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Woman's Hour

Weekend Woman's Hour Listener Week: Van Life, Risky sports, Widows Fire, Pets as therapy, Tummies

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Listener Week is when all the topics, interviews and discussions are chosen by YOU!

We hear from listener Siobhan Daniels. She wrote to us on Instagram: 'I would love you to talk about van life and an alternative way of living.' Siobhan is 65 years old and after selling her home and possessions has lived in her motorhome for five years. She joins Nuala McGovern on the programme.

Listener Kitty Dowry wanted us to take a look at so called 'risky' sports, and to encourage us all to look at them in a different way. Kitty is a climber; she has been doing it for 10 years and wants to see more women give it a go, even those who might have written it off for fear of it being too dangerous. Kitty joins Anita, as does Hazel Findlay, a professional climber and coach.

As part of Listener Week we have been asked by widows to discuss one side effect of bereavement – hyper-arousal, and the term ‘Widow’s Fire’. Nuala McGovern explores these ideas with listener Lizzie, Stacey Heale, who has written a book – Now is Not the Time for Flowers - about her experience of being widowed, and also by the psychotherapist Lucy Beresford, who can shed some light on what might be going on.

How one moment or person can change your life’s trajectory. Listener Bettie tells Anita how a childhood invite to a friend's house introduced her to a new way of life -one she says saved her.

Listener Sarah Palmer got in touch to tell us about the volunteer work she does with the charity Pets As Therapy. She joined Nuala to talk about how her life has been “immeasurably improved” because of her dog Haggis and the work they do together visiting local hospitals and care homes.

Why do so many of us feel bad about our tummies and why are the rounded or wobbly ones never celebrated? That’s what listener Carole wants to know. Content creator Lottie Drynan created the IBS blog The Tummy Diaries and #mybloatedwardrobe and has learned to love her rounded stomach. She joins Nuala McGovern, along with Charlotte Boyce, Associate Professor in Victorian Literature and Culture at Portsmouth University, and columnist Pravina Ruda to discuss our historical and cultural relationship with our tummies.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Sarah Crawley

Transcript

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0:00.0

How did the richest people on the planet make their fortunes?

0:05.0

I'm Simon Jack and I'm Zing Singh.

0:08.0

Join us for good bad billionaire.

0:09.0

Each episode we pick a billionaire and we find out how they made their money like the comedian Jerry

0:14.5

Seinfeld the financier George Soros the golf star Tiger Woods then Simon and I

0:19.6

have a decision to make do we think they are good, bad or just another billionaire?

0:24.3

Good bad billionaire. Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:27.8

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:34.0

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

0:39.0

Welcome to a special weekend Women's Hour with me Anise Arani.

0:43.0

It's special because it's a round up of listener week.

0:45.9

All the ideas for the discussions were generated by you.

0:49.8

And I just want to say, thank you,

0:52.0

as the stories made for fascinating listen. Your stories, they

0:56.2

were inspiring, heartbreaking and heartfelt and you're about to hear a few highlights from

1:01.6

the week but do go to BBC sounds to hear the

1:03.9

programs in their entirety. In the next hour we'll hear from Chivorne who

1:08.6

sold her possessions and now lives in a van and we talk Tommy's we'll hear about the historical and cultural differences when it comes to how we view our

1:17.0

bellies.

1:18.0

Growing up I was around a lot of women wearing saris of all sizes and Saris obviously mean that you're showing quite a lot of your belly and I really think that influenced a lot of my beauty standards because I didn't think that you can't have a

1:35.1

wobbly belly if you want to put it on show. The often taboo subject of Widows Fire, a

1:40.7

compulsive desire for sexual gratification after bereavement.

...

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