Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley Folgen

Lucy Worsley is back with a new series where courtroom drama meets history…with a twist.In Lady on Trial we hear the voices of women from the past who ended up in court charged with everything from murder, adultery and theft to civil disobedience. And Lucy is asking if their true crime could have been to be born female. Lucy is also telling the story of the fight for legal rights for women over three centuries, and wondering what still needs to be done for women to achieve true equality under the law.This time Lucy takes us back to the Blitz to uncover the tale of defiant protestor Connie Bolam. We think we know the women of World War II - the Land Girls, the Wrens and women of Bletchley Park - but today Lucy reveals the surprising story of the first female conscientious objector to be sent to prison, a woman who refused conscription and said ‘no’ to war. What drives Connie to an ideology that risks her freedom? And what does Connie’s story tell us about women who protest today? To uncover this remarkable story Lucy’s joined by barrister Audrey Cherryl Mogan who defends modern-day protestors, and historian Dr Lyndsey Jenkins, an expert in the history of women’s activism. Together they piece together the tale of an unexpected rebel, and a living thread that links the women of the wartime peace movement to the women protesting global conflicts today. Producer: Emily Hughes Readers: Clare Corbett, Jonathan Keeble, Ruth Sillers and William Hope Historical consultant: Dr Lyndsey Jenkins Head of Production: Claire Myers Sound Design: Chris Maclean Senior Producer: Julia Hayball Executive Producer: Kirsty HunterA StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4

Lucy Worsley is back with a new series where courtroom drama meets history…with a twist.In Lady on Trial we hear the voices of women from the past who ended up in court charged with everything from murder, adultery and theft to civil disobedience. And Lucy is asking if their true crime could have been to be born female. Lucy is also telling the story of the fight for legal rights for women over three centuries, and wondering what still needs to be done for women to achieve true equality under the law.In this episode Lucy explores the extraordinary case of Christabel Russell, whose decade-long fight for the legitimacy of her child leads to one of the most famous, and salacious, divorce cases of the 20th century. When, in the spring of 1921, Christabel Russell discovers she’s pregnant, her aristocratic husband John is appalled. He says this baby cannot possibly be his - it must be the consequence of his wife committing adultery because, he claims, their marriage is unconsummated. What follows is a sexually explicit courtroom drama that grips the nation and drives the outraged King George V to call for a change in the law. Lucy wants to know what the Russell's lack of knowledge about sex revealed at this trial tells us about women’s lives a hundred years ago. How did this case contribute to the modernisation of divorce law? And how different is it for women going through the divorce courts today?Lucy is joined by Professor Rosalind Crone from the Open University and by the solicitor Ayesha Vardag, described as Britain’s top divorce lawyer and ‘the diva of divorce’ who specialises in high-net-worth, high-profile divorce cases. Together they unpick ‘the case of the virgin birth’ to explore the ways divorce law in the 1920s discriminated against women, and to find out whether women are treated more fairly today. Producer: Jane Greenwood Readers: Clare Corbett, William Hope, Jonathan Keeble and Ruth Sillers Historical consultant: Professor Rosalind Crone Head of Production: Claire Myers Sound design: Chris Maclean Senior producer: Julia Hayball Executive producer: Kirsty Hunter A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

Lucy Worsley continues the new series Lady on Trial, where courtroom drama meets history with a twist.Lucy and her team are meeting women who find themselves at the centre of extraordinary legal battles, from the 18th century to the 1920s.But in this episode, we’re putting something else on trial - the media itself. In our first four cases, Caroline Norton, Elizabeth Chudleigh, Audrey Jacob and Annie Kenney, aren’t just judged in the courtroom. They are also judged in newspapers, pamphlets and gossip columns.Lucy is joined by journalist and broadcaster Anoushka Mutanda Doughtery, who hosts the BBC Sounds podcast Fame Under Fire, and Professor Rosalind Crone from The Open University. They’ll discuss if it's ever really possible - either then, or now - for a woman to have a fair trial when a case goes viral. And why, three centuries on, women are still being judged in the court of public opinion. Producer: Julia Hayball Readers: Clare Corbett, William Hope, Jonathan Keeble and Dave Mason Head of Production: Claire Myers Sound design: Chris Maclean Assistant Producer: Alice Homewood Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4