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Woman's Hour

Listener Week: Tummies, Later in life lesbians, Long Covid

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2024

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Listener Week is when all the topics, interviews and discussions are chosen by YOU!

Why do so many of us feel bad about our tummies and why are the rounded or wobbly ones never celebrated? That’s what listener Carole wants to know. Content creator Lottie Drynan created the IBS blog The Tummy Diaries and #mybloatedwardrobe and has learned to love her rounded stomach. She joins Nuala McGovern, along with Charlotte Boyce, Associate Professor in Victorian Literature and Culture at Portsmouth University, and columnist Pravina Ruda to discuss our historical and cultural relationship with our tummies.

Four years on from the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, many listeners have contacted Woman’s Hour to tell us about their experience of Long Covid. Nuala hears from Lexi Boreham who says she’s been “flattened” by the condition and speaks to respiratory physician Dr Melissa Heightman about the latest treatments and research.

Listener Lottie contacted Woman’s Hour because she wanted us to discuss later in life lesbians and what happens when you embrace the sexuality you secretly always knew you had, or perhaps you have only just acknowledged. Nuala speaks to psychotherapist Miriam, who has researched and written about later in life lesbians, and to Georgia who came out around eight years ago after 20 years of marriage to a man.

Listener Sarah Palmer from Farnham in Surrey tells us how her life has been transformed through her volunteering work with the charity Pets As Therapy. She’s one of the 4,000 people across the UK who take their dogs and cats into care homes, hospitals and prisons every week. She’ll speak to Nuala about her life and work with Haggis, a two year old cockapoo.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Lottie Garton

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Rory Stewart and I want to talk about ignorance. I will die without having read

0:08.2

everything that was written in classical Latin. Because ignorance isn't simply the opposite of knowledge.

0:14.7

It's part of what it means to be human.

0:17.5

Just about every game I can think of involves ignorance.

0:22.1

There's no adventure without ignorance. There's no there's no narrative.

0:25.0

The long history of ignorance from Confucius to Kianan

0:29.0

with me Rory Stewart,

0:31.0

listen on BBC Sounds.

0:35.0

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:39.6

Hello, this is Nula McGovern,

0:41.4

and you're listening to the Women's Hour podcast.

0:44.7

Hello and welcome to Women's Hour and to another program of your ideas for

0:49.1

listener week. We're going to talk about tummies in a moment, our much maligned middles.

0:54.0

That story coming in from a listener called Carol.

0:57.0

We have another listener, Lottie who got in touch.

1:00.0

Now Lottie wanted us to discuss coming out as gay later in life.

1:04.4

My guess this hour has done just that after 20 years of marriage to a man.

1:09.6

Maybe this is an experience that resonates with you, whether or not you are or where in a long-term

1:15.6

relationship.

1:16.6

If so, I want to hear your story.

1:18.4

Was there a catalyst for the change?

1:20.7

How did your circle of family and friends react?

...

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