I miss the old R4 Woman's Hour. I don't tune in anymore.

[flashbac]

I don't/can't listen to Woman's Hour anymore. It's lost its magic. I miss having it in the background and listening to interesting points of discussion. Now I find it gets on my nerves. It's crap.

I can't bear Emma Barnett on Newsnight and was gutted when they gave her WH. I only listen on Fridays now, and I like Anita Rani but she can't hold a candle to Jane Garvey.

I can't believe they couldn't find anyone better.

What I miss is the lack of reflection. The old WH was like a magazine . The articles were longer and more in depth, the interviewees were often more relaxed because they weren’t looking every moment for the ‘gotcha’ .

I have never got the EB worship, she seems to me to be constantly looking for the headline, you always get the sense that she isn’t listening to the interviewee she is just thinking about her own next line. This was also the case on 5live but is much more evident in the slower pace of WH where you can almost hear her brain looking for her next line and ignoring her guests replies.

Occasionally I wander in - but more often than not I end up ‘bah - not listening to this mince!’

I don't 'listen' any more - R4 is on in the background most of the day, but I used to actively listen to WH. I find Emma Barnett scathing and Anita Rani a bit damp. I loved Jenni Murray - her interview style was so far removed from Emma Barnett's somewhat hectoring style - I think often, young female interviewers seem to think they need to harry and bully their interviewees i.e. 'be more like a man' .

I've been listening to WH since I was a teenager - I think most people have either listened all their lives or come to it a bit later in life. I do get a bit miffed with all the talk of trying to attract a younger audience - you never hear about R1's efforts to appeal to an older audience.....

There was a segment on R4's Feedback programme a few months ago - there is a segment where people listen to a programme outside their normal comfort zone. There were a couple of students studying politics who never listened to 'Today' and had never heard of the 08.10 'big interview', which left me slightly gobsmacked - so I suppose from that perspective attracting a younger audience is no bad thing, but they do need to be careful that they don't alienate their core audience at the same time.

I agree. It's not the same and now I have unsubscribed.
I miss Jane and Jenny. plus the content is no longer interesting.

Let's hope the production read this thread and take action.

Me too. I tried, but Emma Barnett seems cold and lacking in empathy and seems to prefer the sound of her own voice to that of her interviewees. I miss the warmth, wisdom and honesty of Jane and Jenny. I used to plan my morning around Woman’s Hour and if I had to miss it would listen later. Now I might catch a bit if I’m driving or busy in the kitchen but actually don’t feel comfortable with it anymore. I just can’t be bothered with Emma’s approach which manages simultaneously to be confrontational and disinterested.

totally agree. I find Anita Rani totally bland(even worse on countryfile) and the first time I heard Emma Barnett was with Sinead o'Connor......no empathy or skill whatsoever.I always used to listen when driving and will not tune in any more

Very much in agreement with Ilovelove and Glencora. I used to really like the gentle pace and wide range of women-centred topics, from craft and cooking to health and body issues and women's history. They were woeful in turning a blind eye to the sex self-id elephant and how it would affect women, but otherwise did good coverage of women in politics and things like the pensions scandal. I can remember a piece they did where they just stopped women out shopping in various towns for a chat, and a wonderful older woman talked about losing her husband and picking up the threads afterwards, and it was so gentle and genuine and moving.

Now it seems like they're trying too hard to be relevant, flogging the news angle, desperately looking for a hot take or a gotcha from Emma, while Anita is smiling manically and doing the One Show/This Morning-style forced attempt to sound as if we're all best mates. 'Now I'm sure we're all looking forward to a barbecue in the garden this weekend...!' sort of thing. If Jane had been given that script she would have delivered it wryly and added something self-deprecating on the end, which would mean I didn't mutter 'oh do fuck off' at the radio, while buttering my toast.

The original presenters didn't talk about sex/gender etc because they were not allowed to by the BBC. Not because they were not interested.
BBC has a scary agenda

TBH it reflects my thoughts generally about the BBC.

I was the biggest fan - Radio 2/4, the news and I have binned the lot. I no longer trust the BBC to show impartiality

I agree with what previous posters have said, especially Howzaboutye. It is now less 'Woman's Hour' and more 'Marginalised Groups' hour. Not that a marginalised group having their issues & views should be covered. It's just that is all there seems to be. Now I'm the marginalised one. Maybe I'm supposed to feel that way?

