First Blood: a podcast about periods

YOUR EYES DO NOT DECEIVE YOU! WE ARE FINALLY BACK WITH A NEW EPISODE! Arriving fashionably late to remote podcasting just eight months after everyone else, here we are. We promise it's been worth the wait for this one. Episode 16 sees Ella joined by the brilliant, hilarious and ACTUAL AWARD WINNING SCIENTIST Dr Bahijja Raimi-Abraham. Bahijja is a pharmacist, Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at King’s College London, Founder and Academic Lead of King’s College London Fight the Fakes. She also hosts the Monday Science podcast, and is an expert in drug delivery and global health. Aka, the perfect person to talk to right now. We discuss first periods (of course), how you even do a PHD, being creative with science, Tim Westwood, giving professional vagina advice and being in James Bond. Yep, Bahijja was in James Bond. We also talk about coronavirus and periods - how it’s affected some people’s cycles, and the research into COVID-19 and wider women's health currently taking place. You can find Bahijja on Twitter @DrBahijjaRaimiA, and her podcast Monday Science on Twitter @MondayScience_ and Instagram @MondayScience. The studies we talk about include: - 'The Impacts of Coronavirus on Women', Fawcett Society, https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/the-impacts-of-coronavirus-on-women - 'Sex differences in COVID-19 immune responses affect patient outcomes', Yale News, https://news.yale.edu/2020/08/26/sex-differences-covid-19-immune-responses-affect-patient-outcomes - 'Estrogen and COVID-19 symptoms: associations in women from the COVID Symptom Study', medRxiv, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.30.20164921v3 First Blood is a podcast about periods and puberty, hosted by Ella Woods. Get in touch at FirstBloodPodcastUK@gmail.com, and follow us on @FirstBloodPodcastUK on Instagram, @FirstBloodPodUK on Twitter. Thanks to Charlie Woods for the music.

OH HELLO! WE’RE BACK! It’s been a while, but brand new First Blood is finally here! Sorry for the delay. We all know stress can delay your periods. Also, it turns out, your period podcast. Whoops. BUT, what a corker to return with! We are joined by star of Mock the Week, Radio 4 and Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee Olga Koch! She’s a Russian comedian via the UK and USA, a writer, a computer expert and one of our absolute favourite people. We chat about PCOS and Henry VIII, the nuva ring aka the fairground ride of contraceptives, a rude mug, faking periods, and butter. Why not. You can catch Olga on tour with her show IF/THEN across the country in Spring 2020, follow @rockandrolga to find out more. First Blood is a podcast about periods, hosted by Ella Woods. Get in touch at FirstBloodPodcastUK@gmail.com, and follow us on @FirstBloodPodcastUK on Instagram, @FirstBloodPodUK on Twitter. Thanks to Charles Woods for the music.

It's August! It's raining! And I'm back at the world's biggest arts festival for another year - so it's time for an Edinburgh Fringe special! This episode I'm joined by three founding members of comedy collective The LOL Word - a group of queer women and non-binary comedians who are absolutely dominating the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond. We talk getting your first period during a school prank, the waves of anxiety that can come with menstruation, and a lot about period sex. A LOT. You'll be able to tell from the first second that I forgot to bring my audio equipment to Edinburgh. I'm so, so sorry, and I've done everything I can to make it a passable listen. The content is worth it, I absolutely promise. And I'm indebted to the wonderful Matt Hutchinson who made anything vaguely possible. First Blood is a podcast about periods and puberty, hosted by Ella Woods. Get in touch at FirstBloodPodcastUK@gmail.com, and follow us on @FirstBloodPodcastUK on Instagram, @FirstBloodPodUK on Twitter. Follow @LOLwordcomedy, @_ChloeGreen_, @ChloePetts and @JodieMitchell_ to find out where to catch The LOL Word near you. And, if you're around, Chloe Green and I would love to see you at our show 'VENN' - 11pm at the Gilded Balloon until 13th August.

Summer is here! And in a First Blood first, it's an al fresco podcast! I'm joined by doula, womb workshop runner and all around wonderful gal Zachi Brewster. We talk about wombs – obviously, have some big realisations about how long we’ve been bleeding for, the pros and cons of a cup you can have sex in, chat about period pants, big clots, and - and as a trigger warning – we talk quite graphically about miscarriages, a bit about abortion, pregnancy and a lot about blood, even for this podcast. It's a brilliant listen, but might not be for everyone. Hopefully though, you'll give it a go. I learned a lot, and had a wonderful time. First Blood is a comedy podcast about periods and puberty, hosted by Ella Woods. Get in touch at FirstBloodPodcastUK@gmail.com, and follow us on @FirstBloodPodcastUK on Instagram, @FirstBloodPodUK on Twitter. Visit Zachi's website www.zachibrewster.me, and find her on Instagram @zaz.brw.

Happy Menstrual Health Day! What better way to celebrate than hearing from two pals who made their anger at the period industry into a bloody brilliant business?! This episode I'm joined by Nikki and Leah from OHNE, who create and deliver 100% organic, biodegradable tampons and more. Lovely stuff. We talk trolls (the toy not the internet kind), working with your best friend, why it's okay to stick to your guns with what works best for you, and I eat a lot of jaffa cakes. Delicious. And sorry it's been a bit irregular. Stress does that to me. Hopefully we'll be back to our usual monthly cycle soon. To get a free trial of OHNE products, head to ohne.co and enter code "firstblood" at the checkout. First Blood is a comedy podcast about periods and puberty, hosted by Ella Woods. Get in touch at FirstBloodPodcastUK@gmail.com, and follow us on @FirstBloodPodcastUK on Instagram, @FirstBloodPodUK on Twitter.