In the final episode we’ll meet Elizabeth Nyamayaro, Laura Bates, Caroline Criado-Perez, as-well as incredible female MPs serving in all strands of government, powerful women writers who have written their names into history, and the current crop of determined, resilient campaigners who, collectively, target a broad spectrum of injustices. However, the narrative that women have achieved full equality and that our job is done is frankly ludicrous, so we’ll also explore the new mechanisms for silencing women that have evolved in the modern era. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Bloody Brilliant Women, with Cathy Newman

Twenty-First Century Women

In this episode we’ll meet Sophie Mirman, Margaret Seymour, Martha Lane Fox, Penny Smith, Susan Faludi, and Lesley Knox, amongst many others. Through their stories we’ll explore how female entrepreneurs prospered during the 80s 90s, and early 2000s, succeeding in the financial sector and prospering from the boom years of the Internet and tech companies, and how this was set against the overall picture for women at this time of statis and compromise. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

The 'Boom' Years

In this episode we’ll explore Thatcherism: the woman and the movement. We’ll learn about her changing attitudes towards working women and the way in which all women in politics during her era were compared, favourably or unfavourably, to Thatcher herself. We’ll also see how women like Brenda Dean and Betty Cook took her on during the 1980s. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Thatcherism

In this episode we’ll meet Marjorie Hurst, the founder of the Brook Street Bureau secretarial agency. Through her story we’ll explore the reinforcement of ‘women’s work’ as an established idea during the 1960s, and meet the women who were fighting back. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Marjorie Hurst

In this episode we’ll meet Claudia Jones. Through her story we’ll explore immigration in the late 1940s and the Windrush generation; the Notting Hill riots; and how a handful of mostly female activists like Pearl Prescod and Amy Ashwood Garvey rallied round her, determined to promote both black resistance and, ultimately, some semblance of cross-cultural harmony. We’ll also talk about women like Rosalind Franklin and Dina St Johnston, who accomplished incredible things in science and technology, only to be written out of history by their male counterparts. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Claudia Jones and the Windrush Generation

In this episode we’ll meet Jane Drew, a visionary architect of the mid-20th century; and the better-known novelists Iris Murdoch, Agatha Christie, and Muriel Spark. Through the stories of their professional success we’ll learn about the creation and implementation of the Festival of Britain; the ways in which women had to push the boundaries to get ahead; and the ‘fabulous fees’ of flourishing women novelists. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Jane Drew and Modern Architecture

In this episode we’ll meet Ellen Wilkinson, Joan Clarke, Violette Szabo, Pauline Gower, and Lettice Curtis, amongst many others. Through their stories we’ll learn about women’s struggle for representation in not only Westminster, but Whitehall; the work of the few who made it inside those hallowed halls; and the women who were central to cracking the code at Bletchley Park during WWII. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Politics and War

This episode is dedicated to Beatrice Shilling, a truly phenomenal woman of the 20th century. She was an aeronautical engineer and amateur racing driver whose work with the RAF was integral to victory in the Battle of Britain. In 1948 she was awarded an OBE for her contribution to the war effort. This is her story. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Beatrice Shilling

In this episode we’ll meet Nancy Astor, the first woman MP; Margaret Bondfield, the first women cabinet member; and Helena Normanton, the first woman to be called to the bar, amongst many others. Through their stories we’ll learn about not only the Representation of the People Act, but the subsequent laws that gave women increasingly greater equality in the 1920s; and how the first women in Parliament were burdened with representing their sex as well as their constituencies. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Nancy Astor: the first woman MP

In this episode we’ll meet Mary Allen, a woman who embodies so many of the tensions that animated British culture between the wars, Dora Russell, Naomi Mitchison, and Marie Stopes, amongst many others. Through their stories we’ll learn about the sexual freedom of the post-war period and how women played an essential role in the access of birth control, the creation of sexual health clinics, and how all of this played out during a time of great gender, class, and sexual tension between the wars. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Between the Wars

In this episode we’ll meet Dorothy Lawrence, Flora Sandes, Isabella Clark, and Britain’s so-called ‘splendid women’ who were entering professions hitherto withheld from them. Through their stories we’ll learn about extraordinary journeys on the frontline during WWI, the ‘military maids’, and how the War revealed new opportunities for women to enter the workplace, as-well as new ways of exploiting their labour. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Women of the First World War

In this episode we’ll meet Helena Swanwick, Philippa Fawcett, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Sophia Jex-Blake, and Emmeline Pankhurst, amongst many others. Through their stories we’ll explore women’s fight for equal education, the founding and influence of the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903, and how the Pankhursts came to own the suffrage story. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffrage Story

In our first episode we’ll meet Clementina Black, Rachel and Margaret McMillan, Beatrice Webb, Lydia Becker, Sara Forbes Bonetta, and Queen Victoria, amongst many others. Through their stories we’ll explore nineteenth century politics: a time when it was a game played almost entirely by men – old men at that – and how the winds of change had started to whistle in the early 20th century. We’ll talk about the representation of black women from this period; how the virtuous militancy that had powered protest groups was increasingly being harnessed by social reformers; and the incredible story of how women came together to fight for greater rights in the workplace, on the streets, and in the home over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (http://po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (http://po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Let's Get Political

This is a history of our times. This is a history of the pioneering women who defied the odds to make careers for themselves and alter the course of modern history. This is a history of women who achieved remarkable things, but have faded into oblivion. You'll meet women who pioneered in the fields of law, medicine, social activism, engineering, and the military, hear their incredible stories, and see how they made history. Subscribe now and beginning on International Women's Day (Friday 8th March), I'll release an episode every Friday until the end of May. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (http://po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (http://po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks

Trailer

This is a history of our times. This is a history of the pioneering women who defied the odds to make careers for themselves and alter the course of modern history. This is a history of women who achieved remarkable things, but have faded into oblivion. You'll meet women who pioneered in the fields of law, medicine, social activism, engineering, and the military, hear their incredible stories, and see how they made history. Subscribe now to get a new episode every Friday.