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Family Fertility Donors; Eliza Haywood; Beth Orton; Playing with Children

Brit Award-winning artist Beth Orton has been directing a week-long residency for emerging female musicians in Manchester. She joins Jenni Murray in the studio to perform live.

Mary Portas made headlines this week when she announced that they had turned to Mary's brother Lawrence to be a sperm donor for the child she has with her wife Melanie Rickey. What's the reality of asking a relative to become an egg or sperm donor and does that muddy the waters of parenting? Joining Jenni are sisters Eleanor and Alice, Eleanor has a 22 month old daughter who was conceived thanks to Alice donating her egg, and Laura Witjens, the Chief-Executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust and herself an egg donor.

'The Female Spectator' was written and edited by Eliza Haywood at the end of the 18th century. It's believed to be the first magazine by women, for women. An early proto-feminist, she was writing romances well before Jane Austen. The Female Spectator only lasted for 4 volumes, but it was extremely popular and marked the beginning of magazines written by women, for a female audience. Jenni will be talking to Dr Holly Luhning about Eliza Haywood's extraordinary life.

In its 18-year history the Mercury Prize has only been awarded to five women. Beth Orton has been nominated twice, but has not yet won. This week she has been leading a week-long all-women musical residency in Manchester, due to culminate in a live show on Friday night. She'll be joining Jenni in the studio with one of the musicians involved, Josephine Oniyama, to talk about women in music and the equality gap they still face and they'll both be performing a new song live.

Playing games with her daughter is dull, repetitive and even on occasion humiliating, so says journalist Esther Walker. But does refusing to play with a child make a bad parent? Jenni will be speaking to Esther and to an expert in child development and play, Dr Amanda Gummer.

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45 minutes

Family Fertility Donors

Mary Portas made headlines this week when she announced that she had turned to her brother Lawrence to be a sperm donor for the child she has with her wife Melanie Rickey. But there was a squeamishness in some quarters with some squirming at the idea of this. What’s the reality of asking a relative to become an egg or sperm donor and how does that muddy the waters of parenting? Jenni talks to sisters Eleanor and Alice, Eleanor has a 22-month-old daughter who was conceived thanks to Alice donating her eggs, and Laura Witjens, the Chief-Executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust and herself an egg donor.

The Female Spectator

‘The Female Spectator’ was written and edited by Eliza Haywood at the end of the 18th century – it’s believed to be the first magazine by women, for women. An early proto-feminist, she was writing romances well before Jane Austen. Eliza Haywood is mostly today known as a novelist – but her periodical is relatively unknown. The Female Spectator only lasted for 4 volumes, but it marks the beginning of magazines written by women, for a female audience. It was extremely popular, including a collection of essays that allegedly originated in. 

Beth Orton

Beth Orton
In its 18-year history the Mercury Prize has only been awarded to five women. Beth Orton has been nominated twice, but not yet won. She has been leading a week-long, all-women, musical residency in Manchester, due to culminate in a live show on Friday night. Beth is in the studio with one of the musicians involved, Josephine Oniyama, to talk about women in music and the equality gap they still face and performing a song live.

Playing With Children

Esther Walker says that playing with her children is boring. She doesn’t mind pushing Kitty who is four or Sam who is 20 months on the swings - she says it is meditative. She doesn’t even mind taking Sam on hour-long walks to the post office - it slows her down. But she says that Kitty’s games are repetitive, wacky and tedious. So what does it say about you as a parent if you don’t want to or don’t enjoy playing with your children? Jenni is joined by Esther Walker and by Dr Amanda Gummer, an expert in child development, play and parenting.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jenni Murray
Interviewed Guest Laura Witjens
Interviewed Guest Holly Luhning
Interviewed Guest Beth Orton
Interviewed Guest Josephine Oniyama
Interviewed Guest Esther Walker
Interviewed Guest Amanda Gummer
Performer Beth Orton
Performer Josephine Oniyama

Broadcast

  • Fri 20 Feb 2015 10:00

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