Woman's Hour

Ukraine, Matchgirls' strike of 1888, Equal pay deal for US women’s national football team, and Briony Greenhill

Feb. 25, 2022

A pivotal moment in the history of trade unions and women’s rights is to be marked by English Heritage with the placement of a blue plaque commemorating the 1888 matchgirls’ strike in East London. Curatorial Director of English Heritage, Anna Eavis, tells us about the protest, its real role in the Labour movement and why it has been so misconstrued throughout history.

Millions of people across Ukraine are this morning making choices they never dreamed they'd have to make. Olena Symonenko told us about her escape to a safer part of the city only to find out that her apartment that she had lived in all her life had hit by a bomb overnight. The BBC Correspondent Sarah Rainsford told us about conversations she's been having with people on the ground in South East Ukraine and from Iryna Terlecky, the Chair of the Association of Ukrainian Women in Great Britain, about the work they are doing to help families in Ukraine.

Earlier this week the US Women’s national football team reached a $24 million settlement with the US Soccer Federation, which will guarantee equal pay with the men’s team and give players millions in back pay. Women’s soccer is incredibly popular in the US, the players are household names and having won the World Cup numerous times, are considered the best team in the world. But they have been fighting this battle for equal pay for six years. We speak to Cindy Parlow Cone, the president of the United States Soccer Federation about how they hope to push FIFA to equalise World Cup pay. We also hear from journalist Molly McElwee about whether it is the big win it is touted to be.

What sound does my body make? That's the question singer and musician Briony Greenhill asks in her work. Briony is a vocal improviser - meaning she writes her songs entirely out loud, on the spot, without notation. She gives us a demonstration of how we can vocally improvise ourselves, and tells us about her debut album Crossing the Ocean.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed

Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Podparadise.com neither hosts nor alters podcast files. All content © its respective owners.