4.2 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 3 November 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
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World Health Organisation figures say one in six people are affected by infertility. Fertility Matters at Work, who provide training for fertility support in the workplace, have published a cost analysis. They have explored the economic impact of not providing time off for fertility treatment - not only on those people directly involved in seeking help, but on businesses and the economy more widely. To discuss further, Nuala McGovern is joined by Alice Macdonald, MP for Norwich North, who will be asking MPs if they agree that a legal right should be given to people to take paid time off work to attend medical appointments for fertility treatment, and Natalie Silverman, co-founder of Fertility Matters at Work.
Bella Culley was freed by the Tbilisi City Court today. The 19-year-old, who is eight months pregnant, is from Billingham in Teesside. She was arrested at Tbilisi airport after police found drugs in her luggage and had been held in Georgia on drug trafficking charges since May. Before news of her release, Nuala spoke to Rayhan Demytrie, BBC News Caucasus correspondent, outside the court.
The case of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing US health insurance CEO Brian Thompson, is one of the most closely followed legal cases of recent years. The 26-year old-was arrested in December and accused of shooting Mr Thompson, a father of two, outside a Manhattan hotel. He faces the charges of murder and stalking, charges which Mangione denies. While the case continues, something else has been happening. Mangione has attracted an intense, mostly female online following: people sharing pictures of him, writing letters, posting fan edits and memes, and debating his appearance and behaviour in forensic detail. So why does a man accused of violence become the object of fascination and even desire to some women? And what does that say about the digital age we’re living in? Nuala talks to Professor David Wilson, criminologist and former prison governor, and Faye Curran, journalist at The New Statesman, who has immersed herself in Mangione’s online fandom.
Anyone watching Celebrity Traitors at the moment, or indeed the previous Traitors series, has probably noted Claudia Winkleman’s iconic looks that seem to sum up both chilly Scottish castle chic and punk power dressing with a smidge of sinister gothic Victorian melodrama thrown into the mix. Claudia's stylist, Sinead McKeefry, has a huge following online by people keen to pick up tips. The power of social media is such that when items are worn by Claudia and flagged online, it can have quite an impact, as small-business owner Lauren Aston found when one of her designs appeared on the show. She joins Nuala to explain what has happened, as does Alison Lynch, head of content at Good Housekeeping Magazine, who has not only written about the Claudia fashion phenomenon, but has even dressed as Claudia in the Traitors herself for a week.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. |
| 0:10.5 | Evil genius. |
| 0:11.6 | He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. |
| 0:15.5 | That's like hiding at your own funeral. |
| 0:17.1 | Yeah, a bit great gig. |
| 0:18.6 | I'm Russell Kane. |
| 0:19.6 | Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to Evil Genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:43.5 | Hello, this is Neula McGovern and you're listening to The Woman's Hour podcast. It is indeed. |
| 0:49.0 | Good morning and welcome to the programme. Well, right off the bat, a question for those of you who have been through fertility treatments. How did you manage at work during that time? We know it can be emotional and also time-consuming, but I'm wondering, did you tell your employer where you support it? I'd like to hear your stories. We do have the MP, Alice MacDonald, in just a moment, who is asking MPs to consider a legal right to time off work for such procedures. |
| 1:11.9 | You can text the programme. |
| 1:12.9 | The number is 84844 on social media or at BBC Women's Hour. |
| 1:16.7 | Or you can email us through our website for a WhatsApp message or voice note. |
| 1:20.7 | That number is 0-3700-100-444. |
| 1:25.3 | Also today, what has led to the online and in-court, passionate support from young women for Luigi Mangoni? He's an American man accused of murder, a charge he denies. But we will explore why some women desire men accused or convicted of crimes. That's coming up. Also, now, you might be watching a bit more telly on these dark evenings. Celebrity traitors, for example. Well, I'm going to speak to a woman whose business boomed after a certain green jumper she created was worn by Claudia Winkleman. That was on season two of the traitors. And we'll also speak to a woman who dressed like Claudia for a week. Why? Maybe my first |
| 2:03.4 | question. We have all that to chat about and traitors fashion. We'll also be in Tbilisi. |
| 2:09.9 | And the British woman, Bella Cully, who is eight months pregnant, is awaiting right now the final |
| 2:14.4 | verdict and sentence in Georgia for drug smuggling, expecting that in the coming |
| 2:19.7 | hour. So we will speak to our correspondent who is there. But I'm actually going to jump forward |
| 2:25.5 | to tomorrow morning because Alice MacDonald, MP for Norwich North, will ask MPs if they agree |
| 2:31.3 | that a legal right should be given to people to take paid time off to attend medical appointments for fertility treatment. |
| 2:38.1 | The World Health Organisation say that one in six people are affected by infertility. |
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