Stations,

BBC’s “Identity” season is in full swing. Please see below for two special programs on Monday, April 18, and also additional programs with extended air windows that are great offers for U.S. audiences.

Monday, April 18, BBC World Service will air 2 special programs:

1)    5:00 – 6:00pm ET: “Identity Debate: Who Are We?” presented by Razia Iqbal
2)    7:00 – 7:30pm ET: A live edition of “The Arts Hour”

Program Descriptions:
“Identity Debate: Who Are We?”
As part of the Identity Season, a debate from World Service Languages asks how we, as individuals and global citizens, form our identity.  What makes us who we are? How does place, race, gender, sexuality, faith and other people’s view of us all affect our identity? And does it still make sense to talk about single or national identities in a globalized world?

Presenter Razia Iqbal is joined by Yuwen Wu from BBC Chinese, Nick Ericsson from BBC Africa, Ali Hamedani from BBC Persian and from outside the BBC, the English singer/songwriter Billy Bragg and the Irish-Nigerian blogger and academic Emma Dabiri.

“The Arts Hour” live edition
The Arts Hour presents a live discussion in front of an audience chaired by Nikki Bedi on the subject of identity and migration in the arts. To what extent do artists retain or relinquish their individuality as they move from their native environment to a foreign one, and how does that affect their creativity? How do home based artists respond to the influx of culture from abroad?

Guests include the Turkish author Elif Shafak, the British poet Benjamin Zephaniah, the Sierra Leonean singer Yasmin Kadi and Mumbai artist Baptist Coelho.

Both these special programs are available for download via the BBC Partners site as of Monday, April 18, and have air windows through May 30.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/partners/english/programmes/the-arts-hour-live-edition–
http://www.bbc.co.uk/partners/english/programmes/identity-debate–who-are-we-

There are many more great programs exploring identity available from the BBC Partners site, including:

Default World
Broadcast window: April 2 – July 2
How are the ethics, philosophy and lifestyles of the internet pioneers determining the way we all live? And do we have any choice but to live the way they live, or rage against what…the machine? David Baker travels to Silicon Valley to find out what influences those who are shaping the way we live, including an interview with a blind engineer working for Facebook who reveals how artificial intelligence makes him feel more socially included.

The Salon
Broadcast window: April 9 – July 9
The Salon takes you inside personal stories which very few people ever hear – stories of identity and womanhood revealed in the intimate, frank and sometimes secret conversations between a hairdresser and their client. From Beirut to London, Tokyo to Johannesburg, step inside The Salon for insights into race, sexuality, gender, beauty, class and money around the world.

The Afro-Mexicans
Broadcast window: April 9 – July 9
Lucy Duran meets some of the 1.4 million black Mexicans, exploring why the identity of the entire community has become so political.

Beyond Binary
Broadcast window: April 23 – July 23
Online and out there, whole communities of intersex, genderqueer and bi-gender people are attempting tore-define gender identity. Will public opinion and legislation accommodate this new thinking, as many nations have accepted homosexuality? Or is defying the notion of gender simply too radical an idea?

The Why Factor: Dolly, Dylan, or Daft Punk?
Broadcast window: April 23 – July 23
In a program filled with live and recorded performances, presenter Gemma Cairney investigates the origins of our taste in music and what influences it. How much is innate, and how much changes with age or social milieu?

The Why Factor: Life, Liberty and the American Dream
Broadcast window: April 30 – May 30
Mike Williams explores how migration and globalization are challenging long-standing ideas about national identity by asking what makes up the American identity and why is it a portrait recognized around the world.

Music that Unites Us
Broadcast window: April 30 – July 30
Stories of split-identity music that unites fans across borders, in spite of official enmity.

Please contact your APM Station Relations Representative with any questions about the “Identity” series content.