S1 Ep5: The Extraordinary Ordinary with Sally Hurman and Noma Dumezweni

The Extraordinary Ordinary, the podcast from Women of the Year

Her husband’s experience of being diagnosed with blood cancer is the driving force behind Sally Hurman’s determination to inform people about the illness and the need for them to sign up to the stem cell register. She uses her social media platform and a terrifying variety of death-defying stunts to raise both awareness and much need funds for research.

Sally movingly describes the terror she felt at her husband’s diagnosis and the struggle she had to accept the huge change it brought to their lives. She reflects on the power of social media for creating communities and helping others, and the need for authenticity and trust when you have a public platform. As for her crazy fund-raising stunts, well, she has a theory for those too.

In this episode we’re also joined by the magnificent actress Noma Dumezweni who admits that her expectations of the Women of the Year lunch weren’t exactly high, and how those expectations were blown out of the water by the enormous diversity of women she encountered at the event. She considers the value of an event celebrating women and reflects' on how our differences are our superpowers.