Sunday Morning for Sunday 29 August 2021

8:12 Dr Richard Webby: 'We'll all catch Covid-19 eventually'

The Coronavirus is here forever. This is how we live with it. That was the rather foreboding headline from a recent article in The Atlantic which quoted a number of leading medical authorities, including New Zealander Dr Richard Webby. Dr Webby, an infectious disease researcher at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, knows a thing or two about big, bad diseases, having been an early responder during the 1997 Hong Kong avian flu outbreak (for which he developed a vaccine). He joins the show from Memphis to discuss what life with the coronavirus is going to be like and how we're all going to catch it eventually.

8:37 The Weekend Panel with Mike Williams and Linda Clark

Among other topics this morning, our panellists will be discussing the current Covid-19 lockdown situation in New Zealand, the dangerous Delta variant, the need for saliva testing, virtual Parliament and the situation in Afghanistan.

9:06 Mediawatch

Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Hayden Donnell

9:38 Covid-19 update with Professor Michael Baker

Last year, he was our most regular -- and arguably most popular -- guest on Sunday mornings, and he's obliging us again this morning after making a welcome return to the show last week. Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker from the University of Otago is back to answer your Covid-19 questions and ours. Email sunday@rnz.co.nz with your questions for Professor Baker. 

10:06 Why coins will continue to stand the test of time  

In his new book, When Money Talks: A History of Coins and Numismatics, Professor Frank L. Holt investigates the history of money in the form of coinage and the discipline that studies it, highlighting his incredible knowledge of money from the ancient world to the world of today. Professor Holt is with us to look at the new book and why coins aren't going away any time soon, despite the fact Americans alone throw away 60 million dollars' worth of them each year.

10:34 Calling Home: Stephen Court in Addis Ababa

Stephen Court is well-versed on life in exotic locations, having previously been domiciled in Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Lesotho, to name a few places. But Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa, where he and his family are currently based, is a different story altogether. Stephen works for World Vision Ethiopia as one of only four international employees, and his entire tenure in Africa's second-largest country has been under the cloud of Covid-19. He's Calling Home from Addis Ababa, which has a population that is similar to that of New Zealand's.

 

11:05 Top cooking tips with Vanessa Baxter: fast food

People are cooking more again now that we are back in lockdown, but many of us are missing (or perhaps craving) the speciality dishes we enjoy from our favourite takeaway restaurants. Former Masterchef finalist Vanessa Baxter from The Fearless Kitchen returns in the latest edition of her top cooking tips series to help people get their fast food fix from the safety of their own home, including some great ideas for homemade burgers. 

You can find her full homemade burger recipe here

 

11:05 Lying blind: hiding vision loss in plain sight

James Tate Hill lost nearly all his sight as a teenager to a rare condition called Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. By the time he was 16, he was legally blind. But he could still pass for sighted, so that's exactly what he did, walking without a cane and turning up to meetings early so that no one would see him make his arrival. His new memoir, Blind Man's Bluff examines the lengths he went to while pretending to see, and why he eventually decided to quit the charade.    

 

11:40 Charlotte Bellis: 'I'll stay in Afghanistan as long as I can'

New Zealand Al Jazeera journalist Charlotte Bellis had been visiting Kabul Airport -- the only way in and out of Afghanistan at the moment --  this week, as locals and foreign nationals alike tried to make their way out of the country. The situation there was thrown into chaos on Friday (NZ time) when scores of people were killed in a bomb blast outside the airport, with the ISIL (ISIS) group claiming responsibility. However, Charlotte says she is sticking around for as long as she can. She joins the show from Kabul for an update on the situation there.