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Rice nourishes 3.5 billion people worldwide with women providing the majority of agricultural labour – especially in poorer countries. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from India and Tanzania about their work improving the resilience of rice to climate change, and about the lives of female rice farmers. Ranjitha Puskur is a socio-economist in India leading gender and youth research at the International Rice Research Institute. She's working on innovations that would lead to more equitable outcomes for women in agriculture. She says there would be no food without women. And yet women farmers across the world still face disproportionate barriers in their work. Dr Pauline Chivenge is a Zimbabwean agronomist working in Tanzania. Her research is focused on management of natural resources for improved crop productivity in Africa and South-East Asia: issues such as soil and water management, and how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Ranjitha Puskur. Credit CGIAR. (R) Pauline Chivenge. Credit IRRI)

As war flares across the Middle East, and conflicts rage in other parts of the world, it is often said that women and girls are the hardest hit by war. But what does that actually mean in practice? What are the key statistics that tell us how conflicts impact women? And what role are women playing in peace processes too? Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women who look at how war shapes women’s lives. Idil Absiye is a policy advisor on Women, Peace and Security at the United Nations, and is based in Kenya. Dr Laura Muñoz-Encinar is an archaeologist and forensic anthropologist at the Spanish National Research Council. Her main focus is the Spanish Civil War, a conflict from almost a century ago that offers many lessons for today. Producer: Hannah Sander (Image: (L) Laura Muñoz-Encinar, credit Laura Muñoz-Encinar. (R) Idil Absiye, credit Idil Absiye.)

From “deepfakes” to “stealth filming”, women around the world are having their image stolen and shared online. Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women tackling this problem. Uma Subramanian works for an Indian helpline called Meri Trustline, run by RATI Foundation, which offers help for women whose image has been used. Kirana Ayuningtyas had her image digitally manipulated and shared online. She uses her social media profile, @k.for.kirana, to help other women in Indonesia. Warning: this programme contains details that some listeners may find disturbing. Producers: Rebecca Moore and Hannah Sander (Image: (L) Uma Subramanian, credit Sanghamitra SV. (R) Kirana Ayuningtyas, credit Kirana Ayuningtyas.)

It's thought that around one in ten women of childbearing age have endometriosis, yet it often takes years of excessively painful periods and struggles to conceive before a diagnosis. And while there's no cure, surgery can help relieve symptoms. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from Hungary and South Africa working to improve treatment and diagnosis. Adrienn Salamon lives with endometriosis. She waited many years for a diagnosis, and surgery enabled her to get IVF treatment. She started Női Egészségért Alapítvány, a women's health foundation in Hungary that supports women suffering from the disorder. She is also on the board of the World Endometriosis Society and says no woman should go through the same struggle with the condition that she experienced. Dr Lusanda Shimange-Matsose is a gynaecologist, reproductive endocrine and infertility specialist in South Africa. She is director of Medfem Fertility Clinic in Johannesburg and is also a member of the Pan African Society of Endometriosis, offering support for women across the continent. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Adrienn Salamon, credit Johanna Krivocenko. (R) Lusanda Shimange-Matsose, courtesy Lusanda Shimange-Matsose.)

Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women who research what happens to our thoughts, feelings and behaviours when we speak many languages. To what extent do we have a “mother tongue” – and what happens if we stop using it? Dr Aneta Pavlenko is a Ukrainian-American linguist who looks at the emotional impact of moving between languages. Professor Núria Sebastián Gallés is a Spanish cognitive psychologist who studies bilingual toddlers and young babies. Produced by Rebecca Moore and Hannah Sander (Image: (L) Aneta Pavlenko, courtesy Aneta Pavlenko. (R) Núria Sebastián Gallés, courtesy Núria Sebastián Gallés.)

