meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Woman's Hour

Tennis icon Serena Williams, Recruiting women to the armed forces, Afghan women radio, Stem cell donors, Women and bodybuilding

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It looks like Serena Williams is leaving tennis. She's won 23 grand slam titles and four Olympic golds but has suggested it's time to move on. She's made the announcement in Vogue, where she's said retirement - "causes a great deal of pain. I hate it." So she hasn't explicitly said she's giving up but she's given a large hint, saying she wants to focus on her family. Jessica Creighton speaks to former tennis player, Jo Durie and sports journalist Natasha Henry about the tennis icon. The Armed Forces are not reaching their targets in terms of recruiting women. The MOD is hoping to increase the proportion of women in the armed forces to 30% by 2030 but they have not met the target set for 2020. One of the barriers to change is thought to be visibility - new research has found the UK public knows little or nothing about female veterans. Lauren Godier-McBard led the research and Ria Jackson is an RAF veteran and founder of the blog The V word. BBC Afghan have a new radio programme called 'Women' which focuses on women and girls, especially those in rural areas, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's presented by Shazia Haya in Pashto, and Aalia Farzan in Dari who fled their home country last August when the Taliban retook control. It aims to inform, educate and empower its listeners. Faranak Amidi is the presenter of World Service's The Fifth Floor. She spoke to Shazia and Aalia. This spring more than two million people had registered to become potential blood stem-cell donors in the UK. That’s regarded as a milestone by DKMS, which is the biggest stem cell-register in the UK. And it gives one mother in Northern Ireland some much-needed hope. Anne Greer’s youngest son is in a critical condition in hospital. Daniel was fit and well, but in May after complaining of back pain that was coming and going, he was diagnosed with leukaemia. The family want people around the world to donate blood to see if their stem cells are a life-saving match for Daniel. On Woman’s Hour we talk about girls a lot, their safety, their mental and physical health but we don’t often talk to them. For an occasional series called 'Girl’s World' Ena Miller went to talk to groups of girls at their schools in their friendship groups, not necessarily about the big ‘issues’ but about what makes them laugh, who they laugh with…what they care about. Today, India and Alice are both aged 13 and they live in Stroud. Today we're going to be talking about women in the world of elite bodybuilding where in the UK alone there will be more than 200 female bodybuilding shows this year. Kate Bishop - co-creator of the book Core which includes 42 photos of ‘muscly women’ doing what the book describes as 'subverting the archetype of femininity' and one of the bodybuilders in the book, Louise Plumb, discuss. Presenter: Jessica Creighton Producer: Kirsty Starkey Interviewed Guest: Natasha Henry Interviewed Guest: Jo Durie Interviewed Guest: Laura Godier-McBard Interviewed Guest: Ria Jackson Interviewed Guest: Shazia Haya Interviewed Guest: Aalia Farzan Interviewed Guest: Anne Greer Reporter: Ena Miller Interviewed Guest: Kate Bishop Interviewed Guest: Louise Plumb

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:05.4

Hello, I'm Jessica Crichton. Welcome to the Woman's Hour podcast.

0:09.1

Good morning, a pleasure to have you company.

0:11.0

Now, let's start this morning with sports and this quote.

0:15.1

I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family.

0:19.0

Those are the words of tennis icon Serena Williams,

0:21.5

who has hinted she might soon retire without actually using the word retirement.

0:26.6

At 40 years old, it's clear Serena still loves tennis,

0:29.9

and the decision to evolve away from the sport as she puts it is a very difficult one.

0:35.0

So our question to you this morning,

0:37.1

just how difficult is it to walk away from a career that you love,

0:40.7

and why did you do it?

0:42.4

What helps you decide? How did your life change?

0:45.2

Let us know.

0:46.2

Remember, we're on WhatsApp now, so you can send us voice notes, pictures,

0:49.8

and videos as well.

0:51.1

So save this number to your phone, 03700-100-4403-700-100-400-4404.

1:00.0

Remember that data charges may apply.

1:02.3

You can still get in contact with us in all the old ways as well via text on 848-44-4

1:08.9

text charged at your standard message rate,

1:11.5

and on social media we're at BBC Woman's Hour.

1:15.2

Also this morning, with the Ministry of Defence struggling to recruit more women

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

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 2025.