Saturday Morning for Saturday 26 October 2019

8:10  Thomas Novotny - The case for banning cigarette filters

Public health professor Thomas Novotny from San Diego State University's School of Public Health has just co-authored an editorial in The British Medical Journal calling for a ban on filtered cigarettes.

He says some 6 trillion cigarettes are produced and smoked worldwide every year and that vast numbers of discarded butts end up in the natural environment and potentially eaten by animals.

And filter cigarettes, he claims, have no discernible health benefits; in fact, they could be encouraging us to smoke more and inhale more deeply, causing more aggressive types of cancer.

8:25  Anne Glenconner: Life of a Lady-in-Waiting

Lady Anne Glenconner was a childhood friend of both Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret who she served as a Lady-in-waiting for for over three decades.

Their relationship was a complex mix of service and friendship and only ended with Margaret's death in 2002.

Lady Anne and her husband Colin bought the mosquito-ridden Caribbean island of Mustique in 1958, before turning it into a desirable playground for the rich and famous. 

She's just released her memoir Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown. 

9:05  Dr Nicholas Hoeh: treating chronic depression using magnetic stimulation

Almost a third of people diagnosed with clinical depression do not respond to medication or talk therapy. 

A potential treatment for this chronic or treatment-resistant depression is repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) which has been used overseas for more than a decade.

Dr Nicholas Hoeh from the University of Auckland's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences is lead researcher on the first clinical study of its use in New Zealand.

So how does it work, and who could it help?

9:30 Deborah Manning - Fighting food waste 

New Zealand industry generates over 100,000 tonnes of food waste per year at the same time as many kiwi families are unable to afford and access good food.

Deborah Manning saw an obvious solution to both problems and set about founding food rescue organisation KiwiHarvest.

KiwiHarvest has grown from "one woman and her car" to a nationwide operation collecting and redistributing over 80,000kg of food a month to charities that give to those in need.

They've just opened a 650m2 hub in South Auckland that will allow them to accept bulk donations direct from growers and manufacturers.

 

10:05 Christos Tsiolkas: The Slap author's foray into historical fiction

Australian author Christos Tsiolkas is best known for his fourth novel, The Slap, from 2009. This closely-observed portrait of simmering social tension won a Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was turned into a popular TV series in Australia and the US.

The subject matter for his sixth and latest novel Damascus couldn't have got much more ambitious; it's an excursion into historical fiction tracing the formation of the Christian church using the writings of St. Paul as its source text.

Christos Tsiolkas is coming to Wellington in November for Verb festival. You can find details of his events here.

10:35 Julie Morrison: how dogs can help court witnesses

Stepping into a witness box to give evidence in court can be daunting and stressful, especially for young and vulnerable people.

In several US states and in Canada dogs are being used as support animals in an attempt to reduce the stress involved.

Julie Morrison is pioneering their use in Australia where she works at the Victoria Office of Public Prosecutions. Awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the use of court dogs overseas, we'll ask about her experiences and her recommendations for their use closer to home.

11:05 Barnaby Weir - taking Fly My Pretties off the stage and into the studio

The members of musical collective Fly My Pretties are a who's-who of New Zealand music; there's Hollie Smith, LA Mitchell, Age Pryor, Samuel Flynn Scott and many more. All led by the direction of Barnaby Weir, frontman for The Black Seeds and many other musical manifestations.

In its 15 year history Fly My Pretties has developed a reputation for incredible live performances, and has released six best-selling live albums. 

But they've never made a studio album, until now, with the release of The Studio Recordings Part One which captures some of their songs in full polished sonic glory. We'll take a listen to some with Barnaby.

Fly My Pretties will be playing a free show in Picton on Saturday 23rd Nov and a special show at Hamilton Gardens on Feb 29. They will also be touring in May 2020. Dates are here

 

 

 

11:40  Kate's Klassics - Valley of The Dolls

Poet and writer Kate Camp returns for the latest instalment of Kate's Klassics. This week she reviews Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann.

The American writer's debut book became the biggest selling novel of 1966, the year of its release. A film followed the next year with plot changes and a tense shooting schedule which saw Judy Garland fired from the cast over her drinking. To date, it's sold more than 31 million copies worldwide.

Books mentioned in this show

Lady in Waiting - My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
Anne Glenconner
ISBN: 9781529359060
Published by Hodder & Stoughton

Damascus
Christos Tsiolkas
ISBN 9781760875091
Published by Allen & Unwin

Valley of the Dolls
Jacqueline Susann
ISBN 9780349008325
Published by Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press

 

Music played in this show

Song: Because the Night
Artist: Patti Smith Group
Played at: 9.37

Song: Complex
Artist: Montaigne
Played at: 10:37

Song: Champion
Artist: Fly My Pretties
Played at: 11:14

Song: Quiet Girl
Artist: Fly My Pretties
Played at: 11:25