This Saturday Morning: Kim begins by talking to Northern Irish restorative justice expert Tim Chapman; then British-Jamaican Raymond Antrobus, a celebrated spoken word poet who's been deaf since childhood; Dr Jonathan Simon, an election forensic analyst, says the upcoming US midterms are more vulnerable than ever to fraud; Penny Junor, who has written a number of controversial biographies in her career, including one of Prince Charles, has a new royal subject - the Queen's beloved corgis;  Professor Anthony Aguirre shares some of his theories of the evolution of the universe, and finally, acclaimed Irish singer/songwriter Damien Dempsey shares thoughts about spirituality, harrowing histories, and how, luckily, sharks don't tend to go for the Irish when they take a dip in the ocean. 

 

 

8:09  Tim Chapman - Restorative justice in Northern Ireland

Tim Chapman

Tim Chapman Photo: supplied

Tim Chapman is from Northern Ireland, where he works in the area of restorative justice in the community and in prisons. He was employed by the probation service for 25 years and is now teaching a Masters programme in Restorative Practices at the University of Ulster. Chapman has researched and published widely on effective restorative justice and was principal researcher for the ALTERNATIVES project, which focuses on restorative justice and intercultural conflict. He is chair of the Board of the European Forum for Restorative Justice. He is in Aotearoa for a conference at Victoria University of Wellington.

 



9.06 Raymond Antrobus - Poetry and perseverance

Raymond Antrobus

Raymond Antrobus Photo: attoh.tenee@googlemail.com

British-Jamaican Raymond Antrobus is a spoken word poet and social commentator who was diagnosed with deafness at the age of six. He is the author of three poetry collections - Shapes & Disfigurements, To Sweeten Bitter, and his recently-published The Perseverance (Poetry Book Society Winter Choice 2018). He has won several awards and his poems have been published in POETRY, Poetry Review, New Statesman, and The Deaf Poets Society, as well as in a number of anthologies. Antrobus is a founding member of Chill Pill, which promotes spoken word poetry performances, and Keats House Poets Forum. He is a board member at The Poetry School. He has performed his poetry at a number of festivals, including Glastonbury, and won numerous poetry slams. He is coming to Aotearoa next month for LitCrawl Wellington

 

9:35 Jonathan Simon - Fraud fears in US mid-terms

Jonathan Simon

Jonathan Simon Photo: supplied

There are less than two weeks to go until midterm elections in the US - a particularly important event that will either entrench the power of President Donald Trump, or provide a break on his plans. There are reports of voter suppression and disenfranchisement in parts of the country, with difficult and restrictive registration processes and a lack of polling places just two issues hampering some voters, according to critics. But there is another component to the effort to suppress the vote, according to Dr Jonathan Simon, executive director of Election Defense Alliance, a nonprofit organisation founded in 2006 to restore observable vote counting and electoral integrity as the basis of American democracy.  Simon says the country's concealed, computerised vote counting system is overly vulnerable to fraud.  He is the author of CODE RED: Computerized Elections and the War on American Democracy. Simon is a graduate of Harvard College and New York University School of Law.  

 

10.04  Penny Junor - Royal biographer takes on the Queen's corgis

June 1936:  King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) with the Royal Princesses Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret (1930 - 2002) in the grounds of Windsor Castle with four dogs.  (Photo by Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images)

June 1936: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) with the Royal Princesses Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret (1930 - 2002) in the grounds of Windsor Castle with four dogs. (Photo by Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images) Photo: This content is subject to copyright.

Penny Junor

Penny Junor Photo: supplied

Penny Junor is a journalist and author who has written several controversial biographies of members of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Sir John Junor, long-standing editor of the Sunday Express. She attended Benenden School with Princess Anne and while there, met and later married James Leith, brother of cookery expert and novelist Prue. The pair have four children. After a stint as a journalist with the Evening Standard, Junor started writing biographies in the 1980s, starting with then 20-year-old Princess Diana and, a few years later, Prince Charles. Latterly she's also added Princes Harry and William, as well as other high profile figures including Cliff Richard, Margaret Thatcher and John Major. She has also worked extensively in television. Junor will discuss her latest book - All the Queen's Corgis - with Kim. 

 

10:40  Anthony Aguirre - The origin of order in the universe

Anthony Aguirre

Anthony Aguirre Photo: supplied

Professor Anthony Aguirre received his doctorate from Harvard University then spent three years as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton before joining the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has worked on a wide variety of topics in theoretical cosmology (the study of the formation, nature, and evolution of the universe), including the early universe and inflation, gravity physics, first stars, the intergalactic medium, galaxy formation, foundations of statistical mechanics, and black holes.  He is the co-founder and associate scientific director of the Foundational Questions Institute, which supports research on the foundation and new frontiers of physics and cosmology.  Aguirre is in New Zealand to give a keynote speech at the Te Ao Mārama Conference 2018, seeking to explore evolution with some of the world's top thinkers. His speech explores the origin of order in the universe.

 

11.04 Damien Dempsey - Headlining NZ Irish Festival

Damien Dempsey

Damien Dempsey Photo: supplied

Damien Dempsey is an Irish singer and songwriter who is coming to Aotearoa next month for the first NZ Irish Festival. His first album, They Don't Teach This Shit in School, was released in 2000. In 2016 he released No Force On Earth - to commemorate the centenary of the Easter Rising. His latest album, from 2017, is Soulsun. Earlier this month, Dempsey performed at a march in Dublin when thousands took to the streets to protest over Ireland's housing crisis. The NZ Irish festival - held November 15-18 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - features music, comedy, film, Irish dancing, and Gaelic football, and coincides with the All Blacks v Ireland game on November 18.
 

 

 

Books mentioned in this episode:

 

Code Red

by Jonathan Simon 

 9781719301640

Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

 

The Perseverance 

by Raymond Antrobus 

ISBN: 9781908058522 

Penned in the Margins

 

All the Queen's Corgis

by Penny Junor  

ISBN: 9781473686748

Hodder & Stoughton

 

Music played in this show

Artist: Damien Dempsey
Song: Dublin Town
Composer: Damien Dempsey
Album: They Don't Teach This Shit in School
Label: Clear Records
Played at: 11:06

Artist: Damien Dempsey
Song: Sing All Your Cares Away
Composer: Damien Dempsey
Album: Sing All Your Cares Away
Label: Lamm records
Played at: 11:56

Music played in this show

Artist: Damien Dempsey
Song: Dublin Town
Composer: Damien Dempsey
Album: They Don't Teach This Shit in School
Label: Clear Records
Played at: 11:06 Sat 27 October 

Artist: Damien Dempsey
Song: Sing All Your Cares Away
Composer: Damien Dempsey
Album: Sing All Your Cares Away
Label: Lamm records
Played at: 11:56 Sat 27 October