Weekend Woman's Hour - Libby Scott and mum Kym on Autism, the future of the High Street & Anne Robinson

The novelist Libby Scott has just released her third novel ‘Ways to Be Me’ in collaboration with the author Rebecca Westcott. Along with her mum she tells us about her new book and it’s realistic portrayal of autism, and her own diagnosis at the age of 10.

The presenter, journalist and “Queen of Mean”, Anne Robinson, tells us about becoming the first female host of Channel 4’s longest running series Countdown

We discuss why the future of the high street needs to put women at the centre of its design and overall regeneration. Mary Portas has done a TED talk and podcast arguing for a new approach by business and customers and has now written a book about it all called “Rebuild”. Suzannah Clarke has published new research saying women are responsible for 85% of spending on the High Street and they need to be taken into account in future planning if the downward trends are to be reversed.

Eilidh Doyle is Scotland’s most decorated track and field athlete of all time. The Olympic, World and European medal holder had hoped to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo this month but instead announced her retirement from competitive athletics. She tells us about coming to that decision about retirement and why she is involved in a project with Abertay University, where elite athletes and sporting figures share their experiences of unexpected setbacks and coping strategies with people who have been negatively impacted by Covid.

And the writer Emily Rapp Black, whose left leg was amputated at the age of four due to a congenital defect, tells us about the instant connection she felt with the artist Frida Kahlo. Her new book ‘Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg’ describes how Emily has made sense of her own life and body.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed Editor: Louise Corley