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Woman's Hour

Haley Bennett and Virginia Woolf, The Spinster Cookbook

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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.

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:07.5

From that crazy viral video to bizarre trends that are taking over our social feeds.

0:12.7

We investigate the stuff you're scrolling through in our brand new podcast, top comment.

0:17.9

I'm BBC correspondent, Mariana Spring.

0:20.2

And I'm investigative reporter Matt Shea.

0:22.0

Every week we look at the stories spilling out from our screens and into real life.

0:26.0

To work out what's actually real.

0:28.0

And what's not.

0:29.2

Top comment.

0:30.4

Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:33.8

Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:39.1

Good morning and welcome to the programme.

0:41.7

As Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election and is expected to launch a leadership challenge to the Prime Minister,

0:47.9

we ask, why are there no labour women currently in the running?

0:52.5

Could Japan ever have a female emperor?

0:55.6

The current emperor has a daughter,

0:57.4

but it's only men who can ascend the throne,

0:59.9

and he doesn't have a son.

1:01.6

So the Japanese Parliament are considering

1:03.5

what the alternatives could be.

1:05.2

Hmm, I wonder.

1:06.9

Virginia Woolf's novel, Night and Day,

...

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