Woman's Hour Folgen

There are a record number of women MPs in the new parliament. Nuala McGovern is joined by former Mother of the House and now chair of the charity the Fawcett Society, Harriet Harman, who wants to set up a Women’s Caucus made up of female MPs. We also have political reaction from journalists Rachel Cunliffe and Caroline Wheeler.Is sports day something that teaches children invaluable life lessons, or simply an annual event that demoralises? Nuala is joined by journalist Esther Walker and comedian Helen Thorn to discuss further. The French film industry has been under the spotlight in recent months after allegations of sexual assault and harassment by women against directors and actors. Last month, the French parliament agreed to create a commission to investigate sexual and gender based violence in the industry and other cultural sectors. Some of the allegations have been put forward by the actor and director Judith Godrèche who joins Nuala on the programme to discuss the issues.Yorkshire County Cricket Club has retrospectively awarded caps to women’s players who have represented their county to recognise their commitment and their importance to the Club – spanning nearly 90 years of history. Jane Powell, President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club who captained England and played for Yorkshire for 12 years from 1980 to 1991, and also received a cap herself joins Nuala to discuss. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Emma Pearce

A new series was released this week on Netflix. It is called Man with 1,000 Kids, and Netflix is billing it as the true story of Jonathan Meijer, a man accused of travelling the world, deceiving women into having his babies - via sperm donation - on a mass scale. Nuala McGovern talks to Jonathan Meijer, the sperm donor, to mums Natalie and Suzanne, who had a baby conceived with Jonathan’s donor sperm, to Natalie Hill, the executive producer who pitched the original idea for these films to Netflix and to Rachel Cutting, director of compliance and information at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK’s independent regulator of fertility treatment.Gabby Logan joins Krupa Padhy to talk about her new book The Midpoint Plan. She’s challenging the stereotype of middle age. With fewer insecurities, children leaving home and perhaps a bit more money in the bank, she believes we should see it as the best point in our lives. Plus, if we look after ourselves in midlife, we’ll be happier in old age.Summer is here, which means it's wedding season, and brides-to-be across the country are asking themselves the eternal question: what do I wear for the occasion? Kathryn Wheeler, who married earlier this year, decided to do something that old superstitions advice against: make her own wedding dress. In the process, she learned much more than just sewing skills. She also learned a life lesson, to embrace imperfections.It’s 25 year since the New York Times’ best-selling author Lisa Jewell published her first novel, Ralph’s Party. Since then she’s written another twenty-one novels, and more recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and the award winning None of This is True. She joins Krupa Padhy to discuss her latest work – Breaking the Dark – which is a Jessica Jones Marvel crime novel, exploring the world of the private detective and former superhero. By the time she was 19, Michelle De Swarte had gone from a council estate in London to the catwalks of Manhattan. Her twenties were a swirl of parties and high end glamour but by her thirties she was broke and in need - as she once put it - of a “new personality”. Desperate to find a way out of fashion, she reinvented herself as a stand-up comedian. Michelle De Swarte joins Nuala to talk about putting some of her own experiences into a new BBC comedy, Spent.Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Rebecca Myatt

It’s 25 year since the New York Times’ best-selling author Lisa Jewell published her first novel, Ralph’s Party. Since then she’s written another twenty-one novels, and more recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and the award winning None of This is True. She joins Krupa Padhy to discuss her latest work – Breaking the Dark – which is a Jessica Jones Marvel crime novel, exploring the world of the private detective and former superhero. Over the summer Woman’s Hour is looking at ‘genre fiction’. Today we start the series with the ever-popular genre of romance and its new sub-genre, romantasy. Lindsey Kelk published her first romance novel I Heart New York in 2009. Her new novel Love Story is just that, as well as being an interrogation of the very concept of romantic fiction. Sarah A. Parker’s romantasy novel When the Moon Hatched went from an independently published TikTok sensation to Sunday Times bestseller. Both authors join Krupa to discuss the stigma and success of the romance genre.A video of a 19 month old baby babbling has gone viral after people noticed she had a Scouse accent. The video, which shows baby Orla chatting away to her Mum’s friend, has been viewed more than 20 million times. To explain what’s going on when babies and very young children are learning language, and how can they have an accent before they can properly speak, Krupa is joined by Professor Julian Pine, Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool.A recent advertising campaign for Bluebella the underwear brand, features three of the GB women's rugby team members in the brand’s lingerie, on a rugby pitch. The campaign has had a mixed response. Krupa discusses with rugby journalist, Victoria Rush, and Sarah Bellew, head of communications for Women in Sport a charity that tackles gender inequality in sport.More than 150 pages of court transcripts from a 2006 grand jury criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein were released to the public on Monday. A judge in Florida ordered the release of the documents which had been kept secret for nearly two decades. They included first hand testimony from teenage victims as young as 14. To discuss the significance of this Krupa speaks to Emma Long, Head of American Studies at the University of East Anglia Presented by Krupa Padhy Producer: Louise Corley