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Woman's Hour

Wrestling, Margaret McDonagh remembered, Little Black Dress, Sue Barker, HRT

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A new study has suggested that women who take hormone replacement therapy to relieve their menopause symptoms may increase their risk of dementia. Scientists at Copenhagen University found that women who had taken HRT were 24 per cent more likely to get dementia or Alzheimer’s disease than women of the same age and background who did not use the treatment. But other researchers have said that the cognitive declines may not have been due to treatment. Joining Hayley are Professor Pauline Maki from the University of Illinois at Chicago who has conducted research on menopause and Dr Nelsan Pourhadi from the Danish Dementia Research Centre, the lead researcher on the study.

This weekend, World Wrestling Entertainment is coming to the UK. Among the professional wrestlers performing at the 02 in London will be the current Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. She has had a meteoric rise to the top of WWE and joins Hayley to talk about her journey to becoming champion, as well as what it’s like to be a woman in such a masculine world.

Baroness Margaret McDonagh, the first female general secretary of the Labour Party, has died aged 61. Margaret McDonagh became a key figure in the Labour party under Sir Tony Blair's leadership, and played a central role in the 1997 and 2001 Labour general election victories. Glioblastoma, a type of brain tumour caused her death. Her sister Siobhain believes more research is needed into the causes and treatment of glioblastoma.

Next week is the start of Wimbledon. Last week marked the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the Women's Tennis Association, also known as the WTA. It was established by Billie Jean King in 1973, after a meeting in London of 60 of the world's best female tennis players at the time. Krupa Padhy recently spoke to Sue Barker, who has both played at Wimbledon and been the presenter of BBC TV coverage for three decades, before stepping down last year. Krupa asked Sue if she thinks women's tennis, driven by Billie Jean King, has improved since she herself was playing in the 1970s and 1980s.

From Liz Hurley’s iconic safety pin dress, to Audrey Hepburn’s iconic ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ gown, the Little Black Dress has taken many forms over the years. The National Museum of Scotland opens an exhibition this weekend called ‘Beyond the Little Black Dress’ which will explore the evolution of the LBD and its relationship with female liberation since it came on the scene almost 100 years ago. Hayley is joined by the exhibit’s curator, Georgina Ripley to find out more.

Presenter: Hayley Hassall Producer: Rebecca Myatt Studio manager: Bob Nettles

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:04.1

Hello and welcome to the programme.

0:08.1

I'm Haley Hassel and as always on Women's Hour, we have an eclectic mix of engaging and

0:13.3

important topics of conversation today.

0:16.0

I'm going to be talking to the WWE Women's World Champion, Rhea Ripley.

0:22.0

She can smack down Airplane Spin and Atomic Drop some of the best fighters in the world,

0:27.4

including men.

0:28.4

And she's here to tell me how she started wrestling and has made her name amongst

0:33.0

those most macho centric competitors in the world of wrestling.

0:38.5

And I'll be speaking to Shavorn McDonough about the death of her much-loved sister Margaret

0:43.4

McDonough, who sadly passed away at the weekend.

0:46.4

Margaret was the first female general secretary of the Labour Party and she played a key role

0:51.6

in the 1997 landslide election victory for Tony Blair and New Labour amongst many other

0:56.9

achievements.

0:57.9

Shavorn will be joining me later to talk about her memories and her sisters' amazing experiences.

1:04.1

And do you own a little black dress?

1:07.1

Has it been your armour through some iconic moments in your life?

1:10.7

Well later, I'll be joined by the curator of the National Museum of Scotland, Georgina

1:15.5

Ripley and she talks me through the history of the little black dress and how that simple

1:20.2

frock has changed the course of not only women's fashion but our identity over the last

1:25.9

century.

1:26.9

So I want to know your LBD stories.

...

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