Winter Olympics; Ashling Murphy; Gender roles and parenting; Investing in female-founded companies

The Winter Olympics begin on 4th February in Beijing and Team GB will be sending around 50 athletes with the hopes of bringing back a clutch of medals. The run up to the Games has been challenging – Covid has made competition extremely difficult for athletes and there have been diplomatic rows over China’s human rights records - but who are our medal prospects? Chloe Tilley speaks to Georgina Harland, Britain’s first ever female Chef de Mission and Lizzy Yarnold, Britain’s most successful Winter Olympian. On Wednesday afternoon, 23-year-old school teacher Ashling Murphy was murdered while jogging along the banks of the Grand Canal in Tullamore, Ireland. It is believed that she was assaulted and killed by a man acting alone. The case has shocked the nation and revived concerns about women’s safety in public spaces in Ireland and the UK. We speak to Irish Times reporter Jade Wilson and veteran activist Ailbhe Smyth, who spoke at a vigil for Ashling outside Irish parliament. Women diagnosed with cervical cell changes following cervical screening can be unprepared for the experience - they can feel ashamed, isolated and frightened, that's according to new research by Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust. Kate Sanger is head of policy, from the Trust. In a recent interview on Woman’s Hour one guest talked about the limits having a child has placed on her and said she’d “make a better father than mother”. We explore what motherhood and fatherhood mean and the gender roles parents take on in society today. Lawyer Lucy McGrath is the biological mother of a six year old. She’s also her family’s main bread winner and known as mum. Her wife is mummy and the full time care giver. Do same sex relationships model alternative parenting styles or simply replicate the same power dynamics in a different guise? Lucy joins Emma Barnett to discuss the issues with the academic Dr Charlotte Faircloth. £29.4 billion was invested into UK tech companies in 2021. A record