One To One

Why do so many of us feel inspired after we have retired and long to flex our creative muscles? Having recently retired from a demanding job in part because he wants to be more 'hands on' and creative, Fergus Keeling talks to Chartered Psychologist Professor Victoria Tischler about 'life after 60' and why it is that so many people feel creatively inspired after retirement. Released from the demands of busy schedules, deadlines and meetings, Fergus discovers that we are free to connect with the child inside us and 'play' again. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Can you have a new creative life after you have retired? Having recently stepped back from a demanding job in part because he wants to be more 'hands on' and creative, Fergus Keeling talks to Bristol hat designer Tricia Hamilton about 'life after 60' and how she changed careers from being a teacher to designing hats. As Fergus discovers, there is much to be gained from flexing your creative muscles in later life. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Bristol film maker Michael Jenkins became a father unexpectedly, aged 18. He found it an overwhelming experience at first but eventually grew up and into the role of being a dedicated dad to his sons who are now 11 and 6. He wanted to talk to other young men who became fathers at a young age to find out how they have dealt with the pressures of teen parenthood. Kevin Makwikila was just starting his second year at college and was planning to train to be an architect when he found out he was going to become a father. For him, there was never any doubt that he wanted to play an active role in his child's life, and now five years on, he is the sole carer for his son. Despite the difficulties he has faced, he loves being a dad and cherishes the relationship he has with his son who's now seven.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

In his One to One series on race and identity, Jay Brave explores why he doesn't identify with the term "black" when it means so much to so many other people. In this episode, he talks to Christopher Sebastian McJetters about his experiences being a black and gay man both in the USA where he's from, and in Prague where he lives now.Producer: Toby Field.

Jay Brave speaks to the poet Lawrence Hoo about his upbringing in a small village near Weston Super Mare, and what it was like to then move to Bristol where other people noticed the colour of his skin. He talks about how his background informs his attitude towards race and identity, and why he is now done with race.Producer: Toby Field.

Rachel Johnson is fascinated by the idea that women are judged more harshly than men on their parenting choices. In this first episode of two One to Ones, she meets Susanna Thomas, an egyptologist living and working in Cairo, whose twin girls live in the UK with her brother and his wife. Rachel sent her own three children to boarding school and she wants to explore the emotional cost of 'outsourcing' child-care - for both the mother and the children. Produced in Bristol by Sara Conkey

Jay Brave is a spoken word artist and entrepreneur who doesn't identify as "black", arguing that an understanding of ethnic background is far more important than race. But actress, director and fitness instructor Kelechi Okafor has an almost opposite approach to identity and is proud to be, and to identify as, "black".Here they meet and discuss why they think the way they do, what their experiences have been, where their views meet, and how they see themselves as agents for change. Producer: Toby Field.

Decca Aikenhead explores how the loss of a parent effects a child. Decca herself was nine when her mother died of cancer, and three years ago, her partner drowned suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving her with their two young sons. She has had to raise them on her own and help them cope with his death. She talks to Sandra, who lost both her father and her husband suddenly, about what happens to children when a parent dies without warning. Producer in Bristol: Sara Conkey.

The Olympic rower, Helen Glover, speaks to Kriss Akabusi about 'life after gold'.Helen Glover is one of our most successful athletes. In a life devoted to rowing, she has won a phenomenal 21 Olympic, World and European gold medals. But now that she is considering retirement, a life away from competitive rowing feels as daunting as it is liberating. In this programme she speaks to Kriss Akabusi MBE, the larger-than-life, multiple medal-winning Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European sprinter and hurdler. Since leaving athletics, Kriss has had a successful career on TV and in motivational speaking. He and Helen talk about the challenges in finding a new role and identity, and he encourages her to think about what she would like to do next..Producer: Karen Gregor.

Decca Aikenhead explores being bereaved as a child. This week, she talks to Bridget, who, like Decca herself, lost her Mum to cancer when she was young. Decca wonders whether having time to prepare for a death makes bereavement for children easier or harder.Cruse Bereavement Care: www.cruse.org.uk Child Bereavement UK: https://childbereavement.org.

The Olympian, Helen Glover, speaks to world-class badminton player, Gail Emms, about the difficult time she has had since retiring from sport.Helen Glover is one of our most successful athletes. In a life devoted to rowing, she has won a phenomenal twenty one Olympic, World and European gold medals. But now she is contemplating retirement. And she is discovering that looking to the future - towards a life away from competitive rowing - is as daunting as it is liberating. Gail Emms, alongside her doubles partner, Nathan Robertson, won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics and became World Champion in 2006. But when she retired in 2008, she struggled financially and underestimated how hard it might be to find a new sense of identity and purpose.Producer: Karen Gregor.

