Afleveringen
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We're heading to Gore, where the Gold Guitar Awards are in full swing as part of the Tussock country festival. It's one of New Zealand's most prestigious country music events, drawing contestants from around the world to converge on the Southland town to celebrate country music and compete for a chance at the top prize. We'll talk to RNZ's Samuel Robinson who's in town, soaking up the music, learning how to line dance and make cheese rolls. Plus we'll catch up with Kiwi country singing legend Jodi Vaughan who is being inducted into the hands of fame.
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Since launching his YouTube channel four years ago, Max Miller has amassed more than two million of subscribers - all tuning in for his videos that fuse history lessons with a cooking show. Neither a trained chef or historian, Los Angeles-based Miller fell into the world of being a YouTuber when he was furloughed from his job at Disney due to the Covid pandemic. His videos, which are thoroughly researched and well-produced, span thousands of years and all four corners of the globe - and even delve into the outer space culinary experience. Some of his most popular videos include "Making Medieval Mead like a Viking", "Dining First Class on the RMS Titanic", and "Macaroni Cheese from 1845". Some of his recipes have even been collated into a cookbook, Tasting History: Explore the Past through 4,000 Years of Recipes, which was released last year.
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Donald Trump is a convicted felon. A New York jury found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. He intends to appeal, and major Republican donors say they're willing to back him still, despite his criminal record, but what does Trump's guilty verdict do for the Republican Party's hopes for re-election? American political commentator and 2016 Republican candidate Lenny McAllister joins Susie from Pensylvannia.
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A phenomenon that hasn't occurred since 1803 is in full swing. Trillions of periodical cicadas are emerging in a rare double event. Brood XIX and XIII are either above ground, or emerging in 17 states, from Chicago through the Midwest. It's the first time in 221 years that these two broods have come above ground in the same place at the same time. Professor of biology at George Washington University, John Lill and his research team are in Chicago observing birds and other species feasting on a cicada banquet, which is changing their diet and causing much disruption to the food chain. John Lill has written about the consequences of this shift in avian foraging in Science.
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A "miserable" moment on the banks of Lake Wakatipu was the initial inspiration for Matt Heath's new book A Life Less Punishing: 13 Ways To Love the Life You've Got. The radio host and writer tells Susie Ferguson we all have the power to change our own mindset for the better.
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Some of the world's humanitarian crises are well known - Gaza and Ukraine for example - but many more are less likely to make international news: Chad and Sudan. One of the organisations operating wherever there is conflict is Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders. It's working in a world emerging from the covid pandemic, with inflation rampant and people increasingly disconnecting from bad news. MSF's International President, Dr Christos Christou is a trauma surgeon with extensive experience working in warzones.
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If you're feeling sadder as the days get shorter, you're not alone. Around half the population report feeling less happy in winter and 5 percent fall into serious depression. Apart from nutrition and exercise, getting more light in your eyes is the best treatment we know for seasonal mood challenges, says NZ-born neurobiology researcher Anna Wirz-Justice.
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Thousands of people rallied across the country on Thursday to protest the coalition government's policies - including axing the Maori Health Authority, removing local councils' right to set up Maori wards, removing reference to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in legislation, and the Act Party's bid to redefine the Treaty principles. Julia Whaipooti is a leader at Te Kahui Tika Tangata, the Human Rights Commission. Her opinion piece argues Budget 24 disadvantages Maori financially and falls short of the Crown's te Tiriti obligations.
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The shameful treatment of pioneer women footballers 50 years ago is the subject of a new documentary Copa 71, which is screening now. Rapturous crowds of over 100,000 fans cheered 18 year old Carol Wilson as she captained England at the 1971 women's football World Cup in Mexico. The experience was a stark contrast to the reception she and other women players received at home. The UK Football Association, which had banned women from playing for 50 years, refused to endorse the tournament and tried to shut it down. To this day the team Carol represented is not recognised by the FA as an official England team, which has earned them the moniker of 'The Lost Lionesses'.
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Kate De Goldi is one of New Zealand's most celebrated authors, an Arts Foundation Laureate, and a voracious reader. She joins Susie to share three books she's loved; Ironopolis by Glen James Brown, James by Percival Everett, and The Trip by Paul Beavis.
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Recruiters are reporting an unprecedented jump in job applications in the wake of thousands of layoffs across the public and private sectors. But for those seeking new work, a key question often remains shrouded in mystery, 'What's the salary?' Fortunately there is a tool that can shed some light. Driven by a desire to promote salary transparency, Auckland-based web analytics consultant Tony Lu developed What's The Salary in 2019. Since then, there have been over a million searches, with demand up a reported 25 percent compared to a year ago.
