Mumsnet Talk

Have really wondered why it wasn't called WOMEN'S HOUR and know that on Five Live they named the other programme MEN'S HOUR. Was there some stupid assumption made when WH was named 6o-odd years ago that female listeners were listening at home where they were always solitary ?

I really like Jane, she cuts to the quick and stops guests waffling on and she gets to the point/s being discussed. I like the fact she can roll her eyes be snippy, makes punchy radio, after all just cos it's WH doesn't mean we all have to hold hands in glee, apron on, briefcase in hand etc etc.

I think when she was with Peter Allen on 5 Live she had to hone her skills, he a right wing mysoginist with just the right touch of cosy caring grandpa!

I think all the WH presenters present a good blend and I glad they are different, Jenny Murray can be a bit sing-songy and too girly (yes I am aware it's WOMANS hour).

I do like Jane Garvey - Jenni Murray irritates me and cannot bear Libby Purves

I love Jane Garvey. I loved her at 5live and like her on WH.

Didn't hear today, but heard the domestic violence one and thought the questions about why the women stayed needed asking, as it would have been what most listeners were thinking and it needs explaining why women stay, it's an imporatnt part of understanding DV. No point in 'poor you' or 'how fascinating' style of interviews.

I love Fi Glover too.

And Sheelagh Fogerty.

I think those three are much better broadcasters thn nearly all other women, and men, on radio currently.

Grrr @ JG. Again.
They are talking about the changes to Child Benefit. She had an expert on who explained in great detail. I concentrated on what she was saying and understood it. JG said, to paraphrase, "ooh. it involves numbers and money. Panic, panic. I'm fluffy and don't understand. wibble." This was incredibly rude to her guest - JG was effectively saying that that she hadn't done her job properly because one of the listeners (JG) still didn't comprehend the situation. The fault lay with JG not listening, not with the expert.
JG should have researched her topic before the programme so that she was up to speed and could ask searching questions. Why was she selected to present on this if she can't be bothered to make an effort to listen is such a dunderhead?

Get rid of her WH: she doesn't engage properly with interviewees

I like Garvey. What's so wrong about establishing facts?

I tend to turn over to R5Live if WH is talking about food or domestics (saying that as a SAHM who loves her food, too).

R4 I always imagine Libby Purves to have had some mind-numbing life of desperate suburban ordinariness as you can hear her pant damply with excitement at all the whacky types she collects round her table that you capture so well.

WH sounds to like a Dementor, sucking all joy from the airwaves. Although I once heard her flirt with an ice-cream maker. It made me shudder.

I really REALLY like JG

I genuinely reckon that one of the WH presenters has some kind of food related illness (IBS or something) - there's this sort of weird nervousness and anticipation of how 'it will give you wind' when discussing the most ordinary food, which really reminds me of one of my nephews.

But Libby Purves is based in Suffolk- her life can't be all that exciting.....(Disclaimer- Suffolk was once my family 'seat')........

Ha ha well I'm glad it's not just me then!

I quite like Winifred Robinson as an interviewer/presenter. Does she sometimes cover for WH or have I imagined that?

I'm not a big fan either. I remember that she just couldn't believe her ears when Miranda Hart told her that she had loved being at boarding school, it obviously didn't fit in with her own preconceptions.

I do enjoy listening to JG in the main; I think the offhand manner is just 'her' and can be very funny - but I have to agree with R4 and NotQuitePerfect that every time there's an item about cooking or something domestic, you can virtually hear her rolling her eyes in impatience and making snippy remarks. She's always introducing items by saying things like 'now, if you make your own jam - though frankly, why would you want to?'....or 'as far as I'm concerned, life is too short to knead bread/make pastry/bake scones' etc etc

They once sent her to talk to lovely 90-something Marguerite Patten and be shown how to make various dishes, and she kept muttering this sort of thing throughout the interview. It was so uncalled for.

You know, I think that's the nice thing about Mumsnet. You don't have to listen to people telling you abut how they trekked on an organic camel across the Silk Route to sell the hand-spun wool that funded the restoration of their ancestral castle - instead people say things like 'I listened to quite a good afternoon play yesterday', or 'there's a patch of peeling paint on my living room wall', which are ultimately the stuff of life.

"otherwise known as the radio 4 audience" LOL

Surely it's not her fault that the format of that particular show (I'm assuming you mean 'Midweek', not the 'Reunion' one) gets a bunch of unusual characters (being polite here), in much the same way that 'Saturday Review' happens to visit a lot of arty and cultural events mostly in the South East, where lots of the R4 audience don't actually live, nor even visit that often!

Libby Purves is one of my pet hates although I must admit that I haven't lstened to her for a while - her voice is one of the few that has me reaching for the off button - has she improved?

She fills her programme with eccentrics who have sailed widdershins aroundthe British Isles, made organic wool from bactrian camels, single-handedly rebuilt their ancestral castle, trekked across the Silk Route from the Taklamakan Desert to Ahmadabad, blah blah blah. They all think that they are a mix between Laurence of Arabia and Jan Morris. She has an undisguised disdain for people with ordinary lives otherwise known as the radio 4 audience

It isn't sexist to complain about JG. I often complain about men too who are crap at interviewing.

Nope - I like her direct style and prefer her to the sainted Jenny who I find a bit sickly and over earnest. Yes, sometimes she throws the gauntlet down to guests but in doing so she gets them to justify themselves which in turn gives me a better understanding of their thinking/position.

Oh I like Jane and not just because she always replies to my tweets

But I generally love Woman's Hour. They were pretty much the first media outlet to cover the Rochdale story and that was a couple of years back if I remember correctly.

I can't stand Jane Garvey's sneering superior attitude. Every time she's hosting WH my heart sinks. I feel sorry for her interviewees. I can't understand why she got the job, it's tragic.

Libby Purves, on the other hand, is amazing. I want her to adopt me.

Justine has been on WH, she could probably tell us what it is like

seeing as i now have a womans Hour thread to complain on - they had two articles about male carers - good, interesting articles - but what the fuck were they doing on WOMANS HOUR ??

i don't know which one it was, but there was one that was very sneery towards a woman who had lactated in order to feed an adoptive baby - this involved pumping 4 hours round the clock before the baby was even there - pretty hard work - she challenged her with something like 'well, it's not that important is it ..?'

the woman was taken aback, but said somethinglike it had taken her 7 years to get a baby, of failed IVF, etc etc etc and the effort to her was more than worth it.

that said they have very tight time slots to fill and they do need to direct flow an get the questions asked that the public want asking.

"They seem to be praised for their directness."

I'd never praise either of them. Paxton (Paxman, surely!) has been mocked for repeating questions over and over (perhaps it was on HIGNFY not MN).

Humphries jumps in when interviewing and makes himself look foolish in so doing. Not letting an interviewee finish a sentence doesn't score any points with me... it's plain rude.

No, I like her and respect her way of interviewing. I find it refreshing and not just "yes, you're great aren't you" style of interviewing. I think she is quite brave in some situations: the same style of questioning could be seen as rude in other situations.

I love prefer Jenny M and wish she was my mum but I love woman's hour anyhow cos I'm a bit sad

No: she's different and that's good as far as I'm concerned.