Woman's Hour25 Des 2024

Comfort: A Woman's Hour Christmas Day special

As this is the season of Comfort & Joy, today’s programme is devoted to the theme of ‘Comfort’. At this time of year when many women are frazzled and craving a bit of comfort, Nuala McGovern and Anita Rani explore why it so important with their guests.

Fiona Murden is an organisational psychologist, award winning author of the books Defining You and Mirror Thinking and host of the podcast Dot to Dot – Life Connected. She explains what comfort is, why we crave it and why it’s necessary, but she also discusses the importance of sometimes pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Molly Case is a former cardiac care nurse and now works in palliative and end of life care. She works out what matters most to the people she cares for and how she can provide a level of comfort for them.

The Reverend Bryony Taylor is a priest in the Church of England and works as Rector of Barlborough and Clowne in the Derby Diocese. She is also the author of More TV Vicar? a book about Christians on the television. She describes how faith can be a source of comfort for many people, especially at this time of year.

The food writer Grace Dent, and chef and restauranteur Dipna Anand, recall the favourite foods from childhood that bring them emotional comfort and bring back happy and nostalgic memories, as well as what they will be having for Christmas.

Hygge took the world by storm when Meik Wiking published The Little Book of Hygge – The Danish Way to Live Well in 2016. Hygge has been described as a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or wellbeing. Anita and Nuala are joined by Becci Coombes, whose father is Danish. She grew up with a love of all things Hygge and runs an online business - Hygge Style.

The band The Unthanks are known for combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres. They have just finished a UK tour, and they have a new album out – The Unthanks In Winter. They perform two songs live in the studio: Bleary Winter and The Cherry Tree Carol.

Presented by Nuala McGovern and Anita Rani. Producer: Louise Corley

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(2000)

Amelia Dimoldenberg, Vaping, Bigamy, Angel Blue

Doctors are warning that vaping could be harming children's health and say more needs to be done to make vapes less attractive and accessible to young people. The warning comes from experts from the R...

20 Aug 54min

France's mass drugging case, Olympian Jade Jones, Air pollution research

A senior French civil servant stands accused of drugging hundreds of women. Police say Christian Nègre kept a spreadsheet documenting what he described as his ‘experiments’ in which he forced them to ...

19 Aug 57min

Sex offenders and ID change, IVF Investigation, A History of Bandanas

The revelation that a paedophile had changed his name more than 20 times to hide his past has renewed pressure on the government to change the law. Jason Brown was first convicted 12 years ago and has...

18 Aug 57min

Quadruple gold medallist Amy Hunt, Charlotte Church, Child maintenance, Comedian Lucy Porter

Amy Hunt became the first athlete in the 92-year history of the European Championships to win four gold medals in a single event, claiming titles in the 100m, 200m, women's 4x100m relay and the new mi...

17 Aug 56min

Weekend Woman's Hour: Women in Afghanistan, Composer Gabriela Ortiz, Tourette Syndrome

Five years after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, we hear how it has changed women’s lives in the country and beyond. Anita Rani speaks to 21-year-old Purvin Juma who fled to the UK from Afghanistan...

15 Aug 56min

Girls in Afghanistan, Female entrepreneurs and life editing, Women’s cricket

Five years on since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, we hear how it has changed women’s lives in the country and beyond. Anita Rani speaks to BBC World Service journalist Mahjooba Nowrouzi in Kabul,...

14 Aug 57min

Simon Levy verdict; the partition of India in fiction; mudlarking

A serial sex attacker who had a 'morbid fascination' with sex has been jailed for the rest of his life after he was found guilty of murdering two women and raping a third. 40-year-old Simon Levy kille...

13 Aug 57min

Eclipse, China's fake brides, Female climbers, Dr Amanda Cole & Tourette syndrome

One of the most spectacular solar eclipses the UK has seen for decades is taking place this evening. The extraordinary celestial event will see the Moon move across the face of the Sun, creating a par...

12 Aug 57min