There were a couple of students studying politics who never listened to 'Today' and had never heard of the 08.10 'big interview', which left me slightly gobsmacked

'Gobsmacked' is exactly how I felt listening to that, too. It was completely incredible. Quite honestly it had never occurred to me until that moment that anyone in England could claim to be interested in politics and yet not listen to 'Today', every day.

I definitely miss Jane on WH. I don't think I heard her, even once, exoticise a not-white interviewee - which is a thing that erm ... other WH presenters were repeatedly guilty of. And I loved her deadpan, raised eyebrow voice whenever she was forced to introduce a drama segment that she clearly thought was a waste of time. Gudrun, iirc.

What I miss is the lack of reflection. The old WH was like a magazine . The articles were longer and more in depth, the interviewees were often more relaxed because they weren’t looking every moment for the ‘gotcha’

^Yes, this. I’ve given up on it now.

It makes me anxious when I see it’s Emma Barnett doing Newsnight and I really think she’s the wrong fit for Women’s Hour.
In her favour, I get the impression she does her homework before an interview. I imagine as she ages she’ll mellow and people will take to her more.

R4, if you're listening - you should have just developed a new programme for the under 30s.

I like Emma Barnett as a journalist but I don't like her voice and I don't think she gets the best out of her interviewees. Anita Rani is just wet.

I also agree that LL is bloody awful on DID.

I listen to Fortunately instead.

I think often, young female interviewers seem to think they need to harry and bully their interviewees i.e. 'be more like a man'

There’s a lot in this. They should take a leaf from Emily Maitlis’ book, her interview with the Duke of York was a masterclass in the art of the killer interview.

They should take a leaf from Emily Maitlis’ book, her interview with the Duke of York was a masterclass in the art of the killer interview.

Very true. On the plus side I am enjoying hearing Jane Garvey do news and current affairs on the Newscast podcast, I hope she dies more .

I am another who has pretty much ditched the Today programme as well , it used to be compulsory listening but it’s lost it’s edge. Now I mix and match with Times radio and various news podcasts. I do enjoy Sarah Montague at 1pm on R4 though and Evan Davis often has an interesting slant on the PM programme .

does more not ‘dies more’

@MayIDestroyYou

There were a couple of students studying politics who never listened to 'Today' and had never heard of the 08.10 'big interview', which left me slightly gobsmacked

'Gobsmacked' is exactly how I felt listening to that, too. It was completely incredible. Quite honestly it had never occurred to me until that moment that anyone in England could claim to be interested in politics and yet not listen to 'Today', every day.

I definitely miss Jane on WH. I don't think I heard her, even once, exoticise a not-white interviewee - which is a thing that erm ... other WH presenters were repeatedly guilty of. And I loved her deadpan, raised eyebrow voice whenever she was forced to introduce a drama segment that she clearly thought was a waste of time. Gudrun, iirc.

But the Today programme is awful, I honestly can't bear to listen to it. I'll listen to The World At One and PM (not as good since Eddie Mair left but I couldn't follow him to LBC as I hate the format) but I cannot take Today. It's hectoring for the sake of it.

I have also gone off Woman's Hour. I wasn't very keen on Jenni Murray by the end, but I always liked Jane Garvey. Loved her deadpan delivery and cynicism as discussed by PP. I also always felt that she was really interested in her 'ordinary' guests when she had them on. Listening to what they say and trying to make them comfortable. As well as Fortunately I would recommend her newer podcast Life Changing. Really interesting stories.

Agree, it's awful now, and the presenter has poor use of grammar which doesn't help. Maybe it's deliberate though, trying to fit in with the 'yoof'.

I was a huge fan of the Today programme. I used to listen to it on my way to work every morning, I arrived soggy and tear stained when Brian Redhead died! I haven’t listened for two or three years now because it fell off a cliff. It lost all authority when the government decided to boycott it.

@Anordinarymum

Maybe it is just me but I could not stand listening to Jenny Murray's voice. I listen more now than before

Same here!

I have also stopped listening after tuning in most days throughout my adult life. If they wanted a programme for "young/other's hour" , why not just make one instead of cuckooing "Women's Hour"?

Me too OP .