Today’s Women’s Outlook show had a lot of science fiction content. For the first half hour I was joined by Joanne Hall, the Chair of BristolCon. We discussed the various things that people will be able to see and do at the convention, and then we went on discuss Jo’s new book, Spark & Carousel, which is launching at the convention. We may have noted that Jim Burns like a beer or two.

One of the many fine authors who will be attending this year’s BristolCon is Stephanie Saulter. Last week I did a phone interview with her about her latest novel, Regeneration, which I broadcast today. The whole thing is about half an hour long, so I had to cut it down quite a bit for the show because of ads, music and news. I will post the extended version on Salon Futura in due course.

You can listen to the first hour of the show here.

The second half began with the studio full of artists. They were all people involved with the Art on the Hill art trail, which is one of many such trails in Bristol. Nicolette de Sausmarez provided all of the admin details, Jane Lee & Sue Jones talked about their art, and Alan Gibson represented Nota Bene, a local a cappella group.

Finally we got serious and discussed the refugee crisis. Paulette, who is back from Jamaica at last, announced a new initiative from Ujima to help people in Calais. I talked to Dr. Naomi Millner from Bristol University who wrote this fine article about what we can do to provide practical help.

You can listen to the second hour of the show here.

The playlist for today’s show was as follows:

• Earth, Wind & Fire – Fantasy
• Janelle Monáe – Tightrope
• Pointer Sisters – We are family
• Bob Marley – Could you be loved?
• Prince – Art Official Cage
• Nota Bene – Let’s do it
• Jamiroquai – Emergency on Planet Earth
• Jama – No Borders

And finally, here is a news report about Ujima’s recent win at the National Diversity Awards.