Woman's Hour - 18/11/2008

Presented by Jane Garvey. Saxophonist YolanDa Brown talks to Jane about supporting The Temptations, balancing the sax and her studies, and her plans to bring jazz to a whole new audience. How difficult is it for some people to pay bills and cope during the festive season? For those who are on benefits any chance of a bank loan is out of the question, resulting in an increasing number of women turning to loan sharks. Tina Barnes from the Citizens Advice Bureau joins Jane to discuss how to manage debt. More women are moving into funeral directing roles, according to figures from the Co-op. Jane talks to Tony Walter, Professor of Death Studies at the University of Bath, and Rosie Grant, director of Natural Endings (specialists in alternative and woodland burials) about why women have become interested in personalising what can be a very difficult day for families. The English Civil War is regarded as a highly influential but much ignored part of our history. It was a time when political disobedience turned into revolution and English history changed forever. The historian Martine Brant has been investigating the impact on women of the era for the Channel 4 series The Devil's Whore. She explains to Jane what drew her to this period of history. Including drama: A Taste for Death.