Gaza, Dame Imelda Staunton and Bessie Carter, Yasmin Khan, Cyberflashing

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups are warning of mass starvation in Gaza and pressing for governments to take action. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam are among the signatories of a joint statement that says their colleagues and the people they serve are "wasting away". Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory, rejected the organisations' statement and accused them of "serving the propaganda of Hamas". Yolande Knell is the BBC's Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem and joined Kylie Pentelow for more on the situation there.

Dame Imelda Staunton, of Vera Drake and Harry Potter fame, and her daughter Bessie Carter, of Bridgerton fame, are starring as mother and daughter in Mrs Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw, currently in the West End. The play explores the morals of earning money from prostitution. They join Kylie to talk about the relevance of the play today, and tell us what’s it like acting on stage together for the first time in their careers.

Yasmin Khan is an award-winning food and travel writer. Her fusion of recipes and reportage combines the cuisines of the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean and her new book, Sabzi: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes for Everyday, is her first meat-free cookbook. It was born out of overcoming the struggles of early motherhood and breastfeeding in particular. She tells Kylie about finding solace in the sustenance and soothing properties of the Iranian food she grew up on and adapting it for health and climate-conscious modern living.

Cyber flashing is when a stranger sends an unsolicited explicit image or video. When musician Anna Downes was sent naked photos and videos by a man called Ben Gunnery last year, she reported it to the police, who took a statement but were very slow to take it any further. In May, he was found guilty of intentionally sending the images to cause alarm, distress and humiliation and earlier this week Gunnery was given a two-year community order, including 150 hours of unpaid work. If he re-offends he’ll be sent to prison. Anna Downes joins Kylie along with Nicola Goodwin from BBC Midlands Investigations team.

Producer: Corinna Jones Presenter: Kylie Pentelow

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Mariana Spring, the BBC's social media investigations correspondent.
0:06.0	In my podcast, I've been investigating what happened to the daughter of a conspiracy theorist who died having rejected chemotherapy.
0:13.0	It would mean the world to me if I could make it that she wasn't just another in the long line of people that die in this way.
0:19.0	How does this reflect the rise of health conspiracy theories on social media and beyond?
0:24.8	The new series of Mariana in Conspiracy Land.
0:27.8	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:30.0	Hello, this is Kylie Pentelow and you're listening to the Woman's Hour podcast.
0:34.7	Good morning and welcome to the programme.
0:36.8	Coming up today, she's one of our most well-known
0:39.2	and loved actresses and now she's back on stage. But this role is a little different for Dame
0:45.2	Imelda Staunton as she's performing alongside her daughter, Bessie, and they play a mother and
0:51.5	daughter with a somewhat complex and difficult relationship.
0:55.2	I'm delighted to say they'll both be joining me in the studio to talk about what that's been like.
1:00.0	And it got us thinking about those mother-daughter relationships.
1:03.3	Have you worked together with your mum or your daughter?
1:05.9	What was it like? A joy or a trial?
1:09.0	Have you had to set some ground rules to make it work? Or was it a natural and instinctive partnership? Do get in touch. You can text the program. The number as always is 84844. On social media, we're at BBC Woman's Hour. You can email us through our website or send us a WhatsApp message or a voice note using the number 0300-100-444.
1:32.5	Plus, we hear from a woman who was the victim of cyber flashing, where you're sent unwanted explicit images or videos.
1:40.4	She tells us how it was a battle to get the police to take her seriously.
1:45.0	And I'll be speaking to food and travel writer Yasmin Khan.
1:48.6	Her new book is a first which is entirely meat-free,
1:52.6	still combining the cuisines of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean.
	...

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