Where To Be A Woman

Find out what has made it into our female fantasy land. Scaachi and Sophia have crossed the globe to ask the question, “Where can women live their best lives?” Over an amazing 15 episodes, they’ve listened to experts and advocates give examples of where women thrive when it comes to subjects ranging from body image to the gender pay gap, period equity, women's safety and living sustainably. In this season finale, Scaachi and Sophia look back on some of the most memorable findings and hear what listeners think. Share your thoughts on this episode and suggest ideas for a new one by sending us a voice note on WhatsApp: +44330 123 9459

In an historic year for elections around the world, we hear from New Zealand and Mexico about women and politics. According to the United Nations, gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years. Sophia Smith Galer and Scaachi Koul discuss the recent Mexican elections and the process that led to its first female President-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum. They also talk about Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand. They are told about mentoring, training and quotas. Guests: Mónica Tapia, political scientist from Mexico and founder of women's leadership incubator Aúna, and emeritus Professor Barbara Brookes, a women’s and medical historian from the University of Otago in New Zealand. For more information: UN Women’s report on Women’s leadership and political participation: https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures

Does samba lift your mood? How about karaoke or playing a guitar? Does music feed your soul? Scaachi and Sophia hear how music can make you feel alive and affect sleep quality, mental alertness, and memory. They find out about free lessons in Finland and the power of music in Brazil. It’s time to start singing, play an instrument or sit back and listen and pretend you are in a music video – that’s what Sophia likes doing on a train. Guests: Doctor of education Liisa-Maria Lilja-Viherlampi and Brazilian Voices founder Loren Oliveira. Let us know what you think. Share your thoughts on this episode and suggest ideas for a new one by sending us a voice note on WhatsApp: +44330 123 9459 For more information: The Powerful Impact Of Music- Neuroscience of music ( Stanford): https://ojs.stanford.edu/ojs/index.php/intersect/article/view/2873 World Happiness Report: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/happiness-of-the-younger-the-older-and-those-in-between/#ranking-of-happiness-2021-2023 Vocal Music Listening Enhances Poststroke Language Network Reorganization: https://www.eneuro.org/content/8/4/ENEURO.0158-21.2021#ref-80 Scoping review of how music affects physicality: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8455907/

From commuting to going out in the evening, Scaachi and Sophia explore safety. We hear about “gender sensitive” city planning, street lightening, public transport and schemes to help keep people safe in the evenings, including night walks. They both like the idea of the right to party! Guests: Austrian architect and lecturer Sabina Riss talks about Vienna, and researcher Tonja Jerele from the University of Ljubljana discusses Slovenia. Let us know what you think. Share your thoughts on this episode and suggest ideas for a new one by sending us a voice note on WhatsApp: +44330 123 9459

New mum Janine Harouni is anxious and lonely, so why do the other mums online look so happy? This is a guest episode from Dear Daughter. Namulanta is building a “handbook to life”, sharing your parenting advice, personal stories, with letters to your daughters. If you are a mum or mom, dad or papa, grandparent, uncle, aunt, daughter, son, what would you write? This episode includes discussion about difficult parts of pregnancy and also miscarriage. For more episodes from Namulanta Kombo’s Dear Daughter podcast, go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter or search for “Dear Daughter”. Janine Harouni was performing stand-up comedy while 40 weeks pregnant, but now there's a whole other set of challenges. On social media, she sees pictures of pregnant models who don’t appear to gain weight. Nobody seems to talk about the gross parts or the difficult parts. She’s exhausted and full of worry. Then a surprise family DNA test changes her perspective on motherhood.