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Woman's Hour

Weekend Woman’s Hour: Childcare, Kerry Washington, 80s egg donors, Women triathletes, Inclusive wigs after chemo, Bette & Joan

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A new analysis on the quality and quantity of childcare provision in England has revealed that the huge expansion of free childcare currently underway is at risk of not delivering for poorer families, according to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Save the Children. Author of the report Jodie Reed and Phoebe Arslanagic-Little, Head of the New Deal for Parents at Onward, joined Nuala McGovern this week to discuss.

You might remember Kerry Washington in her iconic role, Olivia Pope, the fixer in TV series Scandal, or perhaps you know her from her many other roles in The Last King of Scotland, Django Unchained and Little Fires Everywhere. In her new starring role, Kerry plays Major Charity Adams, a real-life World War Two hero. She joined Anita Rani live to discuss the film The Six Triple Eight, which tells the story of the only women of colour battalion stationed in Europe during the Second World War.

A new report from SheRACES and Fund Her Tri UK has found that women triathletes can experience unacceptable harassment at events. It also showed that women competitors struggle with the lack of toilet facilities and changing facilities. Sophie Power is an ultrarunner and founder of SheRACES – she joined Nuala to tell us more about the report and the change they hope to make.

IVF is one of the great medical breakthroughs of the 20th century. Thanks to its invention, over 390,000 babies have been born in the UK since 1991. 70,000 of which used donor eggs, sperm, or embryos. Elaine Lee was one of the first women in the UK to donate her eggs. She told Anita about the process then, and what it was like to be one of the first women to donate back in 1987.

After going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, hairdresser Anastasia Cameron was told at a salon in Wales that they didn’t offer Afro wigs. She joined Nuala to discuss her experience and how she’s now helping other women in similar situations with her own wig business.

The rivalry between silver-screen icons Bette Davis and Joan Crawford is the stuff of legend, a decades-long battle sparked by both professional and personal resentments. Now the story is being told in a re-boot of the play Bette & Joan, now showing at the Park Theatre in London. Greta Scaachi, who plays Bette, and Felicity Dean, who plays Joan, joined Nuala to tell us more about the pair’s infamous relationship.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Rebecca Myatt

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.

0:05.4

My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.

0:10.8

The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.

0:17.5

With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to

0:22.4

helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put

0:28.3

together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,

0:35.0

check out BBC Sounds.

0:41.3

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:46.7

Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:51.8

Hello and welcome to Weekend Woman's Hour with me, Anita Rani, on the programme today.

0:55.5

We rolled out and even hoovered the red carpet this week.

1:02.7

Actor Kerry Washington joined us to talk about her new film role in the 6th, AAA. Also, one of our guests discovered there was a lack of afro-wigs when she was going through cancer treatment and decided

1:07.8

to do something about it. Actors Greta Skarkie and Felicity Dean, who are starring in the play Betty and Joan,

1:14.7

telling the story of the famous feud between Hollywood royalty Betty Davis and Joan Crawford.

1:20.3

And we step back in time to the early days of fertility treatment and hear from one woman

1:25.4

who donated her eggs to help other women conceive back in the

1:29.1

80s. I was at a doubleware party in late 87 with a friend and we were in a discussion about a mutual

1:37.8

friend who wanted a second baby and couldn't have a second baby. As I was leaving, a lady came up to me and said she knew

1:46.6

that Patrick stepped her would take eggs. So I literally went home and wrote to him. So much

1:54.5

interesting stuff to listen to. So grab yourself a cup of whatever takes your fancy and settle in for

2:00.5

the next hour.

2:02.3

First, the Institute for Public Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, has published a major

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