E L James's new novel, Maternity workplace protections, Catherine Bohart
When the writer E L James first self-published Fifty Shades of Grey as an e-book in 2011, she had no idea that her erotic novel would go on to become a publishing phenomenon. Since then, Erika has written eight bestsellers, sold more than 150 million books, and produced three Fifty Shades film adaptations. Few contemporary writers can claim to have changed the conversation around women, sex and popular romance quite so much. E L James has a new novel out – and it’s entirely different to what has gone before. A paranormal romance called Land of Ghosts, the main character is a 17-year old girl. E L James joins Anita Rani to talk about her stellar career and how despite enormous success, she loves anonymity. The government has announced that pregnant workers and new mothers will have stronger safeguards to protect them from unfair dismissal. From October 2027, employers must consider all reasonable alternatives to dismissal before pursuing it. This comes as part of the Employment Rights Act, and protections will also be extended to employees taking adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partner’s paternity leave. Anita speaks to the Minister for the Future of Work, Kate Dearden. The comedian Russell Brand is in court facing three charges of rape, three charges of sexual assault and one charge of indecent assault against six women – he denies all charges. The allegations span 10 years from 1999 to 2009. He has said he has never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity. The trial at Southwark Crown Court in London began last week on 14th October. Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty has been covering the trial and is the BBC presenter of the podcast Fame Under Fire: The Russell Brand Trial. This discussion contains graphic sexual references. New research has found that female scientists are 'largely absent' from exam boards’ compulsory learning material for GCSE pupils. The study by the University of Cambridge found only one of 86 scientists featured in the main Key Stage 4 exam specifications for science, was a woman – Rosalind Franklin - she did ground-breaking work on DNA. Skyla White is one of the researchers on the study. Award-winning Irish comedian, writer and actor Catherine Bohart is a debating champion, an Edinburgh Festival favourite, and a familiar face on television, with appearances on Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, QI and LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland. Also a regular voice on BBC Radio 4, her credits include The Now Show, The News Quiz and her own six-part topical series, Too Long; Didn’t Read. She joins Anita to talk about her latest stand-up show, Borrowing Trouble.