Hungary election, Women managing male footballers, Being a girl in 2026

Hungary election, Women managing male footballers, Being a girl in 2026

From Woman's Hour by BBC Radio 4

April 13, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the recent Hungarian election, the challenges faced by women in football, and insights into the lives of girls in 2026.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's 16 years in power are coming to an end after an election that saw massive voter turnout. Orbán was seen as a friend to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and his right wing government also introduced a range of policies aimed at boosting Hungary's declining birth rate, with particular focus on women as workers and mothers. Nuala McGovern talks to BBC East and Central Europe Correspondent Nick Thorpe alongside Éva Fodor, a Hungarian academic and sociologist at the Central European University, whose gender studies course was effectively banned by the Orbán government in 2018. What’s the best thing about being a girl in 2026? In her new Radio 4 series, About the Girls, author and journalist Catherine Carr travels around the country to talk to girls about friendship, life online, body image and relationships. She joins Nuala to share what she learnt about the world this generation of girls are navigating. For the first time, a woman has been appointed to coach a men's team in one of Europe's top five football leagues. Marie-Louise Eta has been named interim Head Coach of Union Berlin in the German Bundesliga, the equivalent…

People in this episode

Host: Nuala McGovern

Guests: Nick Thorpe, Éva Fodor, Catherine Carr, Rosi Webb

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: About the Girls, Story Line

Places: Hungary, Europe, England

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