Episodios
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Confronting the death of a loved one – or the end of our own life – can be frightening and overwhelming. And yet it is something that will happen to all of us. So how can we open up conversations about the way we want to die? Is it possible to avoid pain and suffering? And who are the people who will care for us in our final moments?
Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women who work in palliative care.
Dr Tania Pastrana is from Colombia and is now based in Germany where she works for the International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care (IAHPC). And Dr Catherine Millington-Sanders is a general practitioner, and national lead in palliative care for the Royal College of GPs.
Producer: Hannah Sander
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Datshiane Navanayagam talks to Whitley Fund for Nature winners from India and South Africa who are protecting endangered frogs and salamanders.
Dr Barkha Subba is leading the first grassroots protection for the Himalayan Salamander in Darjeeling. The scientific adviser at local NGO, Federation of Societies for Environmental Protection (FOSEP), Barkha is working to restore habitat, remove invasive species and screen for deadly diseases, as well as engage local people in awareness programmes promoting sustainable land use and eco-friendly tourism.
Environmentalist Jeanne Tarrant works on protecting frogs and their habitat in South Africa. Almost two-thirds of the country’s 135 frog species are found nowhere else. She uses frogs as flagships for habitat protection, contributing to the broader conservation of freshwater and grassland areas that serve as important watersheds and carbon sinks.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Jeanne Tarrant, credit SABC. (R) Barkha Subba, credit Whitley Fund for Nature.)
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Online romance fraud and 'catfishing' – when someone pretends to be someone they’re not - is a problem across the globe. It causes financial and emotional devastation, yet many people refuse to take it seriously. Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women from the UK and Sweden who have spent years rebuilding their lives after being targeted by men they met on dating sites.
Pernilla Sjöholm is from Sweden. She was conned by the infamous Simon Leviev, the so-called "Tinder Swindler" and allegedly scammed out of the equivalent of $65,000. Pernilla is now an international speaker on AI, cybersecurity and fraud prevention. She also co-founded IDfier, working on digital identity verification, and is the author of Swindled Never After.
Anna Rowe is pushing for greater support for romance fraud victims after her own experience of being conned. In 2015 she fell in love with a man who she had met online. After 14 months she discovered that the man she was in a relationship with, ‘Antony Ray’ was using a fake identity and leading a double life which left Anna feeling emotionally and sexually violated. Anna is now dedicated to helping victims of all types of romance fraud and catfishing through her platforms LoveSaid and Catch the Catfish.
(Image: (L) Anna Rowe, credit Nina Rangoy. (R) Pernilla Sjöholm, credit Daniel Diamond.)
Produced by Jane Thurlow and Hannah Dean
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Datshiane Navanayagam meets the women behind leading nurseries and flower farms in Germany and America. From a vase of cut roses to the perennials that brighten our gardens, these women cultivate beauty from bare earth.
Danielle Dall’Armi transformed a derelict lemon and avocado farm in California into a rose farm with an international reputation. A self-taught horticulturalist, she now has 25,000 rose plants and supplies high-end customers.
Anja Maubach runs the nursery founded by her great-grandfather, renowned botanist Georg Abends, specialising in perennials. She is also an expert on the great female horticulturalists of the past, such as Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West.
Producer: Hannah Sander
(Image: (L) Anja Maubach, credit Daniel Welschenbach. (R) Danielle Dall'Armi, credit Victoria Pearson.)
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Divorce and separation are often a time of upset and distress. Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women in Latvia and the UK whose work as mediators is about trying to find calm and co-operation in conflict.
Evija Kļave is a certified mediator and sociologist. She’s also an associate professor teaching mediation at masters level at Turiba University (a business school) and sits of the Commission of Certification and Attestation of Mediators which regulates mediators in Latvia as well as running her own private practice.
Romina Kamran is an accredited family and children mediator in the UK and member of the Family Mediation Council. She also heads the National Family Mediation training academy. Her own experience of divorce negotiations was tough, and she works to make decisions around separation ones that both parties can be comfortable with. She says mediation is not about being what one person might consider fair; it's about coming to a resolution that meets the needs of the whole family.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Evija Kļave, courtesy Turiba University. (R) Romina Kamran, credit Romina Kamran.)
