Outlook Mixtape: Women who dared

Available for over a year

Today's Mixtape is a collection of historic firsts. The secret life of Eva B, Pakistan's first woman rapper; Meg Crane, an American who fought the system to create the first home pregnancy test; and Banu Mushtaq who as a child in India learnt a language usually taught to boys. Eva B's music has reached millions and even been featured in a Marvel miniseries, but when she first started out, she was a teenager creating songs in her bedroom in Karachi - and doing it in secret. However, she soon found that being Pakistan's first female rapper was not an easy thing to hide. In 1967 Meg Crane had the idea for a home pregnancy test - one that women could do themselves. Although her idea was dismissed, she continued to work on her prototype. The fight for recognition, and to finally get her design onto shelves, started on the day that she gatecrashed a meeting of male product designers. The only support in the room came from an advertising executive called Ira Sturtevant, who would change Meg's life forever. Indian writer Banu Mushtaq made history in May when she won the International Booker prize for Heart Lamp, a collection of short stories translated from the Kannada language. Not only was this the first short story collection to win the coveted prize, but Banu was the first author writing in Kannada to win, she shared the prize with her translator Deepa Bhasthi. Growing up in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, she was the first girl in her area to learn Kannada in school - a language that, at the time, was taught only to boys. It was the start of a most unconventional life. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Helen Fitzhenry Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Cassette tape. Credit: Getty Images)