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Woman's Hour: Channel swimmer Chloë McCardel; Prison Ombudsman Sue McAllister; author Laura Dockrill; Afghan girls' education

Channel swimmer Chloë McCardel; Prison Ombudsman Sue McAllister; author Laura Dockrill; Afghan girls' education

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Channel swimmer Chloë McCardel; Prison Ombudsman Sue McAllister; author Laura Dockrill; Afghan girls' education

The Australian swimmer planning to swim the English Channel for record-breaking 44th time.

Australian marathon swimmer Chloë McCardel is due to swim the English Channel for the 44th time – this will break the current World Record.  Chloe already holds the world record for the longest unassisted ocean swim, which took place in the Bahamas and totalled 124km.  She joins Emma to talk about why she loves the Channel in particular, and open water swimming in general.

There are rumours that the new government in Afghanistan might allow girls between 13-18 years old to return to school this weekend, but so far Taliban spokesmen have claimed ‘more time’ is needed before making a decision.  Emma gets the latest from BBC World Service Reporter Sodaba Haidare and educationalist Pashtana Durrani, who has helped educate hundreds of Afghan women through her non-profit organisation LEARN.

Author and podcaster Laura Dockrill speaks to Emma about how her experience of postpartum psychosis three years ago shaped her new book The Dream House, which is about very sad boy called Rex. 

The National Audit Office has found that years of repeated human errors on outdated IT systems resulted in more than 100,000 people being underpaid a total of £1 billion in state pensions.  Most of those affected were women, who are owed an average of nearly £9000.  John Chattell's mother Rosemary was underpaid for 20 years, he joins Emma to explain how much money they eventually got back on her behalf.

Two years ago a baby at Bronzefield Prison in Surrey died as soon as it was born. When she was giving birth the mother was on her own in a cell. Today a report by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, Sue McAllister, has come out which is deeply critical of the prison and how it handled the situation. Sue joins Emma.

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Channel swimmer Chloë McCardel; Prison Ombudsman Sue McAllister; author Laura Dockrill; Afghan girls' education

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