This Saturday Morning: Kim talks to Columbine High School shooting survivor Austin Eubanks about his long road to healing after such a catastrophic event - and the advice he offers to more recent survivors; Professor Michael Mann explains why he spends so much time fighting those who would deny the human element of climate change;  Richard Hall describes the 'enchanting' world of hunting; Professor Dan Nocera outlines how his bionic leaf will change the lives of people in the developing world; author Ursula Dubosarsky on why she keeps winning awards for her work aimed at children and young adults; and the director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Angus Trumble, on what the portrait says about the society it reflects. 

 

8:10 Austin Eubanks - Surviving trauma after Columbine

No caption

Photo: Supplied

 Watching students flee from a gunman at their school in Florida last week brought back painful memories for Austin Eubanks. Eubanks hid under a table in the school library in 1999 as two students opened fire on their classmates at Columbine High School. He survived with gunshot wounds in his hand and knees - but his greatest pain was on the inside and took years to heal. Eubanks' story is one of addiction and recovery, and the impact of emotional pain on individuals and in society following traumatic events. 

 

9:05 Professor Michael Mann - Dire Predictions  

Professor Michael Mann

Professor Michael Mann Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Michael Mann is the Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of several books including his most recent work, The Madhouse Effect, which features cartoons by Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Tom Toles. Through satire, The Madhouse Effect portrays the intellectual pretzels into which denialists must twist logic to explain away the clear evidence that man-made activity has changed our climate. In addition to his role at Penn State, Mann has joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center (ESSC). Mann has given the 'Dire Predictions' keynote lecture at the Pacific Climate Change Conference 2018 held in Wellington this week. 

 

9:35  Richard Hall - Reflections of a hunter 

Richard Hall

Richard Hall Photo: supplied

Wellington-based scientist Richard Hall describes himself as a hunter, fisher, diver and writer. In his book, Dark Forest Deep Sea: Reflections of a hunter, Hall shares his insights into what he calls the secret and enchanting world of hunting. He talks to Kim about his need to head to the hills, and how the wilderness gives him what he needs to live in the world. 
 

 

10:04  Dan Nocera -  Turning sunlight into fuel  

The bionic leaf developed by Dan Nocera

The bionic leaf developed by Dan Nocera Photo: Harvard Magazine

Professor Dan Nocera

Professor Dan Nocera Photo: The Harvard Gazette

 

Daniel Nocera is the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University. He is a leading researcher in renewable energy. He accomplished the solar fuels process of photosynthesis - the splitting of water to hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight - and translated this science to produce the artificial leaf, which was named by Time magazine as Innovation of the Year for 2011. He has since elaborated this invention to accomplish a complete artificial photosynthesic cycle. These science discoveries set a course for the large-scale deployment of solar energy, especially for those in the emerging world - the basis of his keynote speech to a meeting of the Pacific Climate Change Conference in Wellington this week.  

 

11:04 Ursula Dubosarsky - Stories for children 

Ursula Dubosarsky

Ursula Dubosarsky Photo: supplied, copyright Vicky Skarratt

Australian Ursula Dubosarsky writes for children and young adults. She is the winner of nine Premier's Literary Awards and the Children's Book Council of the Year Award. She has also been nominated, for the sixth time, for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2018), the world's largest children's literature award administered by the Swedish Arts Council. Her most recent book is The Blue Cat and Dubosarsky is in Aotearoa in March for Writers and Readers at the NZ Festival.

 


11:35 Angus Trumble - The role of the portrait 

Angus Trumble

Angus Trumble Photo: Supplied

Angus Trumble is the judge of this year's Adam Portraiture Award, the winner of which will be announced in the coming week. Trumble is the director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. He studied fine arts and history, and has held a number of roles including curator of paintings and sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut. He's written a number of books including A Brief History of the Smile (2003) and The Finger: A Handbook (2010) and is a regular contributor to the likes of The Times Literary Supplement and the Paris Review.  Trumble was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2015.

 

The Adam Portraiture Award 2018 - Short-list 

 

 

Books mentioned in this episode:

The Madhouse Effect

by Michael E Mann 

ISBN 9780231177870

Columbia University Press

 

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming

by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway

ISBN 1596916109

Bloomsbury Press

 

Dark Forest, deep sea

by Richard Hall 

ISBN 9780473406318

Mākaro Press

 

The Blue Cat

by Ursula Dubosarsky 

ISBN:9781760292294

Allen & Unwin Children's 

 

A Brief History of the Smile 

by Angus Trumble

ISBN: 9780465087792

Hachette


The Finger: A Handbook

by Angus Trumble

ISBN 0374154988

 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 

Music played in this show

Artist: Grateful Dead
Song: Scarlet Begonias
Composer:  Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter
Album: From the Mars Hotel
Label: Grateful Dead / Arista
Played at: 10:55

Artist: George Harrison
Song: Any Road
Composer: George Harrison
Album: Brainwashed
Label: Capitol
Played at: 11:30