Rachel Johnson's Difficult Women

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is one of the most highly decorated British Paralympians and truly worthy of the title of Difficult Women. She has spent her life knocking down barriers and fearlessly schooling anyone who dares stand in her way. Even from her earliest memories she has been advocating for not just her own life but for thousands of other disabled people who are routinely forgotten and pushed aside. Listen for an insight into this fascinating life.

This week's difficult woman is another member of British broadcasting royalty, Vanessa Feltz! With her signature blonde locks and no-nonsense charm, she’s been captivating audiences for decades, bringing a splash of sass and a whole lot of heat to the airwaves, always ready to tackle the juiciest topics with her trademark honesty. Of which she is certainly not lacking in this ripper of an episode!

This week's Difficult Woman is Donna Jones, the conservative police and crime commissioner for Hampshire, and the first female leader of Portsmouth City Council. This is a woman who knows how to get things done and makes no apologies whilst doing it. 

This week's difficult women is the loud proud and utterly brilliant Miriam Cates. Now the former MP for Penistone and Stockbridge, Miriam rocketed into the public eye as one of the spearhead figures of the NatCon movement. She now focuses her efforts on education and pro-natalism

This week's Difficult Women is the ceiling smashing Margaret Casley-Hayford. A successful businesswoman and lawyer, Margaret has now got her sights set on bringing diversity to the board room. She now aspires to be not just the first black person but the first woman to hold the title of chancellor in nearly a thousand years of the universities history.

**Warning - this show does contain descriptive language of a racist incident which some listeners may find offensive.

This week's difficult women is Kate Weinberg whose covid journey is as compelling as her writing. With a fierce determination to understand the mysterious fatigue that doctors couldn't explain, Kate embarked on a personal quest for a diagnosis that would empower her narrative and inform her creative work. Turned away time and again by doctors dismissing her illness, she was reminded of the very same doubts that her mother was subject to before her untimely death...

This week's difficult women is the Gardening Legend Bunny Guinness. You will be most familiar with Bunny's voice as a regular on Gardeners Question Time but her immersion within the horticultural world goes well beyond her broadcasting career. We delve into everything from her hitchhiking through Europe to the Great Peat Debate!

When she was 16, Natalie Fleet was raped. More than 30 years later, she will now use her role as a Labour MP to ensure that rapists have no rights to the products of their crime. Listen as she describes her incredible journey of resilience 

This week's difficult woman is writer and podcaster Bibi Lynch. Owing to a combination of factors, Bibi has found herself childless and single in her late 50s - she's not had a boyfriend since Tony Blair was elected and she's come to the realisation that the world just isn't quite comfortable with a middle-aged childless woman. Listen as she talks through the personal reckoning that comes with such a realisation.

This week's Difficult Woman is Alice Hendy. In November of 2020, she received news that her only sibling had taken his own life. Alice found that he had been researching techniques to take his own life via harmful internet searches. To ensure more help and support is given to individuals searching for harmful content online, Alice set up Ripple Suicide Prevention. Listen as she talks us through that journey from tragedy to triumph.

“On Saturday 31st August, the IDF recovered the body of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. To many he was the recognisable face of the hostages kidnapped on October 7th. Earlier this year, we spoke to his mother. Listen back as the world mourns his loss”

This week's difficult woman is the brilliant author and journalist Eleanor Mills to discuss her new book, which dives into the challenges and triumphs of navigating life as a middle-aged woman. With her signature warmth and with, Eleanor shares her personal journey of grappling with societal beauty standards and the sexism that often comes with them. Listen as we explore the liberation that comes with embracing who you are, wrinkles and all.

This week's difficult women is Kat Brown, author, journalist, and guide to all things ADHD. Upon being diagnosed as an adult, Kat's whole life began to click into place. She has used this to try and help others to recontextualise their life in light of this new diagnosis. All of this goes without touching on her greatest love, Difficult Women alumni - Jilly Cooper!

This week's Difficult Women is Jennifer Ewing, wealth manager and proud republican living overseas, in the enemy territory! Given the ever present melodrama emanating from our western neighbour it felt appropriate to host an emergency American episode to find out exactly what it takes to be a difficult woman in the US. Listen as I press her on the Republican's decidedly anti-abortion stance...

