The Conversation
Episodes
Jockeys: Michelle Payne and Jadey Pietrasiewicz
11 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Michelle Payne is the first ever female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup and is the youngest of ten children of Paddy and Mary Payne who grew up in c...
Poets: Imtiaz Dharker and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers
04 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Phillippa Yaa de Villiers is an award winning South African writer and performance artist. Phillippa, who is mixed race, was adopted as a baby by a wh...
Astronauts: Sandra Magnus and Samantha Cristoforetti
28 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sandra Magnus is a US astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and is now the executive director of the American Instit...
Fighting Extremism: Hafsat Mohammed and Gulalai Ismail
21 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hafsat Mohammed is a Nigerian peace activist who survived a Boko Haram attack on a bus and works to combat violent extremism in the country by engagin...
Running Hotels: Hasmik Asatrian and Yin Myo Su
14 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hasmik Asatrian runs the Basen Hotel in Sisian. The business was owned by her husband's family, but Hasmik took over the management and day-to-day ru...
Police: Al Beli Afifa and Rebekah Jones
07 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Al Beli Afifa is an Additional Superintendent at Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the largest unit of the Bangladesh Police. Al Beli joined the police partl...
Snake Rescuers: Dr Madhurita Gupta and Julia Baker
29 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Madhurita Gupta grew up in a research institute in Rajasthan. Her father was a scientist and she was exposed to different species of wildlife from ...
Disability: Maysoon Zayid and Gloria Williston
22 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Maysoon Zayid is an Arab-American actor and writer with cerebral palsy. Brought up by parents who believed that nothing was impossible, she learnt ho...
Photographers: Farzana Wahidy and Xyza Bacani
15 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Farzana Wahidy grew up under the repressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan and as a young girl was banned from studying. Encouraged by her father she a...
Fantasy Writers: Karen Lord and Maria Turtschaninoff
08 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Karen Lord's writing feeds off the real world but knits in magic, folktales and adventure to create a unique and original universe. She is the author ...
Cave Women: Jill Heinerth and Elen Feuerriegel
25 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jill Heinerth is the world's top underwater cave explorer. More people have walked on the moon than have ventured to some of the places she has dived....
Plastic Surgeons: Dr Prisca Hwang and Dr Lina Triana
18 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Lina Triana is one of Colombia's top plastic surgeons and was the first woman to become president of the country's Plastic Surgery Association. Lin...
Mountaineers: Shailee Basnet and Katja Staartjes
11 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Shailee Basnet grew up in the shadow of the Himalayas in Kathmandu, but never thought of mountaineering herself. In her twenties she answered an adve...
Forensic Scientists: Senem Škulj and Kornelia Nehse
04 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Senem Škulj is a senior forensic anthropologist for the International Commission on Missing Persons in Bosnia. Thousands of people lost their lives d...
Addiction: Parina Subba Limbu and Melinda Ferguson
28 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Parina Subba Limbu first tried drugs as a teenager. Expelled from nine schools, she eventually ran away from home. After a decade of escalating addi...
Reality stars: Karen Igho Rakos and Alexandra Zazzi
21 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Karen Igho Rakos was joint winner of Big Brother Africa in 2011, and was the first Nigerian woman to win the competition. The reality star claims she ...
Private Detectives: Maureen Nzioki and Akriti Khatri
14 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Maureen Nzioki is a private investigator based in Nairobi in Kenya, a country where this industry is well established. She says she never feels guilty...
Choreographers: Aditi Mangaldas and Jasmin Vardimon
07 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Growing up in an Israeli kibbutz taught choreographer Jasmin Vardimon all about group dynamics, but she came to dancing relatively late, aged 14. Now ...
Journalists: Ameera Ahmad Harouda and Alina Gracheva
30 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As a child, Ameera Ahmad Harouda wanted to be the first female Palestinian fighter pilot, but as an adult she became a pioneer in the news field inste...
Nurses: Rose Kiwanuka and Subadhra Devi Rai
23 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Subadhra Devi Rai started her nursing career in a busy intensive care unit of a hospital in Singapore. She has also dedicated her life to working with...
Taxi Drivers: Iris Javed and Karin Holmström
16 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
'You can never tell what type of person is getting into your car' says Iris Javed who has been driving a taxi in New York City for over twenty-two yea...
Surfers: Cori Schumacher and Ishita Malaviya
09 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Cori Schumacher was surfing before she was born - her mother, also a professional surfer, carried on surfing while she was pregnant. Cori got her firs...
Martial Artists: Norma Foster and Natália Falavigna
02 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Norma Foster from Scotland discovered karate in her teens when her male friends began taking classes and using Japanese words that were strange to her...
The Conversation goes to school in South Africa
24 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the programme's first birthday, Kim Chakanetsa is at Parktown High School for Girls in Johannesburg, bringing 22 students who are in thei...
