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PODCAST

Woman"s Hour

Women"s voices and women"s lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire. The Woman"s Hour Guide to Life collection is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/guidetolife

society & culture

All Episodes

57:09

Cervical cancer testing, Imogen Poots, Syria and...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/02/05

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

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57:09

Foster care expansion, Romola Garai, Greenland’s...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/02/04

The government has announced that fostering rules will be relaxed to create 10,000 new places for vulnerable children in England. Roxy and her mum Judy, from the BBC’s recent Traitors series, join Nuala McGovern to discuss the changes. 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.Golden Globe–winning actor and film director Romola Garai discusses her latest role in the ITV drama series Betrayal

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57:03

Sarah Ferguson, Child free guilt, Actor Susan Wokoma,...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/02/03

Sarah Ferguson's charity, Sarah's Trust, has announced it will close "for the foreseeable future" after new details emerged from documents released by the US Department of Justice about the former Duchess of York's friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A spokesman for the foundation said the decision comes after "some months" of discussion. BBC News Correspondent Ellie Price and Dr Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, join Nuala McGovern.We hear

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57:11

Undercover Police Inquiry, Anne Boleyn, The Puppini...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/02/02

The ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry starts again today, having already uncovered "appalling practices in undercover policing" over the past 50 years in England and Wales, since the inquiry was first established in 2015. 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

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51:31

Paris Paloma, Repair Cafes, French conjugal rights,...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/02/02

Last week a report from the Welsh Health and Social Care Committee revealed that women in Wales felt that they were being failed by gynaecological cancer services, with many facing long waiting lists to see a specialist or start treatment. Anita speaks to Jess Mason who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2022, Lowri Griffiths, Director of Policy, Research and Insight at Tenovus Cancer Care and Aarti Sharma, Consultant Gynaecology Oncology Surgeon, University Hospital of Wales.Politicians in

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24:31

Weekend Woman's Hour: Pensions gender gap, Winter...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/31

There's been a stark warning to MPs about the number of women pensioners living in poverty. The House of Commons Work and Pensions committee has been hearing the pension system is dysfunctional, and contributing to more gender disparity, that's according to the feminist economic think tank the Women's Budget Group, which gave evidence this week. Anita Rani is joined by their incoming director Dr Daniella Jenkins and Sarah Pennells, consumer specialist at Royal London finance company.It's less than a

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57:43

Pensions gender gap, Rape investigations complaint,...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/29

There's been a stark warning to MPs about the number of women pensioners living in poverty. The house of commons work and pensions committee has been hearing the pension system is dysfunctional, and contributing to more gender disparity, that's according to the feminist economic think tank the Women's Budget Group, which gave evidence yesterday. Anita Rani is joined by their incoming director Dr Daniella Jenkins and Sarah Pennells, consumer specialist at Royal London finance company.New figures

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56:52

Pornhub restrictions, Home birth suspensions, Jessica...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/28

Pornhub has announced it will restrict access to its website in the UK from next week, blaming the tougher age checks which have been introduced for explicit sites. Back in October, their parent company Aylo said the law change, which was made under the UK's Online Safety Act, had caused traffic to their website to fall by 77%. As of next week, only people who have previously made a Pornhub account will be able to access its content. Nuala McGovern discusses the implications of these changes with

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56:31

New menopause research, Singing for wellbeing, ...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/27

A large UK study of nearly 125,000 women has found that the menopause can cause a loss of grey matter in women's brains affecting memory and emotions, similar to that seen in Alzheimer's. Published in the journal Psychological Medicine, the researchers say it may help explain why we see almost twice as many cases of dementia in women than in men. Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology Barbara Sahakian, from the University of Cambridge and the senior researcher on the study and Dr Paula Briggs,

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55:04

Yanis Varoufakis, Bonnie Langford, 'Catastrophic'...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/26

Tens of thousands of children in England have spent more than a year waiting for NHS community care, such as hearing services, speech and language therapy and disability support, the BBC has found. Nick Triggle, BBC News Health Correspondent and Harriet Edwards, Strategy Lead at the national disability charity, Sense, join Nuala McGovern to discuss the findings. Author, economist and politician Yanis Varoufakis joins Nuala to discuss being, as he describes it, raised a misogynist. He also talks

