandra Day O’Connor. Ruth Bader Ginsberg. These are just some of the standout women who h ... Show More
32m 47s
Nov 2020
Wonder Woman Part 2
After her creator died, Wonder Woman strayed quite a bit from where she began. She had her wings clipped by the censors in the 1950s, and lost her powers entirely in the 1960s. It took Gloria Steinem, Ms. Magazine, and the 1970s to bring Wonder Woman back to her feminist roots. L ... Show More
1h 3m