Sunday Morning for Sunday 9 May 2021

7:10 Chinese rocket to crash-land today

The short life in space of the Long March 5B Chinese rocket is coming to an end, and that'll be today.

This rocket booster, part of a heavy lift launch vehicle they call it, this 22-ton, 30-meter-tall, 5-meter-in-diameter piece of space junk reached orbital velocity instead of falling within a predetermined area as it was carrying up part of China's Space Station.

We've been told it could come down, or parts of it, however unlikely, in New Zealand north of Wellington, but there's a 70 percent chance it'll hit the water somewhere on its crash path.

Physics professor Richard Easther from the University of Auckland has taken an interest in Long March 5B

7:18 Covid cases skyrocket in Nepal

India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has warned against the highly infectious B1.617 variant there breaking out and threatening the rest of the world, and cases in Nepal are skyrocketing, with the outbreak there beginning to mimic India's in severity - a 1200 percent rise in infections, and the same funeral pyres becoming a familiar sight.

The virus has even reached Base Camp on Everest, with a number of Kiwis there, but the climbing season is still on, and has in fact begun.

Freelance journalist Surendra Phuyal joins Sunday Morning from Nepal.

7:23 The Kiwi app helping mothers ease pregnancy-related stress 

When Dr Carrie Barber had her first child she went into labour pre-term ... the trauma of that coming after two miscarriages. She felt like a failed mother at the time, and blamed herself. Thirteen percent of mothers in New Zealand suffer from similar thoughts. But now Carrie has created an app that she hopes will help women navigate what can be a very difficult time. Positively Pregnant uses research and tested techniques to help ease pregnancy-related stress.

7.32 The House

An MP coming up with an idea for a law is only the beginning, writing good law is much harder. The House looks at how even a bill considered well written can still need tweaks when it meets real world experience - via public submissions to a Select Committee. 

7:45 How listening to calming music at bedtime can help you sleep

A new study published in the Journal of American geriatrics Society has found that listening to music does, in fact, help older adults get a better night's sleep. Australian music psychology expert Dr Thomas Dickson -- creator of the Can't Sleep app -- says listening to the right music at bedtime can not only help people fall asleep quicker but also improve sleep quality. Dr Dickson has created a personal Spotify playlist that he finds relaxing and not too distracting: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/28Ci6xY482sWvzvYL661BP?si=b0fe5c88b86f4011

8:10 Calling Home: Rosa Nolan in the Cayman Islands

When Cantabrian Rosa Nolan says she ended in the Cayman Islands -- which she couldn't have previously located on the map -- quite by chance, she really means it. Indeed, her original overseas destination was going to be Canada, and she only came across the three-island archipelago by chance on a job listing website because it also started with the letter 'C'. She's Calling Home this morning from West Bay on Grand Cayman. 

8:41 The Weekend Panel with Ali Jones and Brigitte Morten

Joining us on this special Mother's Day edition of the Weekend Panel today are Ali Jones and Brigitte Morten. Among other issues, they'll be discussing Speaker Trevor Mallard's conduct and calls for him to resign, Mother's Day, the new Māori Health Authority and what our panellists' favourite television sitcoms of all time are. 

9:06 Mediawatch

Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Hayden Donnell

9:37 Could consuming more mushrooms reduce cancer risk? 

A meta-analysis of 17 observational studies has found that higher mushroom consumption is associated with a lower risk of cancer. Along with being rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals, mushrooms are a great dietary source of two antioxidants -- ergothioneine and glutathione, and it is believed the former may have a protective role against cancer. Coauthor John Richie, a Penn State Cancer Institute researcher and professor of public health sciences and pharmacology, joins the show to explain. 

10:04 The Musical Chair: Rob McCallum 

Last month, New Zealander Rob McCallum became the deepest diving Kiwi ever after achieving a preliminary depth of 10,925 metres (35,843 ft) at the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench southwest of Guam. To put that distance into perspective, McCallum and his Australian dive partner spared a thought for Sir Ed Hillary when they descended through 8,850 metres [29,035 feet, the equivalent of Everest] and still had another couple of kilometres to go. He's in the Musical Chair.

10:40 Richard Langston's heartfelt Mother's Day poem 

Born to a Lebanese immigrant family in Dunedin, and a Country Calendar director by trade, Richard Langston is constantly refreshing his acquaintance with the country he calls home through the form of poetry. He joins the show on Mother's Day to recite a poem to his own mother -- titled 'There' -- from his recently-released book of poems, 'Five O'Clock Shadows'   

10:50 Cruising Kiwis' adventures continue despite Covid 

In 2018 Rob Hamill and his wife Rachel packed up their home, fostered their dog and took their three sons, Finn, Declan and Ivan out of school to go on the adventure of a lifetime aboard a 43-foot catamaran. But with Covid and closed borders, that's in abeyance. And now the 'Cruising Kiwis' have spent a year longer than they thought sailing around Australia. Rob and Rachel join the show for an update on their journey. 

11:05 Sue Kedgley: 50 years at the feminist coalface 

Pioneering New Zealand feminist, activist and former Green MP Sue Kedgley first came to public attention in the 1970s as an early, outspoken women's liberationist for feminsm. Her new book, Fifty Years a Feminist, details her journey and shares lessons drawn from her 50 years at the feminist coalface and why a male-dominated system has made a mess of the world.

11:30 Al Gillespie - China and its treatment of Uyghurs

Waikato University's international law expert Al Gillespie joins the show to discuss the treatment of the Uyghur people by China, and the New Zealand parliament's decision to label that treatment as 'severe human rights abuses'.

11:51 Survey shows almost half of all Kiwis pushed 'reset' during lockdown 

On March 23 2020, when the  Government decided to go 'hard and early' in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, New Zealanders were given just 48 hours' notice before the country went into Alert Level 4 lockdown. Research New Zealand conducted its 'Living in Lockdown' survey to find out how we reacted through this period. Managing Partner Emanuel Kalafatelis joins the show with the results