Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues

Recent high profile campaigns around thorny subjects such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, Laura Wade eavesdrops on literary encounters between men and women from the past to explore some of today’s most pressing issues.

3. A shocking encounter between the serving maid Pamela and her master, Mr B, in Samuel Richardson's Pamela: reveals an 18th century power dynamic which could just as well be happening in Hollywood today, as Dr Rebecca Bullard from the University of Reading discusses

Readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti

Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright - author of “Posh" “Home, I’m Darling” and a recent adaptation of Jane Austen's The Watsons

Producer; Beaty Rubens Show less