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Woman's Hour: Goop Lab and the psychology of wellness; Tolson judgement; French #MeToo; Emma Jane Unsworth

28/01/2020

Goop Lab and the psychology of wellness; Tolson judgement; French #MeToo; Emma Jane Unsworth

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Goop Lab and the psychology of wellness; Tolson judgement; French #MeToo; Emma Jane Unsworth

Goop and the psychology of wellness; French #MeToo; Emma Jane Unsworth; Tolson judgement

What is it about human psychology that makes the claims of the beauty and wellness industry so attractive - regardless of whether they're backed up by science?

Last Friday, Gwyneth Paltrow launched her new TV series ‘Goop Lab’ on Netflix. It explores everything from reducing your biological age to having the best female orgasms and healing yourself with energy. But where’s the line between fact and fiction when it comes to wellness? What draws people in to trying the vast and bizarre range of creams and contraptions on offer? And what is it about our psychology that means it rarely matters whether the claims are backed up by science? Jane is joined by cognitive neuroscientist Prof Tali Sharot, consultant dermatologist Dr Anjali Mahto and self-confessed beauty product obsessive, Ree.

In France there’s a debate going on about very young people having sexual relationships with older, more powerful men: something that used to be deemed acceptable in some intellectual circles. It’s because a woman called Vanessa Springora – a leading French publisher – makes allegations in a book which came out this month, that she was groomed when she was 14 by a much admired author who was 50. Anne-Elisabeth Moutet a French journalist, explains what’s happened, why it’s significant and how it's not acceptable anymore.

Last week a written judgement was published in the family division of the High Court. Ms Justice Russell ruled in favour of a woman seeking a fresh hearing in the family courts. Her child custody case had originally been handled by a senior judge, Judge Tolson. In the course of his fact finding he ruled that the woman had not been raped by her former partner because she had “taken no physical steps” to stop him. The appeal judgement criticised him for his outdated ideas of what constitutes consent. It also recommended that family court judges who regularly deal with allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence should be required to undergo training to the same level as judges trying these charges in criminal courts. Jane discusses the significance of this judgement and what needs to happen next with Jenny Beck, Director of Beck Fitzgerald solicitors, a specialist family law firm and Louise Tickle, a journalist who specialises in social affairs and family law 

Jane talks to the award winning novelist and screen writer Emma Jane Unsworth about her new novel 'Adults' – about friendship, family, love and what it means to be an adult.

Presenter - Jane Garvey
Producer - Anna Lacey
Guest - Tali Sharot
Guest - Anjali Mahto
Guest - Anne-Marie Lodge
Guest - Jenny Beck
Guest - Louise Tickle
Guest - Emma Jane Unsworth
Guest - Anne-Elizabeth Moutet

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