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Jackie Kay the new Scots Makar, Shaping the Body

Writer Jackie Kay has just been announced as the next Scots Makar, how food, lifestyle and fashion have shaped women's bodies, The Quest for Mary Magdalene and Penrose Halson.

The acclaimed writer Jackie Kay has just been announced as the next Scots Makar - Scotland's national poet. She tells Jenni about the plans she has for her new role.
Today a new exhibition examining how food, fashion and lifestyle have shaped women's bodies and lives opens at York Castle Museum. The curator Ali Bodley and fashion historian Lucy Adlington join Jenni to talk about 400 years of squeezing and binding. And, how the current vogue for big bottoms and padded underwear echoes the false rumps of the past.

Mary Magdalene - what do we know about the woman who was described as the constant companion of Jesus, who wept at the foot of the Cross, and who gave the first account of the empty tomb? What is it about her story that continues to fascinate and what evidence is there that she was a prostitute or even the wife of Jesus? Michael Haag author of The Quest for Mary Magdalene speaks to Jenni.

Penrose Halson author of "Marriages are Made In Bond Street" traces the history of one of Britain's most successful marriage bureaux founded by two twenty-four year olds in the Spring of 1939. Penrose eventually became the proprietor and she tells Jenni about the remarkable cross-section of British society in the 1940's who found partners through this tiny London office.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 25 Mar 2016 10:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jenni Murray
Producer Caroline Donne
Interviewed Guest Jackie Kay
Interviewed Guest Ali Bodley
Interviewed Guest Lucy Adlington
Interviewed Guest Michael Haag
Interviewed Guest Penrose Halson Halson

Broadcast

  • Fri 25 Mar 2016 10:00

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