Hear Her Out

My guest this week is the incredible Vee Kativhu. Vee is in her final year at Oxford University studying Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. Growing up just outside of Birmingham, being black and educated in the state school system, she is not the stereotypical Oxford student. However, she is adamant to change this as she believes that the education system should not give intelligence a class or a colour. Vee shared tips with her 31,000 YouTube subscribers about how to achieve their academic dreams and earlier this year she hosted a free academic conference called Empowered By Vee. In this podcast, Vee shared her views on Oxford's diversity problem and her experiences of being a black student at Oxford today. We also spoke about academic imposter syndrome, the importance of female friendships and her meeting with Michelle Obama. --LINKS-- Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fayecwhite Follow me on Instagram: bit.ly/2HoUHaj Email me: fwhite1492@gmail.com Vee's YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/2QnVH0I Vee's Instagram: https://bit.ly/326coUb

My guest this week is former model Leanne Maskell. Leanne began modelling when she was just 13-years-old after her mum sent a photograph of her to a modelling website. She was plunged into a world of abuse from a young age - being asked to lose 3 centimetres off her hips by her agency, despite already being a slim size 8 - and finding herself with £1000 of debt due to her agency spending money on her behalf. She stopped modelling earlier this year and now works in law. In her book, Leanne shares her own experiences as well as setting out what prospective models can expect from the industry and advises them on how to avoid being exploited. --LINKS-- Buy The Model Manifesto: https://amzn.to/2W5ltg9 Leanne's website: https://www.themodelmanifesto.com/ Follow me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/fayecwhite Follow me on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2HoUHaj

Welcome to Series 2 of Hear Her Out! My guest this week is writer and comedian Bella Younger, who is best known for her viral clean eating parody Instagram account Deliciously Stella. Bella went viral overnight after BuzzFeed wrote a piece about her faux clean eating account, and she began doing sponsored content, had celebrity fans and got a book deal in quick succession. But while she had Crunchies strapped to her stomach, Bella's mental health was going rapidly downhill. She went to The Priory has been speaking openly about her mental health ever since, having also penned pieces in Vogue and The Telegraph. In this episode we spoke about Bella's journey from Stella to where she is now, why she thinks it's important to talk about mental health and her upcoming projects including her new novel, which she described as 'Bridget Jones meets Black Mirror!' If you're listening on Apple Podcasts and you haven't rated Hear Her Out five stars or left a review - now is your chance! It really does help others to find it and helps to boost it in the charts. Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fayecwhite Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faye.c.white/ Follow Bella on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deliciouslystella

My guest this week is the author and illustrator Natalie Byrne. Natalie's book PERIOD was published in November 2018, and is an extensive guide to all things about menstruation for young people. Her inspiration for the book came when she realised there weren't many resources out there for young people to learn about their bodies and the societal stigma and shame many of us have when it comes to talking about our periods. I spoke to Natalie all about her process of writing and illustrating her book, mental health and her experiences campaigning for period poverty and a more open dialogue around bleeding. -- LINKS -- Buy Natalie's book PERIOD: https://amzn.to/2TSNemR Natalie's website: http://nat-b.com/ Natalie's Instagram: https://bit.ly/2rbds8S Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fayecwhite Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faye.c.white

My guest this week is one of my heroes. Fern Champion was travelling in Malaysia on her gap year when she was raped. She reported the attack to the police, and continued to New Zealand where she had planned to live for a year. But for the whole year she was living in Wellington, Fern remained on a rape crisis waiting list and was unable to access the support she so desperately needed after sexual violence. On her return to the UK, she tried to contact several rape crisis centres in London across an eight month period, but they told her they were too oversubscribed and had had to shut the waiting lists for counselling and support. Fern's mental health reached breaking point and with no choice but to confide in her employer, she got the help she needed. Last year Fern waived her right to anonymity to use her own experience to campaign for this issue and to lobby the government to put more funding into rape crisis centres. --LINKS-- Sign Fern's petition: https://bit.ly/2H4FbBz Sponsor my half marathon for rape crisis: https://bit.ly/2CLhpGQ Rape Crisis: https://bit.ly/2HZLZ2P NHS Guidelines on help after rape: https://bit.ly/2SOCx5C Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/

My guest this week is the incredible activist Gina Martin. Gina was at British Summertime Festival with her sister in 2017 when a stranger in the crowd put his phone between her legs and took a picture up her skirt. She immediately recognised the picture was of her and bravely snatched the phone and ran to the police with the evidence. However, as she was wearing knickers, the police said there was nothing that could be done, and deleted the evidence shortly after. The men who did this to her had no criminal charges brought against them. Gina realised there was a gap in the law, and started an online campaign in order to lobby the government to change this. As the campaign grew in signatures she brought lawyer Ryan Whelan on board to help get the campaign in front of the right people in government, and a Liberal Democrat MP tabled a Private Members Bill. However, after the bill reached the House of Commons one MP - Sir Christopher Chope - blocked the bill. Shortly after, a Government Bill was tabled and was passed through parliament and resulted in the law being changed. The changes to the Voyeurism Act, making upskirting a criminal offence, will be implemented across the country from April 2019. I spoke the Gina about the highs and lows of activism, what effect campaigning has had on her mental health, and her book Be The Change, which is coming out later on this year. --Links-- Pre-order Be The Change: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Be-Change-Gina-Martin/dp/075157788X Info on Gina's Bill: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46884697 Government guidelines on upskirting: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/upskirting-know-your-rights Support for victims of sexual violence: https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/support-for-victims-of-rape-and-sexual-assault/

