Woman's Hour

World Rugby Player of the Year and World Cup Champion Ellie Kildunne joins Nuala McGovern fresh from a Player of the Match performance at the Six Nations final. She reflects on her rise to the top and the story behind her memoir Game Changer.
It's 15 years since Panorama exposed the scandal of abuse of people with learning difficulties and autism at Winterbourne View assessment and treatment centre. One mother, Ann Earley, tells us about the lasting damage to her son from his time at Winterbourne View. He now has a bungalow of his own but Ann says thousands of others like him still in hospitals must be allowed out. Another mother tells us how her daughter has been stuck in hospital for seven years. Jackie O Sullivan from the charity Mencap explains how the new mental health act, which is designed to stop this, may prove inadequate.
It took more than a hundred years for the UK's largest spy agency GCHQ to get a woman at the helm. In post since April 2023 Anne Keast-Butler gives her inaugural annual lecture at Bletchley Park setting out the threats she thinks the UK faces and the measures she believes are needed to confront them. Dan Sabbagh, the defence and security editor at the Guardian and Professor Ciaran Martin, the former Chief Executive and founder of the National Cyber Security Centre which is part of GCHQ. discuss and analyse what she will do to encourage women in the field.
Singer, songwriter and producer Kamille is one of the UK’s most successful hitmakers, with two Grammy Awards, a Brit, an Ivor Novello and six UK number ones to her name. She’s worked with artists including Dua Lipa, Kylie, The Saturdays, Stormzy and Fred Again and became known as ‘the fifth member’ of Little Mix while writing some of the girl band’s biggest hits. After being honoured with the Inspiration Award by the Music Producers Guild for her impact on the music industry, she discusses how she went from junior stockbroker to songwriter extraordinaire and is now forging a career as a solo artist.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Melanie Abbott

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has urged the competition watchdog to look into hidden extra charges some parents have encountered when trying to access Government-funded childcare. The Department for Education said 'too many' parents have reported being asked to pay extra to secure a place – including waiting list deposits, compulsory add-ons or additional hours to access what they are entitled to. So what impact is this having on parents? Joeli Brearley, founder of Growth Spurt and a campaigner for working parents, explains to Nuala McGovern.
Young people want more age-specific protections for online spaces, according to new research from the Ada Lovelace Institute. Aged between 14 and 24, those who took part in the Nuffield Foundation’s Grown up? Journeys into adulthood programme – say they want to make sure future generations are not exposed to the same online harms they have experienced. Octavia Field Reid, Associate Director of Public Participation at the Ada Lovelace Institute, discusses their findings.
Care for the elderly, whether in hospital, a specialised residential setting, or a person’s own home, is one of our most pressing social issues. Not regularly looked at by the entertainment industry, a new play is addressing this topic. Most familiar in her role as Phyllis Crane in Call the Midwife, we hear from Linda Bassett who plays Joan - an unwilling new arrival in a decidedly unglamorous care home in CARE, now on stage at the Young Vic in London.
Maria Semple is the bestselling author of books including Where’d You Go, Bernadette, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize. Her latest novel, Go Gentle, focuses on Adora Hazzard - a Stoic philosopher and divorcee living on New York City’s Upper West Side. She has a job as a moral tutor for an old money family. She is assembling a ‘coven’ of like-minded single women living on the 6th floor of the legendary Ansonia building. But then a chance encounter with a charming stranger threatens her joyfully curated life. She joins Nuala to discuss the idea of ‘invisible’ women who are just getting started.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Kirsty Starkey

We're putting our head in the clouds and going in search of wonder. How do we find it and how do we keep hold of it when life gets in the way?
We know that women still hold the lion’s share of caring responsibilities and typically carry the mental load for home, often on top of work. How do we make space for the perspective that wonder gives us, when we’re distracted by the perpetual to do list? And can a sense of wonder, with its built-in inspiration and aspiration, help us see beyond the day-to-day?
To lead us on this quest we have an eclectic mix of wonder-women: the award-winning children’s author and academic, Katherine Rundell, evolutionary biologist and explorer, Ella Al-Shamahi, the environmentalist-turned-musician Natalie Fée and Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, computer scientist and former ‘wunder-kind’. We’ll also hear from Dr. Jean Bennett, the research scientist whose medical breakthrough recently restored the sight of a six-year-old girl. And joining us from New York, Jenette Khan, the first ever female boss of the Wonder Woman-publisher, DC Comics.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Kirsty McQuire

Comedian, actor and writer Dawn French is best known as one half of one of the UK’s most successful comedy double acts, and as the fictional vicar Geraldine Granger. She’s also a bestselling author, and her latest book, Enough, is her fifth novel — her eighth book in total. It blends dark humour with some tougher themes she thinks are important to explore. She joined Nuala to discuss.
Best known as the co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian is now turning his focus to the future of women’s sport. Once overlooked and underfunded, it is now undergoing rapid change. Alexis is today announcing he's bringing his all-female track and field meet series, Athlos, to London. He tells Anita Rani why, and talks about being married to one of the most successful and well known sports stars of all time - Serena Williams.
We discuss a new play that unfolds entirely in the ladies loos. April Hope Miller wrote and performs in ‘Flush’, it was a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe and it’s just opened at the Arcola Theatre in London. April and co-star Jazz Jenkins tell Nuala why the real drama on any night out is always to be found in the women’s toilets. And why it took an ensemble cast of five, playing no less 16 different characters between them, to capture something universal about women's lives.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells

Yesterday, the Government published guidance on how the Equality Act should be implemented in relation to single-sex spaces. This follows the landmark Supreme Court ruling in April last year that the definition of a woman under the Equality Act should be based on biological sex. According to the new guidance, single-sex spaces - such as changing rooms and toilets - must be used on the basis of biological sex. This means, for instance, that a trans woman - a biological male who identifies as a woman - should not use female toilets or changing rooms, or a trans man - a biological woman who identifies as a man - should not use men's toilets. Alison Holt, the BBC's social affairs editor, joins Anita Rani to explain the guidance.

Natalie Cassidy is the actor best known for playing Sonia Fowler in the BBC soap, EastEnders. She’s also been a presenter and has a successful podcast, Life with Nat. She's now returned to the classroom to study Health and Social Care. Inspired by supporting her dad through end-of-life care at home, Natalie has enrolled to study towards a Level 3 qualification, with the aim of becoming a professional carer. She joins Anita to discuss the experience, which is documented in an eight-part BBC series, Natalie Cassidy: Caring Together.
It’s been nearly two years since the attack on a group of girls at a Taylor Swift–themed dance class in Southport. Three were murdered and others seriously injured. The families of those who survived say a court order protecting their identities has also left them feeling invisible. BBC Special Correspondent Judith Moritz has been hearing about the long-term impact on their daughters, and she joins Anita.
And genre-defying musician and composer Hannah Peel joins us to talk about forging her unique career, whispers of encouragement she received from Paul McCartney and her new collaboration with Chinese percussionist Beibei Wang.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Simon Richardson