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Woman's Hour

The Silent Twins, the science behind 'mummy brain', Rosie Pearson, Lorien Haynes

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The story is that of June and Jennifer Gibbons who grew up in Wales in the 1970s. For years, the two would only speak to each other earning them the name ‘the silent twins’. At 19, they were institutionalised at Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital indefinitely. They remained there for 11 years. In 1993, they were moved to a less restrictive clinic in Wales. However Jennifer died during transit. The cause of her death has never been fully determined but has been suggested it was part of their pact as twins. Their story has been largely forgotten or left to folklore. It is now being brought to light in a new biographical film that comes out this Friday, called The Silent Twins. We speak to the award-winning actors, Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance, who star as the silent twins. We also hear from Marjorie Wallace, former investigative journalist and founder of mental health charity, SANE, whose book inspired the film. ‘Mummy Brain’ is the term given to feelings of brain fog or memory loss that women experience during and post pregnancy. Despite the fact that 80% of pregnant women will experience this, very little is known about the specific causes. What we do know is that women’s brains change more during pregnancy than at any other time during adulthood. Dr Jodi Pawluski has been researching the topic for over 20 years and has personally experienced ‘mummy brain’ herself. She tells Emma what we currently know about the impact pregnancy and parenthood has on women’s brains - and what more we still are yet to find out. How much should you tell your children about your past? In the new film ‘Everything I Ever Wanted to Tell My Daughter About Men’, a woman details every relationship she has been in, in the hope that her daughter won't make the same mistakes. The film is backed by Refuge - the charity supporting survivors of domestic violence. It's made by 21 female directors across 23 short films. Then Lorien Haynes, who wrote the script and acted in the films, made one full length movie feature from the short films. All proceeds from the movie will go to Refuge. Emma speaks to Lorien about why she wanted to do this project. In one of his first big tests as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has had to water down housing targets for local councils - faced by a rebellion from his own backbenchers. The former Northern Ireland and DEFRA minister Theresa Villers led the charge alongside fellow Conservative MP Bob Seeley. Housing Secretary Michael Gove has now offered councils more flexibility over meeting the government-set targets. The 60 rebels had argued they are excessive and undermine local councils. Emma talks to Kitty Donaldson, UK Political Editor at Bloomberg News and to Rosie Pearson, who has been branded by some as the 'Queen of NIMBYs', due to her campaigning on this issue.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, I'm Felicity Finch. You may know me as Ruth in the Archers. I have something important to

0:06.0

ask you before you listen to your podcast. This Christmas, thousands of people across the UK will be

0:12.6

without a safe place to call home, but you can help change that. A gift to the Radio 4 Christmas

0:19.6

Appeal with Saint Martin in the Fields can help people find a home by providing a much needed

0:25.5

deposit or paying for rent in advance. Everything starts with home and this Christmas home starts with you.

0:34.8

Please support the Radio 4 Christmas Appeal by donating online on the Radio 4 Christmas Appeal

0:39.8

website. When times are so difficult for so many, thank you for helping people to restart their

0:46.2

lives with a home. Now enjoy your podcast. Hello, I'm Emma Barnett and welcome to Woman's

0:58.5

R from BBC Radio 4. Good morning and welcome to the programme. Today we hear the retelling of a story

1:05.3

you may remember, the so-called Silent Twins from Wales, whose unique and haunting experiences

1:11.5

have been made into a new film. Ever heard the one about so-called Mummy Brain? Well, apart from being

1:17.7

a terrible name, it turns out it's pretty terribly understood. We'll be separating scientific fact

1:22.9

from fiction. But we're going to start today's programme with the reaction of a woman who's been

1:28.0

nicknamed the Queen of the Nimbys to Rishi Soonux, having to row back on his enforced house building

1:34.8

targets after a conservative rebellion raised its head. The new Prime Minister's reversal is music

1:40.4

to the ears of Rosie Pearson, who's the head and co-founder of the Community Planning Alliance,

1:45.6

a group of around 600 grassroots community planning groups that have come together to lobby

1:50.0

the government for change when it comes to local planning. Rosie, a stay at home mother,

1:55.2

says she was radicalised and that's the word she uses, into standing up for her local area and

2:00.4

blocking certain developers from home building after going to one-terse meeting of her local

2:06.5

counsellors. Many women are involved in this space, she works with a lot of them. But Rosie also

2:13.0

notes how rude and aggressive it can be in the planning world. And I wonder, have you dipped your

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