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Newspaper cartooning has a long history of using satire and humour to provide social commentary on the issues of the day – but how do female perspectives inform the approach, themes and tone of newspaper cartooning?
Andrea Arroyo is from Mexico City. Her work as a dancer took her to New York in the early eighties. In the US, an exhibition of her visual art was picked up to feature in the New York Times and spawned a career as a newspaper cartoonist. Her influence as a dancer can be seen in her rhythmic, fluid line work. Her artwork about the Me Too movement won a United Nations award for Political Cartooning.
Sarah Akinterinwa is from Kent in the UK. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she created a comic about a millennial couple called Oyin and Kojo, hoping to create better representation of Black British people in cartoons. After posting a daily drawing to social media, the cartoon editor of the New Yorker discovered her work and asked her to become a contributor. Sarah is also a cartoonist at The Guardian. Her strips tackle women’s issues, gender dynamics, friendships, relationships, health and politics.
Produced by Elena Angelides and Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Sarah Akinterinwa, credit Sarah Akinterinwa. (R) Andrea Arroyo, credit Felipe Galindo.)
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Rice nourishes 3.5 billion people worldwide with women providing the majority of agricultural labour – especially in poorer countries. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from India and Tanzania about their work improving the resilience of rice to climate change, and about the lives of female rice farmers.
Ranjitha Puskur is a socio-economist in India leading gender and youth research at the International Rice Research Institute. She's working on innovations that would lead to more equitable outcomes for women in agriculture. She says there would be no food without women. And yet women farmers across the world still face disproportionate barriers in their work.
Dr Pauline Chivenge is a Zimbabwean agronomist working in Tanzania. Her research is focused on management of natural resources for improved crop productivity in Africa and South-East Asia: issues such as soil and water management, and how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Ranjitha Puskur. Credit CGIAR. (R) Pauline Chivenge. Credit IRRI)
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As war flares across the Middle East, and conflicts rage in other parts of the world, it is often said that women and girls are the hardest hit by war. But what does that actually mean in practice? What are the key statistics that tell us how conflicts impact women? And what role are women playing in peace processes too?Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women who look at how war shapes women’s lives. Idil Absiye is a policy advisor on Women, Peace and Security at the United Nations, and is based in Kenya. Dr Laura Muñoz-Encinar is an archaeologist and forensic anthropologist at the Spanish National Research Council. Her main focus is the Spanish Civil War, a conflict from almost a century ago that offers many lessons for today. Producer: Hannah Sander
(Image: (L) Laura Muñoz-Encinar, credit Laura Muñoz-Encinar. (R) Idil Absiye, credit Idil Absiye.)
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From “deepfakes” to “stealth filming”, women around the world are having their image stolen and shared online. Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women tackling this problem.
Uma Subramanian works for an Indian helpline called Meri Trustline, run by RATI Foundation, which offers help for women whose image has been used.
Kirana Ayuningtyas had her image digitally manipulated and shared online. She uses her social media profile, @k.for.kirana, to help other women in Indonesia.
Warning: this programme contains details that some listeners may find disturbing.
Producers: Rebecca Moore and Hannah Sander
(Image: (L) Uma Subramanian, credit Sanghamitra SV. (R) Kirana Ayuningtyas, credit Kirana Ayuningtyas.)
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It's thought that around one in ten women of childbearing age have endometriosis, yet it often takes years of excessively painful periods and struggles to conceive before a diagnosis. And while there's no cure, surgery can help relieve symptoms. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from Hungary and South Africa working to improve treatment and diagnosis.
Adrienn Salamon lives with endometriosis. She waited many years for a diagnosis, and surgery enabled her to get IVF treatment. She started Női Egészségért Alapítvány, a women's health foundation in Hungary that supports women suffering from the disorder. She is also on the board of the World Endometriosis Society and says no woman should go through the same struggle with the condition that she experienced.
Dr Lusanda Shimange-Matsose is a gynaecologist, reproductive endocrine and infertility specialist in South Africa. She is director of Medfem Fertility Clinic in Johannesburg and is also a member of the Pan African Society of Endometriosis, offering support for women across the continent.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Adrienn Salamon, credit Johanna Krivocenko. (R) Lusanda Shimange-Matsose, courtesy Lusanda Shimange-Matsose.)
