Beth: I'm Beth.
Neil: And I'm Neil.
Differences between men and women have existed forever,
but in modern times imbalances in the opportunities for men and woman have widened.
One area where this imbalance is widest is politics.
Beth: When we think of female politicians,
the names Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Indira Gandhi, or Jacinda Ardern all come to mind.
But, while women make up over half the world's population,
only 26% of the world's politicians are women.
Neil: How much of this is because of misogyny – hatred and prejudice against women?
It seems that the surprise resignation of New Zealand's prime minster,
Jacinda Ardern, was partly because of the misogynistic abuse she received online,
so in this programme we'll be asking:
why is life so hard for women in politics?
And, of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
Beth: But before that, I have a question for you, Neil.
Britain has had three female prime ministers, all from the Conservative party.
First was Margaret Thatcher, who was followed in 2016 by Theresa May,
and after that by Liz Truss, who resigned after only a short time in office.
But for how long, exactly, was Liz Truss prime minister?