Sunday Morning for Sunday 9 December 2018

 

7:09 Louise O.Fresco: future-proofing agriculture and food production

A visiting expert on the science of agriculture and food says we need to take action now to ensure the planet’s growing population can be fed. Professor Louise O.Fresco says science needs to work hard to get the public on board when looking to develop a sustainable agriculture sector in the future which produces healthy and nutrient rich food. She believes an intergovernmental panel, similar to the IPCC, should be set up to advise politicians, private sector and farming interests on the best practice in each country. She explains what the issues are if we don’t change how we feed the world and what New Zealand’s role might be.

7.32 The House

This week on our parliamentary programme, Daniela Moata-Cox meets with the leaders of the Health and the Maori Affairs Select Committees to find out about how their years have gone.

7:48 Elena Casas-Montanez: unrest in France

Many Parisian tourist attractions and museums, along with shops on the Champs-Élysées are closed this weekend amidst fears of renewed violence in the French capital. Authorities have deployed thousands of security personnel ahead of anticipated continued protests by the gilets jaunes. Violence and riots continued throughout France during the week as anger against mounting over the increase cost of living. Elena Casas Montanez, a correspondent in Paris, will have the latest on the unrest.

8:10 Insight: battling to turn around the lives of young criminals

The Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki, runs four youth justice residences and a handful of community remand homes. They house many young people waiting to go to court, but also a small hardcore of repeat offenders. From July next year, new legislation comes into force that raises the age range to include teenagers up to their 18th birthday. Is Oranga Tamariki succeeding with these young people now and how will it cope with even great numbers? Philippa Tolley investigates.

8:38 Allan Matson: fighting facadism

Facadism in Auckland is getting under the collar of heritage expert Allan Matson. It's an architectural practice that took off in the 1980s - gutting old buildings and retaining their facade. The art deco Jean Batten building in Shortland Street is one example. Matson is president of the Civic Trust which seeks to preserve heritage buildings and was an elected member of the NZ Historic Places Trust Board (now Heritage NZ) from 2009-2014 and a long-time critic of facadism.

9:06 Mediawatch

This week a look at the coverage of the country's largest ever mental health inquiry. Questions are asked about women's sports getting a fair go from our media and a look at bullying stories in the news this week.

9:37 Dean Poole: design as a language

Dean Poole’s the first New Zealander to become president of the global design organisation Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). The organisation has 528 members from 42 countries. The group is made up of the world’s leading graphic artists and designers. Dean talks about the importance of design in a world ever more reliant on technology and the blurred lines between who is considered a designer and who’s an artist. He believes that images will be used more frequently as means of communicating rather than words. Dean and his design team at Alt Group, were also the creatives behind the clever Auckland Art Gallery logo.

 

10:06 Lyndal Roper: why religious rebel Martin Luther is not a hero

 

Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oxford, is a respected historian and author of the 2016 biography "Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet", a book described by Hilary Mantel s “smart, accessible and authoritative”.  She was in Wellington recently to deliver a lecture at Victoria University, "Why Luther is Not a Hero". Martin Luther was a religious rebel who changed Western history. The German theologian and monk, whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation, is famous for his 95 Theses in 1517 - which attacked the Catholic Church for its papal abuses and the sale of what was known as "indulgences". Indulgences were documents prepared by the church and bought by people either for themselves or on behalf of the dead to release them from punishment due to their sins. Luther questioned such practices and called for church reform. He refused to recant and was labelled a heretic but his legacy is immense - including the Lutheran Church.

11.04 Joanna Mathers: the stories of NZ live music venues

A new book by Joanna Mathers looks back at the history of some of the country's live music venues. It's called "Backstage Passes: The Untold Story of New Zealand Live Music Venues" and covers the years from 1960 to 1990. She says NZ music was made on beer-stained stages and smoky back rooms in venues like The Empire, the Coroglen and of course the Kings Arms which music fans had to witness being bulldozed to the ground this year.

 

11:30 Karyn Hay: making a name as a novelist

Karyn Hay is still remembered for presenting Radio With Pictures from 1980-1986 and RNZ listeners will know her from her show Lately, with Karyn Hay. But Karyn is also an author of note. Her first novel “Emerald Budgies” won the NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book award in 2001. In 2004 she was awarded a Frank Sargeson Fellowship and her second book March of the Foxgloves in 2016 was a No 1 bestseller on the NZ fiction list. That firmly cemented her as a writer and she was a Michael King Resident in 2018 and mentor for NZSA. Her third novel is Winged Helmet, White Horse, described as a darkly comic psychological drama set in contemporary London.