Amol Rajan talks to a true game changer: Billie Jean King. A record-breaking tennis player on the court, and a boundary-busting social activist off the court, King dominated tennis whilst campaigning to get the women’s sport recognised and female athletes treated as equal to the men. \n\nAt her spiritual home of Wimbledon – where she holds the record for most career wins – King talks to Rajan about her lifelong battle for equality and inclusion, and how she has balanced her activism with both a record-breaking sports career and a tumultuous personal life. \n\nIn a tennis career spanning nearly 30 years, Billie Jean King became the first female sports superstar, winning 39 Grand Slam titles and holding the world number one position for six years. \n\n As the first female athlete-activist, King transformed the women’s game. She and eight other renegades created professional women’s tennis when they started the first ever women’s tennis tour in 1971. King then co-founded the Women’s Tennis Association and forced the US Open to become the first Grand Slam tournament to offer equal prize money to its male and female players. \n \nDuring the 1970s, while at the very top of her game and height of her activism, King was contending with intense turmoil in her private life. News of an abortion she had was made public against her will, at a time before the Roe v Wade ruling made legal abortion a constitutional right in the US. Meanwhile, she struggled to come to terms with her homosexuality while married to a man, before being publicly outed. In 1981, King became the first prominent professional female athlete to speak publicly about her homosexuality and, as a result, lost all her endorsements overnight. \n\nIn discussing her extraordinary life, Billie Jean King and Amol Rajan also touch on topical issues such as the sport world’s response to the war in Ukraine, trans athletes and mental health matters.
Source: BBC 2
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Ronnie O'sullivan
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Billie Jean King
Amol Rajan talks to a true game changer: Billie Jean King. A record-breaking tennis player on the court, and a boundary-busting social activist off the court, King dominated ten ...
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BBC 2
Brian Cox
The actor Brian Cox – star of the drama Succession – sits down with Amol Rajan to reveal the secrets of the show and what took him from poverty in Dundee all the way ...
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BBC 2
Piers Morgan
In a revealing interview about Piers Morgan’s rollercoaster career and personal life, Amol Rajan explores everything from hacking allegations to the divisive media figure& ...
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BBC 2
Richard Branson
Amol Rajan joins Sir Richard Branson on one of his cruise ships in Miami to discuss his life, loves, passions and challenges.\n \nIn a sometimes uncomfortable interview with rar ...
07-05-2023
BBC 2
Bill Gates
Billionaire Bill Gates talks to Amol Rajan about wealth, conspiracy theories and recent controversies. They visit a remote region outside Nairobi in Kenya, where Gates supports ...
04-02-2023
BBC 2
Sheila Hancock
Amol Rajan sits down with actor Dame Sheila Hancock for an in-depth conversation about her life, career, friendships and great loves. From growing up above a pub in the East End ...
24-01-2024
BBC 2
Sir Ian Mckellen
Amol Rajan speaks to actor Ian McKellen, one of the most celebrated performers of his generation and someone who has long defied convention and expectation.\n\nIn this probing h ...
03-03-2022
BBC 2
Billie Jean King
Amol Rajan talks to a true game changer: Billie Jean King. A record-breaking tennis player on the court, and a boundary-busting social activist off the court, King dominated ten ...
04-06-2023
BBC 2
Brian Cox
The actor Brian Cox – star of the drama Succession – sits down with Amol Rajan to reveal the secrets of the show and what took him from poverty in Dundee all the way ...
25-05-2023
BBC 2
Bill Gates
Billionaire Bill Gates talks to Amol Rajan about wealth, conspiracy theories and recent controversies. They visit a remote region outside Nairobi in Kenya, where Gates supports ...
04-02-2023
BBC 2
Piers Morgan
In a revealing interview about Piers Morgan’s rollercoaster career and personal life, Amol Rajan explores everything from hacking allegations to the divisive media figure& ...
11-05-2023
BBC 2
Ronnie O'sullivan
Regarded by many as the greatest snooker player of all time, Ronnie O’Sullivan is unmatched in his achievements on the table and equally famous for his life away from it. ...
22-11-2023
BBC 2
Sundar Pichai
Amol Rajan talks to Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, at his Silicon Valley HQ in an in-depth, hard-hitting and personally revealing encounter.\n\nIn the course of their hour-long in ...
29-07-2021
BBC 2
John Major
As the Conservative Party finds itself out of power and preparing to choose its fifth leader since 2016, Sir John Major sits down with Amol Rajan to share his thoughts on the st ...
26-09-2024
BBC 2
Greta Thunberg
Amol Rajan talks to 19-year old Greta Thunberg, the climate activist who has become the unlikely voice of a global youth.\n\nThunberg isn’t a politician or a scientist, no ...
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BBC 2