The stalwart defender of women's rights, Harriet Wistrich, is this week's difficult woman. Responsible for keeping John Worboys locked up and the founder and director of the Centre for Women's Justice. Harriet has worked tirelessly for 25 years to advance and protect women's rights listen to her experience fighting the patriarchal mountain that is British law.

This week's difficult woman is probably more accurately described as difficult women! Lorraine Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Olivia Coleman, Ann Widdecombe AND Miss Piggy join me this week, all voiced by the wonderful Ronni Ancona. A long and storied career in comedy that is as fascinating as it is funny.

Ann Widdecombe is a titan of British politics. Wheather or not you agree with her, you cannot deny the monumental impact she has made on our political landscape over the past 35 years. Instrumental in bringing forth Brexit, Ann now works for the Reform party as once again she finds herself at the centre of political disruption.

A gala edition of Difficult Woman Live! with the author, influencer, glamazon, and daughter of one of the most fascinating families in Britain – the Sykes. Plum is descended from the grandest of Yorkshire grandees, Plum Sykes. Pack leader of the transatlantic glossy posse, working at Vogue both here and in New York and achieving international success with her first novel Bergdorf Blondes about blowdried airheaded Park Avenue Princesses, more novels, screenplays, marriage and children followed and Plum is now living with her two daughters and horses in a delectable manor house in darkest Gloucestershire

Fresh off the back of her tenure at the head of John Lewis, Dame Sharon White is at a bit of a loss. With Ofcom and the Treasury on her CV, there is very little she can't turn her hand too. Listen to this surprisingly candid interview from one of the UK's most successful businesswomen. 

If there is a man woman or child in showbiz that Rosemary Reed doesn't know, then they're not worth knowing! This producer/director is the mastermind behind some of the most insightful interviews of our generation. "The Power of Women" is her latest interview series, each episode pits two influential women in a room together and charges them to put the world to rights... Sounds like a good idea for a podcast I reckon... 

"Go forth and be fabulous!" Strap in dear listener for our most raucous episode yet! The inimitable Kathy Lette is this weeks difficult woman, done with her flirty fifties and well into her sexties, Kathy's new book explores the discrimination women face as the age, and how to have fun regardless!

I don't have a single bad word to say about this weeks difficult women... not least because she may well be listening! Gillian Reynolds, the Doyenne of Radio, has been a radio critic for over 57 years and what she doesn't know about this industry ISNT WORTH KNOWING. A woman who is nearly older than radio itself has quite the insights into everything from podcasts to the age old rivalry of Nick Ferrari vs James O'Brien...

"We are frozen in a trauma that has now become our reality" This week's difficult woman may well be one of the strongest I have ever met. The terror attack of October 7th changed thousands of lives; Rachel Goldberg is one such life. Her son, Hersh, was kidnapped and remains a hostage inside Gaza to this day. Our conversation was a fascinating insight into the daily turmoil that she has to reckon with, holding on hope that she will maybe, one day, see her son again.

When something goes wrong, you don't take it lying down" This week's difficult women is Patsy Stevenson. She is a writer and campaigner who was catapulted into the public eye after being arrested at the vigil for Sarah Everard back in March 2021. The stark image of her arrest was splashed across every paper in the country and for many, it laid bare the oppression they had been facing in silence for years. She has now pivoted her life to champion women in STEM as the AI revolution comes upon us. 

"He brought in a Psychiatrist to sedate me and handcuff me" From a Bareback Cossack to an abusive Russian Oligarch, Alexandra Tolstoy has lived one hell of a difficult life... Related to the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy, Alexandra has written of her many horseback adventures. She was also in a relationship with the Russian Oligarch known as 'Putin's Banker', with whom she has three children, though escaping his control proved to be her most difficult time yet... 

This week’s difficult woman is Newsnight's star booker Sam McAlister. A working class girl who’s mixed with princes and paupers, Sam has always known how to get where she needs to be. The story behind THAT Prince Andrew interview has now been turned into a blockbuster Netflix film, listen as I interview the woman behind the SCOOP

"Men get away with it because women don't want to report it" This week's difficult woman is author, producer, and screenwriter Daisy Goodwin. The brilliant mind behind Grand Designs, Victoria, and Diva, Daisy's multi-format career is impressive to say the least. Though you may be more familiar with her as the defiant voice who exposed Tory Mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski and derailed his campaign. Listen as she tells EXACTLY what went on that day. 

