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Episode details

Radio 4,26 Jul 2017,54 mins

Jill Archer, The Big Sick, Young mums, Svetlana Alexievich

Woman's Hour

Available for over a year

Jane Garvey talks to Patricia Greene about sixty years of playing Jill in The Archers and looks at how her character has reflected changes in women's lives. The oral history Unwomanly Face of War, about Soviet life during the Second World War, has been published in English for the first time. Its author, Svetlana Alexievich, won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature for 'her polyphonic writings,' a genre of non-fiction she developed herself. Bridget Kendall, author of The Cold War, a new oral history, and a former BBC Moscow correspondent and Clem Cecil, executive director of Pushkin House join Jenni to talk about Alexievich's life and her unique accounts of history. A new film The Big Sick tells the story of a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian who hides the fact he's dating a white girl from his strictly traditional parents. The US romantic comedy is based on the real-life relationship of co-writers Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V.Gordon. They join Jenni to talk about why they wanted to put their own story on screen. Emily Morris was a 22 year old student when she found out she was pregnant. Now 34, she's published a memoir about life as a young, single mother based on her blog. Jendella Benson is 29, and became a mother when she was 26. She's the founder of a project called 'Young Motherhood,' bringing together young mums to share their experiences. Both Emily and Jendella talk to Jenni about their lives. Presenter: Jenni Murray.

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