Episodes
Saturday Jul 24, 2010
An Interview with Sir Gerald Kaufman - Part 1
Saturday Jul 24, 2010
Saturday Jul 24, 2010
It was the BBC interviewer Robin Day who once famously infuriated Tory Defence Minister John Nott by referring to him as a ‘Here today, gone tomorrow politician’. The epithet stung perhaps because Day was reflecting a truism that seems even more relevant today than in 1982. In truth, many politicians do have a short career in Parliament and are soon forgotten. This is why those politicians with true staying power are so interesting to examine. Sir Gerald Kaufman is one of the latter category. Sir Gerald recently celebrated his 80th birthday in his Manchester Gorton constituency, flanked by crowds of loyal party activists and supporters who turned out for the occasion. Though regularly offered a chair to sit down by well-wishers, the incredibly sprightly octogenarian politely declined -- remaining on his feet throughout. The occasion also marked 40 years since Gerald had first won a seat as an MP. Only the Conservative Sir Peter Tapsell has served for a longer continuous period. As an MP, Gerald served as a Junior Minister in Harold Wilson’s 1974 government and, was shadow Home Secretary, among other roles, during Labour’s opposition in the 1980‘s. He also famously wrote for the ground breaking 1960’s satirical show “That was the week that was”, has written several books, and, as a Jew himself, is one of the leading critics of Israeli policies and the treatment of Arabs in Gaza. In this first of a two part interview Sir Gerald talks about growing up in a working class family, his early career choices and close to Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the late 60's and early 1970's.
Saturday Dec 19, 2009
Who are you?
Saturday Dec 19, 2009
Saturday Dec 19, 2009
Regardless of the communities we may belong to, it's clear that identity plays a very big part in our lives -- whether that's the identity given to us by our place among family, or the identity we have in official records, or the one which comes from within and which we broadcast to others in the way we present ourselves. The Wellcome Collection in London is running a nine month season of activity on these themes entitled "The Identity Project", examining the subject through the lens of scientists, artists, actors and other individuals who have, in some way, defined or challenged the boundaries. I've agreed to lead a tour of the exhibition in February 2010 during LGBT History Month. Prior to that this episode takes a private tour of some of the exhibits with Jane Holmes, one of the Project Managers.
Thursday Nov 19, 2009
Half an Hour with Tom Doughty
Thursday Nov 19, 2009
Thursday Nov 19, 2009
A lot of people fall into the trap of assuming that disabled people are defined and limited by their impairments. The social model of disability teaches us to think differently ... about the way that we limit such people by the obstacles we create. So, for instance, someone who uses a wheelchair isn't primarily prevented from getting to a meeting by the condition of their legs, so much as by the steps we built in front of the entrance, or the inadequacies of public transport provision. With one in five of the population having some kind of disability, it's therefore important to get our thinking straight and realise all the ways people can work quite successfully, if only we don't perpetuate barriers and assumptions. Tom Doughty has always been a musician. He only acquired his disability as a young man and, at first, he assumed that was the end of his guitar playing. But then he got determined to make sure his impairments shouldn't get in the way. The result is an incredible talent and a great sound. In this interview I talk to Tom about his life, his music, and those barriers he's demolished. If you're smitten like me with his music then you can visit his web site http://www.tomdoughty.com. From there you can buy his CDs and also reach his MySpace and YouTube pages.
Thursday Nov 12, 2009
Tackling violence against women
Thursday Nov 12, 2009
Thursday Nov 12, 2009
According to the British Crime Survey there were 3.29 million reported violent assaults on women in the past 12 months. One in four women have been assaulted at some time. Much strategic attention is focussed on dealing with the outcomes of all this violence: Catching and punishing offenders; Counselling and supporting those on the receiving end; Teaching self defence ... even designing the built environment to make it safer. But what about reducing the violence itself? Chris Green, UK Director of the White Ribbon Campaign, aims to do just that. He says that wearing the campaign's white emblem involves a pledge never to commit, never to condone, and never to remain silent about violence against women. His organisation runs various campaigns targetted at men and boys in particular through areas such as sport, and in schools. In this interview Chris talks to me about the statistics, the causes, and his campaign's work. For more information visit http://www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk
Sunday Nov 08, 2009
New Trans Resource and Empowerment Centre
Sunday Nov 08, 2009
Sunday Nov 08, 2009
A new Trans Resource and Empowerment Centre launched in Manchester on 7th November. I spoke to two of the five organisers who are setting up this innovative project, creating (as it grows) a regular base where trans people can drop in for help and advice.
