Loan sharks, Social media addiction, Canwen Xu
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Women are being forced to turn to loan sharks due to a "hidden" but devastating form of economic abuse, according to new research. Scottish Women's Aid has published a study on the problem of coerced debt – where an abusive current or ex-partner builds up debt in their victim's name, either without consent or knowledge or through force, threat or coercion. Anita Rani is joined by Dr Jenn Glinski, author of the report and the national policy lead for economic abuse at Scottish Women's Aid, to talk about the report findings.
Canwen Xu was born in China and moved to the US when she was two years old. She grew up in predominately white areas – North and South Dakota and Idaho. When she was 18 she gave a TEDx talk, titled, I Am Not Your Asian Stereotype, which has been watched more than 3.7 million times. Canwen joins Anita to discuss her debut novel - Boring Asian Female – and its themes of identity, ambition, failure, and obsession.
The Government is consulting on an outright ban of social media for under-16s, as well as other measures designed to stop teenagers accessing addictive and harmful material. In March in the US, a Los Angeles jury handed down an unprecedented win for a young woman who had sued Meta and Google over her childhood addiction to social media. So, what is social media addiction and how do you identify it in children? What’s the tipping point between a ‘keen interest’ and an addiction? Anita is joined by Dr Bernadka Dubicka, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, and Jenny Afia, a privacy and reputation lawyer for the law firm Schillings, who contributed to the UK Children’s Commissioner’s Digital Task Force.
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s musical production of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind has just transferred to London’s West End. Based on the true story of 13-year-old William Kamkwamba who, in drought-stricken Malawi, and despite the lack of support from those around him, dreamt of saving his village. Anita is joined by the director Lynette Linton, and Madeleine Appiah, who plays William’s mother.
Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Rebecca Myatt
Transcript
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| 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. |
| 0:30.5 | Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:35.4 | Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been removed for this podcast. |
| 0:42.1 | Good morning and welcome to the program, Boring Asian Female. |
| 0:47.5 | Of course I'm not talking about me, but you knew that. |
| 0:49.9 | It's the title of Kanwen Shu's debut novel about a young Chinese American woman who's very |
| 0:56.5 | clever. She's a student who does everything right to get into Harvard law. But when she doesn't |
| 1:02.0 | and someone else does, her ambition turns to obsession. And, well, no more spoilers from me. |
| 1:09.3 | Canwen can tell us more herself shortly. |
| 1:12.4 | The Boy Who Harness the Wind. |
| 1:14.4 | It's a new musical directed by Lynette Linton. |
| 1:17.6 | It's transferred from the RSC in Stratford to the West End. |
| 1:21.4 | It's an uplifting, life-affirming tale about a Malawian boy who, well, harnessed the wind |
... |
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