Women Inspire

Known as the “Mother of the Notting Hill Carnival,” Claudia Jones dedicated her life to fighting intolerance, inequality and oppression.  In her short life she defied poverty, illness and prejudice to achieve the extraordinary.  Listen to her story here. 

“The greatest enemy of freedom is not the tyrant but the contented slave.”

Meet Kitty Marion, the music hall performer who became the most dangerous and revolutionary suffragette of them all.  We chart a journey which spans continents and explore how Kitty’s overriding belief in the rights of women drove her to extreme acts of violence and self-sacrifice.

“Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina.”

Althea Gibson knew from the start she was going to be somebody. Her incredible story takes her from the streets of Harlem to the courts of Wimbledon.  Listen here to how through talent and self-belief she broke down barriers and went on to leave a remarkable legacy.

Once named the most beautiful woman in the world, Hedy Lamarr was also possessed of a brilliant and inventive mind. In this podcast we celebrate a complicated, but remarkable woman.

Una Marson was once described as "the most significant black feminist of the interwar years".  Broadcaster, activist, journalist and poet she was a true pioneer, but she has often been overlooked.  Listen to her story here...

Hear the story of a footballing legend with a "kick like a mule!"

"A person like me, I am never scared of anybody,”

As a newly arrived refugee from East Africa, Jayaben Desai hoped for a new and better life, but instead she and her fellow workers found themselves humiliated and exploited. Burning with injustice, she knew things had to change…

"I had a country going. I ran a country"

Meet Joe Carstairs, the cigar smoking, cross dressing, speedboat racing, force of nature.   Once the fastest woman on water, Joe defied convention and lived her life in her own inimitable way.

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”

At the age of only nineteen, Mary Shelley wrote her terrifying gothic masterpiece, "Frankenstein".  Her own life was as dramatic as fiction, so who was the woman behind the book?

In November 2020 a statue by artist Maggi Hambling which honours the brilliant and contradictory Mary Wollstonecraft, was unveiled.  It has caused much controversy, but whatever your view on it, the statue gives us a wonderful opportunity to examine the life and work of this pioneering early feminist. 

“I have always believed that those who live colourfully, fight courageously and love greatly, remain to enrich our memories and shape our actions.”

In May 1930 pilot Amy Johnson took off from Croydon Airport destined for Australia in an open cockpit bi-plane.  Her aim was to beat the World Record for a solo flight.  How did a seemingly regular girl from Yorkshire achieve the extraordinary and live a life of adventure?

“Sing to the Moon Addie, and the stars will shine!”

A phenomenal singer and bright star of the jazz age, our podcast today charts the fascinating life and career of a pioneer who blazed a trail for other jazz musicians to follow.

As broadcaster Michael Parkinson remarked in his eulogy: "Adelaide lived to 92, and she never grew old".

The last word before she spoke before died “LIBERTE”

Descended from Indian royalty, Noor Inayat Khan is sometimes known as “The Spy Princess”.  A peace-loving dreamer, she would became a British secret agent and the first female radio operator to be sent into Nazi occupied France during World War II. 

A woman of determination, resourcefulness and most of all courage.  This is her story.