Opera: Danielle de Niese and Pretty Yende
19 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Lyric soprano Danielle de Niese was a star performer at Last Night of the Proms 2015. It was another milestone in this Australian-born American star's...
Farmers: Jóhanna Bergmann Þorvaldsdóttir and Rashida Khan
12 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jóhanna Bergmann Þorvaldsdóttir grew up on an Icelandic farm that has been in her family for three generations. She has always loved Icelandic goat...
Missing Relatives: Luz Villamil and Visaka Dharmadasa
05 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Visaka Dharmadasa is a celebrated Sri Lankan peace activist whose son went missing in action in 1998, while fighting for the Sri Lankan army against T...
Living With Elephants: Saba Douglas-Hamilton and Sangduen 'Lek' Chailert
28 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Sangduen 'Lek' Chailert comes from the small hill tribe village of Baan Lao in northern Thailand. At a young age she heard the screams of an elephant ...
Funeral Directors: Nomthetho Zote and Lauren LeRoy
21 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Lauren LeRoy is a 25-year-old funeral director from New York State. She says she knew she wanted to do this job from the age of 12. Lauren works at a ...
Gamers and Geeks: Jenny Brusk and Angelica Lim
14 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Brusk didn't know what she was letting herself in for when she enrolled in a university Masters course in computing in 1990. She went on to beco...
Surviving an Economic Crisis: Iliana Fokianaki and Bettina Rosenqvist
07 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Iliana Fokianaki is from Athens and is an art curator, critic and journalist. She also runs a non-profit contemporary art gallery which opened its doo...
Life in the Circus: Anastasia IV and Sarah Schwarz
31 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anastasia IV from Poland joined the circus at eighteen. She performs one of the most risky and unusual acts in the circus: hair-hanging. Anastasia end...
Inside Soap Operas: Simone Singh and Sarah Mayberry
24 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Simone Singh is an award winning Indian television and film actress. She became a household name for playing the title role in the popular serial dram...
Migrants: Cynthia Masiyiwa and Mahboba Rawi
17 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Mahboba Rawi was a teenager when the Soviet-Afghan War broke out. She led protests against Soviet control in her high school. After she was nearly arr...
Agony Aunts: Criselda Kananda and Xinran Xue
03 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Agony aunt Criselda Kananda found out she was HIV positive 16 years ago and was given two years to live. Determined to change her fate, the South Afri...
Entrepreneurs: Maureen Kamari and Serah Kanyua
27 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Maureen Kamari's cakes were always a hit in her office. They were so popular with her colleagues that they started to pay her to bake birthday cakes. ...
Pilots: Niloofar Rahmani and Esther Mbabazi
20 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Captain Niloofar Rahmani is a pilot in the Afghan Air Force. Although there were female helicopter pilots before her, she is the first woman in the hi...
Lawyers: Jane Serwanga and Niranjali Amerasinghe
06 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Serwanga started her career with ambitions of being a high-earning commercial lawyer, but a revelation that the law can discriminate against wome...
Singers: Lisa Fischer and Kanika Kapoor
29 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Grammy award-winning backing singer Lisa Fischer has been performing with The Rolling Stones since 1989. She says duetting with Mick Jagger is electri...
Paralympians: Elizabeth Stone and Vanessa Low
22 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Stone has swum for Team USA in three Paralympic Games and has won three medals. Her achievements are all the more surprising because she sta...
Ballerinas: Lorena Feijoo and Kitty Phetla
15 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Lorena Feijoo is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. Lorena was born into the world of ballet in her native Havana. Her mother was a dan...
Racing Drivers: Tatiana Calderón and Ramona Karlsson
08 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Colombian Tatiana Calderón has gone from a teenage go-kart champion to a Formula 3 driver who reaches 280 kph at top speed. Her sights are set firml...
Emergency workers: Maria Luisa Catrambone and 'Gardenia'
01 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When Maria Luisa Catrambone helps to treat children who have serious burns and bloody injuries she says you need to control your facial expressions ca...
'Hijabistas': Hidaya Mohamad and Naballah Chi
25 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Naballah Chi is a 25-year-old fashion blogger, model and hijab stylist from Trinidad and Tobago. Her blog celebrates colourful clothes inspired by her...
The boxers: Cecilia Braekhus and Hanna Gabriels
18 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Cecilia Braekhus is considered one of the best female boxers, pound for pound, in the world. She's known in the ring as'The First Lady, because she wa...
Being 'Mixed Race': Kira Lea Dargin and Annina Chirade
11 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kira Lea Dargin's parents met at church. Her mother is white from a Russian family who emigrated to Australia in the 1950s, and her father is Aborigin...
Living with Apes in the Wild: Emily Otali and Lone Nielsen
27 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Otali is a primatologist from Uganda. She's been told that she's the first black African woman to earn a PhD in the subject. On an early field ...
