EXCLUSIVE: British broadcaster and presenter Anita Rani is launching a podcast, Sisters of Defiance, next week through her new production house, Illuminaunty Productions.
The series will include guests such as Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who waived her right to anonymity in one of the most horrifying rape cases in history to stand in solidarity with fellow victims. Also lined up are 13-time Grammy nominee Anoushka Shankar, entrepreneur and CEO Emma Grede, comedy actress Meera Syal and comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri.
Sisters of Defiance will see Rani, host of BBC Radio 4 series Women’s Hour and TV show Countryfile, sitting down with women who have had to push themselves beyond conventional limits.
The chats at Rani’s home studio will explore how culture shapers, trail blazers and female icons reacted in times where they had to refuse to conform and ignore rules, expectations and power – from small acts of rebellion to moments that changed the world.
Rani has created the series in partnership with female-founded wellness company Ancient + BRave. The first episode rolls out on Tuesday, May 26.
“This podcast is another moment in which I’m breaking free to do things my own way, and to shout about people I see as fellow defiant ones, who’ve taken risks, broken rules and quietly or loudly changed the shape of things,” said Rani. “It’s about the moments that disrupted the plan and what it really took to keep going when things got complicated. The honest stuff we don’t often get to talk about.
“I am building community for the people who want to belong. It has purpose, to fuel and recharge and inspire. To lead with integrity and to listen to the voices of powerful women with stories to share.”
Rani’s TV credits include BBC One’s Countryfile for more than a decade, and My Life at Christmas and The Bröntes for Sky Arts. She was also a competitor on BBC’s reality show Race Across the World and has penned two books, memoir The Right Sort of Girl and novel Baby Does a Runner.