Friday Oct 30, 2009
Liverpool's Chinese Connection
Friday Oct 30, 2009
Friday Oct 30, 2009
The City of Liverpool has one of the oldest established Chinese communities in Europe. Trade between the port and China dates back 175 years – and the first Chinese immigrants settled there about thirty years later in 1866. Nowadays it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that economic migration into Britain is a relatively new thing. It’s easy to forget the many waves of immigration over centuries – creating the diverse society we are today. Each community was new once, so I wondered if there are therefore some lessons to learn from such a long-established community about how such to settle and become part of the scenery. Alan Seatwo came to Britain to study and settled here. He's now vice chair of the Liverpool Chinese Business association, so I thought he was the ideal person to discuss this.
Thursday Sep 24, 2009
Trans Kids News Update
Thursday Sep 24, 2009
Thursday Sep 24, 2009
Twelve months ago this week I reported in detail from a special conference at Imperial College in London. Clinicians from Britain, Holland and the United States came together to discuss their different views about the best way to treat adolescents with persistent gender identity issues, and a strong desire to permanently change sex. The central issue is about how to deal with Puberty. If clinicians don’t do something to prevent normal puberty occurring then a trans child will undergo changes that are impossible – or at least painful and expensive to reverse in adulthood.Some children say they would rather commit suicide and their parents are understandably frantic. Puberty can be blocked in a way that’s completely reversible. So this is what doctors in several parts of the world are now doing. If the child should change their mind, you stop the drugs and puberty kicks in as though nothing had happened. It buys enough time till the child is older and their course in life is certain. British clinicians have been ultra cautious and conservative though. They fear factors which might be as yet unknown if you meddle with puberty’s course. Paradoxically they weight this more highly than the certain negative outcomes of an unwanted puberty and the results of foreign studies. That was twelve months ago. And on the face of it nothing seems to have changed much today. Clinicians at the UK’s only specialist centre for child and adolescent gender identity patients say they will still only prescribe blocking therapy once puberty has largely completed at the age of 16 – by which time irreversible changes have occurred. What has altered, however, is that the advocates for change – mostly parents of trans children – are getting more of a hearing for their case. In this show we feature a recent interview from BBC Radio Four’s flagship “Today” programme and afterwards I reflect on what mature media coverage does for the debate. You can also listen to my full original interview with Nicky's mother, "Gender Dysphoria, A Mother's Tale", first released in April 2008
Wednesday Jul 01, 2009
Half an Hour with Peter Tatchell
Wednesday Jul 01, 2009
Wednesday Jul 01, 2009
Peter Tatchell was once described as a “Homosexual Terrorist”. To some he has been “Public Enemy Number One”. His causes have spanned four decades and world affairs. He’s campaigned on Capital Punishment, the Vietnam war, Apartheid, Environmental issues and LGBT rights – to name just a few. He famously outed ten Church of England Bishops as Gay and accused them of hypocrisy. He performed a citizens arrest on (President of Zimbabwe) Robert Mugabe, on charges of torture. He was nearly run over by Tony Blair’s motorcade once when campaigning against the Iraq war. He has often been arrested and beaten up by authorities. His direct activism methods are applauded by some but abhorred by others – and not just those on the receiving end. In this interview, following a lecture to the Centre for Local Policy Research Summer School, I wanted to know what makes such a man tick? What fires him up? And does he ever envisage running out of steam? You can learn more about Peter's career history and his extensive writing on his web site www.petertatchell.net
Tuesday Jun 09, 2009
Adopting - A Trans Perspective
Tuesday Jun 09, 2009
Tuesday Jun 09, 2009
The question of whether gay or lesbian couples should conceive or adopt children has been with us for many years. Some people think it’s wrong. There seems no justification for those reservations of course. We’re confronted all the time with examples of heterosexual men and women being bad parents and abusers. Yet the idea that less conventional couples pose some extra kind of threat is deeply ingrained. And if there’s concern about gay and lesbian people adopting children, what must it be like for trans people? In this interview I speak to a trans man who, with his wife, has successfully overcome the obstacles to adopt two young children. He also now advises other trans people on how to navigate the process too, and to deal with the general ignorance of social workers in this context. We agreed we would keep his identity confidential for the sake of his children. In this interview he adopted the pseudonym "Nick". However if people would like to contact Nick for advice on adoption themselves then please ask for help by leaving a request via the comments facility below. If you supply an email address in the "mail" box on the comment form this won't be shown publicly; however we can use this to put you in touch. Update: Since releasing this episode, 'Nick' has set up a special email address where people interested in adoption can contact him for advice: lgbtadoptionuk@gmail.com
Friday Apr 17, 2009
BCS Lovelace Colloquium 2009
Friday Apr 17, 2009
Friday Apr 17, 2009
The recent Ada Lovelace Day blogging event raised important points about the challenges of getting more young women and girls hooked on technology subjects – and dealing with the barriers which may cause some of them to fall by the wayside. For this episode I travelled to the Electrical Engineering Department at Leeds University, for an event organised by the Women’s Special Interest Group of the British Computer Society, BCS Women. The second annual Ada Lovelace Colloquium was organised by Hannah Dee with colleagues from the BCS Women committee. I spoke to Hannah, some of the speakers and many of the delegates as the day unfolded. This Podcast is complemented by a series of You Tube videos showing excerpts from many of the actual presentations. One example is shown below. The others will be linked from here when they have all been published.