“People assume everything should be about making the adults comfortable and happy and forget about the extra risk that puts on children.” This weeks difficult women is Amanda Spielman. Former chief of Ofsted who stepped down at the end of last year amid the death of Ruth Perry. A death which has subsequently lead to a total overhaul of how we assess schools and the role Ofsted should play in that process. In her first interview since leaving the role, listen as we discuss the state of education and the future of Ofsted.

"The structure of marriage is a big part of maintaining the gender inequality between men and women" This week's difficult women is the Israeli leader of the opposition Merav Michaeli. Over her 12 years in Israeli politics, Merav has never struggled to make her voice heard. After recently deciding to stand down from her role as leader of the Labour party, we discussed her continued opposition to Netanyahu, a potential end to the war, and her decades long fight against the institution of marriage. 

"A barrister said I should be sectioned and left in a padded room" This week's difficult woman is Dr Charlotte Proudman, a fiercely defiant lawyer who isn't afraid to call a sexist spade a sexist spade. You will no doubt have first heard of Charlotte when she ousted a leering older colleague who had been making inappropriate comments about her linked in profile picture. A stunt that got her labelled an attention seeking feminazi. Dr Proudman has been no less difficult in the years that followed, always at the forefront of tackling misogyny when it rears its ugly head.

"I'll probably get cancelled for this!" Little needs to be said about this week's Difficult Woman, a prolific author, columnist and self-declared bitch, Jilly Cooper! Easily one of the greatest living English women, her novels have sold millions and have even caught the eye of our current prime minister... Recorded at the converted monastery in Gloucester where she resides, listen to this unashamedly honest conversation with one of Britain's greatest living authors.

"When we started this fight, we made enemies in the food industry." This week's difficult women is Tanya Laperouse, whilst you may not know her name but you will no doubt be familiar with the story that has lead to her taking on the entire food industry... and winning. In 2016, Tanya's daughter went on a holiday that would change her family's life forever... Listen to how Tanya took her own personal tragedy and turned it into a terrible victory. 

"If he is extradited... he won't survive in a US prison." This Wednesday, a British high court will decide on whether or not to extradite journalist Julian Assange. His crime? Exposing alleged war crimes committed by the US in Afghanistan. This week's difficult woman is Stella Assange, a human rights activist and lawyer, who married Julian in 2022. Stella and Julian met whilst he was trapped in the Ecuadorian embassy, a political prisoner unable to leave under threat of extradition. She may well be one of the bravest women I have ever interviewed...

"We have ground out these opportunities for women and its now as if we aren't entitled to them anymore" This weeks Difficult Woman is trailblazer and Swimmer Sharron Davies who lost out on gold at the Olympics to doping Russian athletes. With first hand experience of injustice in sport, Sharon has taken it upon herself to fight for biological categorisation in sport.

We all take it as given that the law will be there for you when you need it... the postmasters know its not true..." This weeks difficult woman is Baroness Newlove, the reinstated victims commissioner on a warpath to fix our justice system to SUPPORT victims rather than leave them feeling like cogs in a machine. You may well know about the tragic death of her husband, Gary Newlove, who was beaten to death by a gang of youths in 2007. The pain and frustration of that experience is what drove her to action.

"Even now I can feel her, she is right here with me in this room"

This week's difficult woman is Her Grace, Emma, The Duchess of Rutland. A farmers daughter turned nobility this enterprising aristocrat has dragged Belvoir Castle into the 21st century and flung open her doors to the public. But it doesn't end there... an ardent spiritualist, Emma uses her natural gift to heal people with Reiki. All under the watchful tutorage of her ghostly companion The Fifth Duchess of Rutland.

There really ain't nothing like DAME MAUREEN LIPMAN CBE 1999 Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire in the 2020 birthday honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts, Mo is a zionist, royalist, actress, writer, comedian who is never out of the headlines.

