Katie Brayben as Carole King

In her new book Exotic England The Making of a Curious Nation Yasmin Alibhai-Brown explores through five centuries of English history to find out, what it means to be English. She intertwines her own personal reflection on immigrant life in the UK with numerous interviews to paint a picture of multi-cultural Britain today

Katie Brayben has received an Olivier nomination for her portrayal of Carole King in the musical Beautiful. With hits including Will You still Love Me Tomorrow and You’ve Got A Friend, Beautiful tells the story of Carole King’s journey from schoolgirl to superstar. It shows the, sometimes heart-breaking, relationship with husband and song-writing partner Gerry Goffin, and their close friendship with fellow song-writing duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. 

On 9 August, 2014 police officer Darren Wilson shot dead Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. What followed was anger, protests, blame and denials, then on 25 November, a grand jury decided that Officer Wilson should not face criminal charges, prompting rioting and looting. Chaedria LaBouvier is an American journalist who wrote an article for American Elle about how the events in Ferguson have affected raising black children. 

http://www.mothersagainstpolicebrutality.com

Unity Spencer is an artist, the daughter of the painters Stanley Spencer (1891–1959) and Hilda Carline (1889–1950). Unity had an unconventional childhood and a complex relationship with her father who in 1937 left her mother for the artist Patricia Preece. In the aftermath of the marriage breakdown, Stanley painted the portrait Hilda, Unity and Dolls. Unity joins Jenni to talk about her parents, their break-up, becoming a single mother in an era when this was deemed morally unacceptable and forging her own artistic identity.

Unity's exhibition is on now at the Fine Art Society in London