Jazz pianist Zoe Rahman, Allegra Stratton's resignation, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Germany's abortion law

Jazz musician Zoe Rahman has been described as one of the brightest stars on the contemporary jazz scene. She takes influence from her English, Irish and Bengali heritage to write music with swing, lyricism and intimacy. She’s a MOBO Award winner, British Jazz Award winner and now an Ivors Composer Award winner. She speaks to Emma - unfortunately we aren't able to include her live music performances in the podcast for copyright reasons.

We discuss the resignation of senior government advisor Allegra Stratton over the Downing Street party video, with Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine and the Mirror's Political Editor Pippa Crerar.

Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of British-Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe talks to Emma about his recent 21 day hunger strike outside the Foreign Office in London and his ongoing campaign to secure his wife's release from Iran, and he and their daughter face another Christmas without her.

German leader Angela Merkel has officially left office after 16 years and a new chancellor, Olaf Scholz has been confirmed. His party, the centre-left Social Democrats now have a substantial majority in a three-way coalition government. But the new chancellor has already faced opposition from conservatives over plans to reform abortion law. How will he impact the lives of women in Germany? Chief Political Editor, Michaela Kuefner from Deutsche Welle, joins Emma to discuss.

The revival of Sex and the City – a new series called And Just Like That… airs tonight on Sky TV. It comes at the same time as a brand new TV show on Prime – Harlem – focuses on four ambitious best friends navigating relationships and careers. Emma speaks to Dr Kadian Pow – who teaches Sociology and Black Studies at Birmingham City University.

Image: Zoe Rahman Credit: Ilze Kitshoff