The system she worked trying to expose, is what allowed those men to murder her..." This week's Difficult Woman is Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese Author, Journalist, and Anti-Corruption activist who was assassinated for bringing truth to power... In her final article she wrote "Do your worst you bastards, until the only option left to you is to take out a contract on my life". Her story lives on through her son Paul, a journalist in his own right. Listen as he tells the story of her tragic murder...

"It's all too easy if you went to Eton, not so much if you were born on a council estate..." This week's Difficult Woman is Former MP, Former Culture Secretary, Former Nurse, and Former Businesswoman, Nadine Dorries. Though there is nothing former about this formidable woman whose new book has "spooked" Rishi Sunak into a full cabinet reshuffle! Plus, all of her thoughts on the former PM who has been given a peerage ahead of her...

Presenter, DJ, and mum Ashley James joins Rachel in the studio today to give us an insight into the word of 'Mumfluencing' and the criticism she faces for simply having the audacity to talk about breast feeding!

Caroline Lucas is the UK's only Green MP. A vocal and unabashed advocate for climate policy, Caroline hits out at Sunak, Starmer and even Ed Davey for their failures to address the climate crisis. 

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of sexual assault. Olympic Athlete and World Champion javelin thrower, Fatima Whitbread, was left for dead as a baby. It was only after a neighbour heard her crying for 3 days that she called the police who saved her life. She then spent the next 14 years of her life in a broken care sector that subjected her to physical and mental abuse. At 14 years old, Fatima picked up a javelin for the first time and found the sport that would save her life. The rest, is history...

From the age of 3, Rosena Alin-Khan knew she was going to be a doctor and no number of setbacks were going to stop her. From her humble beginnings in Tooting to graduating from an Ivy League university, Rosena is no stranger to standing up for herself or what she believes in. Now, Rosena champions mental health policy from within Parliament as well as continuing to work her 12 hour A&E shifts! 

Legendary foreign correspondent, Alex Crawford, joins me this week to discuss her extensive career spanning continents and decades. From being bombarded in Lybia to her recent exploration of violence in Mexico, this episode has it all! 

Retweeting a picture of Masih Alinejad can land you 10 years in prison. This "Enemy of State" has survived kidnapping attempts, assassination attempts, and campaigns of disinformation at the hands of the Iranian government. Her crime? Standing up for women's rights. Women's freedom fighter Masih Alinejad has been exiled from her home land since 2009 for criticising the Iranian government's stance on women's rights. In the 14 years since her exile, Masih has not lost her voice...

Sometimes a woman is SO difficult that her story simply cannot be contained in one episode! Listen in as the queen of hot takes gives her verdict on vegetarians, stonewall, and barbie!

In 2020 Stephen Bear posted online an intimate video of himself and Georgia Harrison that had been filmed without her consent. What followed was a difficult legal battle which left her at the mercy of public opinion. Georgia's decision to waive her right to anonymity wasn't easy but the brave choice she made has allowed her to advocate for real legislative change that grants greater protection for victims of revenge porn. 

Witty and outspoken, Shazia Mirza was the first British female Muslim stand-up comedian. Proudly cancelled on multiple counts she isn't afraid to say the unspoken! Listen to one of Rachels most outrageous guests yet...

Conservative MP and Queen of the Hard Brexit, Andrea Jenkyns is our guest on this week's podcast. Growing up destitute, her father taught Andrea the importance of being 'difficult' from a young age. This determination led Andrea to Andrew Lloyd Webber's living room, the final of Miss UK, and the top of Iain Dales "Most Influential Conservatives" list!

The outspoken and dare I say infamous wife of Johnny Mercer MP joins me on the podcast this week. Felicity Mercer works alongside her husband, helping to manage the day to day running of his office. When she's not in the office she can be found on twitter decrying Liz Truss as an 'Imbecile' or slating the honours system. Strap in for this one, Felicity doesn't hold back. 

Kate Mosse is a literary titan having sold over 10 million books, translated into 38 languages. She also founded the women's prize for fiction and her new book "Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries" champions the forgotten women of history who have shaped the world we live in today. A fascinating chat, delving into not only her life but the lives of countless women history has chosen to forget. 

At 7 years old, Suzanne moved onto a seventy-foot yacht with her parents. It was a turbulent childhood with deadly waves, fifty thousand miles of ocean, and endless cups of tea! Homeschooled her whole life, Suzanne escaped the boat after ten years and worked her way to Oxford University. And then there was the time the government tried to frame her late husband! Essential listening filled with hardship, perseverance, and a very difficult woman...

