Listener Week, Albinism, Steampunk

Available for over a year

For the first of our listener week programmes we hear the experiences of three women with albinism, an inherited condition that affects the production of melanin, the pigment that colours the skin, hair and eyes. Sarah Ballard, Louise Taylor and Sara Krishan - all at very different stages in their lives - discuss what this genetic condition has meant to the way they live and to those around them. Meet Jema Hewitt, freelance costume designer and craft writer, with a passion for steampunk - a subculture inspired by sci-fi. Her alter-ego Emilly Ladybird joins Jane to discuss the appeal of a parallel universe with its origins in the Victorian era and the recipes inspired by it. We join listener Rushka Gray in her studio where she uses Victorian machinery to create contemporary art as part of her MA in Printmaking at Glasgow School of Art. Carol Fox discusses the decision she made to have a child using donor sperm and her now adult daughter's hope to discover her father and half-siblings. Presenter: Jane Garvey Producer: Anne Peacock.