Review of What Has Religion Done For Women in The Guardian

This was a one hour documentary fro BBC Radio 2, I fine edited and mixed  for the producer Mark O'Brien recently.  It is an interesting and revealing insight into women and religion and goes beyond the stereotypical viewpoints and voices. The Guardian picked it up as one of its featured programmes in its Rewind Radio series. This is what they had to say...

I was brought up short by the use of music in What Has Religion Done for Women?. Presented by the very great Shelagh Fogarty, as part of Radio 2's Faith in the World Week, this was an intelligent, open-minded investigation into how women of different faiths integrate some of their religion's trickier aspects into their lives. Fogarty spoke to Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Christians, and there were some lovely moments: a Sikh woman talking about how she managed to overcome her embarrassment at having hairy legs (Sikh women aren't meant to cut their hair); Fogarty herself donning a niqab and entering, then leaving, a shop packed with women and children, because, she said: "We're alarming people."
But. This being Radio 2, the producer clearly thought that we couldn't absorb Fogarty's points without relevant music to help. Though it's debatable whether helpful is the right word for the Scissor Sisters' "Mary"; that is, when it's dropped immediately after a discussion on the artistic representations of Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary. "Mary!" warbled Jake Shears, meaningfully, "You shouldn't let 'em make you mad." There was a debate about Muslim women's modesty of dress. Followed by Dolly Parton singing: "I can see you're disappointed, by the way you look at me". Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" popped up after the Sikh lady's "hurray for hairy" section; Aretha singing "Respect" after a subtle point about the niqab ensuring that men have to deal with women as an intellect, rather than a body. The cumulative effect was the same as if Shelagh had been followed around by Dave Lee Travis, with his trigger finger twitching on the "Quack Quack Oops" button. I'm not sure that was what was intended.

I have to say as someone who helped the producer place the music, I have disagree with some of the reviewer's points. The music for me added another layer to the story, yes a little tongue in cheek at times, and some of the choices weren't the stereotypical choices for that point in the documentary, but I stand by them.

What Religion Has Done For Women on Radio 2

I fine edited and mixed this one hour documentary for the producer Mark O'Brien last Wednesday.  It is an interesting and revealing insight into women and religion and goes beyond the stereotypical viewpoints and voices.

As women find themselves increasingly at the centre of religious news around the world - from Tahrir Square in Cairo, to the ban on wearing headscarves in France and Belgium, and the arguments over women bishops in the Church of England - Shelagh Fogarty speaks to women of different faiths to find out what their religious culture and beliefs mean to them.
Religion is seen by many as universally controlling women in all aspects of their lives, from how they see their bodies, their careers and roles in the family and society. Meeting female religious leaders and ordinary, everyday women of different faiths, Shelagh challenges many of the popular myths and stereotypes.
She meets theologian Tina Beattie at the National Gallery who explains the historical images of famous religious women - Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Eve in the Garden of Eden, Salome and even depictions of pagan goddesses from mythology. Tina Beattie points out that, throughout the ages, the quintessential woman has been either the virgin or mother or the whore and temptress - but little else in between.
Even though many of these iconic women are depicted naked, or at least reveal an abundance of flesh, why has the woman's body become the object to cover-up in modesty and not men's? Shelagh talks to Muslim women who are happy to cover themselves in a particular way. To experience people's attitudes and challenge her own perceptions, Shelagh puts on a niqab and joins them on a shopping trip. She also travels to a London Synagogue to hear why women choose to cover their own hair with wigs, wear ultra conservative regulation clothes, and remove themselves from their husbands once a month when they are deemed 'ritually impure'. Is Shelagh's perception of what she considers to be female oppression correct, or do these customs and religious discipline actually empower them as women?
Shelagh also explores the extent to which women are able to participate in their own acts of worship. Contributors include Canon Lucy Winkett, a young woman priest at St James Piccadilly. She talks about the Church's attitude towards women and how she dealt with a certain amount of abuse when she was appointed as the first woman precentor at St Paul's Cathedral.
Whilst much of Shelagh's encounters and discoveries challenge some of her own views, this documentary also acknowledges that there are cases of women oppressed and abused by religious tradition. Shelagh draws together all her experiences and considers whether women are beginning to enjoy their religious identity, distinct from that of men, and whether they are served by religion and valued as spiritual people.

Mark has found some different voices and his music choices are very good with a few that you might expect and some you wouldn't. Well worth a lisetn either live or via iPlayer.

The Robeson Files on BBC Radio 2

The Robeson Files was a very interesting programme to work on that goes out today on BBC Radio 2...

"A first rate nuisance in the world peace campaign... slightly anti-British, he is a crank on the colour question." Words from security files about the American singer and civil rights campaigner, Paul Robeson, as they feared the effect his popularity may have on the European colonies.

Dotun Adebayo looks at back at the extraordinary talents of one of the greatest American recording stars of the early 20th century, Paul Robeson, at how both the FBI and MI5 colluded to try and crush both his career and social justice activism, and examines his extraordinary relationship with the miners of South Wales.

Robeson, the son of an escaped slave, became a forerunner of the civil rights movement and is credited by many - including his godson, singer-songwriter Eric Bibb, for laying the path for future activists such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

This moving and powerful documentary includes archive of Paul Robeson's early performances, his recordings, his speeches and recounts a selection of extracts from the security files - his FBI file is said to be one of the most extensive of any entertainer ever investigated. The Robeson Files also examines Robeson's relationship with the miners of South Wales - whose plight he paralleled with slavery and looks at the years of espionage that resulted in the confiscation of his passport in 1950. This was a particular blow to the Welsh mining community who had invited Robeson to sing at the Miners' Eisteddfod. However, the 1957 Eisteddfod festival was to go down in history. Frustrated at the US and British governments' attempts to control his movements, Robeson addressed and sang to the miners in one of the first ever trans-Atlantic telephone link ups. A year later, Robeson's passport was returned.

Presenter - Dotun Adebayo,

Sound Designer - Mike Thornton

Producer - Hilary Robinson

Hilary brought me in much earlier in the production process and sent me copies of the FBI files to look at. I went through them and identified ones that leapt off the page that would work on radio. I then developed a style so that we could use these texts on the radio. I had them voiced up by a selection of British voices, because quite a number of the files were from the UK, as well as an american voice. Then I used the sound of an old fashioned telex machine to under score the text clips, simple but very effective. I also used music and clips or archive weaved together to help bring together the Welsh connection.  Although I say it myself it was a riveting programme showing the culture of spying and monitoring in the 50s and 60s.

If you miss it then it will be on iPlayer too.