Saturday Morning for Saturday 30 March 2019
Noelle McCarthy Photo: supplied
This morning Noelle McCarthy stands in for Kim. Noelle begins the morning by talking to acclaimed British journalist Alex Thomson about the devastation across Mozambique caused by cyclone Idai; celebrated British author Ian McEwan about his new novel, which explores the concept of synthetic humans; self-styled 'sexpert' Karly Sciortino on how a blog written in a squatting commune thrust her into the global spotlight; he's been involved in all aspects of local music for decades, now Ian Jorgensen has compiled an ode to the community hall, told through photos of a Liam and Neil Finn tour of NZ's backwaters; Canadian author David Chariandy details the story he wrote for his then 13-year-old daughter, I've Been Meaning to Tell You; Renee Liang and Michele Powles combine medical knowledge with memoirs of motherhood, and ex-drummer for The Chills, Caroline Easther, spins some of her favourite music on the occasion of her first solo album.
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Alex Thomson - Mozambique after cyclone Idai
8:12 AM.Alex Thomson is the longest-serving on-screen journalist at Britain's C4 News since the channel began. In more than 25 years he's covered over 20 wars; led major investigations and continues to front… Read more Audio
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Ian McEwan: 'I’m a total news junkie, even as it gives me enormous pain'
8:30 AM.British novellist and screenwriter Ian McEwan has been listed by The Times as amongst "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and he's received numerous awards and accolades for his work… Read more Audio
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Karley Sciortino: I'm pretty slutty
9:06 AM.'Slutty' is a word that’s historically been used as an insult, but self-styled 'sexpert' Karley Sciortino wants to reclaim it. Sciortino fronts the VICE TV series Slutever, which the New York Times… Read more Audio
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Neil Finn's tour of NZ town halls documented in new book
9:25 AM.Tour manager Ian Jorgensen has put together the intimate photographs he took on the tour of the Finns, their crew and the communities they visited in the book Where's My Room: The Neil and Liam Finn… Read more Video, Audio
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David Chariandy - I've been meaning to tell you
10:04 AM.Canadian Writer and academic David Chariandy has written two critically received novels. Brother, published in 2017, won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction prize, the Toronto Book Award and was named a… Read more Audio
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Renee Liang and Michele Powles - When we remember to breathe
10:35 AM.Renee Liang is a second-generation Chinese Kiwi poet, playwright, paediatrician, medical researcher and fiction writer, who was appointed a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the arts… Read more Audio
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Caroline Easther - ex-Chills Drummer spins her favourite tunes
11:04 AM.Caroline Easther spins a few of her favourite tunes and talks to Kim Hill about her new album, Lucky. Read more Audio
8.12 Alex Thomson - Mozambique after cyclone Idai
A girl collects artificial flowers from the rubble of a building destroyed by the cyclone Idai at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Beira, Mozambique. Photo: AFP
Alex Thomson is the longest-serving on-screen journalist at Britain's C4 News since the channel began. In more than 25 years he's covered over 20 wars; led major investigations and continues to front the programme from around the world. Thomson is only days back from his latest assignment, covering the devastation across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe as a result of Cyclone Idai, which has killed over 700 people, and made millions homeless.
8.30 Ian McEwan - Machines Like Me
Ian McEwan Photo: Penguin / supplied
British novelist and screenwriter Ian McEwan has been listed by The Times as among "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and he's received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including being shortlisted for the Man Booker several times and won for his novel Amsterdam (1998). His novel Atonement received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award (2003), Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). Atonement was also made into an Oscar-winning film. In 2006, he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Saturday and his novel On Chesil Beach was named Galaxy Book of the Year at the 2008 British Book Awards where McEwan was also named Reader's Digest Author of the Year. Ian McEwan was awarded a CBE in 2000. His latest book Machines Like Me examines the concept of synthetic humans - and what makes us human.
9.06 Karley Sciortino - Sexpertise on Slutever
Karley Sciortino Photo: VICE / Supplied
Self-styled sexpert and VOGUE magazine relationships advice columnist, Karley Sciortino, fronts a TV series called Slutever on VICE.The series, which started as a blog written by Sciortino while she belonged to a squatting commune in London, evolved into what the New York Times called "a chronicle of sexual experimentation." and became a television series in 2017. New Zealand audiences are about to see series 2 of Slutever on VICE (Sky Channel 13) - (Season 1 is available on NEON) - in which Karley explores the concept of jealousy in open relationships, becomes part of the world of virtual reality porn, and meets the feminist icons who are rebranding girl power.
