Afternoons for Wednesday 27 May 2020

 

1:17 Ghost town: Wellington workers are staying home 

In the capital city thousands of public servants aren't heading back to work any time soon.

Commuter numbers have plummeted and spending is down. 

We speak to Justin Lester, the former Wellington mayor and government director for DOT Loves Data.

1.27 "Dryish July" 2020 criticised as a cop out

The popular "Dry July" campaign has this year opted to be different by offering the option of people only giving up alcohol for part of the month.

The organisers say this recognised that a month without alcohol might be too much in these times.

We speak to Alcohol Healthwatch Executive Director, Nicki Jackson about the message that sends about using alcohol as a coping mechanism.

1:37 Ngā Taonga Sound Archives: the history of tourism at Mt Cook

For over 130 years Mt Cook has been a cornerstone of New Zealand tourism, since the first ‘Hermitage’ hotel was built at the base of the mountain in 1884. The Hermitage is currently closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but memories of it in busier times live on in the sound archives of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, and we will hear some of them with Sarah Johnston today.

Watch “Happy Altitudes” a 1933 travel film about The Hermitage and Mt Cook

Listen to a 1994 Spectrum documentary about life in Mt Cook village.

1:45 Lost and Found: Bag on the car roof

A terrible thing happened to Kaille Harris in Wellington this morning. She put her handbag on the roof of the car as she was strapping her kids in before they drove to Tauranga. When she reached Otaki she realised she'd left it there, and of course it was long gone.

So she's asking people in the Berhampore area to have a look out for it, because it was made especially for her by her husband. She talks to Jesse about what happened.

1:55  Robert Kelly's book quiz

Every week Robert Kelly puts some questions linked to books to the audience. He'll have the answers after 2pm.

2.12 Podcast Critic: Molly Jones

Molly Jones joins Jesse to talk about podcasts The Happiness Lab, Unlocking us, Brene Brown and Radio Headspace.

2:20 Bookmarks with Barnaby Weir

Barnaby Weir, frontman of The Blackseeds and the musical collective Fly My Pretties is our Bookmarks guest today. 

The latest Fly My Pretties released album, Studio Recordings Part 2, was released earlier this month. 

Barnaby's favourites: 

Books 

A sharp Left Turn - Mike Chunn

Bowie’s Books - John O’Connell 

Dead people I have known - Shayne Carter 

21 lessons for the 21st-century - Yucas Noah

Scuse Me A While I Kiss The Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix - David Henderson 

The Body - Bill Bryson 

Songs

Rhythm and Sound - See Mi Ya 

Hit The Hay - Fly my Pretties (The studio Recordings Part 2)

Shake Your Hips - Slim Harpo 

Don’t start crying now - Slim Harpo

Friday - JJ Cale 

Let's go dancing - Kool and The Gang 

Film and TV

Quincy - The amazing life of Quincy Jones 

The Last Dance - Michael Jordan Story 

Formula 1 - Drive to Survive

Seinfeld

Car Masters - Rust to Riches

Rust Valley

Podcasts 

Disgraceland - Jake Brennan 

Bonus: YouTube series 

Kurgesagt - in A Nutshell 

 

3:10  Lionel Shriver on lockdown, brexit and her latest book

Bestselling author Lionel Shriver doesn’t write stories about  noble characters who  breeze through adversity without breaking a sweat  and her readers thank her for it. 

Her books include  Big Brother,  and We Need to Talk About Kevin. Shriver’s 15th novel takes on a trifecta of hot button topics including chasing immortality, gender and race.  In the new novel, a long marriage is strained when one of them becomes obsessed with exercise. It’s called   “The Motion of the Body Through Space". Jesse speaks to Lionel Shriver about her latest work.

3:35 Stories from Our Changing World.

3:45 The Panel with Sue Bradford and Peter Dunne