Woman's Hour Folgen

Today marks 75 years since VE day and we remember the end of war in Europe. We speak to Shirley Mann about how her mother’s own war experience inspired her to track down more women’s stories from this time. She shares the stories she discovered of the women who were pilots, wireless operators, and even “plotters” in the Battle of Britain bunker – and what they did next. Three women from the Armed Forces are taking legal action against the MOD claiming they are victims of sexual assault and rape. Their cases have already gone through military courts but there were no convictions and they believe justice would be better served if their cases were dealt with through the usual routes: the police and the CPS. We hear from lawyer Emma Norton, director of a new organisation called the Centre for Military Justice, who is representing the three women. Is Ireland going through a ‘golden age of literature’ when it comes to women’s writing? Sally Rooney and Anna Burns are hugely popular but what is behind this boom in new writing? Writers Lucy Caldwell and Jan Carson discuss.Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been hearing from women around the world who have dragged out their sewing machines to make face masks at home. In the Czech Republic masks are mandatory so Marcela has been doing her bit as she tells Maria Margaronis. For some people lockdown has proved the perfect time for some DIY and home improvements - from wallpapering to tiling to even a spot of joinery. How comfortable are you about doing the work yourself? We discuss the dos and don’ts with DIY expert Jo Behari and Sarah Beeny, presenter of HGTV’s ‘Renovate Don’t Relocate.’

The leaders of the USA, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Italy and the UK have come in for some criticism over their handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. They all have one thing in common, and it has been widely remarked on – they’re men. From Jacinda Ardern to Angela Merkel, women leaders across the world seem to be coping with Covid-19 better. But is it true? And, what might explain why? Jenni talks to Rosie Campbell, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and Professor of Politics at King’s College London and Clare Wenham, Assistant Professor in Global Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.Could your relationship survive one partner’s endurance sport obsession? In her new novel The Motion of the Body Through Space, Lionel Shriver explores the impact of extreme exercise on the ageing body and on one marriage in particular. Since taking aim at the whole concept of cultural appropriation in a speech at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival in 2016, Shriver has become well known for her criticism of identity politics. How does that manifest in the book? She joins Jenni to discuss.Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been hearing from women around the world who are making face masks at home for family, health-workers and in this case child refugees in camps in Greece. Rabha Nasr who lives in Greece now spoke to Maria Margaronis, who asked her to choose some music she listens to when she sews.Next week marks 200 years since the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. We discuss her life, and legacy and impact on nursing in 2020. Anne-Marie Rafferty, Professor of Nursing Policy, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursery, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College, London joins Jenni along with Greta Westwood, CEO of the Florence Nightingale Foundation.Presented by Jenni Murray Produced by Sarah Crawley Interviewed guest: Rosie Campbell Interviewed guest: Clare Wenham Interviewed guest: Lionel Shriver Interviewed guest: Rabha Nasr Interviewed guest: Anne-Marie Rafferty Interviewed guest: Greta Westwood Reporter: Maria Margaronis

Anna Lapwood is one of the UK’s few female concert organists. She was the first woman to be awarded an Organ Scholarship at Magdalen College, Oxford, in its 560-year history. She was then appointed the youngest ever Director of Music at Pembroke College at Cambridge University aged just 21. She has used this position to spearhead a number of initiatives including a choir for 11-18 year old girls and the Cambridge Organ Experience for Girls which encourages girls to take up the organ. We hear her Pembroke Chapel Choir performing Media Vita by Karensa Briggs. Anna's also making her presenting debut hosting BBC Four’s coverage of the BBC Young Musician 2020. MPs are to try to outlaw the courtroom murder defence of “rough sex gone wrong” during parliamentary debates on the domestic abuse bill, as cases of domestic violence soar during the coronavirus lockdown. Elizabeth Yardley is Professor of Criminology and Director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. She tells us about her research into femicide in Great Britain in the 21st Century and what action she thinks needs to be taken to save women's lives and achieve justice for those killed.In 1964, June Almeida identified the first human coronavirus at her laboratory in St Thomas' Hospital in London. Her paper to a peer-reviewed journal was rejected because the referees said the images she produced were just bad pictures of influenza virus particles. She died in 2007 and is only now getting recognition. Medical writer, George Winter explains more about how her research helps us in understanding COVID-19.Inspired by the tradition of May Queens, the Queens of Industry represented industries like coal mining, railways, wool and cotton. The tradition began in the 1920s and took young women out of their day to day lives to promote their industry and represent their fellow workers. They were celebrated at an exhibition at Leeds Industrial Museum in 2018 and Louise Adamson talked to the exhibition’s curator, John McGoldrick; Deborah Barry, who was Northumbria Coal Queen in 1982 and Doreen Fletcher, née Kerfoot, who was Yorkshire Wool Queen in 1947.Another in our series of interviews with women around the world who are sewing face masks at home for family, friends and sometimes health-workers to wear during the pandemic. Sara Fitzell is Maori and lives on the North Island of New Zealand.Presented by Jenni Murray Produced by Jane ThurlowInterviewed guest: Elizabeth Yardley Interviewed guest: George Winter Interviewed guest: Anna Lapwood Reporter: Louise Adamson Reporter: Maria Margaronis