Sunday Morning for Sunday 28 June 2020

7:10 The Service: Episode Three

This true spy story has topped the podcast charts for the past few weeks… how New Zealand spies worked with MI6 to break into the Czechoslovakian embassy in Wellington back in 1986 and the Cold War tensions and nuclear arms race that led up to it. Guyon Espiner and John Daniell host The Service.

8.10 The House

Parliament is moving through the motions as the Government tries to tick off as many bills as possible before September's general election. The House looks at what a motion is and how they move it.

8:23 Why are we still catching colds?

Hand washing, social distancing, and disinfecting surfaces has been key to the quashing of the Covid-19 curve, but why hasn't it protected us from the common cold? With winter in full swing, colds and sniffles seem to be as prevalent as ever. Nikki Turner is the Director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre and an Associate Professor in the Division of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland. She discusses why we are still seeing a lot of winter illnesses.

8:31 The Panel with Linda Clark & Richard Harman

David Clark supposedly throwing Ashley Bloomfield under the bus, New Zealand First's tactics, political polls and the rest of the world and Covid-19 - and what it means for New Zealand - are on the agenda for our Sunday Morning panellists Linda Clark and Richard Harman.

8:51 'Hong Kong can no longer ignore that we are a part of China' 

Residents of Hong Kong are anxious about how national security legislation is going to operate, especially since details are largely being kept under wraps by the top Chinese lawmakers. Reports indicate many people are deleting their internet histories in anticipation of being targeted by Beijing following a big security crackdown. Lawyer and scholar Christine Loh Kung-wai joins the show to discuss the unease surrounding the impending law.

9:06 Mediawatch

Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Hayden Donnell

9:37 Why movie multiplexes are becoming a thing of the past

Cinemas are open again but Covid-19 and the recent lockdown have helped reinforce the notion that streaming movies via Netflix and other online services will be the way of the future, and the grandiose cinema multiplexes that were once movie Meccas are becoming a thing of the past. Veteran film critic Richard Brody from The New Yorker is with us to discuss whether the movies need multiplexes anymore.

9:50 Australian troops assisting in Melbourne Covid-19 hot spots 

Australian troops have descended on Melbourne to assist in combating the Covid-19 pandemic after a recent surge in cases in Victoria. Australian correspondent Rebekah Holt joins the show from the inner north of Melbourne, which has the city's highest community transmission rates currently, with the latest.

10:06 How to use stress for your own benefit

Stanford University lecturer and health psychologist Dr. Kelly McGonigal is a long-time stress advocate who says adjusting the way you think about stress can actually change the way your body responds to it. In 2013 she delivered one of the most popular TED talks of all time about using stress to your advantage, which has garnered more than 23 million views. She joins the show to discuss the positive benefits of stress.

10:33 Key to self-control is working smarter, not harder

Self-control failures are a frequent and common occurrence of everyday life, but what is self-control? University of Wyoming psychologist Laverl Z. Williamson's research shows that if you want to improve your self-control, you need to focus on proactively reducing, rather than reactively overpowering temptation. He's with us to discuss why the best way to exercise self-control is not to exercise it at all.

10:50 How memory is a game of all or nothing

Who hasn't forgotten where they parked the car before? It’s an all-too-common occurrence. New research by psychologists at the University of York's Department of Psychology looks at how these highly irritating and often embarrassing moments of location-based amnesia occur. The study's co-author Dr. Aidan Horner is with us to discuss.

11:05 New book examines assisted dying ahead of 2020 referendum

Later this year New Zealanders will be able to cast their vote on whether euthanasia should be legal as the long-debated End of Life Choice Bill goes to referendum. Journalist Caralise Trayes interviewed lawyers, doctors, ethicists and clerics about assisted dying for her debut book The Final Choice. She joins the show to discuss what she found when asking the question 'is assisted dying the right answer?

11:24 How Facebook groups are destroying America

Facebook groups are built for privacy and community, but that's also what makes them dangerous. New research shows those same features - privacy and community - are often exploited by bad actors, foreign and domestic, to spread false information and conspiracies. Nina Jankowicz is the disinformation fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC.

11:40 Ross Wilson on the real meaning behind 'Eagle Rock'

This month marks 30 years since Aussie hit 'Eagle Rock' reached number one on the New Zealand charts, an incredible 19 years after its initial release. Daddy Cool frontman Ross Wilson joins the show from his home in Melbourne to discuss why it took so long to reach the top spot, inspiring Elton John to write 'Crocodile Rock', and the real meaning behind the song's lyrics.