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Woman's Hour: Helen Fielding; Martha Payne; Power List Expert Witness; Malala and the repercussions in Pakistan; Surrogacy in India

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Helen Fielding; Martha Payne; Power List Expert Witness; Malala and the repercussions in Pakistan; Surrogacy in India

09/11/2012

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Helen Fielding; Martha Payne; Power List Expert Witness; Malala and the repercussions in Pakistan; Surrogacy in India

Helen Fielding, Martha Payne and the Power List Expert Witness on campaigning.

Helen Fielding on the new Bridget Jones novel, and how Martha Payne's blog about school lunches took her all the way to Africa. Presented by Jenni Murray.

She was the EveryWoman icon for the thirtysomething generation, and now Woman's Hour can reveal that Bridget Jones is coming back. After over ten years in LA Helen Fielding is back in the UK and back at her desk, writing the third Bridget Jones book. Will it be cigarettes and alcohol intake, or will it be Twitter and Pinterest? Helen Fielding joins Jenni to explain why she has decided it is time to bring Bridget Jones back, and why she retains such a hold on people's hearts.

It started as a nine-year-old's blog about her school lunch but then the local council tried to ban it and after that there was just no stopping it. So far Martha Payne's site, Neverseconds, has raised over £120,000 for charity and now Martha, with a bit of help from Dad, is publishing a book. 

We've come so far from the protest marches and songs of only fifty years ago, and campaigning across a global, digital platform has never evolved faster than now. So what makes a successful campaigner - is it power or influence? And who are today's most powerful and effective women campaigners? Continuing our Power List series - co-editor and co-founder of the campaigning magazine Red Pepper, Hilary Wainwright, joins Jenni to discuss.

Almost one million people worldwide have signed their name to call on both the Pakistan government and the United Nations to achieve Malala Yousafzai's aim - that every girl has the opportunity to go to school. Gordon Brown will declare tomorrow Malala Day, a global day of action in support of the 32 million girls around the world who are not at school. But what are the repercussions in Pakistan itself? Orla Guerin is the BBC's Islamabad Correspondent, and joins us from there.

Every year, hundreds of couples travel from their homes in Britain, America and Europe to the Gujarati city of Anand, near Ahmedabad. Anand is India's Milk City - a million litres of milk are produced here every day, and it's the centre of the country's dairy industry. But these visitors are not coming for milk. They're coming for children. Surrogacy is big business in India. And it's controversial - with newspaper headlines, both here and in India, attacking the idea of 'wombs to rent'. Clare Jenkins recently went to the Akanksha Infertility Clinic in Anand to hear from some of those involved.

Presented by Jenni Murray. Produced by Susannah Tresilian.

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