Main content

Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry on the enduring appeal of her music. Health Minister Anna Soubry on the row over part-time women GPs. And how has the UK fared in the first EU Gender Equality Index?

At 67 and still performing, Debbie Harry on the enduring appeal of her iconic music, being a woman in the male-dominated 70s New York punk scene and the music industry today. Plus how it feels growing older as a woman so idolised and celebrated for her looks. The controversy over part time female GPs continues. Are they a burden on the NHS? We speak to the Health Minister Anna Soubry about why she's been drawn in to the argument. How's the UK faired in the first ever EU Gender Equality Index? Is it time to introduce quotas?
Plus author Philippa Gregory and historian Helen Castor discuss the White Queen set in 1464 against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, just who were the women caught up in the conflict for the throne.
Guests on the programme included...
Debbie Harry - Musician.
Anna Soubry, Minister, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health
Dr Fiona Cornish, President of the Medical Women's Federation
Anne Laure Humbert, Gender Expert, European Institute for Gender Equality
Marina Yannakoudakis Conservative MEP for London and a member of Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee.
Mary Honeyball, Labour MEP for London and a member of Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee.
Philippa Gregory - Author
Helen Castor - Historian.

Available now

45 minutes

Chapters

  • Part-Time GPs

    As more women than men train as GPs what affect will that have on patients and the NHS?

    Duration: 08:42

  • Debbie Harry

    Blondie singer Debbie Harry on the enduring appeal of her music and rock-chick aesthetic

    Duration: 09:08

  • The EU's First Gender Equality Index

    How has the UK fared in the EU's first Gender Equality Index?

    Duration: 08:13

  • Freedom Riders

    Reporter Jo Fidgen at the reunion of Freedom Riders in Mississippi

    Duration: 05:05

  • The White Queen

    Author Philippa Gregory & Historian Helen Castor on the women behind the Wars of the Roses

    Duration: 09:52

Part time GPs

Last week Tory MP Anne McIntosh suggested that part-time women GPs were putting a tremendous burden on the NHS because β€œit was effectively having to train two women to do the work of one”. Those comments quickly created a storm of controversy which drew in among others the Health Minister Anna Soubry. Currently more women than men are in training to become GPs and over time women GPs will outnumber men, so what effect will that have on the NHS and its patients?Β  Jenni is joined by Dr Fiona Cornish, the President of the Medical Women’s Federation and Anna Soubry, a Minister at the Department of Health.

Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry is one of the most celebrated women in rock history, instantly recognisable for her striking beauty, tousled platinum blond hair and super cool look. She rose to fame with Blondie in the punk and new wave music scene of 1970’s New York – a distinctive and provocative front woman in a very male-orientated music world. In fact her image was so powerful the band even wore badges saying β€˜Blondie is a group!’ to remind she wasn’t a solo act. She and the band went on to huge international success, selling tens of millions of albums along the way, with hits like Heart Of Glass, Rapture, and Atomic. Today she’s still going strong and is here in the UK to play several live dates and with a raft of new material.Β So what’s it like to still cut such an iconic figure almost 40 years on? Debbie Harry joins JenniΒ to talk about the enduring appeal of her music and rock-chick aesthetic, being a strong female figure in the music industry both then and now, and what’s it like growing older in the public eye as a woman so idolised for her appearance.

Blondie are playing a series of live dates across the country starting in Nottingham on Friday, and ending in Kew Gardens in London on 9 July.

EU Gender Audit

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) launches the first β€˜Gender Equality Index’ for the European Union. It’s providing a score for each Member State and an EU average on each of the following areas: work, money, knowledge, time, power and health.Β  How has the UK fared in the results? Should we start placing quotas to get more women in the boardrooms and parliament? Jenni discusses with issues with Anne Laure Humbert, Gender Expert, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE); Marina Yannakoudakis, Conservative MEP for London and a member of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, and Mary Honeyball, Labour MEP for London and a member of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee

Freedom Riders

In May 1961 new rules came into force in the United States banning segregation on interstate buses. It was a decisive victory for a courageous group of people known as the Freedom Riders. The Congress of Racial Equality sponsored 13 volunteers to ride the length of the country, deliberately flouting the custom of separating blacks and whites on buses, in restaurants, and in washrooms. But when they reached Ku Klux Klan territory in Alabama, one bus carrying Freedom Riders was firebombed, and several activists were badly beaten. Outraged, hundreds of students across the country picked up the gauntlet and rode buses and trains into Mississippi, where all of them were jailed. Jo Fidgen spoke to two women about why they got involved, at a reunion of Freedom Riders in Mississippi.

The White Queen

Set in 1464 against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, tells the story of the women caught up in the conflict for the throne.Β  Author and historian discuss Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Anne Neville,Β some of the most ruthless players in history who manipulate the struggle for power.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jenni Murray
Interviewed Guest Deborah Harry
Interviewed Guest Anna Soubry
Interviewed Guest Fiona Cornish
Interviewed Guest Anne Laure Humbert
Interviewed Guest Marina Yannakoudakis
Interviewed Guest Mary Honeyball
Interviewed Guest Philippa Gregory
Interviewed Guest Helen Castor
Editor Beverley Purcell
Producer Rebecca Myatt
Producer Steven Williams

Broadcast

  • Thu 13 Jun 2013 10:00

Featured in...

Follow us on Instagram

Get all the pictures, videos, behind the scenes and more from Woman’s Hour

Podcast