Hungary election, Women managing male footballers, Being a girl in 2026
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's 16 years in power are coming to an end after an election that saw massive voter turnout. Orbán was seen as a friend to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and his right wing government also introduced a range of policies aimed at boosting Hungary's declining birth rate, with particular focus on women as workers and mothers. Nuala McGovern talks to BBC East and Central Europe Correspondent Nick Thorpe alongside Éva Fodor, a Hungarian academic and sociologist at the Central European University, whose gender studies course was effectively banned by the Orbán government in 2018.
What’s the best thing about being a girl in 2026? In her new Radio 4 series, About the Girls, author and journalist Catherine Carr travels around the country to talk to girls about friendship, life online, body image and relationships. She joins Nuala to share what she learnt about the world this generation of girls are navigating. For the first time, a woman has been appointed to coach a men's team in one of Europe's top five football leagues. Marie-Louise Eta has been named interim Head Coach of Union Berlin in the German Bundesliga, the equivalent of the Premier League here. It's a sudden appointment, until the end of the season, and it follows a string of losses and the dismissal of the previous coach. We talk to Rosi Webb, previously one of the few female coaches in charge of a men's team in England for five years, alongside Laura McAllister, former international footballer and Vice President of UEFA.
Dame Paula Rego has been described as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. She said, “I paint to give fear a face”, and her art depicts the world from the female perspective and highlights themes including abortion, fairy tales, religion and how women are viewed in society. Now, four years since her death, a new exhibition, called Story Line, brings together 140 of her drawings, showcasing her life from eight to 80. Nuala is joined by Paula’s son Nick Willing, who curated the exhibition, and her friend, the writer Marina Warner.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Simon Richardson
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.4 | I'm Dilley Carter and I love organising. |
| 0:11.6 | In my brand new podcast, sort your life out, unpacked, celebrity guests join me to unbox three revealing items from their home. |
| 0:18.7 | Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting this. Along the way, I'll be |
| 0:22.8 | giving you practical hacks to help you declutter your life as well. This is the tough love I need. |
| 0:27.4 | Don't hold back. I'm definitely tucking you with me back to my house. Sort your life out, |
| 0:32.6 | unpacked. Watch on eye player. Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello, this is Neula McGovern, and you're listening to The Woman's Hour podcast. |
| 0:40.6 | Hello and welcome to the programme. I hope you had a good weekend. |
| 0:44.4 | Victor Orban did not. Sunday's vote brought a blow to Hungary's Prime Minister of 16 years. |
| 0:50.5 | Mr Orban is now on the way out. Peter Madjar is now on the way in. |
| 0:55.7 | You might remember Mr. Orban's procreation over immigration policies. |
| 1:00.5 | Well, we're going to be live in Budapest in just a moment to hear what is expected from the new leader for women in the country. |
| 1:06.8 | Also today, who inspires the girls that you know? |
| 1:10.6 | We're going to have the journalist, Catherine Carr, with us this hour, who has spoken to girls up and down the country about many things, including who they consider a role model and why. |
| 1:20.5 | Girls will hear still look to their mothers. |
| 1:22.9 | It was hard for you and it's hard for me, they often say. |
| 1:26.2 | Well, I'd like to hear from you on who the girls |
| 1:28.7 | in your life look up to and why. To get in touch, you can text the program, that number 84844 on |
| 1:35.1 | social media. We're at BBC Woman's Hour or you can email us through our website for a WhatsApp |
| 1:40.0 | message or a voice note. That number is-3-700-100-444. |
| 1:46.1 | Now, here's one woman who we could put on the list. |
| 1:49.3 | Mary Louise Ita. |
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