大象传媒

Dancing on the Edge鈥�, Stephen Poliakoff鈥檚 lavish 聽new drama about聽an American jazz band which takes 1930's London by storm, started on聽 大象传媒2 this week.聽The band鈥檚 singer Jessie is loosely based on a real life woman called Florence Mills who became one of the first black Americans 聽to become an international star. Jazz singer Clare Teal and writer Bonnie Greer talk to Jenni about the early jazz queens who wowed London with a new brand of music in the twenties and thirties.

17 year old Alex Huntesmith is聽an A level student with an exceptionally high IQ and an聽聽 ambition to get into Oxford University. He鈥檚聽grown up with his parents and siblings聽聽in a settled home but his family is unusual: his mum and his dad both聽聽 have learning difficulties. Alex and his mum, Jill, recently took part聽 in聽a Woman鈥檚 Hour drama, 鈥楾he Pursuit of Darleen Fyles鈥� starting next week. In it聽lead character Darleen, who聽 has learning disabilities,聽faces聽 resistance when she says she wants to have聽 her own baby. Jill and Alex talk to Jenni about the drama聽 and how their family works in real life.

On Sunday, a sixth of the world鈥檚 population will be celebrating Chinese New Year. It鈥檚 going to be the Year of the Snake which bodes well for the booming Chinese economy because, in Chinese culture, the snake is associated with business acumen and financial security. One third of China鈥檚 millionaires are women and the country also boasts seven out of the world's top 10 wealthiest self-made female billionaires. In Britain, the most successful students at GCSE are Chinese girls and Chinese women in the UK are twice as likely to be in professional jobs as their white British counterparts. So, why are Chinese women here and in China doing so well? Jenni is joined by three different generations of Chinese women. Helen Tse is from Manchester where she now runs an award winning Chinese restaurant and makes sauces that will shortly be on sale in China. Academic and architect Dr Yun Gao was born in China under Mao but has lived in the UK for the last twenty years and 26 year old Xixi Zheng grew up in China, has an MA from the University of London and is a multi-media journalist.

This week the makers of Monopoly have announced that the iron has run out of steam. In a month long Facebook vote, the iron proved to be the least popular counter and a small metal cat will now join the dog, car, hat, thimble, shoe, battleship and wheelbarrow. The story goes that an unemployed heating salesman sketched the first Monopoly board on an oilcloth coving his kitchen table and used the charms on his wife鈥檚 charm bracelet as the counters. Eight decades ago, the iron was part of the very first Monopoly set [unlike the battleship and the wheelbarrow] but today it has obviously fallen out of favour. Is this because ironing itself has become an unpopular occupation? When Woman鈥檚 Hour moved from its early afternoon slot to the morning, Brian Redhead was heard to say: 鈥淭here won鈥檛 be a decently ironed shirt in Britain!鈥� But do we really have a time for ironing nowadays and was it ever a 鈥榩leasurable experience鈥�? To discuss our relationship with the iron, Jenni is joined by Dr Tony Stead of the British Iron Collector鈥檚 Club and by Nora Carlin who - as a household management consultant 鈥� is an expert at ironing.

The Church of England has announced today that eight senior women clergy 鈥� deans and archdeacons, are to be allowed to sit in on meetings of the House of Bishops. They鈥檙e not allowed to be Bishops or to vote at the meetings they attend, so how significant a move is it? Jenni is joined by Robert Piggott; the 大象传媒鈥檚 religious affairs correspondent.