April Ashley | Becoming April | 1

British Scandal

Wondery

Scandal, Alice Levine, Great Britain, Society & Culture, Exhibit C, British, England, History, Matt Forde, Documentary

4.5 • 6.5K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A pioneering trans woman's fight for recognition begins in 1960s Britain. April Ashley has broken free of her childhood as a boy in the Liverpool slums to become a stunning fashion model through groundbreaking surgery in Marrakesh. She's young and beautiful, and she's caught the eye of aristocrat Arthur Corbett. But her secret - that she was born a boy - is about to blow up, triggering a scandal that will shape transgender rights for the next half century.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Just a warning before we begin, some of the terms you'll hear in this episode were in common usage at the time the story takes place.
0:06.8	We've used them because they're in keeping with how our main character self-described,
0:10.9	but we acknowledge that they could be considered outdated today.
0:20.2	Hi, Alice.
0:21.7	You're all right?
0:22.5	I've just been doing a lot of thinking about my life, about my career.
0:26.2	That's big.
0:27.3	Yeah, I think I'm kind of done with comedy and podcasts.
0:30.2	What?
0:31.1	I want to be an actor.
0:33.4	A Thess?
0:34.2	A proper Thesp.
0:35.4	Okay, that is a bit of a 180.
0:37.2	But, I mean, sure. You know, like, you have to have range for that. Yeah, I've got range. I can prove it. Okay, fine, let's try this. I want you to be a disillusioned army major who's returning home from the front. I mean, I fought for this country. I believed in it. But look, what's
0:54.4	happened now? Was it worth it? My God. Okay, that was moving. What about a young widower who's
1:02.5	come into some money? I'll miss her so much. I just want to back. But the money will help, I suppose. Maybe in a few years I could meet someone else and get a big house. I just feel like there's so much behind that. I can tell you've done the work. That's incredible. And what about a debutante catching the eye of a soon-to-be lover? Oh, hello. Aren't you something? I like to put lots of pauses in
1:28.7	No I can see that
1:30.0	That's your signature style I suppose
1:32.3	I mean I was ready to tear you down
1:34.8	But that was actually amazing
1:37.0	And I've obviously seen you do stand up
1:38.5	And see you do scandal
	...

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