This week's episode is all about men's mental health. In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer in men under the age of 45. Earlier this week, the feminist blogger Chidera Eggerue posted a viral tweet where she said men killing themselves because they can't cry is not her issue as a feminist. But male suicide isn't exclusively a feminist issue, it's everybody's issue. I spoke to Callum McCulloch about his experience with depression and anxiety. He first began to notice symptoms during his second year of university, but put off seeing a doctor to get a proper diagnosis for a prolonged period. He also found that his friends weren't well equip to have conversations surrounding mental health, and when he tried to speak to them about it they did not have the language to help or brushed it off as a phase. After being forced by a friend, Callum saw a doctor and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, prescribed antidepressants and also saw a therapist. He said if his friend had not pressured him to speak to a doctor, he doesn't know what may have happened. --LINKS-- CALM: https://bit.ly/2ohFgX4 MIND: https://www.mind.org.uk SAMARITANS: https://www.samaritans.org/ HEADS TOGETHER: https://www.headstogether.org.uk

Happy International Women's Day! My guest this week is the incredible Sophie Tea. Sophie was like any other student climbing the career ladder after university and gained a place on a graduate scheme. But after a summer trip to India, Sophie realised she wanted to become an artist despite having not picked up a paint brush since she was at school. She rented a small shared studio in Wimbledon and built up a loyal following on Instagram by selling her artwork. She has had several solo shows, created a piece for Ariana Grande and at 26-years-old she has turned over £1million. Follow Sophie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophieteaart/?hl=en Sophie's website: https://www.sophieteaart.com/

My guest this week is Becca Brown. Becca was a normal 20-something who had just graduated from university and got her first job. As she was embarking on this new chapter of her life, after a long period of illness and misdiagnosis she was finally diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. In this episode we talk about how she came to terms with her diagnosis, how she managed it while also battling with disordered eating and how her diagnosis affected her mental health. --LINKS-- JDRF: https://bit.ly/29Z91aD Diabetes UK: https://bit.ly/1RGSVhL MIND: https://bit.ly/2p6rntK Ruby Tandoh Guardian piece: https://bit.ly/2k7w04Iwitter: http://twitter.com/fayecwhite Email: millennialwomanshour@gmail.com

This week I have the pleasure of welcoming our first man to the podcast. I spoke to Luca, who for 24 years of his life lived as Tatiana and was a man trapped in a female's body. Due to societal stigma and his own internalised transphobia, Luca did not come out as transgender to his friends or family until 2017. He then began his physical transition in September last year as he started to take Testosterone and earlier this week he had a double mastectomy to remove his breasts. In this episode we talk about what life was like for Luca growing up in a female's body, his experience of transitioning and if he thinks he will gain any privileges as a man which he didn't have while physically living as a woman. --Links-- Donate to Luca's top surgery: https://bit.ly/2GLWO8b HELPLINES: Mermaids: https://bit.ly/2GIeba6 National Trans 24 Hour Helpline: https://bit.ly/2toPPtU LGBT Foundation: https://bit.ly/2WFOlcm Transfigurations: https://bit.ly/2Ec6Ttm NHS info on Gender Dysphoria: https://bit.ly/2BcPHBi Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/

My guest this week is Alice Cachia. Alice developed anorexic when she was just 12-years-old after she became unhappy at school. She was admitted to an inpatient unit for three months as a day care patient, but battled with anorexic thoughts which willed her not to eat until she was in her early twenties. In this episode, we talk about what it was like for Alice and her family while she lived with anorexia, where she heard a voice in her head telling her not to eat and negative comments about her appearance. We also discussed her recovery and the role social media plays in the mental health of those with eating disorders and if social media corporations need to take more responsibility for harmful content. --Links-- BEAT: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/ MIND: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/eating-problems/#.XFymuM_7QWo Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/ CAMHS: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/mental-health-services/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs/

My guest this week is businesswoman Frances Bishop. At just 27-years-old, Frances has reached incredible milestones in business. She is the founder of boutique childrenswear stores Pud Store. She was a straight A student at school and gained a place at Durham University to study Philosophy and Politics. But while there, she soon realised university wasn't for her and dropped out during her second year and returned to her home town to her old bar maid job. Since then, Frances has come third on BBC's The Apprentice, started her business, got married and become a mother. She achieved all of this without a degree to her name. -- Links -- Frances Bishop: https://bit.ly/2SfMsnn The Pud Store: https://bit.ly/2t2AoHP Tweet me: https://bit.ly/2UxJsjK Have a story you'd like to share? Email me at millennialwomanshour@gmail.com

My first guest is Clemmie Hadden Paton, a private chef, charity patron and my friend of ten years. Clemmie began to struggle with her mental health in her early teens, but her battle also unearthed an addiction to alcohol. In this episode we talked about how Clemmie's depression made her addiction stronger, which made her become isolated and suicidal before she entered recovery. She has now been sober for over two years! We also talked about the pressures of social media and advice for anyone listening who may also be struggling with their relationship with alcohol. -- Links -- BBC Three Feature: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/4aef277b-8367-4fab-ac07-dd66222ed3cf It's All In Your Head by Susan O'Sullivan: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-All-Your-Head-Imaginary/dp/0701189266 Alcoholics Anonymous: https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/ Refuge Recovery: https://refugerecovery.org/ Samaritans: https: //www.samaritans.org/ Action on Addiction: https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk/ Padding Africa: https://www.paddingafrica.com/