91Èȱ¬

The UK is home to up to 90,000 au pairs at any one time. Although the government introduced guidelines in June 2014, there’s currently have no protection in terms of working hours, pay and living conditions. Following a two year study, researchers at say the guidelinesÌý need clarification and shouldÌý be backed up by providing au pairs with a means of redress if they find that they are being badly treated by their host family. Jane Garvey talks to Daniella about her experience as an au pair and to Dr Nicole Busch one of the academics behind the research.

The Cuban born UK based conductor, OdalineÌýde la Martinez, was the first woman to conduct at the 91Èȱ¬ Proms in 1984. She joins Jane to talk about turning 65 and why she’s premiering part two of her Afro-Cuban Slavery Opera Trilogy at the London Festival of American Music, which she founded in 2006, to coincide with her birthday.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

Gubbeen is the name of a farm in West Cork, the south-westerly tip of Ireland that has been worked by the Ferguson family for five generations.Ìý Gubbeen is also the name ofÌý the cheeses that Giana Ferguson first started to produce in 1979, using the milk from her husband’s cows.Ìý Today there are four Fergusons who hold different positions on the farm.Ìý Tom has farmed all his life, Giana controls the diary, their son Fingal uses the pigs to make bacon and smoked goods from the Smokehouse and their daughter Clovisse grows vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers.Ìý Giana has now written a book with her daughter -Ìý Gubbeen: the story of a working farm and its food.Ìý She joins Jane in the studio to talk aboutÌý cheese making,Ìý the development of artisanal food production, farmers market and family life on the farm.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

Gubbeen:Ìý The story of a Working Farm and its FoodsÌý by Giana Ferguson & Clovisse FergusonÌý Kyle Books LimitedÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

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Jessica Chastain is one of the most acclaimed, yet private actresses in Hollywood. After learning her craft for almost a decade, she hit the big time in 2011 with the release of four films in quick succession – gaining an Oscar nomination in 2012 for her role as Celia in ‘The Help’.Ìý The following year brought her another Oscar nod for her role as Maya the workaholic CIA agent in ‘zero dark thirty’ – a film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. The actress seems drawn to portray characters in extreme emotional states.Ìý Jessica Chastain is now co-starring in the big budget move about space and time travel, Interstellar.Ìý She talks to Jane Garvey about what motivates her as an actress.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

For seventy years The Colonial Nursing Association sent thousands of hard working, adventurous nurses to work in the colonies across the British Empire. Their jobs ranged from establishingÌý clinicsÌý in remote areas to training local people in best medical practise. For some women it was a chance to live a less restrictive life than back home in Britain. For others, it was a patriotic duty to nurse abroad.Ìý These nurses’ experiences are highlighted in ‘Passages of Empire,’ the 15 minute drama on Radio 4 starting today. Anne Marie Rafferty, historian, and Professor of Nursing Policy at King’s College, London; and former colonial nurses Dorothy Pirkis and Jane Napier Bax join the programme.

The online exhibition to coincide with the Writing the Century Women's Hour drama can be found at:Ìý