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Woman's Hour: Priya Ragu, Olena Symonenko, Mountain climbing

04/03/2022

Priya Ragu, Olena Symonenko, Mountain climbing

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Priya Ragu, Olena Symonenko, Mountain climbing

Priya Ragu and her fusion of Tamil music and soul, Olena Symonenko on her escape from Ukraine to Poland, and two mountain climbers and their books inspiring other women to climb.

We have music and chat from the Swiss-Tamil singer Priya Ragu who has been shortlisted in the BBC Sound of 2022 Poll – joining Adele, Jessie J and Celeste. She tells us how her music plays homage to her heritage and is a fusion of traditional Tamil music, RnB and Soul, which she uniquely calls ‘Ragu Wavy’. 

The number of refugees leaving Ukraine has reached a million. If you were listening last week you'll remember the heart-breaking interview we did with Olena Symonenko. She had decided to flee Kyiv, and was down in a bunker with her 6 year old son. She had left her flat, which she had lived in as a child and all her adult life: and just as well she did, because her block of flats had been bombed and was on fire. She sent us a picture. We've been keeping in touch with Olena all week, tracking her journey and she's now in Poland. 

Sharmadean Reid is the Founder and CEO of The Stack World. Her mission is to create economic and social empowerment for women through technology and media. She has been building Women's communities for 16 years, starting with a print magazine called WAH which she created while at university. She tells us about The Stack World, and how the platform helps women entrepreneurs to monetise their micro communities through buying and selling from each other. 

We celebrate the emotional power of old clothes and today we hear from Sarah who tells us about the Janet Reger frilly knickers she received from her friend Ruth on her 21st birthday nearly 40 years ago.  

Mountains have long inspired climbers to write about their adventures. It’s been a male dominated field but we hear from two women who are inspiring the next generation of climbers. The author and poet Helen Mort tells us about her memoir ‘A Line Above the Sky’ and author Amy McCulloch talks about her adult fiction debut ‘Breathless’.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed

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