The Girlfriends: Spotlight

In Season 1 of The Girlfriends: Spotlight, our global gang of girlfriends grew to include Pussy Riot’s punk icon and political prisoner Nadya Tolokonnikova, British Nigerian beauty queen and founder of Miss Trans Global, Miss saHHara and ‘The Erin Brockovich of East Africa’, environmental activist Phyllis Omido, to name a few. Now Anna Sinfield is back with more incredible stories of women like Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, who battled through trauma, loss and addiction to become the first Peruvian woman to summit Mount Everest, and Visaka Dharmadasa, a Sri Lankan mother who sat face to face with notorious terrorists and helped end a civil war. Come back every week for more stories of women winning. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.Audio

Listen On

Recent Episodes

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E12: Lois Captures Criminals Monday, November 3, 2025

Lois Gibson has a rare gift: A gift for accurately drawing people she’s never seen before, from fragmented descriptions from traumatised witnesses. And that gift is incredibly useful to the Houston Police Department. Lois is the world’s most successful forensic artist. Over 40 years, on more than 5089 cases, she’s worked with victims and witnesses to painstakingly piece together a likeness of a suspect. And in more than 1313 cases, her drawings have nailed it with a conviction - case closed. This is the story of how she found this talent in one of the very darkest moments of her own life. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.Audio

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E11: Miss saHHara Crowns Queens Monday, October 27, 2025

Miss saHHara was born to be a beauty pageant queen. As a child at home in Nigeria she would wrap herself in a mosquito net and sashay along a make-believe cat walk, delivering inspirational speeches to an imagined audience. But when she grew up and started to compete, she found that not only was she rejected from all the mainstream pageants she tried to enter, even trans beauty pageants seemed to celebrate all the cliched cisgender beauty norms. So, Miss saHHara decided to do something about it: She founded Miss Trans Global, a pageant where everybody is welcome, and where your advocacy and community work mean much more than the lightness of your skin or the bounciness of your hair. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.Audio

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E10: Phyllis Saves the People from Poisoning Monday, October 20, 2025

Phyllis Omido is just a few months into a new job, when her infant son starts to get sick. Fevers, dehydration, hospitalisation - Phyllis is scared. Then the doctors give her some shocking news: Her son has lead poisoning. The metal smelting plant where Phyllis works, just outside Mombassa, Kenya, is leeching toxic chemicals into the water of the nearby river. And her son isn’t the only one who’s unwell: she believes the factory is poisoning the whole community. So Phyllis turns campaigner, and starts gathering stories from all over town. Children with skin burned off, babies dying in the womb, women with mysterious fatal illnesses… And she’s going to force her employer, and the Kenyan government, to pay attention. It’s a fight that will see her life threatened, and her dubbed ‘The Erin Brockovich of East Africa’. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.AudioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E9: Jasvinder Redefines Honour Monday, October 13, 2025

When Jasvinder Sanghera was just 15 years old, her mum told her that she was going to be married to a man she had never met. Jasvinder’s older sisters had been through similar things. But instead of going along with the way things had always been in her family and community, Jasvinder escaped. And then, she helped thousands of other women and girls to do the same.

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E8: Nadya & Pussy Riot Punk the President Monday, May 26, 2025

When Nadya Tolokonnikova saw her country Russia change under President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime, she knew she had to do something. She started the iconic ski-mask-wearing art protest collective Pussy Riot. On February 21st, 2012, they performed their anti-Putin protest song, Punk Prayer, in a Moscow church, launching Nadya into overnight activist fame… and a prison labour camp.

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E7: Eilís Runs the Ball Barn Monday, May 19, 2025

As a trans woman, Eilís Ní Fhlannagáin didn’t have much faith in mainstream health care. So when she wanted gender affirming surgery to remove her testicles, she turned to her best friend and trainee doctor Willow, and asked her to perform the operation in her living room… From this humble beginning, Eilís and Willow built a whole clinic dedicated to trans women - in a tractor barn in the rural Pacific North West. Related Resources Sylvia Rivera Law Project Big Door Brigade - Mutual Aid Toolbox Transgender Law Centre Trans Rescue The Gender Reveal Podcast Jesse Lou Lawson - Media consultancy The Girlfriends: Spotlight is not affiliated to any of these organizations and we are not in a position to endorse them.