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Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women who research what happens to our thoughts, feelings and behaviours when we speak many languages. To what extent do we have a “mother tongue” – and what happens if we stop using it?
Dr Aneta Pavlenko is a Ukrainian-American linguist who looks at the emotional impact of moving between languages.
Professor Núria Sebastián Gallés is a Spanish cognitive psychologist who studies bilingual toddlers and young babies.
Produced by Rebecca Moore and Hannah Sander
(Image: (L) Aneta Pavlenko, courtesy Aneta Pavlenko. (R) Núria Sebastián Gallés, courtesy Núria Sebastián Gallés.)
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Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women in Switzerland and the UK about how job sharing can boost a career and bring many benefits to both work and home life.
Irenka Krone-Germann is Swiss and has written several books about job-sharing and part-time working. She co-founded the information platform, Go4jobsharing.ch and We Jobshare, an online platform which helps people find a job or topshare partner. Irenka has job partners, both female and male, in several different senior roles.
Charlotte Cherry and Alix Ainsley have been job sharing in the UK for 14 years. They've worked in senior HR roles for a number of different companies including General Electric, Lloyds Banking Group and currently work for Virgin. They've recently set up a consultancy, Daring Two. Charlotte says job sharing has enabled her and Alix to take on much more challenging and fulfilling positions, has accelerated their careers further than working solo part-time would have done, and at the same time to balance time with their families.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Charlotte Cherry, courtesy Charlotte Cherry. (R) Irenka Krone-Germann, credit Keren Bisaz.)
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Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women in Pakistan and America who use numbers to help others understand and take control of their pregnancies - by unpacking the data.
Emily Oster is a bestselling author and leading expert on pregnancy, championing a data-based approach and unpacking studies and advice for mothers. She is also Professor of Economics at Brown University in America.
Maryam Mustafa is a computer scientist based in Pakistan, which has one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the world. She has built an AI app that can equip mothers-to-be with the information they need to stay safe.
Producer: Hannah Sander
(Image: (L) Dr Emily Oster, credit Aisha McAdams. (R) Dr Maryam Mustafa, credit Maryam Mustafa.)
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Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women in France and Canada about why single-sex living spaces appeal to older women.
Pat Dunn is 75 and started a Facebook group for senior women wanting to share a living space, after her husband died six years ago. There she found two housemates with whom she has lived ever since. Pat now runs a non-profit called SWLT (Senior Women Living Together) that helps other women in Ontario find similar setups. Her Facebook community has over two thousand members.
Hanne Nuutinen co-founded La Joie Homebase in France in 2024: co-living spaces for women who want to stay there for weeks or months at a time. Their ‘homebases’ cater to globally mobile women, typically aged 50–80. Many of the women are still professionally active, while others are pursuing hobbies or independent travel. Their residents come from France, the United States, Africa and the UK.
Produced by Jane Thurlow and Becca Johns
(Image: (L) Pat Dunn, courtesy Pat Dunn. (R) Hanne Nuutinen, courtesy Hanne Nuutinen.)
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Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women whose life changing illnesses led them to set up new businesses after they discovered high street clothes are uncomfortable and difficult to wear when you have restricted mobility or medical needs.
Victoria Jenkins is one of the UK's leading adaptive fashion experts. She worked as a freelance garment technologist for fashion labels like Victoria Beckham and Jack Wills before founding the award winning universally designed fashion brand Unhidden. Victoria nearly died from an undiagnosed ulcer in 2012 and spent long periods in hospital where she met many women struggling to find clothes would accommodate their medical conditions. When she realised how hard it was to buy attractive, comfortable and practical garments she decided to design her own.
Soumita Basu has an autoimmune disease called psoriatic arthritis which over time has restricted her mobility. As the condition progressed she got used to being constantly in pain but a period when she had to stay in bed proved the catalyst to setting up her clothing brand, Zyenika. The daily routine of being dressed was agonisingly painful – no matter that her mother, who was caring for her at the time, was as gentle as possible. They decided there had to be a better way and set out to design clothes that could be put on in a way that didn’t cause so much pain.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Soumita Basu, credit Diganta Gogoi. (R) Victoria Jenkins, credit Deb Burrows.)
