4.2 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 25 October 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
The Essex witch trials represent one of the darkest chapters in British history. A new Sky History series, Witches of Essex, revisits the real lives of women accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries, drawing on newly examined court records and the latest historical research. Historian Dr Eleanor Janega joins Nuala McGovern to discuss.
A landmark change to the Family Courts has been announced this week - the court will no longer work on the presumption that having contact with both parents is in the best interest of the child. Domestic abuse campaigners have said the move will save children's lives. Nuala talks to Claire Throssel MBE, one of the campaigners who has driven this change. In October 2014, her two sons, Jack, who was 12, and Paul, who was nine, were deliberately killed by their father. He had been awarded five hours weekly access to the boys despite Claire's warnings that he was a danger to them.
After 165 days at sea, two British women have just made history becoming the first pair to row non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific Ocean, from South America to Australia. Jess Rowe, 28, and Miriam Payne, 25, set off from Lima in May and arrived in Cairns in Australia on Saturday, completing more than 8,000 miles in their nine-metre boat, Velocity. Along the way they faced storms, broken equipment, and even navigated by the stars when their systems failed - they join Anita Rani to talk about the highs and lows of their Pacific adventure.
Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Simon Richardson
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. |
| 0:10.5 | Evil genius. |
| 0:11.6 | He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. |
| 0:15.5 | That's like hiding at your own funeral. |
| 0:17.1 | Yeah, a bit great gig. |
| 0:18.6 | I'm Russell Kane. |
| 0:19.6 | Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. |
| 0:24.1 | Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. |
| 0:26.4 | It also helps it. |
| 0:27.4 | It's a long time ago, right? |
| 0:29.4 | It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. |
| 0:34.9 | Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:38.0 | Hello and welcome to the program, bringing you the highlights from the Woman's Hour |
| 0:42.2 | Week. In today's show, what do you do when you're paddling across the Pacific and your |
| 0:46.7 | water maker stops working? Sometimes we had to use a hand-pumping watermaker, and it's actually |
| 0:51.5 | harder work than rowing. And then on the first day we used that, |
| 0:54.7 | the filter broke off. Oh my gosh. So we have to fix that with a pair of pants. As you do. More from |
| 1:00.5 | Jess Row and Miriam Payne, who just made history becoming the first pair to row nonstop and |
| 1:05.4 | unsupported from South America to Australia. That's coming up. We're also going to hear a remarkable interview |
| 1:12.8 | with Claire Thrussell, whose two sons were killed by their father. She's been campaigning for a change |
| 1:19.2 | in family court policy, so the court will no longer work on the presumption that having contact with |
... |
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.