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E6: Madison and Christine Become Digital Detectives Monday, May 5, 2025

Madison Conradis had her life turned upside down when someone began posting naked photos of her online. Soon, the abuse intensified with anonymous messages and calls to her family, friends and even her boss… The police didn’t seem to care, so Madison turned to her twin sister Christine for help. Together, they transformed into online sleuths, tracking the harasser across the country to get justice for Madison and other victims too.

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E5: Rose Solves, At Least, 86 Cold Cases Monday, April 28, 2025

Rose Brady’s job running Baltimore County’s SVU was a frustrating one. The sexual violence crimes she and her team were investigating were just the tip of the iceberg. Her department was sitting on thousands of unsolved rape cases, dating back decades - with little hope of ever finding the perpetrators. That was until Rose made an incredible discovery: At a local hospital, a diligent forensic pathologist had kept in storage all the biological evidence from every rape exam he had ever performed. This could be the key to getting justice for hundreds of desperate women. This is a story of hard work, dogged persistence and a series of incredible coincidences… If you’ve been affected by sexual violence, there are organisations which can help. In the US: https://www.nsvrc.org/survivors In the UK: https://survivorsnetwork.org.uk/get-help/

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E4: June Rocks America Monday, April 21, 2025

From the moment she heard a guitar being played in an empty classroom at her convent school in the Philippines in 1961, June Millington knew what she wanted to do with her life: rock and roll. So when a girl called up June and her sister and asked if they wanted to start a band, the answer was hell yeah. They went on to become Fanny, the first all-female rock band to release an album with a major record label. June and her bandmates moved into a house in LA, toured the world and won fans like David Bowie. But they were also up against sexist stereotypes, skeptical audiences and critics who couldn’t believe that a group of women could rock just as hard as any guy. But June wasn’t about to let that stop her. This is the story of how she stuck it to the man and blazed a trail for generations of female musicians to come. June is the co-founder of the Institute for the Musical Arts, which offers workshops and events for women in music: https://ima.org/

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E3: Nelly Goes Undercover Monday, April 14, 2025

Nellie Bly was a true trailblazer. In late 19th century America, women were expected to get married and become housewives, or go into a suitable career like teaching. But Nellie didn’t do any of that. Instead, she changed journalism forever, becoming one of the world’s first female investigative journalists, and paving the way for a generation of incredible ‘Girl Stunt Reporters’. And Nellie’s first investigation was probably her most dangerous: In 1887, she deliberately got herself committed to the most notorious insane asylum in New York, to expose the abuse of women inside its walls. She was drugged, half starved and manipulated by doctors as the screams of other patients echoed around the corridors… Researcher and author Kim Todd tells us Nellie’s story. Kim’s book about Nellie and the journalists she inspired is called Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s ‘Girl Stunt Reporters’.

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E2: Lu Ann Escapes the Order Monday, April 7, 2025

When Lu Ann Cooper was just fifteen years old, she was told to drop out of school and marry her first cousin. She would be his fourth wife. Lu Ann grew up inside the so-called Kingston Clan, a religious sect where, Lu Ann claims, every man is expected to have many wives, and every woman is expected to have many children. All with the aim of building up the Kingdom of God. But one day, Lu Ann couldn't take it anymore. She decided she had to escape… The foundation Lu Ann runs to support other people who have fled polygamy is Hope After Polygamy.

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E1: Tracy Hits the Bullseye Monday, April 7, 2025

In 2019 Tracy Otto was a college student in Tampa, and a fitness fanatic. Then a violent attack by an ex-boyfriend changed her life forever. She was left paralysed from the chest down, and lost her left eye. But that’s only the beginning of Tracy’s story. In the aftermath of the attack, she rebuilt her life through sheer force of will, and discovered a passion for archery. That passion would take her all the way to the very top of elite sport: the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Play

Introducing The Girlfriends: Spotlight Monday, March 31, 2025

Our brand new series The Girlfriends: Spotlight launches on Monday April 7th. Here's a taste of the incredible stories you can expect to hear... The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.Audio

Play

The Girlfriends: Spotlight... Coming Soon Wednesday, March 26, 2025

In Season 1, The Girlfriends told the story of how a group of incredible women came together to bring down one bad ex-boyfriend and seek justice for the murder of Gail Katz. In Season 2, we found the truth about a torso washed up on Staten Island, and gave Heidi Balch the memorial she deserved. Now, we want to introduce you to a global gang of girlfriends in our new show, The Girlfriends: Spotlight. Each week, Anna Sinfield is bringing you stories of women winning. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.AudioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.