meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Woman's Hour

Harshita Brella, England Rugby, Olivia Chaney, Lauren Elkin

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In November 2024 Harshita Brella's body was found in the boot of a car in Ilford, East London, approximately 100 miles away from where she lived in Corby, Northamptonshire. Now her family have arrived in the UK to appeal for renewed action by police in the stalled investigation into her death; bringing the alleged murderer to justice. Nuala McGovern is joined by Harshita’s sister Sonia Dabas and Poonam Joshi, founder of Indian Ladies UK who support Indian victims of domestic abuse.

The England Rugby team now has 38 straight victories, 8 Six Nations titles, the Rugby World Cup title and a world number one ranking after their latest victory in the Six Nations yesterday. The BBC pundit Ruby Tui said they may just be the best team ever, in any sport. But is their dominance hurting the game at large? Nuala is joined by Katy Daley-McLean, who was captain of the England team when they won the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Folk and classical singer-songwriter Olivia Chaney has collaborated with some of the biggest names in folk music, including Shirley Collins and Richard Thompson, and her The Queen of Hearts collaborative album with the Decemberists was Grammy nominated. She discusses her current album and how it felt to have her music included in the box office hit film Wuthering Heights.

Vocal Break: On Women, Music and Power is the title of the new book from Lauren Elkin. For millennia women singing were cast as sirens: mythical creatures who lured sailors to their death. But in this part memoir, part feminist manifesto, Lauren Elkin explores how women from Cyndi Lauper to feminist punk rockstar Kathleen Hanna to Beyonce have used their voices as women to defy convention, genre, capitalism, racism and sexism.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:07.3

On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind.

0:12.7

From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident.

0:16.6

Or tips on how to focus.

0:18.5

Sorry, what will you say?

0:19.7

If it matters to you, it matters to us.

0:22.6

Feel good inside of them.

0:24.3

With What's Up Docs.

0:25.9

And Complex with Kimberly Wilson.

0:27.9

Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:30.6

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

0:35.3

Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast

0:39.0

has been removed for this podcast.

0:41.5

Hello and welcome to the programme.

0:43.6

I think England's red roses are probably still celebrating this Monday morning.

0:48.6

They are world champions.

0:50.0

They beat France to win their eighth successive women's six-nation title and fifth straight grand slam.

0:57.1

We're going to have Katie Daly McLean, former captain of the Red Roses in just a moment.

1:02.6

But also today, we are going to listen to the singer-songwriter Olivia Cheney.

1:07.2

She's going to perform for us this hour.

1:09.2

I have just heard the sound check you are in for a treat.

1:12.5

Also, staying with women's voices, Lauren Elkin has a fascinating new book called Vocal Break on Women, Music and Power.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 9 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.