Sunday Morning for Sunday 10 November 2019

 

7.11 The fastest growing sport in the world is e-sports

Forget football and basketball. There is no faster growing sport in the world than e-sports, and there is no bigger e-sports tournament than the League of Legends World Championship, which is currently taking place in France and has a tidy US $1 million prize for the victors. Graham Ashton is a journalist with The Esports Observer and is with us live from Paris for an update.

7.21 Billionaire Bloomberg opens the door to US presidential campaign 

Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York, has opened the door to a 2020 Democratic presidential campaign after signalling his dissatisfaction with the current candidates vying to take on President Donald Trump. US correspondent Karen Kasler joins the show with all the latest. 

7:45 Calling Home: Tony Price in Charlotte, North Carolina

Ashburton native Tony Price has been involved in NASCAR racing in the US for more than three decades and would rate amongst this country's most successful motorsport exports. He's Calling Home today from the lifestyle block he and wife Cindy have owned in Charlotte -- the spiritual home of NASCAR racing -- since 1987.

8:10 Playtime over: How Kiwi kids lost the right to roam

With New Zealand's population about to hit 5 Million for the first time Insight's reporter Teresa Cowie talks to five 5-year-olds from around the country to find out what it’s like to be 'the big 0-5' in Aotearoa today and what's changed from when their parents headed off to school. 

8:41 Why you should be worried if you own a Chinese phone

China's use of technology for social control of its citizens is well-documented, but it could also affect users elsewhere, including those of us who use Chinese smartphones. Samantha Hoffman is an analyst of Chinese security issues at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and is warning people to be cautious about purchasing Chinese smartphones and smart home products.

9:37 Experiences will make you happier than material things

Psychology professor Tom Gilovich has been at Cornell University for 35 years and has done four studies over the decades looking at what brings us happiness - experiences or things? He has come to the common conclusion that happiness is ultimately derived from experiences, not things. He joins the show to discuss.

10:06 Rick Stein: 'I keep asking to do a New Zealand food series'

Rick Stein has been visiting these shores since the 1960s, when he celebrated his 21st by eating crayfish in Kaikoura, and he's still pleading with his TV bosses to do a New Zealand food series. For now, though, his focus is on his longstanding love affair with France and the release of his new book and TV series, Rick Stein's Secret France.

10.40 Descartes' dream argument remains unsolved after 400 years

Are you reading these words right now, or are you actually dreaming? What if we're in the Matrix but just don't know it? Today marks the 400-year anniversary of three dreams that French philosopher René Descartes had, sparking the idea that life could, in fact, be a dream. Professor Michael LeBuffe from the University of Otago Philosophy joins the show to discuss.

10:51 Why it's time for the CAPS LOCK key to die

How many times have you been typing with serious intent without watching the screen, only to realise you've had the caps lock on for the last 30 seconds? It's an all-too-common problem. Writer Daniel Colin James is arguing the case that the caps lock key should be consigned to the trash can once and for all.

11:05 30 years since the Berlin Wall came down

Today marks three decades since the Peaceful Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall, with the story of how the Wall came down being told across the city this week. Berlin-based journalist Rachel Loxton joins the show from the German capital to explain what's happening on the ground there at the moment.

11.14 People who brag about their intellect aren't as smart as they think 

New research shows that people who are more willing to admit that their own knowledge and views might not be correct, are often more knowledgeable than people who brag about their intellect. Psychologist Elizabeth Krumrei-Mancuso from Pepperdine University examines the topic of intellectual humility. 

11.30 Peta Mathias in the Musical Chair

Peta Mathias' new book Eat Your Heart Out is an exploration of love stories from all around the world, intertwined with recipes that might suit a romantic encounter. Although, she also maintains that anything cooked with love is in itself an aphrodisiac. She joins Jim to talk asparagus, truffles and matters of the heart.