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82. Scream Queen

Matthew Syed hears from a metal singer whose scream gave her an outlet for complex emotions. Through her story, he examines societal pressures on women鈥檚 voices.

As a young girl, Djamila Azzouz loved performing - musical theatre, choirs. She loved nothing more than the thrill of entertaining an audience. But in her teenage years, mental health issues made her shy away from a career that would put her in the spotlight.
When even singing itself became difficult, she found a surprising alternative: screaming. But as a woman, her raw, unfiltered expression often clashed with social expectations, even on the metal music scene.

Matthew Syed explores how, throughout history, women's screams have frequently been tightly controlled, accepted only in specific contexts. And considers whether there are signs of a shift towards greater acceptance and empowerment through screaming, even in horror, where traditionally scream queens have conveyed fear, pleasure, or vulnerability.

With Ithaca鈥檚 vocalist Djamila Azzouz, vocal coach Melissa Cross, behavioural and data scientist Professor Pragya Agarwal, and Elizabeth Erwin, researcher in film and media at LeHigh University, Pennsylvania.

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Mark Pittam
Theme music by: Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for 麻豆社 Radio 4

Release date:

28 minutes

On radio

Wed 25 Feb 2026 09:00

Broadcasts

  • Wed 25 Feb 2026 09:00
  • Fri 27 Feb 2026 16:30

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