logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2022
55m 9s

Weekend Woman’s Hour: Grease stars Olivi...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

As the nation celebrates the Queen’s 70 year reign this jubilee weekend we ask what impact will the changes to primogeniture mean for future British monarchs? We hear from five historians, Alison Weir, Lady Antonia Fraser, Jung Chang, Tracey Borman and Kate Williams.

Author Julie Myerson’s new book is Nonfiction, a novel about a couple struggling with a daughter who is addicted to heroin. It's partly inspired by the experience of her own son's drug addiction. Julie joins Andrea Catherwood to talk about addiction, maternal love and the ethics of novel writing.

Grease IS the word! We meet actors Olivia Moore and Jocasta Almgill, who are taking on the roles of Sandy and Rizzo in a new production of one of the best-loved musicals of all time.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction has launched a campaign to encourage more men to read novels by women. Research, conducted for Mary Ann Sieghart’s The Authority Gap, found that of the top 10 bestselling female fiction authors, including Austen, Atwood and Agatha Christie, only 19% of their readers are men. We hear from Kate Mosse a best-selling novelist, playwright and founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

What’s it like to be a female bouncer? With the industry saying staff shortages are impacting their ability to keep people safe, they are making plans to hire more women. Michael Kill is CEO of the Night Time Industries Association and Carla Leigh is a Door Supervisor and is setting up her own security business focusing on getting women in to the industry.

Tahmima Anam is an anthropologist and a novelist. She's a big fan of silence and believes it can be harnessed to challenge sexism and expose bad behaviour.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed Editor: Karen Dalziel

PHOTO CREDIT: Manuel Harlan

Up next
May 2025
Teaching 'grit', Amnesty International UK, Brain Aneurysm play, New Age of Sexism
How do we teach children to have grit? That's what the Government is suggesting needs to be a new focus in schools, to bolster children's mental health. To discuss how parents can help their children develop resilience, Anita Rani is joined by Sue Atkins, parenting coach and auth ... Show More
57m 14s
May 2025
Kate Nash, Sarah Brown, Cardiac surgeon Dr Indu Deglurkar
Rising to fame at the age of 20, Kate Nash soon became a staple of the British music scene in the late 2000s. Her first album, Made of Bricks, reached number one in the UK and stayed in the UK charts for more than forty consecutive weeks and she’s won a Brit Award. But she’s spok ... Show More
56m 34s
Nov 22
Weekend Woman's Hour: Being fired, Boxer Francesca Hennessy, Women in Camps
<p>Former US magazine editors-in-chief Laura Brown and Kristina O'Neill were both ‘let go’ from their respective jobs. They felt blindsided, devastated and temporarily lost their identities - until, united, they learnt how to make a comeback. They joined Nuala McGovern to share t ... Show More
56m 44s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2022
Margaret Atwood on Stories, Deception and the Bible
<p>A good rule of thumb is that whatever Margaret Atwood is worried about now is likely what the rest of us will be worried about a decade from now. The rise of authoritarianism. A backlash against women’s social progress. The seductions and dangers of genetic engineering. Climat ... Show More
1h 8m
Jan 2019
Mary Queen of Scots, Approaching Empty, Leila Slimani, Fausto Melotti, Ride Upon The Storm
A new film telling the story of Mary Queen of Scots and her relationship with Elizabeth I, stars Saiorse Ronan and Margot Robbie as the 2 queens Approaching Empty is a new play by Ishy Din just opened at The Kiln Theatre in London. Set in a run-down minicab office in the north of ... Show More
50m 9s
Oct 2020
Gutsy Women (with Gloria Steinem and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha)
By now it’s an all-too-familiar phenomenon: A woman who dares to defy stereotypes or step out of her “place” gets called “shrill,” “bossy,” “ambitious,” or worse. But more often than not, those are the women who get the job done. Hillary talks to feminist activist Gloria Steinem ... Show More
44m 3s
Mar 2024
The Moth Radio Hour: Truth and Power - Global Stories of Women
In this hour, stories of female strength and empowerment. Independence at any age, refusing to participate in sexist societal conventions, and the complicated layers of motherhood. This hour is hosted by The Moth's Executive Producer, Sarah Austin Jenness. The Moth Radio Hour is ... Show More
54m 16s
Apr 2023
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood talks to John Wilson about the formative influences and experiences that shaped her writing. One of the world’s bestselling and critically acclaimed authors, Atwood has published over 60 books including novels, short stories, children’s fiction, non-fiction and po ... Show More
43m 42s
Apr 2019
Cate Blanchett
Oscar winning star Cate Blanchett invites Mariella to her home in the South Downs to peruse her bookshelves. After being greeted at the door by Doug the Pug, the pair settle down to discuss Cate’s most loved books, discovering the role they’ve played throughout her life – whether ... Show More
38m 9s
Jul 2021
Quentin Tarantino, YA Fiction, Report from Cannes, The Vegetable Seller
Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is a Hollywood veteran and it was the ending of Hollywood’s golden age that was the subject of his last film – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He’s now returned to the story of that film for his debut novel. In his only UK broadcast interview, he explai ... Show More
41m 28s
Jan 2024
21. Maria Manning - 'Lady Macbeth of Bermondsey'
Lucy Worsley travels back in time to revisit the unthinkable crimes of 19th century murderesses from the UK, Australia and North America.This episode sees Lucy traverse London, hot on the heels of Maria Manning, the so-called Lady Macbeth of Bermondsey, a woman who confounds expe ... Show More
29m 21s
Jan 2024
Women of Science Fiction: Pauline Hopkins
Pauline Hopkins (1859-1930) was a pioneering writer who published articles and serialized novels across genres. She’s known as the author of the first science fiction novel by a woman of color – written decades before the term sci-fi was widely used. Today, you can see her ideas ... Show More
5m 42s