Sunday Morning for Sunday 15 December 2019

7:10  'China-US resolution more of a truce than a peace deal'

Reports that China and the US have reached an initial trade deal have been met with a degree of scepticism by many commentators, while others claim it's a cop-out by US president Donald Trump. Waikato University's International Law professor Al Gillespie says it's too early to jump to any conclusions.

7:13 Austin Mitchell: 'Losing to the Tories is depressing' 

Ex-UK Labour MP, Austin Mitchell shares his disdain at the UK election results and casts forward to what Prime Minister Boris Johnson must do now to get Brexit back on track and end austerity and cuts in the UK. Mitchell's former constituency of Grimsby in the north of England is just one of a number of former Labour strongholds the Conservatives have won, much to his surprise.

A weekly digest of the events in Parliament with Daniela Maoate-Cox and Phil Smith.

7:45 Calling Home: Rebekah Holt in Melbourne 

Rebekah Holt has gone from a communications manager for the New Zealand Police to Head of Staff at TV3 to serious car crash survivor. She is now based in Melbourne alongside her husband, director Jonathan Brough, where she is the only journalist to go into on-shore detention centres. 

8:10 Insight Sri Lanka -The New Climate of Fear

The Easter bomb attacks in Sri Lanka - targeting churches and international hotels - horrified the island. The BBC's Jill McGivering investigates the growing climate of fear now driving many Muslims to emigrate.

8:41 An expert's guide to burn injury recovery 

Dr. Steven Wolf is the chief of staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Galveston, as well as the current president of the American Burn Association. He has extensive experience with burn victims and offers some insight into the recovery process for those burn victims affected by the Whakaari tragedy. 

8:50 Tuia 250's lasting legacy  

Tuia 250 is a commemorative programme of experiences for encouraging conversations about the past, the present and how we navigate our shared future together in Aotearoa. It's had moments of controversy along the way, but committee co-chair Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr is confident it will be remembered for the right reasons. 

9:06 Mediawatch

The Whakaari/White Island tragedy coverage raised important questions about the tourism, and disaster response  - and advocacy journalism. Also: a fresh survey of the state of our media in 2019 as the government ponders its policy and Winston Peters warns of collapse.

 

9:37 Why Christmas songs could be bad for your mental health 

People who claim hearing Christmas music -- especially well in advance of December 25 -- 'does their head in' mightn't be that far off the mark. Psychologists say playing Christmas tunes on a loop can damage shop workers' mental health. Dr. Linda Blair joins the show to explain why these tunes bring up bad memories for so many. (And she also has some great shopping tips for making the festive season a lot less stressful.) 

10:04 A man alone: Travelling the world solo by motorcycle 

South Islander Chris Eden was diagnosed with incurable lymphatic cancer in 2005. Then he came up with a simple(ish) plan: ride a motorcycle solo across, round or through every continent in the world, with the exception of Antarctica (where he has previously worked). Chris tells Jim of the adventures he has had along the way, what he's learned about himself and people in general, and where he plans to go next. 

10:35 Vale Sir Peter Snell: New Zealand's Sportsperson of the 20th Century 

Another great Kauri was felled yesterday when famed Olympian and New Zealand running legend Sir Peter Snell passed away at the age of 80 at his home in Dallas, Texas. Veteran sports commentator Keith Quinn joins the show to offer his thoughts on the once-in-a-lifetime Kiwi athlete. 

10:48 Political hashtags make people less likely to believe the news 

A new study out of the University of California set out to find whether people responded differently to the presence or absence of political hashtags - which were first popularised by twitter a decade ago - in news stories in major publications. Study co-author Eugenia Ha Rim Rho is with us to share the findings.

11:05 Restarting a music career after 25 years on death row 

Philadelphia musician Jimmy Dennis was wrongfully convicted for a crime he didn't commit after a 17-year-old was murdered for a pair of gold earrings in 1991. He spent 25 and a half years on death row and was given execution dates on two occasions during that time, but eventually his conviction was overturned. And now he's relaunching his music career. This is his story. 

11:40 Why small countries are richer and happier 

In 1914 there were only 13 properly functioning democracies in the world, and today there are 89. Dr. Hannes Gissurarson is a professor of political science at the University of Iceland, and he argues there is a systemic reason for the huge growth of smaller countries that are generally both richer and happier than their larger counterparts.