Episodes
Friday Feb 20, 2009
Religion and Equality
Friday Feb 20, 2009
Friday Feb 20, 2009
Of all the diversity issues, religion is the most difficult. It so often involves the question of how far one can allow the rights of people to apply the doctrines they believe-in to the lives of other people. Our religion – or lack of one – is perhaps the only thing we can really choose. Everything else is beyond our control – gender, race, disability, sexual orientation or age. But regardless of the indoctrination we might receive through our upbringing, we have the power as adults to choose what we believe and how we behave towards others. So where does the right to have a religious belief (and to worship) end and discrimination begin? And, in such a multicultural society as Britain, how do people with competing religious beliefs reconcile the inevitable differences? Can any one person speak for them all when organisations wish to consult on the topic? Monsignor John Devine is Churches’ Officer for the North West. He runs the North West Forum of Faiths and is a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool. From his position of regular dialogue with people of many faiths, he seemed like a relevant person to ask. For editorial background on this item see the Blog post : The Gospel According to John
Monday Feb 09, 2009
Ada Lovelace will have her day
Monday Feb 09, 2009
Monday Feb 09, 2009
Suw Charman-Anderson is one of many professionals concerned about the relatively low numbers of women in technology careers such as IT. She feels that one of the reasons for this is a lack of role models in the field for other women to see. To draw attention to the issue, and to stimulate widespread discussion, Suw has created "Ada Lovelace Day". It's a campaign to encourage over a thousand people to write a blog or otherwise share their views about a woman in technology who has inspired them -- and to do it together in one concerted push on Tuesday 24th March. I spoke to Suw via Skype about Ada Lovelace and the thinking behind her campaign. Remember that you can sign the pledge to take part on March 24th at http://www.pledgebank.com/AdaLovelaceDay
Saturday Jan 24, 2009
Fascinating Adele - Part Two
Saturday Jan 24, 2009
Saturday Jan 24, 2009
Adele Anderson is one of the mainstays of the comedy/satire trio Fascinating Aida. In the previous episode I talked to her about FA's uniqueness as three women writing and singing comic political satire for over 25 years. It's also quite widely known that Adele is a transsexual woman. Maybe that's not such a big deal nowadays, when people have seen many representations of trans women (real and fictional) in film and TV. In this interview I talk to her about the way it was received 25 years ago, and the TV dramas and films she's been involved with in the years since then. The songs you hear in this programme can all be heard in full on Adele's Myspace Page.
Saturday Jan 17, 2009
Fascinating Adele - Part One
Saturday Jan 17, 2009
Saturday Jan 17, 2009
They are described as Britain’s sassiest, funniest, craziest musical comediennes. Imagine “Sex and the City” with harmonies. The Mail on Sunday said, “See them before you die or your life will have been meaningless”... Fascinating Aida have been collecting ecstatic hyperbole from reviewers for a quarter of a century and have an immensely loyal fan base. Yet, in Britain at least, musical comedy and satire is still not an area that all that many women have conquered. So what’s the secret of showbiz success and longevity for three women with a wicked sense of humour? Adele Anderson, who joined the Act a year after it was created in 1984, was very generous with her time for this interview in her hotel room, a couple of hours before going on stage at the Lowry in Salford. In fact we spent so much time that there's enough for two episodes. This first episode departs from the normal "Just Plain Sense" format to focus on the group itself, their music and Adele's career. In next week's episode Adele talks about press interest in her personal background and some of the TV and film projects she has appeared in. The songs you hear in this episode come from the albums "A Load of Old Sequins" and "It, Wit, Don't Give a S**t Girls", which can be purchased from FA's website or online from iTunes. Fans of FA may also be interested in this interview with Adele's colleagues, Dillie Keane and Liza Pullman
Thursday Jan 15, 2009
Packets from Abroad - Katrina and Tracie
Thursday Jan 15, 2009
Thursday Jan 15, 2009
What springs to mind if you think of Australia? Crocodile Dundee? Neighbours? Straight talking straight men who would't give a Castlemaine XXXX ? How about serious debate on a third gender category for passports and official documents? Or inheritance rights for same sex adults regardless of whether they're in an amorous relationship or not? Things have evidently changed down under since Skippy and the Flying Doctor roamed the outback. Katrina Fox is a journalist; Tracie O'Keefe is her therapist partner. Together they emigrated from Britain in 2001 and settled in Sydney where they've set up an organisation called Sex and Gender Education (SAGE). They talk to me in detail about Australian culture and their activist work.
