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Woman's Hour

I May Destroy You

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2020

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Michaela Coel’s new drama “I May Destroy You” on BBC 1 is receiving rave reviews on Twitter and in the papers. The story centres around a writer called Arabella who is drugged and sexually assaulted but has no recollection of the assault except in flashbacks and has to piece together what happened to her. How effective is the way the story is told and what questions does it raise about consent, relationships and the portrayal of women’s everyday lived experience on screen? To discuss the series, Jenni is joined by Weruche Opia who plays Bella’s best friend, Terry, Zing Tsjeng, executive editor of Vice UK and the poet Vanessa Kisuule.

The children’s charity Barnardo’s has seen a 44% increase in the number of children who need foster care during the coronavirus pandemic. This, coupled with a fall in potential foster carers coming forward, is creating what they call a ‘state of emergency’. Vulnerable children who may have experienced neglect or abuse are now having to wait to be placed in foster families. What can be done? Jenni speaks to Brenda Farrell, Head of Fostering at Barnardo’s.

Ukrainian chef, food writer and food stylist, Olia Hercules tells the story of a part of Ukraine’s culinary history that is disappearing. Summer kitchens are little buildings in the vegetable garden where produce is prepared and eaten during the warmer months, and surplus food is pickled and preserved for the long winters. Olia joins Jenni to talk about the food of her childhood and discuss how to Cook the Perfect… Beetroot leaf rolls with buckwheat and mushrooms.

Covid 19 has introduced a number of new terms to public debate - the key worker is perhaps the most important one. It turns out that the most essential workers are predominantly women, and many of them employed in low paid work in health and social care as well as cleaning and supermarkets. In her new book, Feminism and the Politics of Resilience, the sociologist Angela McRobbie argues that these and other disadvantaged women have become increasingly trapped in low-paid and casualised work which offers no possibility for progression or promotion. And the kind of feminism we’ve seen promoted in the last decade, which has emphasised individual resilience, hasn’t helped. Middle class and often white women have been exulted to lean in and achieve more at work and in motherhood, while low-paid women to be shamed for lacking resilience. So, have we become distracted from recognising the social and economic forces that shape women’s lives? Jenni discusses with Angela McRobbie and Zoe Williams, Guardian columnist.

Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Karen Dalziel

Transcript

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0:00.0

Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

0:04.6

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

0:08.4

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable

0:14.3

experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC

0:20.4

makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

0:24.6

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

0:29.7

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

0:36.0

BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.

0:42.0

Hello Jenny Murray welcoming you to the... podcasts. In today's programme, Feminism and the Politics of Resilience is a new book by the sociologist

0:56.9

Angela McRobbie.

0:58.4

How much harm has been done to women by the advice to lean into work and motherhood whilst others are trapped in low paid casual

1:06.3

contracts. The cuisine of the Ukraine. Ollia Hercules cooks the perfect beetroot leaf rolls with buckwheat and mushrooms.

1:16.8

And Michaela Kohl's much admired TV series, I May Destroy You.

1:22.1

What do we learn about the sexual landscape young women inhabit

1:26.2

and what's known or not about the meaning of consent? Now this week the Children's Charity Barnados has revealed a startling rise of 44% in the number of children

1:40.0

who've needed to be taken into foster care since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

1:45.8

They say that coupled with a fall in potential foster care is coming forward, a state of emergency has been created and vulnerable children are having to wait

1:55.7

to be placed in foster homes. What can be done? Well Brenda Farrell is head of

2:00.6

fostering at Barnados. Brenda why has there been such a big increase

2:06.5

in the need for foster care? Good morning Jenny. Barnados as you know has been working in the fostering sector for over a hundred years,

2:16.0

and during that time we continue to monitor the needs of children across the UK.

2:21.0

And during the pandemic, that was no different and our figures as you say have

...

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