logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2023
55m 47s

Hadley Freeman, Baroness Warsi, Derry Gi...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

The writer Hadley Freeman stopped eating when she was 14, and spent the next three years in and out of hospital, battling with anorexia. Now in her mid-forties, she says she didn’t completely close the door on the disease until relatively recently. In Good Girls – A Story and Study of Anorexia, she gives an unflinching account of what happened to her and looks at what happens to girls who become anorexic now; what we know and what we don’t about the mental illness.

Brian Friel’s classic play Dancing at Lughnasa has opened at the National Theatre. Telling the story of the five Mundy sisters, two of the actors, more recently on our screens in Derry Girls - Siobhan McSweeney and Louisa Harland - discuss their new roles.

Emma Booth is on the Woman's Hour Power List, this year focussed on women in sport. Emma impressed the judges as she took a public stand against major golf brand TaylorMade and their lack of female imagery and golf products for women. She reflects on speaking out against such a well-known company and how it is to be a woman in golf.

The conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has criticised the home secretary Suella Braverman for using "racist rhetoric". She says her recent comments on small boats and grooming gangs have "emboldened racists". We ask her why she's decided to speak out.

Have you ever heard an interview with a robot on the radio? We speak to the world’s first ultra-realistic artist robot, Ai-Da, and her creator, Aidan Meller.

What’s it like to become a pop star at almost 46? Twenty years ago Alexis Strum had a record deal and achieved her dream to make an album, but then it was pulled. She walked away from music – until now. She shares her story with Nuala.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Lucy Wai Editor: Louise Corley

Up next
Aug 22
Woman's Hour Special: Women's Rugby World Cup
Join Anita Rani as she broadcasts live from Blaydon Rugby Club in Gateshead ahead of the first game of the Women's Rugby World Cup. Tonight England kick off the tournament on home soil by facing the USA in Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. To preview tonight's game and the tour ... Show More
56m 59s
Aug 21
Jess Folley, Boudicca's Daughter, Alzheimer's research
Jess Folley has been a popstar for almost a decade and she's still only 22. At 14 she won The Voice Kids and later triumphed on X Factor: The Band, with pop group RLY. Since then she's been carving out a career as a songwriter and releasing music under her own name. Jess tells Da ... Show More
53m 14s
Aug 20
Sister Bliss, Maternity reports, River women, Karis Kelly
Sister Bliss started out DJing on London’s gay club scene, before co-founding Faithless in 1995 and became one of the few women of her generation to help shape UK dance culture. Faithless have sold more than 20 million albums and amassed close to a billion streams. 30 years on fr ... Show More
55m 43s
Recommended Episodes
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
Apr 2023
15. Women's Bodies. Women's Rights
In this episode of Lady Killers, Lucy Worsley, Professor Rosalind Crone and broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika discuss the first four cases - brothel-keeper Mary McKinnon, chocolate-cream killer Christiana Edmonds, enslaved woman Margaret Garner and abortionist Elizabeth Taylor. They ex ... Show More
28m 40s
Aug 2019
Amanda Palmer On Radical Compassion & The Power Of Vulnerability
“We will stay crippled in the darkness if we cannot feel compassion for the heart that is the darkest.” Amanda Palmer Today's guest is many things. A fiercely independent singer, songwriter and musician. A bestselling author and blogger. A playwright and director. A riveting spea ... Show More
1h 23m
Jun 2022
Paula Rego Remembered, Cressida Cowell, Elif Shafak, Stones In His Pockets
Artist Paula Rego remembered. Following the sad news today of the death of one of the most important figurative painters of our times, we look back on her life and work with art critic Louisa Buck.Outgoing Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell on why she’s pushing the government to ... Show More
42m 18s
Dec 2019
'Don't move your hair so much' with Self Esteem, Maisie Peters, Rakel Mjoll and Alex Cameron
Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem hosts this week's Music Life - the show where some of the best musicians from all over the world get together to talk about how they make music, and their lives as musicians. Joining her are some other great pop musicians. Alex Cameron is a sin ... Show More
31m 25s
May 2022
Prodigies: Hazel Scott
Hazel Scott (1920-1981) was a musical genius who advocated for equal rights in the entertainment industry. She dazzled audiences with her jazz renditions of the likes of Chopin and Bach while bucking racial stereotypes and constraints to become one of the first Black women to hos ... Show More
8m 52s
Jun 2020
Helen McCrory, actress
Helen McCrory shares the eight tracks, book and luxury she would want to take with her if cast away to a desert island. Helen McCrory OBE is one of the most versatile and critically acclaimed actresses working today. On screen she has played Anna Karenina, Cherie Blair (twice), H ... Show More
38m 57s
Apr 2018
Amy Schumer: A Modern-Day Warrior Woman
Amy Schumer, the Peabody- and Emmy-winning comedian, actress and best-selling author, discusses one of Oprah's favorite life lessons: You become what you believe. This message of empowerment is the theme of Amy's latest romantic comedy, "I Feel Pretty." Amy's character in the fil ... Show More
1h 1m
Apr 2024
Disappearing Acts: Clara Bow
Clara Bow (1905-1965) was an American film star of the 1920s. Her flapper persona helped bring about the “it” girl and popularize the fads of the era. Her sudden retirement at the age of 28 essentially erased her from later films as the studio system grew, but she left an undenia ... Show More
7m 39s