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Woman's Hour: Graves of stillborn babies, Chaka Khan, Climate seniors, Right wing women leaders in the EU

Graves of stillborn babies, Chaka Khan, Climate seniors, Right wing women leaders in the EU

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Graves of stillborn babies, Chaka Khan, Climate seniors, Right wing women leaders in the EU

The Queen of Funk Chaka Khan on her fiftieth anniversary in the music industry.

American singer-songwriter Chaka Khan, known as the Queen of Funk, on her fiftieth anniversary in music.

Up until the 1980s, stillborn babies were swiftly taken from their mothers who weren’t always told what had happened to them.  Now one of those mothers is calling for an apology after finding the grave of her stillborn son more than five decades after he was born.  Gina Jacobs talks to Anita about how she found where her son Robert had been buried and how she’s working to help other women do the same.  

In April the European Court of Human Rights passed a landmark ruling  saying that Switzerland was violating the human rights of its citizens by inadequate action on climate change. The case was launched by a group of Swiss women over 65 called "climate seniors", calling for better protection of women's health from the effects of climate change. But yesterday, the Swiss parliament voted to reject the ruling, saying that it already has an effective climate change strategy.  Elisabeth Stern, one of the climate seniors, joins Anita to share her reactions to the news. 

The American singer-songwriter, Chaka Khan, known as the Queen of Funk, is celebrating her 50th anniversary in music this year. With hits such as Ain't Nobody, I Feel for You and the anthem I'm Every Woman her music has sold an estimated 70 million records, winning her 10 Grammy Awards.  She is curating Meltdown 2024 at the Royal Festival Hall, and opens the festival tomorrow night.  She shares her plans and discusses her favourite songs.

Far-right parties across Europe made significant gains in the European elections, and women have been at the forefront of this right-wing shift in several countries. Right-wing groups which include those led by Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, France’s Marine Le Pen and Germany’s Alice Weidel are set to gain further seats in European parliament.  To hear about the female leaders of Europe’s far-right and what this shift could mean for women, Anita is joined by the host of EU Confidential Politico's Sarah Wheaton and Shona Murray, Europe correspondent for Euronews.

A new report has found that women artists made up just 2% of the most-played songs on Irish radio in the past year.  To find out why women aren’t getting more airplay in Ireland, Anita is joined by Linda Coogan Byrne, the founder of Why Not Her? which champions gender diversity in the Irish culture sector. 

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Olivia Skinner

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