Brit and Mercury Prize-winning singer Heather Small, Chronic illness, Abortion

The British-born actor and singer Olivia Newton-John has died at the age of 73. Best remembered for playing the iconic role of Sandy in the musical film Grease. We pay tribute with Stockard Channing who played Rizzo in Grease, and the film critic Karen Krizanovich and Olivia Moore who is currently playing her in the stage version in London's west end.

Brit & Mercury prize winner Heather Small on ‘Colour My Life’, her first album in sixteen years. For the album, she teamed up with the London Metropolitan Orchestra to re-imagine all of her Top 10 hits as well as release new songs and covers.

What is it like to live with a chronic but hidden illness? Poppy Nash is a textile artist who lives with type 1 diabetes and one of her latest works The Art of Dying 2.0 is a full-scale installation of bedclothes and bedding, examining the experience of living in isolation as a ‘vulnerable’ person through the pandemic. Ione Gamble lives with Crohn’s disease. She’s the founder & editor of the art, fashion and culture publication, Polyester and has now written a book, Poor Little Sick Girls.

The overturning of Roe v Wade in the USA has put abortion very much at the top of the news agenda. Our 2019 series in which women spoke, often for the first time, about their abortions seems even more relevant now. Today, a woman we are calling Kerry talks about the abortion she had when she was 18 and her certainty then and now that this was the right choice for her.

Presenter: Jessica Creighton Producer: Dianne McGregor