Lucy Cooke on the female of the species, Furniture poverty, Threads

You might be forgiven for thinking that the females of most animal species are passive, maternal and monogamous – because that’s been the long-standing scientific consensus. But now the zoologist and broadcaster Lucy Cooke wants to expose the stereotypes and bias that lie beneath our common understanding of how the sexes work in the wild. Her new book is called Bitch - A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal. You may also have heard her presenting a current Radio 4 series called Political Animals. Lucy joins Jessica to discuss redefining the female of the species.

Furniture poverty is when someone is unable to afford or access essential items. including white goods, beds, and carpets and curtains. In 2017 around 400,000 children in the UK didn’t have their own bed to sleep on, and in 2020 at least 4.8m people were living without at least one essential household appliance. These figures are expected to have risen during the pandemic, and expected to rise further with the cost of living crisis - with soaring inflation and household bills. Jessica speaks to a woman we are calling April - who tells us about her experience of furniture poverty, and Claire Donovan from End Furniture Poverty.

Following a trend across South America, last week Colombia decriminalised abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. It means increased abortion access for women in the largely Catholic country. Jessica speaks to Marge Berer, the Co-ordinator of the International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion and to Marianna Romero from the Centre for Study of State and Society in Argentina, about the change in Colombia.

Jessica speaks to Lana Kozak, a 20 year old journalism student in the UK, about wanting her mum to be able to join her here.

We start a new series ‘Threads’ exploring the significance of old clothes. What is the oldest piece of clothing in your wardrobe? Do you have something that doesn’t fit anymore, but you just can’t bear to throw away? Why do clothes hold such strong memories and nostalgia? Today we meet listener Emma Nabarro-Steel, who contacted us with a song she wrote about this same topic, and the dress that means a lot to her.