Michele Bachmann, Avery Sunshine, talking about death

It’s the only thing we can guarantee will happen to us all but why do we find death so hard to talk about? And what might adult children gain from an open and honest conversation with their parents about the end of life and final wishes, well before death becomes imminent? Jane talks to Marion Shoard, who writes and lectures on older people’s matters, and Sue Brayne, psychotherapist and author of ‘The D Word: Talking about Dying’.

‘A Survival Guide to Later Life’, by Marion Shoard, is published by Constable & Robinson.

‘The D Word: Talking about Dying’, by Sue Brayne, is published by Continuum Publishing.

Gospel singer and songwriter Avery Sunshine has played for the likes of President Obama and this week is opening for none other than King of the Blues, B.B. King, at the Royal Albert Hall. Her self-titled debut album is a mixture of soul, house, classical and hip hop. Avery joins Jane to discuss her career and sings live in the studio.

Avery is performing at the Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday 28th June as the opening act for B.B. King.

Avery Sunshine's website

Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins is best remembered for his work on vitamins, for which he shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1929. The discovery of vitamin D helped virtually eradicate diseases such as rickets. However he also left another legacy for women scientists. Hopkins employed four women in his laboratory long before Cambridge University got round to awarding any women degrees. Hopkins was born 150 years ago, and science journalist Angela Saini went to Cambridge to attend the unveiling of a commemorative plaque outside his home.

University of Cambridge, History of the Department of Biochemistry