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women in Switzerland and the UK about how job sharing can boost a career and bring many benefits to both work and home life. Irenka Krone-Germann is Swiss and has written several books about job-sharing and part-time working. She co-founded the information platform, Go4jobsharing.ch and We Jobshare, an online platform which helps people find a job or topshare partner. Irenka has job partners, both female and male, in several different senior roles. Charlotte Cherry and Alix Ainsley have been job sharing in the UK for 14 years. They've worked in senior HR roles for a number of different companies including General Electric, Lloyds Banking Group and currently work for Virgin. They've recently set up a consultancy, Daring Two. Charlotte says job sharing has enabled her and Alix to take on much more challenging and fulfilling positions, has accelerated their careers further than working solo part-time would have done, and at the same time to balance time with their families. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Charlotte Cherry, courtesy Charlotte Cherry. (R) Irenka Krone-Germann, credit Keren Bisaz.)

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women in Pakistan and America who use numbers to help others understand and take control of their pregnancies - by unpacking the data. Emily Oster is a bestselling author and leading expert on pregnancy, championing a data-based approach and unpacking studies and advice for mothers. She is also Professor of Economics at Brown University in America. Maryam Mustafa is a computer scientist based in Pakistan, which has one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the world. She has built an AI app that can equip mothers-to-be with the information they need to stay safe. Producer: Hannah Sander (Image: (L) Dr Emily Oster, credit Aisha McAdams. (R) Dr Maryam Mustafa, credit Maryam Mustafa.)

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women in France and Canada about why single-sex living spaces appeal to older women. Pat Dunn is 75 and started a Facebook group for senior women wanting to share a living space, after her husband died six years ago. There she found two housemates with whom she has lived ever since. Pat now runs a non-profit called SWLT (Senior Women Living Together) that helps other women in Ontario find similar setups. Her Facebook community has over two thousand members. Hanne Nuutinen co-founded La Joie Homebase in France in 2024: co-living spaces for women who want to stay there for weeks or months at a time. Their ‘homebases’ cater to globally mobile women, typically aged 50–80. Many of the women are still professionally active, while others are pursuing hobbies or independent travel. Their residents come from France, the United States, Africa and the UK. Produced by Jane Thurlow and Becca Johns (Image: (L) Pat Dunn, courtesy Pat Dunn. (R) Hanne Nuutinen, courtesy Hanne Nuutinen.)

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women whose life changing illnesses led them to set up new businesses after they discovered high street clothes are uncomfortable and difficult to wear when you have restricted mobility or medical needs. Victoria Jenkins is one of the UK's leading adaptive fashion experts. She worked as a freelance garment technologist for fashion labels like Victoria Beckham and Jack Wills before founding the award winning universally designed fashion brand Unhidden. Victoria nearly died from an undiagnosed ulcer in 2012 and spent long periods in hospital where she met many women struggling to find clothes would accommodate their medical conditions. When she realised how hard it was to buy attractive, comfortable and practical garments she decided to design her own. Soumita Basu has an autoimmune disease called psoriatic arthritis which over time has restricted her mobility. As the condition progressed she got used to being constantly in pain but a period when she had to stay in bed proved the catalyst to setting up her clothing brand, Zyenika. The daily routine of being dressed was agonisingly painful – no matter that her mother, who was caring for her at the time, was as gentle as possible. They decided there had to be a better way and set out to design clothes that could be put on in a way that didn’t cause so much pain. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Soumita Basu, credit Diganta Gogoi. (R) Victoria Jenkins, credit Deb Burrows.)

Have you ever wondered if there were a scandal buried in your family history? Datshiane Navanayagam meets two female genealogists from the US and Ireland to discuss the desire many of us have to dig into our heritage. Michele Soulli is an American genealogist who made headlines around the world when she tracked down the real "Brenda" from rap superstar Tupac's hit song Brenda's Got A Baby, and reunited her with the child she had put up for adoption. Hilary McDonagh helps clients who want to trace their family histories or find missing heirs. In Ireland, where famine prompted girls to migrate overseas by themselves, Hilary has unearthed some incredible stories. Producer: Hannah Sander (Image credit: Hilary McDonagh (L), Michele Soulli (R))

Datshiane Navanayagam brings together two women from the US and Australia to discuss the art of writing a political biography and whether women in politics are placed under more scrutiny than men. Helene Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times correspondent who fled Liberia with her family following the military coup of 1980. Her biography Madame President documents the life and political career of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa who served as president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Dr Lekkie Hopkins is a feminist academic who lead the women’s studies programme at Edith Cowan University in Perth for 25 years. Utilising her skills as an archivist and oral historian, she pieced together the story of May Holman - a pioneering Australian politician who became the first female Labour politician to be elected to the Western Australian Parliament in 1925. Produced by Hannah Dean (Image: (L) Lekkie Hopkins, credit Robert van Koesveld. (R) Helene Cooper credit William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images.)

