Woman's Hour

Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

At the end of January, the US government released new files from its investigation into the sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The latest drop of material consists of three million pages, and thousands of images and videos. But why has the focus of the coverage been on the political fallout, appearing to show exchanges with high-profile men? What does this say about society’s attitude to women more broadly? Some have already been voicing their concerns. Nuala McGovern is joined by Times journalist Helen Rumbelow and Penny East, Chief Executive at the Fawcett Society.
At 41, Lindsey Vonn was hoping to become the oldest athlete to win a downhill skiing medal. The American skier has dominated the sport winning 84 World Cup races along with her three Olympic Winter Games medals. Having already suffered an ACL injury ahead of the Games, but still determined to compete, during the downhill event yesterday she crashed just a few seconds into her race. She had to be airlifted off the course. To find out more, we speak to two-time Winter Olympic snowboarder and broadcaster Aimee Fuller.
Tonight BBC’s Panorama focuses on the murder of two teenage boys in South London, Daejaun Campbell and Kelyan Bokassa, killed in 2024 and 2025 - both victims of child criminal exploitation and groomed by local gangs. Nuala speaks to Jodian Taylor, Daejaun’s mother, and BBC’s Frankie McCamley, the documentary’s reporter.
A new exhibition at the Charles Dickens museum celebrates the women who influenced the great Victorian novelist's female characters, social commentary and campaigning to improve the lives of vulnerable women. But how does this sit alongside the other, darker narrative, that Dickens himself was a misogynist who mistreated his own wife? To sort the fact from the fiction, the exhibition curator Kirsty Parsons & the historian Professor Jenny Hartley are in the Woman's Hour studio.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Kirsty Starkey

The ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry started again this week. It is believed at least 50 women were duped into intimate relationships with undercover officers over decades. Alison, not her real name, spent five years living with a man she knew as Mark Cassidy, who was in fact a married undercover Police Officer whose real name was Mark Jenner. She joins Nuala McGovern along with BBC London journalist Ayshea Buksh, who has been following this inquiry.
The government has announced plans to relax fostering rules and create 10,000 new places for vulnerable children in England. Roxy and her mum Judy, from the BBC’s recent Traitors series, join Nuala to discuss. Roxy was fostered until the age of five before being adopted by Judy. They are also joined by Sarah Thomas, Chief Executive of The Fostering Network.
Paula Varjack talks to Anita about her show Nine Sixteenths. It examines the fallout from the infamous Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake ‘wardrobe malfunction’ incident at the 2004 Superbowl and the backlash that almost ruined Jackson’s career. The play questions what this says about the demographics of who controls the media, the scrutinising of black women in the public eye and asks if anything has changed.
We hear a lot about ‘mum guilt’, but what about the guilt that can come along with not becoming a mother? Writer Ellen C Scott is child-free by choice but has recently experienced guilt towards her parents because she won’t be providing them with grandchildren. She recently explored the topic for Stylist magazine and was surprised by how much it resonated with other women. Ellen and psychotherapist Professor Hannah Sherbersky discuss.
AI companions are becoming increasingly common, with one in three adults now using them for conversation, advice and support. Now recent research from Bangor University has shown that many teen AI companion users believe their bots can think or understand. That research prompted Nicola Bryan, a reporter for BBC Wales News to investigate and acquire an "AI boyfriend" of her own in the process. Nicola talks to Anita about what happened next.
The Puppini Sisters are celebrating 20 years of their antique pop, neo-burlesque swing music. Their new album The Birthday Party marks two decades since their debut, Betcha Bottom Dollar, spent almost a year on the Billboard chart in the US. It became the fastest-selling jazz album in UK chart history, with their fans including Robbie Williams and King Charles. They join Nuala to discuss their music.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor

The cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw has been nominated for an Academy Award for “Sinners," an American horror film nominated this year for a record sixteen Oscars and thirteen BAFTAs. It's a period drama written and directed by Ryan Coogler, set in the 1930s South, with a supernatural twist. Autumn’s previous credits include The Last Showgirl and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Anita talks to Autumn about her career so far and becoming the first woman of colour - and only the fourth woman ever - to be recognized in the Oscars cinematography category.
Following the summer riots in 2024, the Women and Equalities Committee examined the impact of increasing tensions on women in Muslim communities across the UK and reported that the online, verbal and physical abuse and discrimination faced by Muslim women was having a ‘deeply damaging impact on individual lives and a corrosive effect on community cohesion’. Baroness Shaista Gohir OBE, CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network and Iman Atta, CEO of Tell Mama join Anita to discuss the WEC’s findings.
AI companions are becoming increasingly common, with one in three adults now using them for conversation, advice and support. Now recent research from Bangor University has shown that many teen AI companion users believe their bots can think or understand. That research prompted Nicola Bryan, a reporter for BBC Wales News to investigate and acquire an "AI boyfriend" of her own in the process. Nicola talks to Anita about what happened next.
Autism probably affects girls and boys equally, according to a long term study by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The new research challenges previously held assumptions that autism is more common among males; it found that by the age of twenty, the male-to-female ratio of diagnoses was equal. But in children aged under ten, four boys are diagnosed for every one girl. To discuss the findings, Anita is joined by Doctor Judith Brown, Head of Evidence and Research at the National Autistic Society and Betsey, an autistic 18-year old university student.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rebecca Myatt

New research which has just been published in the British Medical Journal, suggests that testing menstrual blood for signs of cervical cancer could be an accurate way of screening for the disease. The BBC's Health Correspondent, Sophie Hutchinson, and Fiona Osgun, Head of Health information at Cancer Research UK join Anita Rani to talk about this new area of research and discuss the options currently open to women.
English actor Imogen Poots is back on our screens taking on a challenging role in Kristen Stewart’s first feature film, The Chronology of Water. It’s a creative adaptation of an acclaimed memoir by American writer Lidia Yuknavitch which centres on her coming to terms with being abused as a child, battling pain and loss, and her ongoing healing journey. Imogen Poots joins Anita in the studio.
The Kurdish-led self-administration in the north east of Syria is a territory where for years women have sat at the centre of political life, security and decision-making. But many are worried that the system is now under pressure following a new agreement between Kurdish authorities and the Syrian government, which will integrate the region into the Syrian state being rebuilt after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in 2024. Anita is joined by Lina Shaikhouni, journalist at the BBC World Service and Dilar Dirik, Kurdish writer and author of The Kurdish Women’s Movement: History, Theory, Practice.
Paula Varjack talks to Anita about her show Nine Sixteenths. It examines the fallout from the infamous Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake ‘wardrobe malfunction’ incident at the 2004 Superbowl and the backlash that almost ruined Jackson’s career. The play questions what this says about the demographics of who controls the media, the scrutinising of black women in the public eye and asks if anything has changed?
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer : Corinna Jones