Woman's Hour

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Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

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Woman's Hour: Preet Chandi/'Polar Preet'; 'Collector culture'; Playwright, Nell Leyshon; Drones & night street safety; Novelist, Nikki May;

Preet Chandi/'Polar Preet'; 'Collector culture'; Playwright, Nell Leyshon; Drones & night street safety; Novelist, Nikki May;

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Preet Chandi/'Polar Preet'; 'Collector culture'; Playwright, Nell Leyshon; Drones & night street safety; Novelist, Nikki May;

Preet Chandi: believed to be 1st woman of colour to complete a solo crossing on Antarctica

'Polar Preet' faced temperatures of -50C, skied 700 miles across Antarctica in 40 days, 7 hours and 3 mins, & narrowly missed setting a new world record by a woman for the trek

British Army officer and physiotherapist Preet Chandi has made history as the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition in Antarctica. 'Polar Preet' trekked 700 miles in 40 days, facing temperatures of -50C, poor visibility and fatigue along the way. She used skis, and dragged a 90kg pulk (a sled) for between 10-12 hours a day. Preet catches up with us from the Union Glacier camp in Antarctica.

'Collector culture' - the swapping, collating and posting of nude images of women without their consent - is on the rise. But unlike revenge porn, it is not a crime. Now survivors are demanding a change in the law. To understand why Anita is joined by Professor of Law at Durham University, Clare McGlynn and Zara Ward, senior practitioner at the Revenge Porn Helpline.

Cecil Sharp is known as the godfather of English folk music. In a bid to preserve the English folk song at the turn of the twentieth century, when many in the musical world didn't believe England had a musical tradition of its own, he collected and memorialised thousands of traditional English folk songs from rural communities in England. However, less is known about the people he collected these songs from. FOLK is a new play at Hampstead Theatre in London written by Nell Leyshon, the British dramatist and novelist born in Glastonbury, Somerset. She tells us the true story of Louie Hooper and Lucy White, two half-sisters from Somerset who Cecil Sharp collected hundreds of songs from.

A UK tech company is pitching to provide security for women out alone at night who fear for their safety. Drone Defence is hoping to secure government funding to deliver AI drones fitted with spotlights and a thermal camera which would be summoned on an app by an individual who are concerned a predator may be near by. Could this be a solution to a recent survey which showed one in five women fear going out at night alone or does it present a serious privacy risk without tackling the underlying issue of violence against women? We talk to Richard Gill the founder of Drone Defence and to Silkie Carlo the Director of Big Brother Watch.

Born in Bristol and raised in Lagos, Nikki May is Nigerian-British. At 20, she dropped out of medical school, moved to London, and began a successful career in advertising. Now aged 56, her debut novel Wahala has just been released and is already being made into a six part drama series for the BBC. It is the story of three thirty-something friends living in London - Ronke, Simi and Boo. Their bond is tested and their lives start to unravel when glamorous high flying Isabel explodes into their friendship group.


Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Interviewed Guest: Preet Chandi
Interviewed Guest: Professor Clare McGlynn
Interviewed Guest: Zara Ward
Interviewed Guest: Nell Leyshon
Interviewed Guest: Richard Gill
Interviewed Guest: Silkie Carlo
Interviewed Guest: Nikki May

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Woman's Hour

Preet Chandi/'Polar Preet'; 'Collector culture'; Playwright, Nell Leyshon; Drones & night street safety; Novelist, Nikki May;

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