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Have you ever wondered if there were a scandal buried in your family history? Datshiane Navanayagam meets two female genealogists from the US and Ireland to discuss the desire many of us have to dig into our heritage.Michele Soulli is an American genealogist who made headlines around the world when she tracked down the real "Brenda" from rap superstar Tupac's hit song Brenda's Got A Baby, and reunited her with the child she had put up for adoption.Hilary McDonagh helps clients who want to trace their family histories or find missing heirs. In Ireland, where famine prompted girls to migrate overseas by themselves, Hilary has unearthed some incredible stories.Producer: Hannah Sander
(Image credit: Hilary McDonagh (L), Michele Soulli (R))
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Datshiane Navanayagam brings together two women from the US and Australia to discuss the art of writing a political biography and whether women in politics are placed under more scrutiny than men.
Helene Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times correspondent who fled Liberia with her family following the military coup of 1980. Her biography Madame President documents the life and political career of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa who served as president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018.
Dr Lekkie Hopkins is a feminist academic who lead the women’s studies programme at Edith Cowan University in Perth for 25 years. Utilising her skills as an archivist and oral historian, she pieced together the story of May Holman - a pioneering Australian politician who became the first female Labour politician to be elected to the Western Australian Parliament in 1925.
Produced by Hannah Dean
(Image: (L) Lekkie Hopkins, credit Robert van Koesveld. (R) Helene Cooper credit William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images.)
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Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women who changed paths to design and manufacture their own shoes in their own countries. A former environmental engineer in India and former interior designer from Egypt explain how they found their passion.
Anita Soundar was a chemical engineer before deciding to follow her need for self-expression and footwear design. While working at her father’s small factory in Chenai she studied footwear design from Italy to the Netherlands to China, learning about design to pattern making, hand crafting to mass production. In 2023 she won a global footwear award for natural material vegan footwear and an International Design Award in 2025. Her quirky designs for her company The Disobedience are made from natural materials like cotton, tomato and banana skins, have featured in high-fashion magazines like Elle India.
Reem Hamed is Egyptian. She trained as an architect and set up an interior design company before turning to shoe design and manufacture. Her shoes are handcrafted and embroidered by artisanal Egyptian women. She says “comfort is not just about the way they make your feet feel… Comfort is a state of mind.” She’s wants to ensure the craftswomen that make shoes for her company, Ramla, are valued, working in good conditions and passionate about what they do.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Reem Hamed, credit Malak Hammouda. (R) Anita Soundar credit Team Disobedience.)
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How do video and board games get from idea to reality? Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women who invent, tweak and perfect the games that so many of us love to play.
Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir from Iceland has produced some of the world’s biggest video game titles, including FIFA and Star Wars: Battlefront. She now invests in start-up gaming companies as a venture capitalist.
Natalie Podd invented the board game Confident while canoeing up the Amazon, and quit her corporate job in the UK as an actuary in order to work on it and other ideas. She and her husband sell their board games around the world.
Produced by Hannah Sander
(Image: (L) Natalie Podd. (R) Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir.)
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Two women with art galleries in Switzerland, London, Nigeria and the US talk about discovering and promoting new artists, building relationships with art collectors and the importance of supporting women in the art world.
Maria Varnava is Greek Cypriot and grew up in Lagos. She founded Tiwani Contemporary which has galleries in Lagos and London. It champions artists from Africa and its diaspora to raise their profile to collectors and institutions based both in and beyond the continent. Maria’s friend and mentor, the Nigerian curator Bisi Silva, proposed the name Tiwani, which loosely translates as ‘ours’ or ‘it belongs to us’ from the Yoruba language. The name was chosen to show the gallery’s intentions to strive for inclusivity.
Kendra Jayne Patrick, from the US founded her gallery of the same name in Bern, Switzerland in 2022 and works in New York too. She likes to show things that are strange or new and that excite her both visually and intellectually. It’s focused on the 21st century avant-garde, specialising in sculpture, painting, digital, and photography.
Produced by Jane Thurlow
(Image: (L) Maria Varnava, credit Pantelis Hadjiminas (P Studio). (R) Kendra Jayne Patrick, credit Ernst Fischer.)
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