大象传媒

Every year on the 22nd February Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world participate in . It鈥檚 partly about celebrating the birthdays of Robert and Olave Baden-Powell, the founders of the organisations, but also aims to connect girls with their guiding counterparts across the world as they think about and fundraise for global issues. Notably, no boys anywhere听take part. Jenni talks to CEO Julie Bentley. She was a controversial appointment in November last year because she had previously been the head of the Family Planning Association and she described Girlguiding UK as 鈥渢he ultimate feminist organisation鈥�.听Julie talks about her vision for the future of the Guides in the UK and is joined by Hannah Johnson, a guide in the Senior Section, to discuss the themes of this year鈥檚 Thinking Day: how to reduce infant mortality and improve maternal health.

听started her career in 1993 at Granada Television and eventually became script editor on crime drama Cracker. She went on to become an Assistant Producer on the 大象传媒鈥檚 Our Friends in the North and then in 1998, she founded one of Britain鈥檚 foremost independent TV production companies, Red Production.听 Their output 鈥� which has included Queer as Folk, Scott and Bailey and Last Tango in Halifax 鈥� has won many awards from BAFTA and the Royal Television Society and Nicola Shindler is now one of the most influential people in TV drama in the UK. She talks to Jenni about her life and her place on the .

This year, World renowned Irish folk musician and accordion player celebrates 21 years as a solo artist. Widely credited with making the accordion 鈥榗ool鈥�, she plays in a wide variety of styles from traditional Irish music to hip-hop, Cajun, Classical and Rap.听 During her career, Sharon has collaborated with Bono, The Waterboys, Sinead O鈥機onnor, Mark Knopfler, Nigel Kennedy and the RTE Concert Orchestra. She has also played for President Bill Clinton at the White House but is probably best known for her recording of The Galway Girl with Irish artist Mundy which featured in the film PS I Love You and which was number one in Ireland for five weeks as well as being Ireland鈥檚 biggest selling downloads in 2008. Sharon Shannon is a huge star in Ireland where she became the youngest person ever to receive the lifetime achievement award at the Meteor Awards [the Irish equivalent of the BRITs] in 2009. She joins Jenni to talk about her love of music and to play one of her favourite pieces Music for a Found Harmonium.

Sharon will be playing the Bury Met on 22nd February.

听听听is an award winning crime writer, radio playwright and the creator of ITV鈥檚 hit series Blue Murder which starred Caroline Quentin. One of her best known characters is Sal Kilkenny, a feisty PI who pounds the streets of Manchester and features in eight novels. But Cath is just about to publish her second Scott & Bailey novel Bleed Like Me. The characters of DC Janet Scott and DC Rachel Bailey first hit our TV screens in 2011 and were so successful that a third series is now being filmed. They work at the Manchester Metropolitan police station under tough boss DCI Gill Murray and in Bleed Like Me they find themselves in a race against time to find a desperate man who is a danger to his two young sons. Cath Staincliffe joins Jenni to discuss her work and to talk about why she enjoys writing strong female characters.听听

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A few days ago, Kathleen Wynne was sworn in as the premier of Ontario which means that six of Canada鈥檚 13 provinces and territories now have a woman at the head of government. But although 鈥� at provincial level 鈥� 90% of the Canadian population is governed by a woman, only 25% of Canadian MPs are female 鈥� a figure well below that of many other developed nations. To discuss the role of women in Canadian politics, Jenni talks to Susan Ormiston 鈥� Canadian Broadcasting鈥檚 Foreign Correspondent in London - and to听Dr.听Steve Hewitt - Senior Lecturer in American and Canadian Studies at the University of Birmingham and President of the British Association for Canadian Studies.

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