The Olympic rower, Helen Glover, speaks to Dame Kelly Holmes about 'life after gold' - how to cope after retiring from sport. Helen Glover is one of our most successful athletes; in a life devoted to rowing she's won a phenomenal 21 Olympic, World and European gold medals. But now that she's considering retirement, a future away from competitive rowing seems as daunting as it is liberating. She worries that, in her early 30s, her best days could be behind her. So, for this series, she is speaking to athletes who have already made the transition away from professional sport. In this programme, Dame Kelly Holmes tells her how she rebuilt her life and her identity. Producer Karen Gregor.

Comedy writer Sian Harries and columnist and broadcaster Grace Dent discuss that strange taboo for women - ambivalence towards motherhood. Should Sian make the decision to have a baby or not to? And she wonders will she regret somewhere down the line not having them. She and Grace talk about how other people can make you feel when you haven't got children. As the successful writer of programmes like ' Man Down', 'The Now Show' and 'Dilemma', Sian Harries explores how a fear for her career might be affecting her decision to have children. Women certainly have more choice now about whether to become a mother, but does society really accept and respect that choice or is it generally assumed that all women want a baby and that she - and any women who feel ambivalent - will at some point change their minds? Producer: Toby Field.

Comedy writer Sian Harries and Isy Suttie discuss that strange taboo - women's ambivalence towards having children. Why is it that you're supposed to want to have children, what does it mean if you're really not sure that you do, and why it is that so many people feel they have the right to tell her she's wrong to feel the way she does?Sian Harries has written comedy for The Now Show, Greg Davies' 'Man Down' and she's worked closely with her husband, the comedian Rhod Gilbert. But despite her success, she explains how bad it made her feel when someone walked up to her at a party and asked her when she was going to have children. She wonders why people feel they have the right to ask this question, and why it only seems to be of women but never men. She asks Isy, who has chosen to have children, if she always knew she wanted too and whether it just felt "right"?Producer in Bristol: Toby Field.

Journalist and mother Samantha Simmonds meets Nicki Karet who like Samantha has children who frequently compete against one another and often over the most trivial things to explore how these situations arise, how intense they can become and the ways in which Nicki tries to deal with them. Producer Sarah Blunt.

When she was two years old, Joanna Briscoe's life as a single child changed forever when her mother came home with a new baby in her arms. From that moment, Joanna's early childhood was over-shadowed by the rivalry with her brother for her mother's attention. Whilst her brother rapidly grew stronger and could be more physically aggressive, Joanna fought back with her tongue. In this programme, she discusses how the rivalry escalated and what she has learned from the experience with journalist and mother Samantha Simmonds whose own sons constantly compete with one another. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Journalist and broadcaster Samantha Simmonds has two sons who compete with one another "over everything". It's something she thinks much about and wants to explore more. She speaks to Alison Pike, Professor of Child and Family Psychology about why sibling competition develops, how it can be channelled positively, and the potential long term effects. Is it such a bad thing? Producer Sarah Blunt.

Broadcaster Peter Curran talks to guests about the Northern Ireland they left behind - they grew up there but then came over to mainland UK. With them he explores how they perceive the people and the politics, now that they don't live there, and how their childhood affected their own world view.

Broadcaster Peter Curran talks to guests about the Northern Ireland they left behind - they grew up there but then came over to mainland UK. With them he explores how they perceive the people and the politics, now that they don't live there, and how their childhood affected their own world view. Peter first met Fiona Murphy when the two of them had recently arrived in Brixton from North Belfast in the 1980s. In the thirty years since they last saw each other Fiona has gone on to be a top human rights lawyer, with a specialism in police accountability. Peter talks to her about how the injustice she saw growing up during the troubles has influenced her own path, and how she sees Northern Ireland now. Produced by Polly Weston in Bristol.

Does being in nature aid our mental health? Isabel Hardman, Assistant Editor of The Spectator, discusses with Dr Alan Kellas, a psychiatrist who advises the Royal College of Psychiatry on the subject. Isabel struggled with depression, and found that developing an interest in plants and working outside has helped her to recover. Meeting Alan in the woods, they talk of exercising outdoors, of watching the seasons turn, and of having regular places to visit that take us outside ourselves, allowing us to move beyond our own preoccupations. Alan reveals the ways in which he himself learned to resolve difficult things in a particular woodland setting. Producer: Mark Smalley.