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Keeping Cathy Macdonald company across the programme from 10am to midday is Alison Phipps, Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow and UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts.

They are joined by Martin Plaut, journalist and specialist on the Horn of Africa, to discuss the political and humanitarian disaster unfolding in Ethiopia’s northernmost region of Tigray.

Zimbabwean writer Victoria Nyanga and Professor Alison Phipps review upcoming film ‘A Girl From Mogadishu’ which is based on the real-life testimony of campaigner Ifrah Ahmed who after fleeing war-torn Somalia was trafficked to Ireland where a traumatic medical examination when seeking asylum reveals the extent of her mutilation as a child.

One of the consequences of Britain’s colonial past and its role in the Transatlantic slave trade was the changing of millions of people’s names. But do these name changes still hold any weight in the 21st century? Joining Cathy to explore what’s in a name are Dr Toni Haastrup, Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling, and Lisa Williams, writer and founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association.

The announcement of vaccines that will help bring about the end of Covid 19 has been welcomed around the world, but will it be equally available to all? While some of the new vaccines will need to be stored at minus 70 degrees centigrade, the one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca doesn’t require super-cold temperatures for transport and storage, and they have agreed to make it on a not-for-profit basis for the duration of the pandemic. Dr Sarah Chan of the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute looks at the ethics of designing and making a vaccine.

Singer Aled Jones talks about his new album ‘Blessings’ in which he collaborates with people of different faiths, showing the strength of music to bring people together, and duets with many artists including Dame Judi Dench and Susan Boyle.

And when you move from one religion to another, how much of your original faith do you take with you? Joining Cathy to share the spiritual journeys they made are Pall Singh, Director of Building Bridges, who was born into the Sikh faith and is now Christian, and Kelsang Machig, Buddhist nun and teacher who was raised a Catholic.