The Weekend for Sunday 5 January 2020

08:09 Death of Qassem Soleimani 

We cross to New York Times middle east correspondent Ben Hubbard to get talk about the impact of Soleimani's assassination by the United States on Iran, and the region. 

08:30 Waikato Pā

Archaelogical investigations of Pā sites on Waikato wetlands are about to start, using Maori traditional knowledge of the area and the latest Western technology to establish when and how the settlements were built. 

The Pā Project is six months into a planned three year programme with local iwi and University of Waikato archaeologists working together to uncover information that's been lost over time and under soil.

Two of the key people involved the Pā Project are at the  University of Waikato - project director Associate Professor Alan Hogg  and Associate Professor Tom Roa.

08:50 Rory Sweetman - Anzacs and the Irish Easter Rising 

Historian Rory Sweetman has uncovered a connection between New Zealand soldiers and the Easter Week Irish Rising, an incident that he says threatened Ireland's oldest university, Trinity College Dublin.

The Central Otago based writer says five New Zealanders, acting as the core of a small squad of colonial troops, shielded Trinity from capture after rebels launched a surprise attack.

In his book Defending Trinity College Dublin, Easter 1916: Anzacs and the Rising, Rory quotes from letters the Kiwi soldiers wrote home. 

09:05  Australia Fires 

Melbourne based journalist Rebekah Holt with the latest on the fires across Australia. 

9:10 Media - Kerryanne Evans 

New Zealand's longest running TV show and still draws in an audience of well over 600-thousand viewers  Country Calendar started back in 1966  and for more than 12 years Kerryanne Evans has been one of the herd of directors.  

She travels the country talking to people who make their living off the land in all kinds of ways these days, as farming diversifies and new generations take over farms bringing with them new ideas.

Kerryanne Evans, who grew up in Hawke's Bay, came to Country Calendar after a long career in TV current affairs, including the Eye Witness, Holmes and Assignment programmes. 

9:40 David Ellacott and Chris Whitehouse - cave rescues 

Our summer series on lifesavers continues with rescue teams that spend far more time training than they do on rescue operations, because they're highly specialised.

We're talking about cavers who help others who get into trouble while navigating cave systems or may fall into one while climbing or exploring.

Lynn Freeman speaks to David Ellacott, and Chris Whitehouse who's President of the New Zealand Speleological Society (NZSS), he lives in one of the country's prime caving areas around Golden Bay in the top of the South Island.

10:05 Music Feature - Ariana Tikao and taonga puoro 

Musician Ariana Tikao is an intergral part of the revitalisation of taonga puoro and is one of the curators of the Pūkana exhibition - which is on at the National Library in Wellington. 

It's a celebration of Māori performance across time, and includes taonga puoro - traditional Māori instruments. There are photographs of these beautiful items on our webpage rnz.co.nz/theweekend.

Ariana Tikao took Laura Dooney into the exhibition to talk about the instruments, demonstrate their sounds - and explain how they were traditionally used. 

10:40  Vicki Farslow - volunteering in Nepal

In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal in the Gorkha area, causing widespread death and destruction.

Since then a lot of work has gone into helping the rural poor whose lives were made even harder by the damage the quake brought with it.

One of the many international volunteers who've promoted these kinds of projects is Kiwi Vicki Farslow, who's made several trips to Nepal to work with local people on practical projects, like ensuring water supplies for remote villages.

11:05 Mark Warren - New Zealanders offering fire-affected farmers free accommodation 

Friends Mark Warren and Nathan Addis have set up a Facebook page calling for New Zealanders to show the Anzac spirit and offer a place to stay for those affected by the bushfires.

A Givealittle page has also been set up. 

Places have been offered from across the country and they're going to work Australian agencies to arrange the accommodations.

Lynn speaks to Mark Warren about the initiative, and the response it's had. 

Debbie Mair - Conservation 

Throughout the summer we'll be talking to communities that are heavily involved in conservation projects - and the people who came up with the ideas.

Debbie Mair has spent the past two years monitoring the several creeks that run through the fast growing centre of Whitby, north of Wellington.

Tuna or long finned eels and whitebait which live in the creeks which are being impacted by sedimentation from gravel and other materials from two large housing developments and the nearby Transmission Gully roadworks.

11.30 The Rainbow Machine 

A public art installation that allows children, and adults for that matter, to use the sun and turn lots of wheels to create rainbows, won a team of three young architects a coveted Purple Pin from Design Institute New Zealand (DINZ). 

The Rainbow Machine, currently at Silo Park, is destined to entertain more Aucklanders as it moves around the city over the next few years, creating joy.

That's  exactly what Dr Sarosh Mulla,  and Patrick Loo Shahriar Asdollah-Zadeh hoped for when they came up with the idea, and the engineering to make it work after being commissioned by the Auckland Council.

Sarosh Mulla is lecturer at the School of Architecture and director of architecture firm Pac Studio; Shahriar  is a sculptor, painter and designer who works at  Pitch Studio; and Patrick Loo founded the architecture studio OPL. 

11:50 Booksellers 

We continue our literary journey around the regions, chatting to Lesley Stead from Paige's Book Gallery in Whanganui about what's being read next to the river this summer.  

Music played in this show

Artist: Bill Morris 
Track: Remnants of Ruminants 
Time Played: 09:20 

Artist: Barry Gray Orchestra 
Track: Parker, Well Done 
Time Played: 09:40 

Artist: Tattletale Saints 
Track: Traces of You 
Time Played: 10.57 

Artist: Brittany Howard 
Track: He loves me 
Time Played: 11.40