麻豆约拍

She went to Oxford at 16 and is now a world-renowned crime writer, not bad for a wee lassie fae Fife. On the 30th anniversary of the publication of her debut book, Ricky talks to author Val McDermid about her life and career.

As part of our occasional series about inspirational moments in our lives Lucie Armstrong talks about the support group that first helped her autistic son, but then went on to inspire her.

In light of recent news that Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman will appeal against his conviction and life sentence for murdering a severely wounded Taliban fighter, journalist and former Royal Marine, Neal Ascherson, recounts to Ricky his experience during National Service when he faced a similar moral dilemma about taking a life.

For many people, it feels like the political world is in turmoil. Controversial new US immigration controls, a wall planned between Mexico and the States, and the rise of Fake News. So how are three of the world's major global faiths navigating their way through this new reality, and how do they respond? Ricky is joined in discussion by Reverend Ian Galloway, minister of Gorbals Parish Church and Convener of the Board of Faith in Community Scotland; Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers, Community Educator at The Movement for Reform Judaism; and Yahya Barry, Imam of the Edinburgh Central Mosque.

Who we are, where we come from, these questions define our sense of self. Playwright Ana Bayat has been contemplating what home and identity means most of her life since first leaving her homeland of Iran aged 7. She reveals how it inspired her latest play, 'Mimi's Suitcase'.