Afternoons for Wednesday 27 November 2019

1:10 First song

 

1:17 Should we ban washing your car on the street?

A couple of weeks ago, Napier's city council proposed a bylaw which would mean NO chemicals or detergents could enter the city's stormwater network ...

Seems like common sense on the surface - but after a while people realised this would effectively ban washing your car on the side of the road - because the runoff goes down the drain ... cue OUTRAGE!

University of Waikato engineering lecturer Dr Marcus Wilson spotted an opportunity here to teach his class about digging deeper ... so he came up with an experiment.

1:27 Auckland Symphony Orchestra to perform RNZ Xmas song at concert

Earlier this year we ran a wee competition - asking people to come up with a modern-day twist on the classic Christmas song.

We were inundated with entries - and the eventual winner's track has been professionally recorded is being released next week, along with a video, we'll keep you posted on that.

But that wasn't the end of the story - the Auckland Symphony Orchestra took a liking to one of the songs, and asked whether they could re-interpret it for their annual Christmas concert in early December!

Conductor Peter Thomas joins us to chat a bit about the gig, and why he liked the cut of The Sations' jib.

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1:34 Ngā Taonga Sound Archives: The Erebus Disaster 

Tomorrow marks the 40^th anniversary of New Zealand’s greatest peace-time disaster – the crash of Air New Zealand Flight TE901 on Mt Erebus in Antarctica in 1979, with the loss of 257 lives.  In today’s visit to the Sound Archives of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision we will hear some of the radio coverage of this tragedy and the ensuing investigation.

Hear more about the Erebus disaster and investigation in the “White Silence” podcast series

1:50 Pākehā New Zealanders confront their heritage in new documentary

Land of the Long White Cloud is an upcoming seven-part documentary, telling the stories of Pākehā New Zealanders who are confronting the country's colonial past and present, 250 years after James Cook's arrival.

Kathleen Winter is the filmmaker behind the series and joins us to chat about the inspiration behind it, and the sensitivities in handling such subject matter. All episodes of Land of the Long White Cloud are available to view here.

2.10 Alix Higby's podcasts picks

Alix says these three are her absolute favourite at the moment - Bag Man, Dolly Parton's America and Slow Burn Season 3: Biggie and Tupac.

2:20 Burton Shipley - New Zealand's "First Man" of Politics

In 1997, Burton Shipley became the very first "First Man" of politics in New Zealand, after his wife Jenny Shipley was sworn in as the first woman Prime Minister of New Zealand.

He's now a leader of sorts in his own right having just been appointed vice-president of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) earlier this month. 

He's our Bookmarks guest today and will share his favourite books, music, movies and art.

3:20 Sean Carroll - are we alone in the world?

Somewhere out there, another you is living the life you might have known if you had made different choices along the way.  It's a theory of quantum mechanics known as the many worlds interpretation and Professor Sean Carroll is a big believer. He's coming to New Zealand to share his thoughts about philosophy, pop culture and why there may be many parallel universes out there where you really did win the lottery. 

3:35 Stories from Our Changing World. A spotlight on NZ lakes - Lakes380 part 2

380 New Zealand lakes are in the spotlight, and Marcus Vandergoes from GNS Science explains what happens to the thousands of sediment cores that will reveal a 1000-year history for each lake. Part 1 of this story aired last week.
 

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

4:05 The Panel with Sharon Brettkelly and Tim Watkin