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Shirley Bassey; Old Age; Julia Neuberger; Nicci Gerrard

Dame Shirley Bassey, one of the most iconic voices in British music, joins Jane to discuss over sixty years in the music industry and her new album, Hello Like Before.

Dame Shirley Bassey, one of the most iconic voices in British music joins Jane to discuss over sixty years in the music industry. To celebrate her diamond jubilee Dame Shirley is launching her new album, Hello Like Before. The programme also looks at how we experience old age, our attitudes, our fears, our hopes. We hear from two women in their late eighties, one living with her family, the other living in her own home, looking after her ninety-three-year-old husband. Writer Nicci Gerrard discusses her new novel, The Twilight Hour, and why she chose to make her main character a woman in her nineties. We discuss the emotive question of driving and old age and social campaigner and writer, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, author of Not Dead Yet: A Manifesto for Old Age joins Jane throughout.

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58 minutes

Chapters

  • Dame Shirley Bassey

    Duration: 10:12

  • Old age

    Duration: 16:27

  • Nicci Gerrard

    Duration: 07:14

  • Elderly drivers

    Duration: 06:07

Dame Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Bassey, one of the most iconic voices in British music joins Jane to discuss 60 years in the music industry. To celebrate her Diamond Jubilee Dame Shirley is launching her new album, Hello Like Before.

Rabbi Julia Neuberger

Social campaigner and writer, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, author of Not Dead Yet: A Manifesto for Old Age joins Jane in the studio.

Elizabeth Bullivant

Elizabeth Bullivant ,aged 89, is a hydrangea specialist who used to open her garden 聽to the public. In 2012 she moved in with her daughter. Soon after she became very ill, so ill that everyone thought she would die. She defied expectations, moved from hospital into a nursing home, then came back to her family. Her granddaughter, Kate, talks to her.

Marie Dye

Marie Dye, 89, is currently at home looking after her 93 year old husband, Roger. Roger recently spent a month in hospital, but he is now at home. Carers come in for half an hour three times a day.聽Marie also has three children who support her as much as they can, work and other responsibilities permitting.

Nicci Gerrard

Nicci Gerrard鈥檚 latest novel The Twilight Hour聽is about Eleanor Lee, an old, fiercely independent woman, living alone in her nineties. Jane talks to Nicci about why she chose to make her central character such an elderly woman.

Elderly drivers

The number of over-70s who hold a UK driving licence has exceeded four million for the first time. The perception is that elderly drivers pose the greatest threat, due to eyesight problems and dementia. Yet drivers under the age of 20 have more fatal accidents than drivers over 75. Jane Garvey talks to Ed Passant, from The Forum of Mobility Centres, about whether older drivers are more likely to cause accidents, what impact stopping driving has on a person and how best to broach the subject with an elderly relative.聽

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jane Garvey
Interviewed Guest Shirley Bassey
Interviewed Guest Julia Neuberger
Interviewed Guest Elizabeth Bullivant
Interviewed Guest Marie Dye
Interviewed Guest Nicci Gerrard
Interviewed Guest Ed Passant

Broadcast

  • Tue 18 Nov 2014 10:00

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