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56:22

Weekend Woman's Hour: Social media ban for under 16s,...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/24

Should the UK follow Australia in bringing in a social media ban for under 16s? Nuala McGovern discusses the issue with Hannah Ortel from the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, and Dr Fiona Scott, Senior Lecturer in digital literacies at the University of Sheffield.Double Olivier award-winning actress Denise Gough joins Anita Rani to talk about her latest role as Amy Fowler in a new play based on the famous western High Noon. She also discusses what it’s been like to find her singing voice for the first

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57:29

ADHD and women, Author Claire Lynch, Gaming for good

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/23

A study led by the University of Oxford shows a 20-fold rise in the proportion of women over 25 using ADHD medication in the UK. The study looked at 5 countries - Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK - showing use has more than tripled in 13 years - the UK having the highest relative increase. To unpick this, Anita Rani is joined by Amanda Kirby, former chair of the ADHD foundation and Emeritus Professor of neurodevelopmental disorders at the University of South Wales and Kat Brown,

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56:25

Denise Gough, Gymnastics post birth, Endometriosis...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/22

NB: The music in this broadcast has been removed from the podcast for rights reasons.Anita Rani talks to double Olivier award winning actress Denise Gough about her latest role as Amy Fowler in a new play based on the famous western High Noon. She’ll be discussing how her character reflects the early feminist movement and what it’s been like to find her singing voice for the first time in 30 years.Elite British gymnast Alice Kinsella won Olympic bronze in the team event at Tokyo 2020 and is a

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57:23

21/01/2026

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/21

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

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56:25

Trump one year on, Family estrangement, Testing on...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/20

We are a year into US President Trump's second term. He says he will tell European leaders "we have to have" Greenland at this week's forum in Davos, Switzerland and impose tariffs if they oppose him. Trump regularly hailed himself as the anti-war president on the campaign trail - and he's described himself since as the "president of peace" - but there are some who accuse him of waging a "war on women" since taking office. So, after a year back in the White House, how have the policies of

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57:07

Andra Day, Breast Cancer, Autistic Barbie

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/19

New research will bring hope to the thousands of women in the UK living with secondary breast cancer. A simple blood test will be able to tell how well they will respond to treatment, even before it starts. This research could mean being moved to more efficient treatments earlier. Nuala McGovern hears from Dr Iseult Browne, one of the researchers on the study. The Grammy award-winning American R&B singer/songwriter and actress, Andra Day, made her acting debut with her portrayal of Billie

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53:20

Weekend Woman's Hour: Kids and screen time, Nikki...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/17

Parents of under-fives in England are to be offered official advice on how long their children should spend watching TV or looking at computer screens. It comes as government research shows about 98% of children under two were watching screens on a daily basis - with parents, teachers and nursery staff saying youngsters were finding it harder to hold conversations or concentrate on learning. To discuss this further Nuala McGovern is joined by Kate Silverton, child counsellor and parenting author,

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57:14

Nikki Lilly, Debt, Grief over a pet, Hayley Squires

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/16

The number of abortions recorded in England and Wales has reached a record high, according to the latest government figures from the Department of Health. There were 277,970 abortions in 2023, the highest number since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967 - which is 11 per cent higher than the previous year in 2022.Rachael Clarke is Head of Advocacy for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service - known as B-PAS, and tells Anita Rani about the findings. In 2025 alone she walked at Paris Fashion Week,

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57:11

Smart phones and tracking children, The Traitors,...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/15

To track or not to track? Now that technology on our phones makes it so easy, many parents are tracking their children’s whereabouts. If children don’t have a smart phone, many people use a GPS tracker device do to the same thing. There are even children’s trainers available with a special slot to insert the device. But have we thought about the reasons why? What are the benefits or dangers of tracking children, and if you do track, at what point do you stop? Anita Rani is joined by Clare

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57:11

Women protesting in Iran, Drugs and teens, Subpar...

Woman"s Hour ·

2026/01/14

Reports say that the number of people killed in Iran after 18 days of protests is over 2000. We hear about the women on death row who are facing execution as there are fears of quick reprisals from the regime. Women are taking extraordinary risks to take part in protests as is demonstrated by the death of the fashion student Rubina Aminian, who was shot in the head during the protests, after taking to the streets to demand change and more freedoms. BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet

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2,447 results

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