The women behind our best-loved puzzles and games - A Woman's Hour special

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 26 December 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a Boxing Day special, Anita Rani celebrates a favourite Christmas activity: puzzles and games.

Anita hears from Leslie Scott, the woman who invented Jenga, and steps into the world of crosswords and general knowledge quizzes with Kate Mepham, setter for the Daily Telegraph.

She pays tribute to Agatha Christie, the woman behind the most famous puzzles ever written, with novelist and essayist John Lanchester, and host of the Shedunnit podcast, Caroline Crampton.

Anne Corbett, professor in dementia research at the University of Exeter, explains the role games can play in the battle to keep our minds fit and healthy.

And Anita dives into gaming with Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, one of the bestselling novels of recent years: a love story set in the world of video games. Eimear Noone, the composer behind World of Warcraft and the first woman to conduct at the Oscars, explains how video game soundtracks come together, while Frankie Ward, Esports host and journalist, has tips on the best games to play while breastfeeding.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Hannah Sander

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Nicola Cocklin.
0:02.8	Young people have been making history for years, but we don't often hear about them.
0:06.6	My brand new series on BBC Sounds sets out to put this right.
0:10.6	In history's youngest heroes, I'll be revealing the fascinating stories of 12 young people
0:16.0	who've played a major role in history and who've helped shape our world.
0:19.8	Like Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela,
0:22.5	Louis Braille and Lady Jane Grey, history's youngest heroes with me, Nicola Cochlin. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:31.7	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.
0:40.5	Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been
0:45.1	removed for this podcast.
0:47.0	Hello and welcome to Woman's Hour and a very happy boxing day.
0:51.3	Now we have officially entered the twilight zone between Christmas and New Year, where time becomes meaningless and we can sit around all day playing board games, piecing together a jigsaw, playing a computer game, maybe doing a crossword in front of the telly or the radio. And on the program today, we are going to be celebrating all things games.
1:11.2	We will hear from the woman who invented Jenga and will step into the world of crosswords and general knowledge quizzes.
1:18.2	We will pay tribute to Agatha Christie, the woman behind the most famous puzzles ever written.
1:22.7	And we will find out what role games can play in the battle to keep our minds fit and healthy. As well as all of that,
1:29.3	we will celebrate gaming with the writer behind one of the world's best-selling novels of
1:33.3	recent years, a love story set in the world of gaming, and the composer Ima Noon, who is joining us on the program in a little moments.
1:41.3	And we couldn't have a whole program dedicated to puzzles without setting some
1:44.6	for you at home. So stay tuned for those. We're not live today, but if you want to get in touch,
1:49.7	you can do so in the usual way. Email us through our website. But let's start with the women
1:54.9	who have created some of our most loved puzzles. Leslie Scott is the brains and business acumen behind Jenga, a game that I'm sure
2:03.7	most of you know very well. The game is to build a tower from wooden blocks and take it in turns
	...

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