大象传媒

Our series听on the working lives of mothers who have a child with a disability听concluded on Wednesday with a look at听how challenges change as their child grows up. Linda Roberts, mum of Paralympic gold medallist Jonnie Peacock, talked about the difficulties of 鈥榣etting go鈥�. She now works at the charity supporting parents so they can give their child more freedom. And 31 year old Chris Whitaker, who has cerebral palsy,听explained to Jane how important it is to lead an independent life.

听

The Benin-born, Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Angelique Kidjo was once called "Africa's Premier Diva," and is known for mixing different styles, like funk, salsa, jazz, and rumba, alongside traditional West African music. She has said that 鈥渨e鈥檙e all a part of Africa, because humanity was born there. From the time I started singing as a little girl, my mom and dad said to always follow my inspiration and never to compromise my music, but, above all, to give music to empower people all over the world. Music has no colour, no language, no boundaries.鈥� She鈥檚 now dedicated to helping African women and girls fulfil their potential, and so alongside her singing career, she works as a Ambassador, and has her own to help girls in Africa gain an education. And now she has a new autobiography and an album called Eve, which she has dedicated to the women of Africa, and includes the voices of African women鈥檚 choirs. Angelique Kidjo joined Jenni Murray to explain how music, her upbringing as a girl in Benin, and her experiences as an exile in Paris, inspired her to use her voice to not only make music, but to campaign for human rights, to help girls and women all across Africa.

听

Angelique Kidjo鈥檚 new album, Eve, is released on 28 January on 429 Records, and her autobiography, Spirit Rising, is published on 30 January by Harper Collins.

听

And Angelique can also be heard in session on on 大象传媒 Radio 3 on 14 February, speaking to Lopa Kothari and playing five tracks from her new album, Eve.听

A new is calling for Edith Cavell to feature on a听 拢2 coin, as one in听 a new 听series being issued by The Royal Mint over the next four years to mark听 WW1.听 Edith Cavell was a a nurse, shot at dawn by a German firing squad for her resistance work听 in helping hundreds of allied soldiers escape occupied Belgium. Cavell鈥檚 biographer, Diana Souhami is a supporter of the campaign, and tells Sheila why听 she deserves the听honour.

A cancer diagnosis can be devastating and life changing, so why do some people choose to share the details of their illness with the general public? Both and have chosen to do so because it鈥檚 both empowering and helps to demystify the disease. Kate Granger has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma in 2011 which will cut her life short prematurely. She has written widely about her illness both on social media and in two books. Sadie Nine is a radio presenter with 大象传媒 Essex who was diagnosed with breast cancer and has discussed it widely with her listeners.

Pop songstress Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been entertaining us for over a decade, with hit dance and pop tracks like Groovejet and Murder On The Dancefloor. And recently she took to the actual dance-floor on our Saturday night TV screens, when she competed on Strictly Come Dancing. She grew up in a television household as daughter of Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis, and today she combines a music career with family life, with three young children of her own. She鈥檚 sold over five million records, but now with her new, fifth, solo studio album, she鈥檚 moved away from the dance floor to collaborate with the Mercury-nominated singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt. Sophie Ellis Bextor joined Jane to perform live in the studio from her new album, Wanderlust, and to talk about her change of musical direction, dancing on Strictly, being a woman and mother in music, and growing up in a Blue Peter household.

听

Wanderlust is out now on EBGB.

Last Monday we looked at body image and self-esteem. We got a tremendous response from our listeners, but it was predominantly women who got in touch. The men who contacted us talked mainly about their daughters or partners, and few volunteered personal stories. Was it because men were not affected by body image issues? Or because men are less likely to talk about such matters? To discuss this, on Monday Jane听was joined by Philippa Diedrichs, a psychologist at the Centre for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England, and by Glen Jankowski, a researcher of body image from Leeds Metropolitan University.

听

鈥� a charity that aims to support and raise awareness about male eating disorders

鈥� an organization that reviews online support for different psychological problems, including body image concerns and eating disorders

- a UK charity which aims to promote positive body image and the prevention of eating disorders

听- information on body dysmorphia from the largest UK charity focusing on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

- the leading mental health charity for England and Wales

- a UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families

听- a UK charity which supports anyone with a disfigurement

How does being a female fan shape your life and define your relationships? Radio 4鈥檚 documentary looks behind the 鈥榟ysteria鈥� and finds ordinary women finding a sense of belonging that goes beyond the screaming portrayal of 鈥榗razy obsessives鈥�. We speak to music journalist and broadcaster Ruth Barnes, one of the presenters of the documentary and Jo Hemmings, a behavioural psychologist specialising in celebrity culture.