Tuesday Jan 06, 2009
Packets from Abroad - Ethan StPierre
Tuesday Jan 06, 2009
Tuesday Jan 06, 2009
Two weeks from now the United States will witness a historic event that some of us probably doubted we would ever see. When Barack Obama is sworn in as America’s first Black President few would contest the symbolism. But how are Americans seeing it, now that the election night euphoria has died down? How much expectation is there on the new man? Can it be realised? Black men may take plenty of encouragement, but what about other minorities? To ask these questions, and to look particularly at the issues for LGB and Trans people, I hooked up with Internet broadcaster Ethan StPierre in Massachusetts. I learned, for instance, how a last gasp move by George Bush, aimed at women's choice on abortion, could go on to have effects for trans people too. To hear Ethan's own broadcasts visit Trans FM online.
Tuesday Dec 16, 2008
Half an hour with Lorraine Gradwell
Tuesday Dec 16, 2008
Tuesday Dec 16, 2008
Estimates vary about the number of Britons with disabilities of various kinds. Some say it’s 1 in 7; others say 1 in 5. Either way, it’s a significant chunk of the population. Historically many disabled people have faced enormous barriers in being able to work and access facilities the rest of us take for granted. Yet none of us can be sure we won’t acquire a disability ourselves – through accidents, chronic illness or simply old age. If it doesn’t happen to us, it may affect someone we would end up caring for. So we cannot afford to be smug and thankful it doesn’t affect us. One person who knows the barriers very well is Lorraine Gradwell, who recently received an MBE for her extensive work in the field. Lorraine is Chief Executive of Breakthrough UK Ltd, a Manchester-based social enterprise, led and controlled by disabled people, and which specialises in helping people access work.
Thursday Dec 11, 2008
An Interview with Rushi Munshi
Thursday Dec 11, 2008
Thursday Dec 11, 2008
At least 11% of Britain’s population falls into the category of Black or Minority Ethnic (BME). Yet that umbrella term conceals a huge diversity in itself. Although it’s tempting to think in terms of some of the most obvious groups, such as people who’ve originated from Africa, the West Indies or Asia, or those from the middle east, it’s easy to forget all the other backgrounds that people have. Irish people are considered an ethnic group, for instance. So are white Europeans from the enlarged European Community. In this Episode Rushi Munshi, a Regional Director for the Council for Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO), describes how his organisation works with the vast number of voluntary sector organisations representing this varied segment of Britain's society.
Friday Nov 07, 2008
Sefton's Formula for Equality Partnership
Friday Nov 07, 2008
Friday Nov 07, 2008
The three statutory equality duties in Britain - covering Race, Disability and Gender - all demand consultation or involvement with expert community stakeholders if problem identification and action planning is ever to be more than a token affair. The problem lies with how to organise that kind of engagement effectively. Consider North West England. The region has over 30,000 voluntary sector organisations. Yet the number with sufficient capacity and skills to take part in strategic consultation work hardly exceed single figures. With well over 120 separate public authorities all needing to organise the same kind of consultation, there's the potential for meltdown unless a practical approach is adopted. Sefton is a diverse coastal borough which stretches from Liverpool in the south and almost up to Blackpool. Along its coast lies Southport, a distinguished old-style holiday resort which is reinventing itself for a new generation. I was invited there recently to give a speech as part of the borough's annual diversity week. And whilst I was there I had the chance to speak with the people behind the borough's 'joined-up' partnership approach to collective consultation and strategy-making...
