
Lights Out: A Sense of Quietness
Language English language.
Duration 27 min.
Topic Women's rights / abortion
Subtitled in Lithuanian
Documentary adventures that encourage you to take a closer listen. This episode follows a line of connection through four women across two referendums to explore the unexpected consequences of talking about abortion.
Starting on live television at a beauty pageant, we hear from a journalist, a radio producer, the founder of a woman's clinic and a woman travelling from Ireland to the UK - and discover the quiet power and hidden dangers of speech itself.
Produced by Eleanor McDowall
Executive producers Rachel Hooper and Alan Hall
Mixed by Mike Woolley
Broadcaster BBC Radio 4
Translation Gabrielė Burbaitė
Subtitles Adomas Zubė
Animation Emilija Juzeliūnaitė
Awards Prix Europa (Radio Documentary, 2019), Amnesty Media Award (Radio and Podcasts, 2019), BBC Radio & Music Awards (Best Documentary, 2019), Whicker Awards (Documentary Audio Recognition Award, 2019), IDA Documentary Awards (Best Audio Documentary, 2019) Third Coast International Audio Festival (Best Documentary, Bronze Award 2019), AIBs (Human Interest, Highly Commended, 2019)
Eleanor McDowall

Eleanor McDowall is a Director at Falling Tree Productions. She is the series producer of BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts, which won the Gold Award for Best Radio Podcast at the British Podcast Awards in both 2017 and 2018. Her documentary work has received a Prix Europa, the Whicker’s World Foundation ‘Audio Recognition Award’ twice and the Gold Award for Best Factual Storytelling at the Radio Academy’s ARIAs. In her spare time she runs the Radio Atlas podcast – an English-language home for subtitled audio from around the world - and Field Recordings.