Main content

Weekend Woman's Hour: Gemma Chan, Lyra McKee's sister, Endometriosis, 15-minute home care visits

Actor Gemma Chan on her latest role, diversity and Crazy Rich Asians. The sister of journalist and writer Lyra McKee. The challenges of 15-minute home care visits.

The journalist and writer, Lyra McKee was shot dead in Londonderry nearly four months ago. She had been watching rioting in the Creggan area of the city. Her book Angels With Blue Faces, written before her death has just been published. We hear from her sister Nichola Corner.

Careworker Caroline inspired this week’s drama serial Flying Visits. Frustrated by the requirement to keep her home visits to fifteen minutes, she made an impassioned speech to councillors in Southwark, London which led them to change their policy. Caroline, Ian Hudspeth from the Local Government Association and Donna Rowe-Merriman from UNISON discuss the challenges associated with home care visits.

The singer Angelique Kidjo has three Grammy awards and has been described as the undisputed queen of African music. Her latest album Celia is a tribute to the Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz. She sings for us in the studio.

Endometriosis is a serious and lifelong disease which affects as many as 1 in 10 women. But it often goes undiagnosed. Karen Havelin has turned her experience of the disease into a novel, Please Read This Leaflet Carefully. And Eleanor Thom has written a manual aimed at her fellow sufferers, as well as their friends and family, Private Parts: How to Really Live with Endometriosis.

Actor Gemma Chan talks about her role in the Channel 4 drama I Am Hannah - a woman in her mid-thirties struggling with the pressure to settle down and start a family.

200 years ago a prison was opened in Brixton in South London. It was the first to house only women and Emma Barton was its governor. We hear from Chris Impey, author of a history of HMP Brixton and from the current Deputy Governor Louise Ysart.

The food writer MiMi Aye’s new book Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen is a celebration of Burmese food, history and culture. She Cooks the Perfect… Red Prawn Curry.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Produced by Dianne McGregor
Edited by Jane Thurlow

Interviewed guest: Nichola Corner
Interviewed guest: Ian Hudspeth
Interviewed guest: Donna Rowe-Merriman
Interviewed guest: Angelique Kidjo
Interviewed guest: Karen Havelin
Interviewed guest: Eleanor Thom
Interviewed guest: Gemma Chan
Interviewed guest: Chris Impey
Interviewed guest: Louise Ysart
Interviewed guest: MiMi Aye

Available now

56 minutes

Broadcast

  • Sat 3 Aug 2019 16:00

Follow us on Instagram

Get all the pictures, videos, behind the scenes and more from Woman’s Hour

Podcast