Saturday Morning for Saturday 16 November 2019

8:10 Why has Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned and fled his country?

The South American nation of Bolivia is in a state of chaos following a general election on October 20.

Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president, who has been in power since 2006, has resigned after questions were raised over the validity of the results.

He’s now in self imposed exile in Mexico and has been replaced by opposition senator Jeanine Áñez.

The interim president is pledging to steer the country to more elections soon. But with concerns over her conservative views, and escalating tension on the streets, some speculate that continued instability could pave the way for Morales’ return. So what are the hopes for a second round of free, fair and peaceful elections soon?

We speak to Jim Shultz who lived in Bolivia for 19 years and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Democracy Center.

8:25 Rachel DeLoache Williams - The true story of fake New York heiress Anna Delvey

Anna Delvey was an ambitious young German heiress, living the high life in New York City. That’s what it looked like from the outside, and what those nearest and dearest to her thought.

In fact she was a complete con artist. Among those she took financial advantage of was her friend, then Vanity Fair photo editor Rachel DeLoache Williams, whom she "borrowed" $62,000 from.

In her book My Friend Anna, Williams offers first hand insight into the incredible life and crimes of Anna Delvey and how she helped bring her to justice.

9:10 Astronaut Alexander Gerst - Commander of the International Space Station

Dr Alexander Gerst aka "Astro Alex" has spent almost a year in space, having completed two missions on the International Space Station (I.S.S.).

The European Space Agency astronaut launched on a Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan in May 2014 to serve six months as flight engineer, and returned last year as Commander of the I.S.S. for the Horizons mission, returning to Earth on 20 December 2018.

His onboard experiments and insights into what it’s like to live in space have won him a large social media following and plaudits as a science communicator.

He has been in New Zealand to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from Victoria University of Wellington where he completed a Master’s in volcanology in 2003.

Alexander Gerst aka "Astro Alex"

 

10:05 Justin Paton - McCahon Country

Justin Paton thinks Colin McCahon is our country's most important artist.

Paton is Head Curator of International Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, an active art critic, and author of several books including the award-winning How to Look at A Painting, which also became a TV series.

It's 100 years since McCahon's birth in 1919, and to celebrate Paton has released McCahon Country  which examines nearly 200 of McCahon’s paintings and drawings, including both iconic works and others never before published.

He traces McCahon’s paintings as a journey through the landscape of Aotearoa New Zealand,

Justin Paton is speaking on Saturday afternoon at the Auckland Art Gallery and appearing at two events during the writers programme at the New Zealand Festival of the Arts in Wellington in late February 2020: Justin Paton - McCahon's Country and Art in the Afterlife.

Images from McCahon Country

10:35 Mounted archer Denise Clifton

Denise Clifton is a mounted archer and medievalist. She took up her passion 20 years ago and has been shooting arrows from horseback and mastering the Parthian shot (firing backwards from the saddle to surprise a pursuing enemy) ever since. She also makes her own armour.

She'll put her skills to good use on Saturday the 30th November at the Mellemskov Mot; a medieval training camp comprising archery, equestrian and combat that she's involved with organising in her home town of Eketahuna.

 

 

11:05 Jodi Kantor - Journalist who broke the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse story

2018 Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jodi Kantor, along with her New York Times colleague Megan Twohey, broke the story of multiple allegations by women that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted or harrassed them.

Their Oct 2017 article brought down one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood and triggered the global #MeToo movement.

An hour after it had been published, Weinstein rang and told them: "I'm already dead. I'm a rolling stone."

Following their reporting, dozens more women came forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual assault. He was fired from his role at Miramax, the company he founded with his brother, and is currently facing charges in New York.

Kantor and Twohey's new book She Said tells the story of their investigation, the lengths Weinstein went to to avoid exposure, and celebrates the women who spoke up.

11:35 Urban designer Skye Duncan - re-imagining our city streets

Expat urban designer Skye Duncan landed a top job in New York working for Michael Bloomberg on one of his philanthropic projects.

As Director of the Global Designing Cities Initiative at the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), she's been working on the development of the Global Street Design Guide.

This free document is full of designs, drawings and technical assistance that's a blueprint for future efforts to put people at the centre of urban design.

It's already being used in more than 100 cities across the world from São Paulo in Brazil to Mumbai in India and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia as well as three cities here in New Zealand.

She was in New Zealand to give a talk at the Trafinz conference in Hamilton this week. called 'Putting people first: shaping urban streets for healthy and sustainable cities'.

 

Books mentioned in this show

 

My Friend Anna - The True Story of a Fake Heiress
Rachel DeLoache Williams
ISBN: 9781787478299
Published by Quercus

McCahon Country
Justin Paton
ISBN: 9780143773931
Published by Penguin

She Said  - Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement
Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
ISBN: 9781526603272
Published by Bloomsbury

 

 

Music played in this show

Song: Here again
Artist: Joe Pug
Played at 10:46