Saturday Morning for Saturday 26 November 2022

8.10  Lina Abu Akleh: seeking justice for the death of her journalist aunt 

 It’s six months since renowned Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while reporting in the occupied West Bank. Initially, the Israeli military denied involvement but have since admitted there is a “high likelihood” it was an accidental shooting by an Israeli soldier  

 Shireen’s niece Lina Abu Akleh believes the attack was intentional, and has become the face of an international campaign to demand accountability. The family has laid a complaint with the International Criminal Court and last week the US Department of Justice announced an FBI investigation. Israel has criticised this as interference in their internal affairs. 

Lina was recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 emerging leaders for 2022. 

 

8.25  Fatboy Slim: right about now, the funk soul brother

The big outdoor rave scene made Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook) a DJ legend. This year a 20th anniversary Brighton beach performance celebrated what was described in 2002 as the biggest event the UK had ever seen: 250,000 people - twice the town’s population - raving “on the pebbles”. 

The producer and musician is returning to New Zealand this summer to play big outdoor shows in Christchurch, Napier, Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown and Taupō.

The man described recently in Netflix series Derry Girls as a “modern day Beethoven” has long had the popular touch: from ‘80s pop group The Housemartins to collaborations with everyone from David Byrne to Iggy Pop for his project the Brighton Port Authority. Cook holds the Guinness World Record for the most top 40 hits under different names. 
 

 

9.05  Colm Tóibín: writing on changes in life, church and state

The author of 10 novels, Colm Tóibín’s collection of essays A Guest at the Feast begins by taking us back to his childhood. Starting with growing up in Enniscorthy, County Wexford he also tracks the changes in Ireland, its church and state and, intertwined, his own personal life. 

From treatment for testicular cancer, to the complex makeup of the last two popes, there’s a gentle, generous intelligence to Tóibín’s enquiry, reminding us that he first made his mark as a journalist.  

Colm Tóibín’s novels The Blackwater Lightship and The Master were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the latter winning the 2006 International Dublin Literary Award. His most recent is 2021’s Folio Prize winning The Magician.

 

10am Josh Cheuse: staying rather than going with The Clash’s Joe Strummer 

At 16, budding New York photographer Josh Cheuse used the payphone at his high school to call The Clash at the Electric Ladyland Studios in Manhattan to ask if he could photograph the band. 

It was the start of a friendship with Joe Strummer lasting the rest of the musician’s life. Cheuse went on to shoot NYC friends the Beastie Boys, ACDC and many more, but it was his enduring relationship with Strummer which has resulted in a book: Print the Myth: Joe Strummer Portraits 1981 - 2002.

These days Josh Cheuse is Communications Creative Director at Sony Music Entertainment in London. 
 

 

10.30  Kelly Francis: the Whenua Warrior cultivating food security 

Kelly Francis’s dream is that every New Zealander has access to a garden of fresh, healthy food to eat and share. 

From her base in Mangere she’s making a  vision of community-led food sovereignty a reality, one māri kai at a time.

Francis’s charitable trust Whenua Warrior has built hundreds of raised gardens, including over 600 in South Auckland. They provide not only the materials and seedlings but also the knowledge to support people to successfully grow kai. You can donate here.

Kelly Francis is a finalist in NZ Gardener’s 2022 Gardener of the Year competition, which will be announced in December. 

 

11.05  Metabolic Neurologist Dr Matthew Phillips: could fasting and keto heal brains?

Hamilton based clinical and research neurologist Dr Matthew Phillips is frustrated by how little he and his colleagues can help patients with degenerative brain disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as cancer. 

Drug treatments can lessen symptoms but there’s no effective preventive or curative regime for conditions currently affecting over 80,000 New Zealanders. The diseases are expected to become more common as our population ages. 

Dr Phillips is trialling a radical but simple new treatment approach: using metabolic therapies such as fasting and very low carbohydrate Ketogenic diets. The aim is to restore mitochondrial function, which he sees as the foundation for health.

 

11.30  Gerard Hindmarsh: preserving stories of Northwest Nelson’s backcountry

Golden Bay freelance journalist and author Gerard Hindmarsh is back with his latest collection of stories, with a focus on Golden Bay’s West Coast and Kahurangi National Park. 

Written as a final in a trilogy, Kahurangi Out West documents tales, from early Māori conflicts to the family stories of the graziers who live along the district’s wild western flank today. 

Having spent the better part of a decade gathering first-hand accounts, the collection preserves unique stories from a rugged area that might otherwise have been lost.   

 

 

Books featured on this show:

 

Print the Myth: Joe Strummer Portraits  1981 - 2002

by Josh Cheuse

Published by Rocket 88 Books 

ISBN 9781910978900

 

A Guest at the Feast

by Colm Tóibín

Published by Picador Australia

ISBN: 9781761264368

 

The Magician

by Colm Tóibín

Published by Picador Australia

ISBN: 9781760984113

 

Kahurangi Out West

by Gerard Hindmarsh

Published by Swamp Press

ISBN: 9780473656430

 

Music featured on this show:

Right Here, Right Now
Fatboy Slim
Played at 8.25am

Praise You
Fatboy Slim
Played at 8.55am

Should I Stay or Should I Go
The Clash
Played at 10.05am

Straight to hell
The Clash
Played at 10.30am