Sheila Dillon; British women and Islam; fatherhood; female composers

Sheila Dillon has appeared on The Food programme on Radio Four for around the past twenty years. So when she was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer– that is multiple myeloma,  in December 2011,  she made it her mission to discover how we can control the cancer through what we eat. She was horrified that there was so little professional advice available and how it was not made a priority by the medical profession. On The Food Programme on Sunday, 19th May at 12.30pm, she speaks to experts on cancer and on diet and asks why, in her eyes, they are  too cautious, too ignorant or too busy to give dietary advice when what we eat makes such a difference? Jenni Murray speaks to Sheila, who is now in remission, about her experience of the disease and her views on how diet can affect recovery.

This week a report, examining the experiences of nearly 50 British women who have converted to Islam, is published by the University of Cambridge’s Centre of Islamic Studies, in association with the New Muslims Project, Markfield. It's a fascinating dissection of the conversion experience of British women in the 21st Century. To discuss some of the issues Jenni is joined by Professor Yasir Suleiman from the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, who led the report, and by Anita Nayyar, who converted to Islam in 2000 when she was eighteen and by Batool Al Toma, director of the New Muslims Project UK and a convert to Islam.

The report is  'Narratives of Conversion to Islam in Britain: Female Perspectives'.

Helen Grime is Associate Composer for The Halle. She is the first woman to hold the post at the orchestra. ‘Near Midnight', her first major Halle commission, will receive its  premiere at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on Thursday 23rd May. As a forerunner to a special Woman’s Hour programme about the orchestra next month we celebrate the new generation of British women composers breaking through.  Helen Grime and Anna Meredith tell Jenni about the challenges and highlights of making it as an established  composer.  

Radio 3 Live in Concert:   Helen Grime live from the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester

A special edition of Woman’s Hour will be broadcast in  conjunction with the BBC Philharmonic on June 21st . Tickets available from 31st May at BBC Ticket Website

The trials and tribulations of fatherhood, that's the subject of Brian Viner’s new book; “The Good, the Dad and the Ugly”.  Brian recalls bringing up his daughter and two sons and rising to the challenges of their teenage years – decisions about letting them have alcohol, his daughter and boyfriends and whether or not to let them go to music festivals. Stephen Falder is a businessman and inventor, who also has brought up three children, a boy and two girls. Jenni Murray asks Brian and Stephen about the best way to deal with tricky situations and teenagers.