Saturday Apr 04, 2009
PC 'Bernie' Clifton - Talking about trans policing
Saturday Apr 04, 2009
Saturday Apr 04, 2009
Not so long ago any talk about trans people and the police would have been confined to tales about discrimination on both side of the thin blue line. There were problems for trans people wanting to pursue policing as a career. There were also sometimes problems when trans members of the public had dealings with officers. Nowadays there is still a big educational challenge to tackle, and mistakes do still happen. Recently, however, a new group has been set up by trans police officers themselves, with senior officer backing. The “National Trans Police Association” spans all 53 Police forces in the UK and their aim is to help bring about informed change from the inside. PC Bernie Clifton, a Diversity officer for the Greater Manchester force, talks about the setting up of the new association and work to be done on both sides of the equation to achieve more inclusive policing in this area.
Thursday Apr 02, 2009
Coming Next...
Thursday Apr 02, 2009
Thursday Apr 02, 2009
The next Podcast interview will be with PC "Bernie" Clifton, who is a diversity officer with Greater Manchester Police. Here's a quick video teaser whilst you wait...
Sunday Mar 29, 2009
Half an Hour with Dr Stuart Lorimer
Sunday Mar 29, 2009
Sunday Mar 29, 2009
Why would a young Doctor choose to specialise in Psychiatry? Why would he choose to work in a field that's frowned upon by many of his peers? To cap it all, why would he work in a clinic that had (in the past) acquired a very negative reputation among patients? Dr Stuart Lorimer works at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic in Hammersmith, London. It's a busy place. In 2008, 771 people were referred there with various degrees of gender dysphoria. At any time the clinic is treating well over 1500 people. Some (not all) are seeking support for one of the biggest challenges anyone can undertake: successfully changing the way they live and present to accord with their internal sense of being a man or a woman. In Britain as a whole, over 300 people apply for legal recognition of permanent gender changes each year. Many others, with less intense dysphoria, take cross-gender hormones or simply find that their feelings can be expressed within their existing gender role. Helping people make informed decisions about the steps they take is a tough challenge, which is made no easier by having to help them cope with the enormous levels of discrimination which many of those patients will face on the way. The clinicians face challenges too -- not just from fellow Doctors who can't or won't understand, but from patients who arrive with negative expectations about the institution. Stuart was at pains to stress that he cannot speak on behalf of the clinic he works in. This interview focusses upon him as one of a wholly new generation of specialists in the field, and his own thoughts about some of the controversial issues that have raged for years in this field. In sharing his own thoughts, however, he paints a picture of a team still struggling with an inherited reputation, constantly learning and evolving -- and wanting to do their best in difficult circumstances.
Sunday Mar 22, 2009
Ada Lovelace Day Interview - Lynn Conway
Sunday Mar 22, 2009
Sunday Mar 22, 2009
March 24th 2009 is Ada Lovelace Day – an initiative which we talked about in a previous episode. At the time of writing around 1500 people have signed an online pledge to produce a Blog, Podcast, Video, etc... about a woman in technology whom they admire. This episode is about one such woman. Much of the technology we take for granted today is only possible because of the ability to design and prototype computer chips quickly and cheaply. At the beginning of the 1970’s the process was far from easy. It took time; It was prone to errors; and custom chip design was not economical for many kinds of product. Professor Lynn Conway’s best known contribution, 30 years ago, was to invent and successfully promote a radical new approach which made the chip design process straightforward and affordable. It is arguable that some of the best known businesses and many of the products we nowadays take for granted would not have been possible without Lynn’s historical contribution. In this interview Lynn talks via a transatlantic Skype call about her vision and the things that thrill her about engineering. You can also read her VLSI Archive and about some of her other work and challenges here.
Saturday Mar 07, 2009
An Interview with my Father
Saturday Mar 07, 2009
Saturday Mar 07, 2009
My Father, Leslie Burns, was born less than four years after the end of the First World War. It was a world where women could not vote, and which was about to be hit by a terrible economic depression. Later he served in the RAF during the second world war, lived through post war austerity, married, became my Father and was almost into middle age by the time of the Cuban Missile crisis and the massive social changes which followed in the 1960’s. One of the traps of looking back on a past you’ve mostly only read about or seen on TV is to assume that everyone shares the same narrative as the historians – and so parts of this interview may come as a surprise. They certainly did for me. And interviewing your own Father is like no other assignment I’ve ever attempted before. As I found, it’s far from easy to adopt the same approach as you would for a stranger. All in all, it wasn’t quite the interview I expected – but perhaps there’s something for us all to learn from the unexpected.