Sunday Morning for Sunday 4 November 2012
8:12 Insight: America’s Presidential Candidates
Insight considers the differing ideologies of the two men competing to win the American Presidential elections.
Written and presented by the BBC’s Paul Adams
8:40 Michael Palin – Python Tales
Writer and comedian Michael Palin talks to Chris about his early career and his days with Monty Python – the personalities, the power struggles, and the wrath of religion.
Brazil, Michael Palin’s latest book, is published by Hachette.
9:06 Mediawatch
Mediawatch looks at rosy reports of the impact of film and television on our economy; and an expert in the arts tells us journalists are falling down on the job of covering the arts properly. Also on Mediawatch: How a notorious blogger now has a national newspaper to play with, and the strange connections our media made with Superstorm Sandy.
Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.
9.40 Michael Casey – Broke Middle Class
Veteran Australian journalist and Wall Street Journal columnist Michael Casey interprets the global financial crisis through the stories of citizens around the world and finds that, one way or another, we are all in this together. He talks to Chris about the need to fix the system through global regulation of the free market.
The Unfair Trade: How our Broken Global Financial System Destroys the Middle Class, by Michael Casey, is published by Scribe.
10:06 Ideas: Mexico
In the latest of our occasional ‘countries in focus’ series we take a look at Mexico. Jorge Herrera, a Wellington-based teacher of Spanish and amateur anthropologist, tells Jeremy Rose about Mexico’s indigenous communities; and Chris Laidlaw talks to film-maker Luz Savinon and environmental scientist Ruy Anaya de la Rosa about life in Mexico today.
Produced by Jeremy Rose.
10.55 Today’s Track: John Hiatt – We’re Alright Now
The legendary songwriter’s just-released 19th studio album of blues-rock songs is inspired by over 30 years of life on the road. Hiatt’s songs have been covered by artists including Bob Dylan, Rosanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Jewel and Bonnie Raitt – but the definitive version is always his own. Today we’re playing We’re Alright Now, from the album Mystic Pinball (New West Records).
11.05 Down the List
Where does the real power in New Zealand lie? That’s right, with a bunch of bureaucrats, underlings, officials, and lowly-ranked list MPs that you and I have never heard of. Whether it’s in sport, politics, commerce, education or the arts, the only way to find out what’s really going on in this country is by going ... Down the List. Written by Dave Armstrong and produced by Radio New Zealand’s Drama department. Today, a National list MP tries to explain how the new housing package works and how it might be better than the policies the other parties have already come up with.
11.12 Ian Thorpe –Swimming in the Spotlight
Australian swimming phenomenon Ian Thorpe says his autobiography is not the book he set out to write. It was supposed to culminate in a victorious comeback at the London Olympic Games – but Thorpe failed to qualify. He tracks his story from his Sydney childhood to breaking 22 world records and winning five gold Olympic medals, then turning away from swimming at 24 – having struggled with depression and become jaded by years in the spotlight – and the disappointment of his comeback bid.
This is Me, by Ian Thorpe, is published by Penguin.
11.40 Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint: Fascists Plot US Coup
Wayne Brittenden has been Radio New Zealand’s correspondent in several capital cities over the years. Each week he gives fresh insights into a wide variety of topics of national and international concern, followed by Chris Laidlaw’s discussion of the issue with guests. Today, in the run-up to Tuesday’s US election, questions are being raised about the degree of corporate funding of party conventions and the candidates. This week Wayne looks at a little-known chapter in depression era American history, when a number of key business people, appalled by the New Deal, actually planned a fascist coup against President Franklin Roosevelt. Chris follows up with two American guests, writer Sally Denton and Karl Grossman, Professor of Journalism at the State University of New York.