Afternoons for Monday 12 November 2018

Short Story Club

This week's NZ short story The Whale Baby by Sarah Ell. The writer of the best email about the story wins a copy of her book; Ocean: Tales of Discovery and Encounter that Defined New Zealand

1:10 First song: Troubadour, Monty Bevins

Monty Bevins is a troubadour in the true sense of the word - he's spent the last 6 years with no fixed abode, just travelling and performing with his trusty guitar

And his latest way of touring is via train. He joins us in our Auckland studio before boarding the Northern Explorer

1:15 Mike Joy - Solving NZ's freshwater crisis

It's an important and contentious question: how do we preserve New Zealand's fresh water reserves, and maintain our beautiful environment, while also keeping up a functional economy?

And what ethical and cultural considerations does that throw up?

It's a question a bunch of academics and scientists have had a shot at answering in a new BWB book, From Mountains to Sea: Solving New Zealand's Freshwater Crisis

The book is edited by environmental scientist Mike Joy.

1:25 Pātaka Kai - the neighborhood pantry

Pātaka kai are community pantries, set up for neighbours, by neighbours.

They're there so that if you need a cup of sugar, or you're running a bit light on food for the kids' breakfasts tomorrow, there's a judgment-free place for you to grab something, 24/7.

Swanie Nelson is the founder of this initiative and joins us to explain more.

1:35 Irish ambassador Peter Ryan talks Irishfest

This Thursday marks the opening day of New Zealand's inaugural Irishfest - a four-day celebration of Irish music, film, culture and sport.

It includes 60 different events spread across four locations around the country.

And who better to talk to about Irishness than the first Irish Ambassador to New Zealand, Peter Ryan, who joins us from Wellington.

1:40 Great album: The Very Best of Dragon

2:10 Television Critic Briar Wyatt

Briar discusses:

Get It To Te Papa (Lightbox) Hayden Donnell's quest to get under-appreciated kiwi treasures into the national museum.

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Netflix) - a weekly current affairs show in a similar vein to the Colbert Report.

Kidding (Soho) - Jim Carrey’s return to a regular television role, which has him playing a children’s television host who shares messages about kindness and compassion while suffering loss and grief in his personal life.

Loudermilk (Lightbox) - a sleeper comedy about an addiction counseller who struggles to be particularly nice to those in his care.

2:20 Expert feature - The truth about swans

Cygnets, the young of swans, take about a fortnight to form bonds with their parents. That's a lot longer than other similar species. Alison Campbell is an expert in black swan behaviour. She spent a lot of time swan-watching from a hide among the raupo at the edge of a dune lake, but couldn't see the very young cygnets behaviour because they spent a lot of time hidden away.  So she raised a clutch of cygnets in captivity

3:10 Marion Nestle - How food companies skew food research

For more than 50 years, Professor emerita Marion Nestle has made it her mission to shine a light on food politics and questionable dietary science that cooks the books in favor of food and beverage companies that pay for research.  

The result is confused consumers, bombarded with claims that pomegranates can improve your sex life or yogurt prevents type 2 diabetes.

She calls out the food industry for manipulating research and educates us about how to fight back in her new book, Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat

3:35 Voices

3:45 The Pre-Panel Story of the Day and One Quick Question

4:05 The Panel with Julia Hartley Moore and Guy Williams