Friday Oct 17, 2008
Lunch with Julie Bindel
Friday Oct 17, 2008
Friday Oct 17, 2008
She has been likened to Marmite: you either love what she writes or hate it. Outspoken Guardian columnist and radical lesbian feminist Julie Bindel is widely praised by some for the campaigning she has done on the issues of violence against women, and on the way that our legal system responds to women who defend themselves. She is treasured by others for the particular way she reveals her lesbian and feminist influences as a broadsheet columnist. Yet, on the day when I had long arranged to meet for lunch and talk about these things, Julie was also embroiled in a controversy that had arisen over what she had written and said in the past about transsexual people. This issue was suddenly brought to the boil because she had been nominated for an award as “Journalist of the Year” by the leading British Lesbian and Gay charity Stonewall. We discussed all these things and hopefully opened doors to dialogue with her detractors over a meal -- though I hasten to add that Marmite wasn't on the menu. Note that comments on this item are now closed for the reasons explained below
Thursday Oct 16, 2008
The Challenge of an Ageing Population
Thursday Oct 16, 2008
Thursday Oct 16, 2008
Falling birthrates, increased life-expectancy and the approaching retirement of the so-called "baby boom" generation mean that the population balance is altering. In 1998 just 32.4% of Britons were aged over fifty. By 2021 that proportion is expected to have burgeoned to over 40%. What effects will that have on the economy, public health strategy, the planning of housing and infrastructure? I asked the public for their views and interviewed experts from a group called 50-50 Vision, who have the task of proposing strategies to anticipate and cope with the change.
Tuesday Oct 14, 2008
Third Sector but not Third Class
Tuesday Oct 14, 2008
Tuesday Oct 14, 2008
Britain's voluntary and community organisations (sometimes referred to as the "third sector") are far more numerous and integral to the operation of society than people often imagine. The sector involves hundreds of thousands of people and has an essential role in delivering many services that the public and private sectors are unable to provide. Richard Caulfield is the Chief Executive of Voluntary Sector North West - a key strategic player in seeing that voluntary sector organisations are supported and recognised in a region of 6.8 million people. We met recently in Manchester and Richard explained about the background of his organisation, the roles that voluntary organisations perform and the challenges and opportunities for the entire sector.
Tuesday Sep 30, 2008
Trans Kids on the Block
Tuesday Sep 30, 2008
Tuesday Sep 30, 2008
Back in April this year I interviewed the mother of an intensely gender dysphoric child. She told how her child (now living as a girl) had become increasingly desperate and suicidal as the prospect of a masculine puberty grew larger. Specialists in the UK weren't prepared to medicate in order to delay the irreversible effects her child's body would undergo and, in desperation, she took her child across the Atlantic to Boston instead. The Royal Society of Medicine convened a conference to debate this issue in October. However, the country's leading specialist Professor Richard Green, was concerned that the speakers selected for that conference were mostly based in the "conservative" camp. In response he organised a pre-emptive conference of his own at Imperial College in London, where specialists successfully practicing puberty delay therapy around the world could present their outcome data and experiences. I went along to Richard Green's conference at his invitation and recorded interviews with many of the speakers for this detailed feature.
Saturday Jul 26, 2008
Half an Hour with Dr Lynne Jones MP
Saturday Jul 26, 2008
Saturday Jul 26, 2008
Birmingham Selly Oak MP Lynne Jones says she never set out to have a political career -- she just got sucked into one. Now, 33 years after first getting hooked, and 16 years after first entering Parliament, she has declared her intention to stand down at the next election. In this detailed interview, Lynne talks about the experience of being a woman in Parliament, balancing personal convictions with party loyalty, some of the causes she has taken up over the years, and overall progress towards a more diverse legislature.
Sunday Jun 22, 2008
An Interview with EHRC Chair Trevor Phillips
Sunday Jun 22, 2008
Sunday Jun 22, 2008
A few days ago I was invited to an event at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, organised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. It was billed as a working lunch with business leaders from the North of England to talk about what Equality and Rights developments mean to the private sector. In the next episode I'll be presenting Trevor Phillips' speech to that audience. But first, in this item, Trevor spoke to me about the commission's first nine months of operations, the initiatives already underway, and his hopes for the future. In addition to Trevor I also speak to EHRC's Director of English Regions, Tim Wainwright.