The Conversation

Mar 30 2025 522 ep. 27 mins 11.6k

The Conversation Podcast artwork

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

Society & Culture

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Women working through menopause

Mar 30 2025 26 mins

Datshiane Navanayagam is joined by two women from the UK and Australia whose personal experience of menopause and perimenopause has led them to advocate for better support at work.Madhu Kapoor is a writer and menopause awareness campaigner. She experienced a range of physical and psychological symptoms during perimenopause in her early 40s which led to her resigning from her senior

Air traffic controllers

Mar 23 2025 26 mins

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to controllers from the UAE and Sweden about guiding aeroplane take-offs and landings and dealing with the extreme stress of the job.Helena Sjöström Falk is the first woman president of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations. She's from Sweden and recently retired from Stockholm Air Traffic Control Center. During her care

One-woman sound machines

Mar 16 2025 26 mins

From breaking bones to trudging through snow – it is a Foley artist's role to reproduce the everyday sound effects that are added to film, TV and games. By using a variety of unconventional props and their own bodies, the goal is to create an authentic soundscape that will enhance our auditory experience. If the Foley goes unnoticed then they’ve done their job well! Datshiane N

Giving used clothes a new life

Mar 09 2025 26 mins

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women from Brazil and the UK who have online businesses buying and selling second hand clothes.Ana Luiza McLaren is a co-founder of Enjoei, the biggest second hand selling site in Brazil. She started selling her own clothes through a blog she wrote over fifteen years ago and it wasn’t long before friends were asking her to sell their clothes too

Fostering: Being a ‘bonus parent’

Mar 02 2025 26 mins

Millions of children globally are separated from their birth families. For many, foster care is the best option. Foster carers from Moldova and the US speak to Ella Al-Shamahi about the realities of caring for vulnerable children and why they’re pushing for change in the system.Alina Druță is the president of Moldova Without Orphans, the Christian Alliance for Orphans Moldova a

Women investigating bribery and corruption

Feb 23 2025 26 mins

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women from Egypt and the US about their work detecting fraud, bribery and corruption for multi-national corporations and law enforcement.Yousr Khalil is from Egypt, after 20 years working in the United States she now heads the Paris Office of Forensic Risk Alliance, a company specialising in in complex, cross-border forensic investigations, regulatory compl

Teaching consent in relationships

Feb 16 2025 26 mins

Datshiane Navanayagam hears from two women in Nigeria and Denmark to discuss how they teach consent as part of sex education.Mette Øyås Madsen is an award-winning Danish sexual health educator and author. She has incorporated sexual education into the Danish folk high school system for the past ten years. Mette is passionate about promoting topics such as consent, sexuality and g

Women providing prosthetics

Feb 09 2025 26 mins

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women about prostheses for amputees in Ukraine and children with limb difference in the UK. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Olga Rudnieva felt she had to do something to help those wounded in the conflict. She set up the Superhumans trauma centre in Lviv, which she runs as CEO alongside a team of specialists, providing prosthetic limbs t

Lessons from female philosophers

Feb 02 2025 26 mins

Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two academics dedicated to uncovering the vital role of women in shaping philosophical thought, both past and present.Dr Giulia Cavaliere is an Italian philosopher who lectures at University College London. Her research focuses on infertility, assisted reproductive technologies and the desire to have genetically related children.Dr Sabrina Ebbersmeye

Child helplines: Giving young people a voice

Jan 26 2025 26 mins

Telephone helplines support millions of children every year with issues ranging from serious abuse to children who just want someone to chat to on the way home from school. Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women from South Africa and Greece about supporting children through round-the-clock helplines, counselling and outreach.Dumisile Cele, a trained social worker, is the Chief Executiv