When the Taliban returned to power, Soomaya Javadi’s future as a dentistry student and a woman in Afghanistan was in peril. Her Hazara ethnicity further jeopardized her fate, belonging to one of the most targeted ethnic groups in the country and one historically persecuted by the Taliban during their initial rule in 1996. Facing looming oppression, Javadi made the difficult decision to depart her homeland, one that carried immense danger and uncertainty. Listen about her nail-biting race to Pakistan, which forced her to pass through various Taliban checkpoints.

This week's difficult women is Gogglebox's own Mary Killen! 

Every few seconds, a child's genitals are cut in Africa. Leyla Hussein was one of them... A psychotherapist who now specialises in supporting survivors of sexual abuse, Leyla has dedicated her life to raising awareness of FGM and supporting her fellow survivors. She is a self-proclaimed difficult woman with an incredibly powerful story to tell. 

Rabbi The Baroness Neuberger DBE was the second woman to be ordained as a Rabbi in the UK, and is a British member of the House of Lords. She has been busy and active across public life for decades in the fields of public health, refugees, education, she is the personification of the expression the great and the good.

Katie Hickman has lived an enviable life to say the least. A prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction, Katie was the daughter of diplomats, she spent her youth travelling the world, before ran away to join the circus in her 20's. Later she turned her hand to writing, her new book 'bravehearted' tells the untold stories of the women in the wild west. 

Being expelled from school for drugs hasn't stopped Emily Sheffield from having a prolific and impressive career in journalism, she was columnist at the guardian, the deputy editor of vogue, and of course she took over as editor of the evening standard in June 2020. 

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions of anorexia and self-harm. Author and Journalist Hadley Freeman is no stranger to being difficult, having left the Guardian after 22 years in the midst of a gender critical row. She has, in the past, spoken openly about her drug addiction and has now written a courageous and unflinching memoir of anorexia, candidly talking about the honest truth of this destructive disorder.

Mary Watkins, Baroness Watkins, is a veritable legend in the world of nursing and there is no more qualified voice to address the current state of our NHS and the difficulties that come with being a nurse, than she. 

Maggie Oliver is a former Detective Constable with the Greater Manchester police who made waves as the whistle-blower in the Rochdale grooming scandal. Exposing the flaws within her own team that lead to the mishandling of the case. 

Television presenter, crafter, and national treasure Kirsty Allsopp is this week's difficult woman. Kirsty has never seen a row that she hasn't wanted to wade into, from Vaping to Homework she isn't afraid to have her opinion heard. 

Two days after she informed her employer that she was pregnant with her first child, Joeli Brearley was sacked from her job by voicemail. Off the back of this she founded Pregnant then Screwed, a charity dedicated to ending the motherhood penalty.

On Halloween in 2010, Joanna Simpson was beaten to death by her estranged husband, Robert Brown. Prior to her death, the mum-of-two had filed for divorce after enduring years of abuse. In a first for the podcast, we are joined by not one but two difficult women; Her mother, Diana Parkes, and her best friend, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton. Together they have campaigned tirelessly for stricter prosecution for domestic violence. 

This week's difficult woman is the Sunday Times' Chief Foreign Correspondent, Cristina Lamb, freshly back from investigating the stolen children of Ukraine. Having reported from Brazil, Washington, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to name but four. All of this goes without mentioning her Ghost-writing of "I am Malala".

Dr Emma Runswick is the BMA's Deputy Chair of Council. In the thick of it during this winter of discontent, not least as her union announced 3 days of strike action in a weeks' time. An activist and campaigner from a young age, Emma has never chosen the path of least resistance.

This weeks difficult woman is political journalist and ghostwriter Isabel Oakeshott. Though you may be more familiar with her recent involvement in the Lockdown Files. Isabel made the difficult decision to leak 100'000 private whatsapp messages between Matt Hancock and various members of government, a decision which has come with much controversy.

Abi Austen shot into the public eye after announcing her desire to transition from male to female whilst being an officer in the army. After being forced to resign her position in the army, she had to endure a lengthy and public legal battle to fight for her rights.