Navigation for Sunday Morning

7.10  Green Party relaunch 

Political reporter Mei Heron speaks about the task ahead facing the Greens as they relaunch their campaign today and try to put the past week behind them

7.20 Policy tool to compare parties' promises

Ollie Neas and Asher Emanuel have devised the Policy site where voters can easily compare political party policies.

Ollie Neas and Asher Emanuel have devised the Policy site where voters can easily compare political party policies. Photo: RNZ

A group of politically-savvy young people have been working on a website that collates all the political parties' policies in a user-friendly website, with snapshots of policies on which you can click for more detail. It's designed by Racheal Reeves to distil complicated information for voters. Two of the 25-year-old brains behind the Policy site are Ollie Neas, a graduate solicitor, who was the former editor of Victoria University's Salient, and Asher Emanuel, a graduate lawyer in Wellington. 
The Policy website went live on The Spinoff on Monday August 14. 

7:32 The House: MP 101

A weekly digest of the events in Parliament. Produced and presented by Daniela Maoate-Cox and Phil Smith. This week: the training provided for incoming MPs after the election.   

7.47 North Korea vs the United States

Dr Marc Lanteigne

Dr Marc Lanteigne Photo: Supplied

US president Donald Trump broke with decades of convention when he used threatening language against North Korea, saying the US would respond with fire and fury, and that its military was "locked and loaded". 
Dr Marc Lanteigne, a lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, at Massey University talks about what's rhetoric and what's real. 

8:10 Insight: Turning the West Coast Around

Southern Alps behind Greymouth

Southern Alps behind Greymouth Photo: ( RNZ/ Tracy Neal )

The South Island's West Coast has for years by what could be mined, milled or milked. A downturn in demand has lead to economic challenges and a population drain. But all that could be about to change. As Tracy Neal has been discovering, relatively cheap housing is helping to attract new hi tech industries and tourism is taking advantage of the natural landscape in a more sustainable way.

8:40 Maureen Benson-Rea: Time to say goodbye to sweatshop clothing

The Rana Plaza building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Rana Plaza building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: AFP

Maureen Benson-Rea

Maureen Benson-Rea Photo: Supplied

In 2013 the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1000 clothing workers. The tragedy resulted in a worldwide outcry and demands that international brands take steps to ensure that their clothes weren't being manufactured in sweatshops. Dr Maureen Benson-Rea, a senior lecturer in the Department of Management and International Business at the University of Auckland Business School, is the co-editor of Governing Corporate Social Responsibility in the apparel industry after Rana Plaza

9:06 Mediawatch: Big week in politics

The most turbulent week in politics since . . . last week: Metiria Turei is cast into the depths, while the Jacinda Ardern love-in hit new heights. Also: TVNZ's controversial pick to host its election debates. Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.

9:40 China Belt and Road: why should we even care?

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking at the One Belt, One Road international forum.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking at the One Belt, One Road international forum in China. Photo: AFP

Stephen Jacobi

Stephen Jacobi Photo: RNZ

The Chinese Belt and Road project, also known as One Belt, One Road, is an initiative that will see countries along the Belt and Road make up an 'economic co-operation area' that will account for almost 65% of the world's population and 37% of global GDP. New Zealand and China signed a ground-breaking memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative in March. But what does it even mean? Stephen Jacobi from the New Zealand China Council explains.

10:06 Robots in healthcare

Paro and iRobi robots are proving successful in healthcare in NZ.

Paro and iRobi robots are proving successful in healthcare in NZ. Photo: RNZ/Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Psychology professor Dr Elizabeth Broadbent's fascination with robots began as a child reading Isaac Asimov. She has been working with robots for almost a decade, studying the use and design of companion robots to improve health. She has just left for Boston's Tufts University in the United States after being awarded a Fulbright scholarship to further research the design of companion robots. Dr Broadbent explains the work that's going on in New Zealand with robots in healthcare.

10:39 Mark Derby: Ragnar Redbeard

Historian Mark Derby

Historian Mark Derby Photo: RNZ/Jeremy Rose

The name Ragnar Redbeard will be familiar to very few New Zealanders. His book Might is Right published in 1890 declared "death to the weakling - wealth to the strong" and it's a proto-fascist work that continues to find readers among the alt-right internationally to this day. And it's a fair bet that the name Arthur Desmond is equally unknown. A socialist agitator who was prepared to risk body and limb defending the right of Te Kooti to return to the East Coast in the face of a settler community hell-bent on revenge. Historian Mark Derby's latest book - Ragnar Redbeard: The Antipodean origins of radical fabulist Arthur Desmond - reveals them to be one and the same person.

11:05 The legacy of Jonathan Mane-Wheoki

Jonathan Mane-Wheoki has been described one of New Zealand's most important and influential art historians. He made a huge contribution to this country's Maori and Pacific art history in particular for more than 50 years. He died in 2014 and now there's a book of essays by people in the arts world as a tribute to his work. It's called Colonial Gothic to Maori Renaissance - essays in memory of Jonathan Mane-Wheoki and its editors are Dr Mark Stocker - curator of historical international art at Te Papa Tongarewa and Dr Conal McCarthy, director of the museum and heritage studies programme at Victoria University in Wellington.

11:35 Joe Lynn Turner

US rock musician Joe Lynn Turner gives a news conference at the Rossiya Segodnya International Media Press Center in Simferopol in 2015.

US rock musician Joe Lynn Turner Photo: AFP

A successful solo artist in his own right, Joe Lynn Turner is best known however for his time with Rainbow, with Ritchie Blackmore, and as the lead singer for Deep Purple. But he says the voice didn't come naturally - singing lessons were a huge help. He is playing at the Legend Voices of Rock Tour in Australia in September.