Saturday Morning for Saturday 12 November 2022

8.10 Tariq Ali: Imran Khan and the future of Pakistan

Last Thursday’s failed attempt to assassinate former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has resulted in mass demonstrations throughout the country.

The 70 year old former International cricketer turned politician has accused Major General Faisal Naseer of colluding with current prime minister Shehbaz Sharif to try and kill him.

Khan was ousted from power in April but is now seeking to make a comeback. So what’s next for him and Pakistan? 

We ask London based writer, journalist and film-maker Tariq Ali, who has written more than two-dozen books on world history and politics. His most recent book is Winston Churchill, His Times, His Crimes. Tariq Ali was born in Lahore prior to Pakistan and India's partition.

8.35 Facial recognition expert claims Lord Lucan is alive and in Brisbane 

Computer scientist Professor Hassan Ugail's AI photo analysis technology has positively identified an elderly man in Australia as Lord Lucan, a British aristocrat who vanished in 1974 the day after brutally attacking his wife and murdering the family nanny.

Prof Ugail, who leads the Centre for Visual Computing at the University of Bradford, has assisted with identifying suspects of high profile cases such as the death of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, and the Novichok poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal.

So how does his facial recognition technology work? What can it do and what are the limitations?

9.05 Musician Bill Callahan: leading people in and out of dreams

Beloved indie American singer songwriter Bill Callahan (formerly known as Smog) is adept at turning the personal philosophical, and finding meaning in the ordinary. 

That he holds some kind of mirror up to the world is clear right from the title of his 19th album: it's the word ‘Reality’ spelt and reading backwards, with a special character for the L to escape recognition from the internet’s bots.

It’s Callahan’s fourth album in as many years, the last a lockdown collaboration with friend Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and their Drag City labelmates entitled Blind Date Party.

 

9.35 Karl Johnstone: protecting and fostering at-risk whakairo

Te Wānanga Whakairo o Ruawhetū is a new carving school centred on the aspirations of hapū and iwi across the country. The new school, which opened its doors on 18 October, has an initial focus on supporting Ngāti Whātua, given its location in central Auckland. 

 

Led by Tohunga Whakairo, James Rickard, the wananga will develop and support students from across the motu, to return to their iwi upon completion of their studies, equipped with the knowledge and ability to carve, restore and maintain their tribal whare.  

 

Behind the Wānanga is the Ruawhetū Charitable Trust, whose activities include education programmes and partnerships to strengthen and perpetuate ngā toi Māori. The Trust has been established by Haumi, an Auckland based strategy, concept and creative business founded by director Karl Johnstone (Rongowhakaata). He is the trust's chair.

 

Karl Johnstone has worked in the cultural, heritage, and creative sectors for over twenty-five years, including ten years at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and eight years as the Director of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute.

10.05 Anke Richter: delving into the world of cults and control

A chance meeting with a former resident of Bert Potter's Centrepoint community started journalist Anke Richter on what became a decade-long deep dive into groups that exert high levels of control on members.  

The result of her investigation is a book, Cult Trip: Inside the world of coercion and control exploring a myriad of manifestations, from Centrepoint and Gloriavale to India's infamous Osho ashram and the tantric Agama Yoga school. 

10.35 Prof Simon Chadwick: sportswashing and the Qatar Football World Cup

Calls for boycotts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup have been growing from football clubs, supporters and players alike. Host nation Qatar has been accused of using this month’s event to gloss over its poor human rights record. Homosexuality is illegal in the Arab state, and thousands of Asian migrant workers have died in recent years.

Countries have already distanced themselves from the controversy in Qatar by refusing to screen games, or in Denmark’s case producing an all-black uniform to highlight the issues.

So how useful a tool is ‘sportswashing’ for governments with questionable records? 

Simon Chadwick is a Professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at SKEMA Business School in Paris. Chadwick co-edited the book The Business of the FIFA World Cup, which was published earlier this year.

11.05 Playing Favourites with Dame Gaylene Preston

Film director and producer Dame Gaylene Preston has been an inspirational and groundbreaking force in New Zealand culture for more than four decades. 

From the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquakes and Helen Clark’s bid for the top job at the United Nations, to her own parents’ wartime stories and her feature films, Preston has battled to tell the stories that haven’t been told.

Now Preston can add author to the CV. Lively and smart memoir Gaylene’s Take jumpcuts across time, from her Greymouth childhood and formative times conducting drama therapy in a British psychiatric institution, to being a trailblazer in a male dominated industry. 

This month NZ on Screen have also launched The Gaylene Preston Collection, making available online for free some 48 items, from feature and short films and documentaries to television series and commercials.

Dame Gaylene joins us to play some favourite songs.

 

Books featured on this show:

Cult Trip: inside the World of coercion and control
By Anke Richter
Published by Harper Collins
ISBN: 9781775542032

The Business of the FIFA World Cup
By Simon Chadwick
Published by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367640170

Gaylene's Take: her life in New Zealand film
By Gaylene Preston
Published by Te Herenga Waka University Press
ISBN: 9781776920143

Music featured on this show

The Last One at the Party
Bill Callahan
Played at 9.05am

Natural Information
Bill Callahan
Played at 9.05am

Small Town Girl
Jan Preston
Played at 11.20am

Great Nations of Europe
Randy Newman
Played at 11.34am