大象传媒

Last Saturday, The Sun newspaper published a list of 鈥淭he Laziest MPs鈥� based on the number of times they had turned up to vote in the Houses of Parliament. Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central, was number four on this list but, during the period in question, she was actually on maternity leave and had been paired with a Conservative MP. The Sun has since acknowledged that they made a mistake. They have removed the list from their website and have apologised to Lucy. In May, she gave birth to a baby boy.听She had been in the early stages of her pregnancy during the bye-election campaign for her seat and during her maternity leave, she continued to do constituency work and other aspects of her job. Lucy Powell is no stranger to juggling her political life with family life as she ran Ed Miliband鈥檚 leadership campaign whilst commuting to London with her first baby 鈥� daughter Katie. In March 鈥� whilst seven months pregnant 鈥� Lucy recorded an audio diary for 大象传媒 Radio Manchester听of just one busy working day in the life of an MP. In October, she became Shadow Minister for childcare. She joins Jenni to talk about the challenges of being a female MP with young children and about improving conditions for working mothers.听听

This week, Radio 3 marks the 70th birthday of Composer of the Week by featuring a composer suggested by its listeners. From over 4,500 suggestions- including figures from many different historical periods and musical genres 鈥� they have chosen a composer whose story is particularly intriguing. The music of Louise Farrenc was much celebrated in her lifetime and it remains as beguiling today as it was to her audiences in 19th-century Paris. But why has her name been lost to history and what makes her music so important? To discuss the life and work of this remarkable composer, teacher, pianist and scholar, Jenni is joined by music historian Florence Launay, a specialist in female French composers of the 19th century.听

Composer of the Week is broadcast every weekday at midday on Radio 3. The special 70th Anniversary programmes on Louise Farrenc are available on now.

Researchers at Manchester University have proved that having your ovaries removed 鈥� if you are at risk of getting ovarian cancer 鈥� can almost normalise your life expectancy. It is known that women who carry a fault in one of two high-risk genes known as BRCA1 or BRCA2, have an increased risk of dying from breast and/or ovarian cancer. Many of these women, including high-profile celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, choose to undergo surgery to remove their healthy breasts, ovaries or both before the disease affects them but few studies have looked at the possible benefits of this type of surgery across large groups of women. Researchers from The University of Manchester examined the medical records of nearly 700 women who were known to be carrying a mutation in either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene and they have proved for the first time that there is a major benefit in undergoing risk-reducing surgery. Life expectancy was almost normalised in those who underwent surgery but substantially reduced in those who did not. To discuss these findings, Jenni is joined by Gareth Evans, Professor of Medical Genetics and Cancer Epidemiology at Manchester University.

This Sunday, 大象传媒 Four is taking a look at the vintage years of Ladybird books in a documentary called The Ladybird Books Story: The Bugs That Got Britain Reading. Ladybirdland is a Britain that is no longer with us but it existed on the nation鈥檚 bookshelves in little hardback books throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s until the company was sold and the 20th century finally caught up with it. By the 1980s, the perfect technicolour world in which mother stayed at home baking cakes whilst father went out to work had gone from the pages of Ladybird books. So what was their appeal and why were they so important to generations of children growing up in a fast changing, post-war Britain? Jenni talks to Caroline Alexander 鈥� the daughter of the founder of Ladybird books 鈥� and to Helen Day an avid Ladybird book collector.听

is broadcast on 大象传媒 Four, Sunday 22nd December 2013.

听are five African-Caribbean women with an a cappella sound to lift the spirits. For the last twenty five years they have performed in front of the Queen and Nelson Mandela and have been the opening support act for the likes of Ray Charles and Nina Simone. As well as a busy touring schedule, the members of Black Voices manage homes and families. They tell Jenni about some of their most memorable performances and sing live in the studio.