Woman's Hour

This week, Ruth Wilson explains why she’s running this year’s London Marathon for an Alzheimer’s research, following in the footsteps of her father who ran the first London Marathon in 1981.

Tuesday was the deadline to register to vote in the local elections on May 2nd. The most recent data suggest that 4.3 million young people in England aren’t currently registered. We hear from Sharon Gaffka, who’s supporting the Give an X campaign, that's calling on young people to get involved. A survey by the youth led charity My Life My Say also says that fewer than 1 in 6 of young women trust politicians and more than four in 10 believe their vote won’t make a difference in an election. We also hear from Rosie Campbell, Professor of Politics and Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, to explain the trends behind the latest data.

Social media platform Meta disabled Soul Sisters Pakistan for 43 hours earlier this month due to an intellectual property violation. Soul Sisters Pakistan was set up 11 years ago by the entrepreneur and activist Kanwal Ahmed as a support system for women to discuss topics considered taboo in Pakistani society, such as sex and divorce. In the past, the group has been accused by some of promoting divorce and 'wild' behaviour. With over 300,000 members, who dub themselves soulies,

In 1927 journalist Sophie Treadwell attended the sensational trial of Ruth Snyder, a New York woman accused murdering her husband. Ruth was found guilty, along with her accomplice lover Henry Judd Gray, and both were executed by electric chair in January 1928. Those events inspired Sophie Treadwell to write the play Machinal, which premiered on Broadway later that year. A recent production has just transferred from the Theatre Royal Bath to the Old Vic in London and its star, Rosie Sheehy, along with US academic Dr Jessie Ramey join Jessica to discuss the case of Ruth Snyder and why Machinal still resonates with audiences today.

Professor Netta Weinstein of the University of Reading, is the co-author of a new book, Solitude: The Science and Power of Being Alone and joins us to discuss the benefits of solitude.

Jing Lusi stars as DC Hana Li in ITV’s new thriller Red Eye, set on a plane flying between London and Beijing. She joins Jessica Creighton to talk about what it’s like to play a lead role for the first time, and how important it is to see British East Asian women as the main progatonist

Presenter Anita Rani Producer Annette Wells