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Woman's Hour

Irish singer-songwriter Imelda May

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2021

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Imelda May is an Irish singer/songwriter discovered by Jools Holland when she supported him on tour and subsequently appeared on Later ... with Jools Holland in 2008. She was the queen of rockabilly, with a Fifties-style frock, trademark quiff – and a voice compared to legendary blues singers such as Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. The quiff is long gone. She joins Anita Rani to discuss her music, her style and her latest album '11 Past the Hour' and the track 'Made to Love', with inspired contributions from feminist thinkers and activists, Gina Martin and Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu.

A review into the way the justice system works in Scotland, when hearing rape and serious sexual offences, has called for new specialist courts where a judge could sit without a jury. The proposals are part of a package of measures aimed at stopping the 'retraumatisation' of victims by their experience of the court system. Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian - Scotland's second most senior judge, and Sandy Brindley, National Coordinator of Rape Crisis Scotland - one of the groups which took part in the review process - join John Scott QC, president of the Society of Solicitor Advocates.

The idea of living in a van is not an unusual as you may think and many women are doing it. Search under the #vanlife on Instagram and there are over 9.5 million posts, with seductive photos of people who have refurbished cosy vans for holidays and adventures abroad but also those who have traded living in houses for a permanent life on the road. Anita is joined by George McKimm, who lived in her van from 2016 until 2020, and Missy, who currently lives with her husband Dom, daughter Rosie and their pets. They have been on the road since 2019 in their Sprinter van which they call the sub.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Interviewed Guest: Imelda May Interviewed Guest: Sandy Brindley Interviewed Guest: John Scott Interviewed Guest: Valerie MacGregor Interviewed Guest: George McKimm Interviewed Guest: Missy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless

0:06.8

searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the

0:11.8

telly we share what we've been watching

0:14.0

Fladiated.

0:16.0

Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.

0:19.0

Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.

0:21.0

And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less

0:25.0

searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC Sounds.

0:29.0

BBC Sounds music Music Radio Podcasts.

0:35.0

Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Womons Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:40.3

Good morning and welcome to Womons Hour. Today I'm going to promise you some music, some brilliant music by none other than the fabulous Amelder May.

0:50.0

And it's Friday, so we're off on an adventure.

0:53.0

We're all going to imagine a completely different way of life.

0:56.0

Go with me on this.

0:57.0

Have you ever thought about selling everything up, the lot,

1:00.0

jumping in a van, and hitting the open road to see where it takes you.

1:03.6

Anyone?

1:04.4

No? Just me then.

1:06.2

And the guests I'll be talking to later on in the show,

1:08.4

who did just that and are now living a nomadic life

1:11.6

with a dog and a cat in tow. How do you keep a cat happy in a van? I'll be finding out.

1:17.0

We're also discussing the recommendations looking into reforming rape trials in Scotland.

...

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