Children's Authors: Leslea Newman and Candy Gourlay
18 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Leslea Newman has written more than sixty children's books. She says she can't remember a time when she didn't want to be a writer. As a teenager Lesl...
My Online Life
04 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Luisa Clasen AKA Lully is a video blogger, or "vlogger" from Brazil. Her vlogs about art and culture, shot from her apartment in Rio de Janeiro, have ...
Songwriters: Nneka Egbuna and Maria Marcus
30 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Nneka Egbuna is a Nigerian German songwriter and performer. She grew up in Warri in the Delta region of Nigeria and travels the world performing and w...
Making Movies: Chika Anadu and Shonali Bose
23 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Chika Anadu is a self-taught film-maker who wrote, produced and directed her first feature film, the acclaimed B for Boy, in 2013. After studying law ...
United by Football: Stephanie Roche and Sahar El Hawary
16 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Irish striker Stephanie Roche fell in love with football from an early age. She went to matches with her dad and brothers and played on boys' teams be...
The Artists: Sara Shamma and Aowen Jin
09 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Aowen Jin is from China but has lived and worked in the UK for 18 years. Originally trained as a lawyer, she swapped a life at the bar for a life at ...
Exploring the Past: Salima Ikram and Justine Benanty
02 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Salima Ikram was born in Pakistan and got hooked on ancient Egyptian artefacts through the pictures in a childhood book. Her fate as an Egyptologist w...
Mayors: Annise Parker and Chhavi Rajawat
23 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Annise Parker is the mayor of Houston, Texas, the oil and gas capital of America. She once worked in this industry, but says her day job was supportin...
A Calling: Naamah Kelman and Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger
16 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Naamah Kelman was the first woman to be ordained a rabbi in Israel in 1992. She belongs to the liberal Reform movement in Judaism and so her office is...
Rappers: DJ Naida and MC Melodee
09 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
MC Melodee is a rapper from Amsterdam who grew up listening to cassette tapes of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. From a young age Melodee says sh...
Stuntwomen: Sanober Pardiwalla and Ky Furneaux
02 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
At the age of 28 Ky Furneaux swapped her job as a guide in the Australian outback for stunt work in Hollywood. "I don't think I really realised it was...
Conductors: Alondra de la Parra and Simone Young
26 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra has been described as a 'rock star' of the classical world. At a concert as a child her father asked her what a ...
Surgeons: Houriya Kazim and Maria Siemionow
19 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When Houriya Kazim became the United Arab Emirates' first ever woman surgeon in the late 1990s she chose to specialise in breast surgery. Accusations ...
Chefs: Farah Quinn and Marianna Orlinkova
12 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When celebrity chef Farah Quinn first appeared on screens in Indonesia, people were not quite sure what to make of her. Viewers were used to male chef...
Psychiatrists: Dr Margaret Mungherera and Dr Unaiza Niaz
05 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Two women in the field of psychiatry discuss the demands and satisfaction that comes from working in Uganda and Pakistan, where there is still a stigm...
Ambassadors: Amatalalim Alsoswa and Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury
29 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Amatalalim Alsoswa was Yemen's first female minister before becoming the country's first woman Ambassador. Her mission to the Netherlands began serene...
Activists: Ericka Huggins and Nomboniso Gasa
22 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Ericka Huggins attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 and decided then to devote herself to social action. She was 19 when she ...
Advertising Execs: Nunu Ntshingila and Vasudha Narayanan
15 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
As the chair of one of South Africa's largest agencies, Ogilvy and Mather, Nunu Ntshingila is among the highest ranking women in world advertising. Bo...
Scientists: Minal Rohit and Dr Tara Shears
08 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
What is the universe made of? Is there life on Mars? And how do you get more women interested in science? These are the big questions which preoccu...
Fighting Ebola: Dr Ngozi Kennedy and Fredanna M'Cormack McGough
01 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Ngozi Kennedy works as a health specialist for UNICEF which is one of the organisations supporting the Government's response to Ebola in Sierra Leo...
Triathletes: Shirin Gerami and Paula Newby-Fraser
24 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
A triathlon is a three-part sport that requires competitors to swim, cycle and run. This week we speak to two triathletes who are at opposite ends of ...
Fashion Bosses: Rubana Huq and Kim Winser
17 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Bangladeshi clothing manufacturer Rubana Huq, who employs over 5000 women in eight factories, talks to British retailer Kim Winser who has been respon...
Explorers: Sarah Marquis and Reena Dharmshaktu
10 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between two explorers who both grew up in the mountains - Sarah Marquis in Switzerland's Jura mountains and Reena ...
Comics: Hatoon Kadi and Njambi McGrath
03 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between one of Saudi Arabia's only female comedians and a Kenyan comic who performs her stand-up routine in the UK...
The judges
27 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between Judge Khalida Rachid Khan, Pakistan's first woman judge, and Justice Mandisa Maya, the first black woman t...