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by BBC World Service
Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.
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- 6 days ago26 min
Women bringing science to social media
While the proportion of girls studying science subjects beyond high school is going up, physics, maths and engineering are still dominated by men. Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women from Sweden and the UK who are using social media platforms to try and encourage greater equality in STEM subjects.Eleonora Svanberg is a half-Swedish and half-Persian mathematical physics PhD student at the University of Oxford. With over half a million followers on social media platforms, @eleonorasvanberg discusses topics related to science, education and equality. Her first book in 2024 was about mathematical confidence, mainly aimed at young girls.Dr Clara Nellist is a particle physicist and science communicator. She’s from the UK and has studied in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Clara’s work has focused on pixel detectors, the properties of the Higgs boson and the top quark, the heaviest known particle. She’s now working on the ATLAS experiment at CERN she’s has over a quarter of a million followers on social media where she posts videos @particleclara.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Eleonora Svanberg, credit Laura Smith. (R) Clara Nellist, credit Clara Nellist.)
- 1 weeks ago26 min
What is a joyful life?
Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women from Sweden and the United States about what they've learned about treasuring moments of joy.Kate Bowler is an historian, podcaster and author. She wrote Joyful Anyway after a stage IV bowel cancer diagnosis. Kate says joy isn't something that can be sold by influencers or found in daily journaling. It comes in both the surprising and the expected moments life brings us - and it's perfectly possible to be unhappy and filled with joy at the same time.Marit Kapla is a Swedish author and journalist. For two of her books she's listened to hundreds of people talk about their lives. Her prize-winning Osebol is based upon interviews with almost all the residents of her home village. Love in Swedish consists of interviews with people all over Sweden about love. Marit says finding joy in one’s life can be difficult and complicated, and the people she's spoken to have many different approaches.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Marit Kapla, credit Ola Kjelbye. (R) Kate Bowler, credit Michaella Jelin.)
- 3 weeks ago26 min
Fertility in your 40s
Why does it become much harder for older women to become pregnant? And how does fertility treatment differ from one country to the next? Ella Al-Shamahi finds out what women need to understand about their bodies.Ella speaks to Sarah Allison who underwent fertility treatment in India, Spain and Greece. Sarah is now a fertility advocate and writes under the name Solo Fertility 40s.She also talks to Dr Alison Campbell, a clinical embryologist and chief scientific officer of the Care Fertility Group, and a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. Presenter: Ella Al-Shamahi Producer: Hannah Sander(Image: (L) Sarah Allison, courtesy Sarah Allison. (R) Alison Campbell, courtesy Alison Campbell.)
- 3 weeks ago26 min
The manosphere and its impact on women
Datshiane Navanayagam discusses the impact of toxic masculinity in South Africa and South Korea. The United Nations has raised concern about online communities promoting misogynistic and anti-feminist views saying they’re a serious threat to gender equality. Kutlwano Mokgwathi is a doctoral researcher from Botswana, studying at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa - a country with some of the world's highest levels of gender-based violence. Her work is examining the emergence of the “Africana Manosphere” – with a focus on South Africa and Botswana. Sungsook Moon is a sociologist at Vassar College in New York State. She grew up in Seoul, and her research focuses on gender in South Korea. The country ranked the highest out of 30 countries for how citizens perceive tension between men and women, according to a study by King’s College London. But what is driving the country’s gender-divide and how is misogyny taking shape online?Produced by Elena Angelides(Image: (L) Kutlwano Mokgwathi, courtesy Kutlwano Mokgwathi. (R) Sungsook Moon, courtesy Sungsook Moon.)
- Aug 17, 202626 min
Women saving seeds for the future
Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women from Uganda and the UK working at seed banks to secure the future of the world's plant life.Gloria Otieno is a scientist and genetic policy specialist with Alliance Biodiversity CIAT working to create and support seed banks in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. She grew up on a farm in Uganda and witnessed her community lose access to the finger millet they used for ceremonial occasions and only got it back through a gene bank. She says it brought home to her the importance of preserving a diversity of crops. Charlotte Lusty is head of seed collections at the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew in the UK, the world’s biggest wild seed bank. The underground vaults store millions of seeds from across the globe. With an estimated 45 per cent of flowering plants globally threatened with extinction, it’s an important insurance policy for the future.(Image: (L) Charlotte Lusty, credit Sebastian Kettley. (R) Gloria Otieno, credit Sustlives.))
- Aug 10, 202626 min
Women helping earthquake survivors
When devastation strikes around the world there are groups of experienced, dedicated teams that will fly in to support local people in saving lives. Others support people in the long, slow task of dealing with the aftermath and impact on health, homes and livelihoods. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from Venezuela and the UK about their roles in disaster response.Claudia González grew up in La Guaira, Venezuela which has recently been hit by two earthquakes. She works for World Vision Venezuela and was at a United Nations meeting when the disaster struck. On returning to Caracas she learned many of her school friends and their families had died in collapsed buildings. Since then she's been working round the clock to support her team working with UN agencies to coordinate the emergency response.Lori Demontigny is a registered nurse with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) providing care in crisis zones. Lori was working in Myanmar when it was hit by its worst earthquake for over a hundred years in March 2025. It's thought over five thousand people were killed. She's now project coordinator for MSF in Bangladesh. Produced by Jane Thurlow
- Aug 3, 202626 min
Kickstarting girls' careers in construction
The trades and construction sectors are crying out for new talent, yet many school leavers have no idea that this industry could offer a meaningful and lucrative career path.Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women on a mission to get more young people, especially girls interested in jobs like electrician, carpenter and bricklayer. They also discuss the importance of having female role-models in the industry.Judaline Cassidy is a plumber who honed her craft in her native Trinidad and Tobago before moving to New York where she set up Tools and Tiaras: an organisation that introduces girls and young women to trade skills.Renee Preston is from the UK and founded Construction for Women to help tackle the industry’s growing skills shortage. She’s a passionate advocate for policy change that gives young people greater access to construction sites and hands-on industry experience.Producer: Hannah Dean(Image: (L) Judaline Cassidy, courtesy Judaline Cassidy. (R) Renee Preston, credit Emma Boyle.)
- Jul 27, 202626 min
Are women the stronger sex?
The weaker sex? The fairer sex? The female body has often been viewed as less strong and less powerful than that of men. Datshiane Navanayagam meets two female scientists who are challenging that assumption. They reveal the ways in which women’s bodies actually come out on top.Starre Vartan is an Australian science journalist, based in America. In her book The Stronger Sex she explores the different areas where women have the physical edge over men, from endurance events to immune response.Marlo Möller is Professor of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Her research explores why women appear to be better at fighting off and surviving diseases like tuberculosis.Produced by Hannah Sander(Image: (L) Starre Vartan, credit Starre Vartan. (R) Marlo Möller, credit Annecke Vermeulen.)
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