The Weekend for Saturday 19 January 2019

 

08:12 Brexit: Anarchy in the UK?

After the defeat of her Brexit withdrawal deal in the House of Commons this week, British Prime Minister Theresa May has until Monday to come up with a "Plan B" for Britain's exit from the European Union. But with cross-party talks faltering, and the legally binding date for Brexit fast approaching, confusion reigns about what Mrs May will propose and whether she will have the political will to get it over the line in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Rob Watson, the BBC World Service's UK political correspondent, provides analysis.

 

8:35 Tension between Canada and Beijing ratchets up as Trudeau calls for global pressure

The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, says all countries around the world should be concerned about the death sentence handed to a Canadian national accused of drug smuggling in China. Also this week, Rahaf Mohammed, the Saudi Arabian teenager who fled her family - fearing they would kill her - and was given asylum in Canada, gave her first interview. Laura McQuillan, a New Zealand journalist with Canada's CBC News, has been covering both stories.

 

9:05 Sarah Masters: The curious history of the periodic table

2019 marks 150 years since construction began of the periodic table of chemical elements by the Russian chemist, Dmitri Mendeleev. Just 62 chemical elements were known then, but scientists have since increased that number to 118. University of Canterbury associate professor Sarah Masters is the President of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, and will be leading events in New Zealand to mark the United Nations' International Year of the Periodic Table.

 

9:35 Dr Paul Morland: How population shifts change world history

Dr Paul Morland is associate research fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London and a renowned authority on demography.  In his book, The Human Tide, Dr. Morland explains the influences of demographic change on almost all of the major global shifts and events of the last two centuries, arguing that the ebb and flow of a country's population is an overlooked factor that can explain more of history than we might have realised.

 

10:05 Tomi Adeyemi: Seeing yourself in fantasy 

Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi's debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone, is the first in her young adult fantasy trilogy. It's tale infused with west African mythology, magic and power struggles, as well as racial tension and persecution that mirrors Tomi's anxiety around growing up black in the United States. The book is a New York Times bestseller, and a film adaptation is in the works. The second book in the Orïsha Legacy trilogy, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, is due for release on March the 5th.

 

10:35 Bernadette Vine: Just, like, actually how we talk

Bernadette Vine is a Research Fellow on the Wellington Language in the Workplace Project in the school of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University. She collects and analyses data about the way people communicate at work. She also publishes research on humour at work and leadership. Bernadette is currently working on a textbook on language in the workplace for Cambridge University Press.

 

11:05 Musical Obsessions: James Nokise and D'Angelo

Comedian James Nokise is a veteran performer in both New Zealand and overseas, and the host of Eating Fried Chicken In The Shower, an RNZ podcast in which he interviews people about their mental health and talks about his own sobriety. James brings the music of the the R&B legend D'Angelo to the party.

 

11:40 Kitchen Stories: Noha Ibrahim cooks food from Egypt

Noha Ibrahim moved to New Zealand with her family from Egypt in 2016. She brings recipes for Sahlab, an Egyptian winter drink; Mediterranean Squid Tagine; and Qatāyef, a Middle Eastern dessert.  

 

Music played in today's programme

Musical obsessions - James Nokise with D'Angello

Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine (Brown Sugar, 1995)
Untitled (How Does It Feel) (Voodoo, 2000)
The Charade (Black Messiah, 2014)

 

Tom Lehrer             The Periodic Table

US Girls                 Poems

Summer In The City        coveres by Johnny Marr & The The's Matt Johnson

Nina Simone            I wish I knew how it would feel to be free