Anyone listening to Woman's Hour? (Weds 14/6)

[WinterTrees]

My radio is on, but the signal keeps dipping in and out (often does this in hot weather for some reason) and I wasn't concentrating properly. It seems to be a discussion about the rise of the anti-abortion movement, and the role of the far right in this.

The young interviewee (Sian someone, I think, but I didn't catch her full name) has just brought in the general rise of 'wokeism' and the 'culture war' around LGBTQ+ issues as being part of the problem. She cited the push back against Drag Queen Story Hour as an example of this far right influence, and then circled seamlessly back to abortion, with no challenge at all from Nuala McGovern.

I didn't hear it properly and will listen again when it becomes available. I'm hoping that I've misunderstood, and the BBC's flagship women's programme was not promoting the narrative that women who object to pornified men breaching safeguarding best practice and blurring children's perception of appropriate boundaries are dangerous far-right zealots. Did anyone else hear it?

I confess I didn’t like Emma Barnett to begin with. She was so much more abrasive than JG & JM. But she made the programme her own and after a few weeks I realised I was really tuning in to her interviews. Now I miss her so much! I do hope she comes back.

Thanks @EdithStourton - will give some of those a whirl. I'm a dog nerd and started listening to something with Clare balding (I think?) but it was so teeth achingly twee I gave up.

I've just had to turn off Marianna because she is just so dim.

Don't forget Blocked & Reported. It's about culture and particularly the aspects of it accelerated by the Internet. The focus is almost exclusively on the US. What makes the show is that the presenters are liberal progressive types who in the past have put principles ahead of The Project and have been, and continue to be, punished for this.

It has one big downside. The presentation is very much US podcast style which some people are unable to get past.

I think she's very US focused. She's on the Americast podcast and tracks opinions in the US via fake online accounts.

I was going to listen to her new podcast, but won't bother now.

@Clymene , I generally switch CB off, but i enjoyed the one with Reuben and his brother recently.

MS seems to be revered at the BBC, but I don't understand the appeal. Same goes for Amol Rajan. I have a feeling that they fit into a type of person they want for the role.

Or possibly they know someone or are the child of someone. The BBC seems quite nepotistic.

Let's face it, on the basis of the evidence, MS isn't getting her job on journalistic ability.

MS seems to be revered at the BBC, but I don't understand the appeal.

Because if there's any disinformation to be done, they want to be the ones doing it.

MS seems to be revered at the BBC, but I don't understand the appeal. Same goes for Amol Rajan. I have a feeling that they fit into a type of person they want for the role.

^ Very much this. I think MS fits a number of demographics at once, a young female, who's a "social media expert", who's "on top of the fake news that's currently everywhere". I think she's seen as the future.

The appeal of Rajan is mystifying. I suppose beyond the obvious diversity points, he has been an insanely effective networker over his media career and his rapid rise seems to have come from connections he's made. He's hopeless at being a broadcaster but that looks to be seen as a minor point.

@Ereshkigalangcleg ,

@dimorphism , I was thinking something more that for example if, say, Ed Stourton/Justin Webb and AR applied for the same BBC gig, Amol would tick more boxes.

I don't really 'get' the ones that are meant to appeal 'to a younger audience'.
I like the ones who are more my age or who sound intelligent and friendly.

The ones who literally like shpeak yoof have me reaching for the Off switch. They were talking to some shtudents yesterday, and every reply had an unnecessary like in it.

I was a bit disappointed to find that Katie Razzle isn't her name. She's OK though even if she id make a right mess of Guto Hari's name (it's GIT-oh Harry not Ghee Toe Haari).

did not id

KR is married to Oliver Milburn. Angel Clare.

This. It's still the same-old same-old 'liberal' (regressive) narrative being promoted.

Very interesting the general praise on this thread for Emma Barnett. I recall when Jane Garvey and Jenny Murray left there was uproar on MN and most people were saying they couldn't stand EB! (I love her and always have.)

I think there was concern and anger that Jenni Murray was forced out. I don't think many of us were at all concerned when Jane Garvey left. Many of us didn't regard her as feminist let alone GC, and we were right — she turns out to have been a trans ally. I certainly welcomed Emma Barnett and am devastated at her departure. She transformed WH. I hope she'll be back.

It's interesting how much influence the presenters clearly have. When Jane Garvey was conducting awful, confusing, uncritical interviews with trans supporters most women gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed it was the production team that were forcing her to be so woolly. Then Emma Barnett arrived and it became clear that it was possible for a presenter to take a more focussed stand.

I was delighted when Jane Garvey left - her faux self deprecation used to annoy the hell out of me. I am another one who found Emma Barnett grating at first but once she found her groove I think she was excellent.

Nuala is useless and I find my blood pressure rising as she panders to her guests without any signs of critical thinking.

I liked Jane Garvey.

I really like Amol Rajan. He is someone who really does his homework and definitely brings critical thinking to the role. Justin Webb my favourite for sticking up for women when it wasn’t at all popular.

I liked Jane Garvey for many years, until I realised that her whole radio persona was constructed around Being Likeable, and understood the cost to women of that kind of people pleasing, and its dangers in this new age of misogyny.

Emma Barnett was difficult to get used to because her presenting style was so much more challenging. Thank the sweet baby jesus for that, and for her. I'm delighted that she has been able to have the second baby she wanted so much, but like others I really, really hope she comes back to WH when she feels ready.

On the back of this thread, I've been down quite a Marianna Spring rabbit hole. I won't bore you with some of the more tenuous claims but there are a lot of people who are wondering how a woman who graduated from Oxford a mere 5 years ago is now the BBC's specialist disinformation correspondent.

I also happened across an article by Kathleen Stock which I hadn't read before who is dubious about Spring's biased take

unherd.com/2023/03/the-bbcs-phoney-war-on-disinformation/

Interesting piece by Kathleen Stock, thanks!

But the people in the Comments below...

EB being on may leave had passed me by. Many congrats to her, in the (probably quite likely) event she reads MN!
WH is so lightweight now. I’ve stopped bothering. It’s really really dull.

EB took WH and made it her own, I thought. I've never been much of a listener though.
I am pretty certain that she said something about not coming back to WH but maybe I mesheard.

BBC Woman's Hour on Instagram: "It’s Emma Barnett’s last day on @bbcwomanshour before she heads off on maternity leave, so she’s got a little message for you and a request…"

I seem to recall her combative style upset the fat faced fox botherer, which is certainly a plus for all sensible listeners

I wish people would realise that badgers and foxes harm hedgehogs

Thanks for the link to that clip. At the end she seems to state with some certainty that she intends to come back to WH, so I hope that happens.

I was thinking the same, I miss Jane and Jenny

WH must have changed a lot since I stopped listening if people are calling to bring back Emma Barnett!!!