Baby Bonding, ASMR, Afghanistan, Eimear McBride, BMX Freestyle

Some mums may take a while to bond with their baby after they're born. This can be for a variety of reasons and is in fact very common among new mothers. Journalist and writer Natasha Lunn decided to write about her experience of not falling in love with her daughter immediately. She joins Andrea along with Dr Karen Bateson, Head of Clinical Strategy and Development from the Parent Infant Foundation, to discuss the reasons why bonding may take a while for some women.

ASMR - or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response - is a relaxing, often sedative sensation that begins on the scalp and moves down the body. It's grown massively in the last few years, particularly during lockdown. What is the appeal behind it, and why do female voices perform particularly well? We hear from Dr Giulia Poerio and ASMR artist Sharon Shares.

In Afghanistan, news reports say that the Taliban are going door-to-door in places, taking girls as young as 12 and marrying them off to militants. With thousands of Afghans fleeing to the capital, Kabul, to escape the Taliban advance, Andrea speaks to Lynne O'Donnell, a war correspondent and columnist for Foreign Policy magazine.

Eimear McBride burst onto the literary stage with her first novel, A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing, which won both the Women’s prize for fiction and the Goldsmith’s prize. Two more celebrated novels followed and she has now written her first non fiction book, Something out of Place: Women & Disgust.

Charlotte Worthington won gold for Team GB in the BMX Freestyle event at the Olympics – the first time BMX has ever been represented at the games. Fresh from returning from Tokyo, Charlotte joins Andrea live from UK National Cycling Centre in Manchester.

Presented by Andrea Catherwood Produced by Frankie Tobi