Writer and BBC Radio 3 presenter Kate Molleson joins Jude to talk about the book Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay.

As well as digging into the life of Bessie they also discuss how music provides solace, childhood encounters with music, whether women are allowed to be straight up authorities on music, radical lyrics and the complications of discussing a female musician’s clothes.

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Sound Within Sound: Opening Our Ears to the Twentieth Century by Kate Molleson https://bit.ly/3bZkZC2

Us Conductors by Sean Michaels https://uk.bookshop.org/books/us-conductors/9781408868690

The Musical Life of Gustav Mole by Kathryn Meyrick https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-musical-life-of-gustav-mole/9780859533331

Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay https://bit.ly/3wddpuF

You can buy Jude's book The Sound of Being Human: How Music Shapes Our Lives here: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-sound-of-being-human-how-music-shapes-our-lives/9781474622929

Finally White Rabbit's Spotify Playlist of 'booksongs' - songs inspired by books loved by our guests - is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7chuHOeTs9jpyKpmgXV6uo

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