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women who changed paths to design and manufacture their own shoes in their own countries. A former environmental engineer in India and former interior designer from Egypt explain how they found their passion. Anita Soundar was a chemical engineer before deciding to follow her need for self-expression and footwear design. While working at her father’s small factory in Chenai she studied footwear design from Italy to the Netherlands to China, learning about design to pattern making, hand crafting to mass production. In 2023 she won a global footwear award for natural material vegan footwear and an International Design Award in 2025. Her quirky designs for her company The Disobedience are made from natural materials like cotton, tomato and banana skins, have featured in high-fashion magazines like Elle India. Reem Hamed is Egyptian. She trained as an architect and set up an interior design company before turning to shoe design and manufacture. Her shoes are handcrafted and embroidered by artisanal Egyptian women. She says “comfort is not just about the way they make your feet feel… Comfort is a state of mind.” She’s wants to ensure the craftswomen that make shoes for her company, Ramla, are valued, working in good conditions and passionate about what they do. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Reem Hamed, credit Malak Hammouda. (R) Anita Soundar credit Team Disobedience.)

How do video and board games get from idea to reality? Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women who invent, tweak and perfect the games that so many of us love to play. Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir from Iceland has produced some of the world’s biggest video game titles, including FIFA and Star Wars: Battlefront. She now invests in start-up gaming companies as a venture capitalist. Natalie Podd invented the board game Confident while canoeing up the Amazon, and quit her corporate job in the UK as an actuary in order to work on it and other ideas. She and her husband sell their board games around the world. Produced by Hannah Sander (Image: (L) Natalie Podd. (R) Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir.)

Two women with art galleries in Switzerland, London, Nigeria and the US talk about discovering and promoting new artists, building relationships with art collectors and the importance of supporting women in the art world. Maria Varnava is Greek Cypriot and grew up in Lagos. She founded Tiwani Contemporary which has galleries in Lagos and London. It champions artists from Africa and its diaspora to raise their profile to collectors and institutions based both in and beyond the continent. Maria’s friend and mentor, the Nigerian curator Bisi Silva, proposed the name Tiwani, which loosely translates as ‘ours’ or ‘it belongs to us’ from the Yoruba language. The name was chosen to show the gallery’s intentions to strive for inclusivity. Kendra Jayne Patrick, from the US founded her gallery of the same name in Bern, Switzerland in 2022 and works in New York too. She likes to show things that are strange or new and that excite her both visually and intellectually. It’s focused on the 21st century avant-garde, specialising in sculpture, painting, digital, and photography. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Maria Varnava, credit Pantelis Hadjiminas (P Studio). (R) Kendra Jayne Patrick, credit Ernst Fischer.)

Skeleton is one of the oldest winter sports in existence. Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two Olympic medallists whose careers have seen them sliding down an icy track – face first – at speeds of up to 140 kilometres an hour. Lizzy Yarnold won gold medals for skeleton at successive Winter Olympics. She joined the Great Britain national squad in 2010, winning Olympic gold in 2014 and 2018, and is the most successful British Winter Olympian and skeleton athlete of all time from any nation. Kimberley Bos is a World Champion skeleton racer from the Netherlands and will be competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. She originally competed internationally in bobsleigh, before switching to skeleton for the 2013–14 European Cup season – being the only skeleton athlete representing her country for years. She won a bronze medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2021 – the first Olympic medal winner for her country in a sliding sport. Kimberley went on to win the World Championships in Lake Placid in March 2025. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Kimberley Bos credit Viesturs Lacis. (R), Lizzy Yarnold credit Karen Yeoman.)