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Having grown up in Missouri, Jake Adelstein moved to Japan at age 19 to study Japanese literature. A few years later, he became the first non-Japanese staff writer at Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the country's largest newspapers, where as a rookie reporter he was put on the police beat. Before long he was immersed in the underbelly of Japan, reporting on organised crime and the shady dealings of yakuza bosses. Adelstein's first book, a dramatic memoir entitled Tokyo Vice was published in 2009, and eventually turned into a popular television series by HBO Max. Now he is poised to release the follow-up, Tokyo Noir, which has been billed as equal parts history lesson and true crime exposé.
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In 2020, childhood friends Alex Towler and Jackson Harvey won the Australian reality show Lego Masters. Four years on, their elaborate retrofuturistic Lego exhibition RELICS: A New World Rises is coming to Auckland.
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Creating food from 'thin air' sounds like a futuristic dream. But it's a future that's already arrived in the form of Solar Foods - Europe's first factory dedicated to making human food from electricity and air. What started with hydrogen oxidising microbes has resulted in Solein - a non-farmed yellowish protein product. After several years of lab experiments, production is underway in Vantaa, near the Finnish capital of Helsinki. The goal? To produce 160 tonnes of food a year. Solar Foods co-founder and chief executive Pasi Vainikka says Solein is a crucial next step in the food revolution.
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The 1828 comic opera 'Le comte Ory' has been given a facelift by internationally acclaimed director Simon Phillips ('North by Northwest', 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert', 'The Elixir of Love'). Instead of being set in medieval France, this reworked production takes place in present-day Aotearoa, but sung in French with English subtitles. Written by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, 'Le comte Ory' tells the story of a young count who is a cunning swindler, dedicated to seducing women. The NZ Opera production features the singing talents of lyric tenor Manase Latu, soprano Emma Pearson, mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp, and baritone Moses Mackay. 'Le comte Ory' will be playing at Auckland's Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre on 30th of May and 1st of June, followed by performances in Wellington and Christchurch. Tickets and info are here.
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American film director and script writer Matt Brown's new movie, just about to be released in cinemas here, is 'Freud's Last Session'. It stars Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode as two of the greatest minds of the 20th century - father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud and Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis. The film follows the story of the pair doing battle over the existence of God, the future of mankind, and the complex relationships that made them who they are.
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Gardeners flock to the 'Chelsea Flower Show' for ideas about cutting-edge garden design and to see fabulous floral displays. Floral designer Toby de Lacey - a regular behind the scenes - is also instrumental in the simultaneous free flower show 'Chelsea in Bloom' held on Kings Road. Toby came to floristry following a career in engineering, making carbon fibre parts for the Formula 1 and Aerospace. He has only recently returned to the UK after a summer in New Zealand, where he spent time foraging for wild flowers and creating displays.
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More than 150 experts have signed an open letter calling on the NZ Government to legalise and regulate all psychoactive substances. The letter marks the launch of the Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, which aims to reduce the negative consequences of drug use in a way that upholds people's dignity and rights. It's an idea already in practice in different corners of the world - including Portugal where possession of illicit substances for personal use was decriminalised in 2001. Canada followed in January 2023, with the province of British Columbia, kicking off a three-year trial that allows adults to possess up to 2.5 grams of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine or meth without being arrested, charged, or having their drugs seized - except around schools and airports. However, just over a year into the project it has come under increasing pressure from opponents who have called it a 'harmful experiment'. Recently some of the measures have been rolled back. Public drug use is now re-criminalised, while drug possession in private homes is still legal. Joining us to discuss are Dr Nuno Capaz, of Lisbon's Dissuasion Commission of Drug Addiction, Dr Lindsey Richardson from the BC Centre on Substance Use, and Dr Fiona Hutton, a member of the Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa.
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Saturday morning listener feedback.
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At just fifteen years old Joy Womack left her family home in Texas and travelled to Moscow to follow her dream of becoming a Prima Ballerina at the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet Company. In the face of incredible challenges, she became the first American to graduate from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy's punishing training program with a red diploma, and the second American woman to sign a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet. Womack's captivating story has been made into a movie by the New Zealand filmmaking team of James Napier Robertson and Tom Hern. The biopic Joika, which is currently screening in NZ cinemas, stars actress and classically trained dancer Talia Ryder, and the real Womack served as choreographer and consultant.
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