9.25 Ian Jorgensen - A Finn-ish defence of the Community Hall
Photo: Fairfax NZ / Massey University College of Creative Arts / Supplied
In the summer of 2018 music promoter, tour manager and music photographer Ian Jorgensen (formerly known as Blink) hit the road with Neil & Liam Finn and a posse of musical friends in a tour that took them to some of New Zealand's most out-of-the-way spots including Purekireki, Tauhei, Tirohanga, Himatangi Beach and the Absurdistan community hall. It was a way to connect with audiences often neglected by touring musicians combined with an epic summer road-trip and a celebration of what those involved called "that li'l kiwi battler", the community hall. Ian captured intimate moments of the Finns, crew and the visited communities on 35mm film. His candid portraiture is now a book, called Where's My Room: The Neil and Liam Finn Summer 2018 Tour of Aotearoa.
Where's My Room? The photos of Ian Jorgensen
10.04 David Chariandy - I've Been Meaning to Tell You
David Chariandy Photo: supplied / AWF
Canadian Writer and academic David Chariandy has written two critically received novels. Brother, published in 2017, won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction prize, the Toronto Book Award and was named a Best Book of 2017. His debut novel, Soucouyant: A Novel of Forgetting won recognition from eleven literary awards juries. His latest non fiction work, I've Been Meaning to Tell You, is written as a letter to his now 13-year old daughter - and has been described as an intimate and profound meditation on the politics of race today. David Chariandy is a guest at this year's Auckland writers festival, details here.
10.35 Renee Liang and Michele Powles - When We Remember to Breathe
Renee Liang and Michele Powles Photo: Supplied / Elephant Publicity
Renee Liang is a second-generation Chinese Kiwi poet, playwright, paediatrician, medical researcher and fiction writer, who was appointed a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the arts last year. Michele Powles has been a dancer, producer and writer and was New Zealand's 2010 Robert Burns Fellow. Her first screenplay Tenderwood is currently in development. Liang and Powles have collaborated on a book called When We Remember to Breathe, which claims to "lay bare the raw joy, beauty, discomfort and humour of modern motherhood." A share of the publisher's profits have been promised to Good Bitches Baking, a network of people who bake for those in their communities having a tough time. Liang and Powles will be appearing at the Auckland Writers Festival - details here and here.
11.04 Caroline Easther - Lucky ex-Chills Drummer spins her favourite tunes
Caroline Easther Photo: Ebony Lamb Photography
Poster for The Chills tour in Greece. Photo: Supplied / Notable Pictures.
Caroline Easther's extensive career in music has seen her drumming and singing with iconic Dunedin bands The Chills and The Verlaines, as well as with the likes of Barry Saunders (The Warratahs), Let's Planet and Hobnail, but she has been a singer/songwriter in her own right throughout. Easther has just released her debut album, called Lucky, which will be toured with the backing of The Cinnamon Girls in April, launching on April 6th at Meow in Wellington.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Machines Like Me
by Ian McEwan
ISBN: 9781787331679
Penguin Random House
Where's My Room: The Neil and Liam Finn Summer 2018 Tour of Aotearoa
by Ian Jorgensen
ISBN: 9780473456399
A Low Hum Publishing
I've Been Meaning to Tell You: A Letter to My Daughter
by David Chariandy
ISBN: 9780771018077
McClelland & Stewart
When We Remember to Breathe
by Michele Powles and Renee Liang
Magpie Publishing
Music played in this show
Artist: The Chills
Song: Wet Blanket
Album: Brave Words
Label: Flying Nun
Played at: 8.57
Artist: The National
Song: Carin at the Liquor Store
Album: Sleep Well Beast
Label: 4AD
Played at: 10:35
Artist: Caroline Easther
Song: I Believe You Tonight
Composer: Caroline Easther
Album: Lucky
Label: N/A
Played at: 11:06
Artist: The Go-Betweens
Song: Bye Bye Pride
Composer: G. McLennan, R. Forster.
Album: Tallulah
Label: Beggars Banquet Records
Played at: 11:21
Artist: Sneaky Feelings
Song: Strangers Again
Album: Send You
Label: Flying Nun Records
Played at: 11:40
Artist: Kirsty MacColl
Song: Don't Come the Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim!
Album: Kite
Label: Virgin Records
Played at: 11:53
Artist: Caroline Easther
Song: No Ordinary Day
Album: Lucky
Label: N/A
Played at: 11:59