Raise Her Up

Our fantastic guest this fortnight is tiktoker and sex educator Milly Evans. With over 400k followers on tiktok, Milly is the go-to for young people wanting to find honest and reliable information about all areas of sex and relationships. As the daughter of parents who own a sex toy shop, Milly grew up with sex being openly discussed, and started campaigning for compulsory sex education for all, in her teens, while still at school. Her brilliant and bestselling book, Honest: Everything They Don’t Tell You About Sex, Relationships and Bodies came out is available now, and here.

For this twixmas time of year our guest is critically-acclaimed and much loved actor Tanya Moodie. She’s done everything from Shakespeare to prime-time TV. You may well know her from the BAFTA award-winning series Motherland, as the straight-talking and hard-partying Meg whose character battled and overcame breast cancer in the latest series. Tanya joins us today to talk to us about her career, getting into - and out of - character, and how the world of acting has changed since she graduated from RADA in 1993.

Behavioural and data scientist Professor Pragya Agarwal is a heavyweight when it comes to matters of equality, unconscious bias, diversity and inclusion. Her last book, (M)otherhood, was an examination of what it is to be a woman and mother, and a look at society’s obsession with the female body. Her latest book, Hysterical, seeks to explode the myth of gendered emotions, looking at whether there is any truth in the concept of innate differences between the way men and women experience what they feel.  

Our guest on this episode of Raise Her Up is Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, foreign correspondent - and GDST alumna - Ramita Navai, who has reported from conflict zones including Syria, Afghanistan and Iran. In her podcast In The Line of Fire, she speaks to fellow war reporters about their experiences. She joins us on this episode to give us insights into her undercover work, how she prepares to go into hostile territory, her experiences as a female reporter - and why she would still recommend her profession to budding journalists.

On this episode we are talking to the author, presenter, mother of 9 and shepherdess of 1000 sheep… Amanda Owen.Amanda Owen shot to fame when she and her family appeared in Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, first airing in 2018, and soon gaining a huge following, with 3m viewers per episode. Known as the Yorkshire Shepherdess, Amanda is also a best-selling author, presenter, photographer and mother of 9. Her latest book, Celebrating The Seasons, is part memoir, part recipe book, and continues the story of the family’s life throughout the year on Ravenseat Farm. Airing to coincide with #COP27, this episode includes Amanda discussing her relationship with nature, and the need for us to see ourselves as ‘custodians of the land’, protecting it and passing it on to future generations…as well as some great Ravenseat Farm anecdotes which you won’t want to miss!

Breasts. A body part. A source of nutrition, of insecurities, of worry, of sexual desire. Our relationship with breasts is complex, and may change at various points throughout our lives. As we watch our daughters grow up, we want them to feel acceptance and confidence in their changing bodies, without health, social or sexual factors influencing their perspective. In this episode to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our guest is speaker, author, and podcaster… Dr Liz O’Riordan.As a former breast surgeon who has herself had and recovered from breast cancer, she’ll talk us through all things breast-related, what’s normal and healthy, and what to expect from them at various times of our lives and cycles. She’ll also share her insights into the cultural side of breasts, taking in identity, women's relationships with their bodies, and how breasts are treated in our society and media.