Sunday Morning for Sunday 25 June 2023

8:13 Frank Gardner, BBC correspondent on Wagner group rebellion

Frank Gardner, BBC Security correspondent, talks to Jim about the implications of the short-lived mutinous march on Moscow by the Wagner mercenaries who've been engaged in some of the fiercest fighting of the war in Ukraine.

Frank Gardner is the BBC's Security Correspondent and the author of best-selling books about his assignments.

 

8:30 Coen Lammers: The largest inclusive event on the planet 

The Special Olympics World Summer Games are currently taking place in the historic Olympiastadion in Berlin. The event hosts 7000 athletes from 200 countries, supported by 20,000 volunteers and an expected 300,000 spectators.  

The New Zealand delegation of 39 athletes with an intellectual disability have been competing here across 9 sports. 

Powerlifter Ryan Stewart from Dunedin was the first New Zealand athlete to claim a medal with bocce player, Aaron Campbell from Levin claiming New Zealand’s first gold. 

Journalist Coen Lammers joins us with the latest. 

 

8:42 Dr David Beresford: How to avoid insect bites 

Although our biting insects take a break in Winter, this week saw the shortest day of the year, so forgive us for looking ahead to the warm summer months. 

Are insects more likely to bite you when you're on the move, or when you're sitting down or standing still? Dr David Beresford, Professor of Biology at Trent University in Canada, has been looking into this very question. 

 

9:06 Mediawatch 

Mediawatch looks at how a scoop revealing that ethnicity is factored into surgery waiting lists sparked strong debate - and even a campaign to stop it. But it turned out to be nothing new.  

Also, startling survey results that end up in our news even if they don't stand up to scrutiny - and a leading local independent radio station that's changed hands after more than 50 years on air. 

 

9:39 Calling Home: Aivale Cole in London 

Calling home this week is Wellington born Samoan opera singer Aivale Cole. 

Over the years Aivale has performed in New Zealand, Australia, London, Italy, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Cambodia, China, Japan, India, Fiji, Samoa and Noumea but she now calls London home. 

 

10:10 Jo McCarroll: Are used coffee grounds in the garden a miracle or a myth? 

Our compost bins are full of coffee grounds, and some gardening experts not only advocate that, but also recommend sprinkling coffee grounds directly on the garden. 

But in the latest New Scientist they claim this is another myth saying used coffee grounds may be doing our plants more harm than good. 

NZ Gardener editor Jo McCarroll takes us through the pros and cons. 

 

10:15 Greg LeMond: The Last Rider 

The Tour de France is one of the world's great sporting events and in the minds of most cycling journalists, the best-ever race of the Tour took place in 1989 when American Greg Lemond made one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sport, with dozen of shotgun pellets in his body and carrying a terrible secret in his heart.  

His winning margin in the end was 8 seconds, after racing more than 3,000 kilometres. He was 50 seconds behind as the last short sprint into Paris began. Against him were two recent former champions, Laurent Fignon and Pedro Delgado.  

That incredible race is now the subject of a new documentary The Last Rider , out in cinemas throughout NZ.  

Greg LeMond won the Tour three times and the World Road Race Championships twice and he joins us from Knoxville, Tennessee.  

 

10:45 Jeffrey Halley: Have we reached peak globalism? 

Jeffrey Halley is Sunday Morning's man on the money.  Jeffrey's a kiwi in Jakarta and Singapore who until recently was the Senior Market Analyst for Asia Pacific for the OANDA corporation, with his analysis is regularly sought by Bloomberg, the BBC, Reuters, CNBC, MSN and the New York Times.

Jeffrey's been at a university in Wales for a while and is now back in Indonesia. 

 

11:29 Troy Kingi: Aotearoa’s Other Islands 

Troy Kingi, one of New Zealand's beloved musicians, joins us to talk about his documentary exploring the fascinating ‘other’ islands of Aotearoa.  

Our Other Islands is a visually stunning celebration of some of Aotearoa’s most beautiful islands and the people who inhabit them. The series delves into the history of each island, and the challenges for the current inhabitants to preserve their beauty and bounty for the future.  

Our Other Islands is available to stream for free from Monday 26 June. 

 

11:05 Jesse Gaynor: Is the wellness industry under the weather? 

The $7 trillion dollar wellness movement has encountered a backlash in recent times with many asking if the wellness craze is giving us a new lease on life or is it just an easy way to empty our wallets? 
 
Now there’s a debut novel, a satire called THE GLOW. “A desperate young publicist tries to save her career by turning the charismatic leader of a grungy retreat center into the hot new self-care brand.” 
 
The author is Jessie Gaynor, who writes for The New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal. Jessie joins us from Richmond, Virginia.