Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Spinster | 20200413 | 20220704 (R3) | Rachel Cooke explores five versions of the single woman. She starts with the spinster, a word which once had positive origins but is nowadays associated with loneliness and unhappiness. To counter these stereotypes, Rachel takes as her starting point George Gissing's 1893 novel The Odd Women, whose heroines are independent and brave. She explores the shift from spinsters as businesswomen, handling their own affairs, to the repressed and downtrodden figures of more recent popular culture, and argues it's time to embrace the word 'odd'. Writer Rachel Cooke explores five versions of the single woman, starting with spinsters. |
| 02 | Career Girls | 20200407 | 20200414 (R3) 20220705 (R3) | Writer Rachel Cooke on the phenomenon of the single woman. In this essay, career girls. |
| 03 | The Divorcee | 20200408 | 20200415 (R3) 20220706 (R3) | In the third episode of her essays about the single woman, Rachel Cooke considers the divorcee - once seen as a dangerous and predatory figure out to steal husbands. She charts the depiction of faithless wives in fiction, from the Victorian sensation novel East Lynne to Nora Ephron's 1980s classic Heartburn. Journalist and author Rachel Cooke examines the phenomenon of the single woman. |
| 04 | Widows | 20200409 | 20200416 (R3) 20220707 (R3) | Journalist and author Rachel Cooke examines the phenomenon of the single woman. |
| 05 LAST | Aunts | 20200410 | 20200417 (R3) 20220708 (R3) | Writer Rachel Cooke considers five versions of single womanhood - in this essay, aunts. |