Woman's Hour

Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day is out today in cinemas. It’s billed as an unromantic-comedy set in the early 20th century and tells the story of young aristocrat Katharine Hilbery, who dreams of studying astronomy at university, but society’s expectation is that she should marry. Anita Rani is joined by Haley Bennett who plays the determined lead character and Anna Snaith, Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature in the English Department, King’s College, London.
Andy Burnham has won in the Makerfield by-election, paving the way for a leadership challenge to Sir Keir Starmer. Baroness Harriet Harman, currently the Prime Minister's Adviser on Women and Girls, spoke this morning about the need for there to be a woman in that likely contest. Anita asks the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent Henry Zeffman why there are currently none in the running.
With only men allowed to ascend the throne and only a Princess on offer, Japan’s Parliament has drafted a bill with some solutions. Could the country ever see a female emperor and what would this look like? Anita speaks to BBC Tokyo Correspondent Kurumi Mori and Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield, Jennifer Coates.
A new study from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark has raised questions about whether each additional hour to an eight-hour working day of bending forward, walking and standing may increase the risk of pregnancy loss in the first trimester. This is an observational study and does not prove cause and effect. BBC health reporter Michelle Roberts explains.
Eli Davies has embarked on a nostalgic and cultural exploration of the single woman's kitchen, unpacking women’s complicated history with domesticity and how their choice to couple up may shape mealtimes and their relationships with food, cooking habits and self-care. Eli’s book The Spinster Cookbook: Culture, Politics and Pleasure in the Single Woman’s Kitchen is also a story of rebellion, explaining how cooking for one as a woman can become an act of care, defiance, pleasure, and self-expression.

Highlights from the Woman's Hour week

The latest public version of ChatGPT can be made to generate sexualised images or depict scenes of graphic violence with a simple prompt, researchers have told the BBC. British AI security startup Mindgard figured out how to make ChatGPT create graphic pictures by slightly altering a widely-shared instruction, or prompt, which was originally designed to produce humorous results. To find out more, Anita Rani speaks to Technology correspondent Chris Vallance and Mindgard's Peter Garraghan.
A spokesperson for Open AI said: "We take these reports seriously. After investigating this trend, we’ve introduced additional safeguards against this type of prompt. Our safety systems are designed to block potentially harmful images that are uploaded to ChatGPT and we analyse whether the AI generated image violates our policies before we show the image to the user. We also combine automated systems and human review to identify and block harmful material.”
Jon Snow, the lead presenter of Channel 4 News for 32 years, has revealed he has Alzheimer's disease. During his career, he reported on stories including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the release of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama's inauguration, receiving numerous awards including the BAFTA Fellowship in 2015. In a new Channel 4 documentary, made in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Society, Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, he is seen uncovering an environmental disaster in Zambia. In her first broadcast interview since the diagnosis was announced, Jon’s wife, Dr Precious Lunga, joins Anita to talk about how they are navigating life now.
Testing the microbiome of your vagina is increasing in popularity, with direct-to-consumer companies offering at-home tests and claiming that this information is critical to women's health. Anita speaks with Dame Lesley Regan, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London, and Dr Caroline Mitchell, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, to discuss what we know about the vaginal microbiome and the recent surge in private testing.

New novel Mrs Dickens by Emily Howes, tells the imagined story of Kate Hogarth, wife of the writer and journalist Charles Dickens. She is much loved at first, but as Charles finds fame and the family rise through the ranks of Victorian society, Charles’s attitude towards Kate changes and she is devastated. Emily talks to Anita about how she pieced together and embellished the invisible life of Kate, a woman who bore Charles 10 children during a 22-year marriage and had an unparalleled view of one of the world’s greatest writers.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Corinna Jones

Tomorrow a by-election will be held in the parliamentary seat of Makerfield in Wigan, one of three taking place. Makerfield has found itself at the epicentre of British politics - and the result could decide the next prime minister. We look at what the polls are saying about the way women in the area are saying they will vote and what is impacting that decision. Nuala McGovern is joined by BBC’s political correspondent Alex Forsyth.
Scotland are one of the home nations, alongside England and Ireland, hosting the Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup currently taking place here. The Scots got their campaign underway last Saturday against Ireland with an historic win. Nuala is joined by the CEO of Cricket Scotland, Trudy Lindblade and by one of their team, all-rounder, Priyanaz Chatterji to talk about the growth of the women’s game in Scotland and what this tournament means for the future of the game.
Peptides have become a new buzzword in the wellness industry. Social media influencers have spoken about using them for optimising performance in the gym and improving their appearance, and they’re increasingly popular with women. But some unregulated peptides haven’t been through clinical trials and could be ineffective, or even harmful. Nuala is joined by BBC Health reporter Ruth Clegg, who has been looking into the way women are using peptides, and Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Lancaster.
Global Sex: What Sex Workers Know about Love and Capitalism is the title of a new book by the Danish anthropologist Sine Plambech. Sine Plambech is an internationally renowned expert on sex work, migration and human trafficking. Sine Plambech joins Nuala to tell us about her book and how she has dedicated her life to pursuing the trail of money and sex across the globe, while introducing us to four women from Thailand and Nigeria at the heart of her research.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Simon Richardson

It’s been 10 years since Jo Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was murdered in broad daylight by a man who lived in her constituency, motivated by far-right extremism. That truly shocking event sparked a national conversation about the safety of our elected representatives, and the civility of our public discourse. During her lifetime, Jo’s philosophy was that “we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us” – a philosophy which led to the establishment of the Jo Cox Foundation after her death. Their CEO Olivia Field joins presenter Nuala McGovern, along with Alice Lilly, senior researcher at the Institute for Government, to discuss the impact of Jo’s death and the safety of female politicians now.
Actor Geraldine James is renowned for a host of roles in theatre and on screen, from her TV debut in The Sweeney five decades ago to Jewel in the Crown, Band of Gold, This Town, The Cage and comedy sketch show Little Britain to name a few. Now she's making her Chichester theatre debut in the stage premiere of the 2015 film 45 years, alongside Gabriel Byrne. The couple are about to celebrate 45 years of marriage, when news arrives in a letter from Switzerland about a woman's body that's been discovered in a melting glacier, sending shockwaves through their marriage.
A new BBC podcast asks whether women are always safe on swinging websites. Swingers, an investigation from journalist Catrin Nye, explores serious concerns within the swinging community and asks if abuse can exist behind the language of sexual freedom. Nuala speaks to Catrin Nye and Rachel Horman Brown KC, a lawyer whose practice focuses on domestic abuse.
The number of bookshops on our high streets has now grown to the highest number since 2012, with some of the rise being attributed to specialist genre shops fuelled by the surge in popularity for fantasy - and 'romantasy' - fiction. We hear from Amanda Logan who opened Ritual Reads in the town of Whitchurch, Shropshire, last November and says about 75% of her customers are women.
Presented by: Nuala McGovern
Produced by: Sarah Jane Griffiths