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Sunday 20 July 2025

8:10  Sleep expert: Professor Russell Foster 

Do you suffer from nightmares or night terrors? Professor Russell Foster is director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford and he’s with Jim to answer your questions about bad dreams and poor sleep. 

insomniac woman 
Woman struggling to wake up in the morning.

Nightmares happen during so-called rapid-eye-movement sleep when the brain is highly active but muscles are paralysed. Photo: COLLANGES / BSIP / BSIP via AFP

8:35 The Sunday Morning Quiz 

Quiz master Jack Waley-Cohen is back with his Sunday Morning quiz.  

Jack is the mind behind the questions on BBC's infamous quiz show Only Connect, known for being both hard — and at the same time totally obvious.     

Wake up your brain and have a go!  

Sunday Morning Quiz image

Photo: RNZ

8:40 Report into Air India crash focuses on pilot's actions 

A preliminary report into what caused the fatal crash of an Air India passenger plane last month has found the fuel control switches were flipped from the run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss. But the report has been criticised for its lack of detail. 

Shawn Pruchnicki is a former airline pilot who's now a professor of aviation safety at Ohio State University. He joins Jim to discuss the evidence so far. 

Members of Indian Army's engineering arm prepare to remove the wreckage of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India June 14, 2025. (Photo by Basit Zargar / Middle East Images via AFP)

Photo: BASIT ZARGAR

9:10 Mediawatch 

Campaigns targeting politicians via the media are getting more intense - and politicians getting more multimedia with their own messages for the press. But are they really working? 

A group representing Auckland businesses put pressure on the PM to confront safety and security in the city last weekend.

A group representing Auckland businesses put pressure on the PM to confront safety and security in the city last weekend. Photo: New Zealand Herald

9:40 Suddenly feeling older? That sounds about right... 

Evidence is mounting that we age in bursts rather than gradually. New Scientist writer Graham Lawton joins Jim to discuss the times in our life when ageing is most apparent. 

elderly woman with headphones

Photo: Gilles ARROYO

10:10 An exceptional polo horse, her many clones, and a business betrayal 

The polo world has been rocked by a scandal involving an Argentinian polo legend, his favourite horse, her clones, and a business partner who, as it turned out, spotted the opportunity to make a bit on the side. Journalist Matt Reynolds joins Jim to explain how the story unfolded.  

no caption

Photo: 123RF

10:40 How to spot and avoid 'ghost store' scams online

Netsafe’s chief online safety officer Sean Lyons is back with Jim to discuss the recent rise of online “ghost stores” and how you can make sure you are shopping from a legitimate retailer.

No caption.

Photo: 123rf

11:10 Sophia Malthus: Best Song Eva  

Video series This is Wheel Life is about to hit the screens for its second season. The show documents life’s joys and challenges for Sophia Malthus who, at 19, became a quadriplegic after falling from a horse. The now-qualified lawyer joins Jim to talk about the new series and pick her Best Song Eva. 

Sophia and Indy with a guitar

Sophia Malthus stars in This is Wheel Life with her cousin and caregiver Indy. Photo: Supplied

11:30 How ‘woke’ is the new Superman?  

There’s been criticism the new Superman movie has liberal themes. Film critic Sarah McMullan joins Jim to discuss what’s new with the new Superman. 

Image from movie 'Superman'

Photo: Supplied

11:45 Which occupations do we trust most? 

Recent research has shown a dip in the public’s confidence in some institutions. Emanuel Kalafatelis from Research New Zealand is with Jim to discuss the findings.  

Fire truck

Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

 

 

Photo: Supplied

For those of you curious about the Sunday Morning show theme tune, it was written by Jim’s daughter, Rebecca Mora when she was 18 and studying music composition at Auckland University. 

‘Hatstand’ is the title and it was mastered by RNZ engineer Andre Upston.