Saturday Morning for Saturday 25 February 2023

8.10 Stephen Glassey: weather update

Lead meteorologist at Metservice Stephen Glassey provides a weather update after intense downpours  on Friday in Auckland and Northland, with heavy showers and thunderstorms expected for the central North Island and East Coast.

8.15 Prof Jonathan Boston: how to manage managed retreat

Recent extreme flooding events have bought the need for managed retreat into sharp focus.

We will have no choice but to move tens of thousands of people out of harms way over the coming decades according to Jonathan Boston.

An Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University, Boston is a contributor to a recently released working paper focussed on developing recommendations for the government’s proposed Climate Adaptation Act. He is also a member of the Expert Working Group on Managed Retreat, established by the Ministry for the Environment.

8.50 Hawkes Bay Civil Defence update

Hawkes Bay Civil Defence controller Ian MacDonald joins us.

Hawkes Bay Civil Defence says a full assessment of Esk Valley will take place this morning. The Eskdale River rose around 1.5 metres from where it was at 8PM last night. It says the rainfall overnight was less than forecast, but MetService expects more rain across the region today.

Esk Valley residents will be made aware when the cordon is lifted and they can return home. Until the evacuation order has been lifted, people should not re-enter the area.

8.55 Julian Wilcox: live from Te Matatini

It's finals day at Eden Park. Over the last three days, 45 of the country’s top kapa haka rōpū have been performing. Now the 12 finalists battle it out.

9.05 Strippers unite to fight for employment rights

Nineteen dancers working for Wellington's Calendar Girls believe they were fired last month in retaliation for attempting to collectively negotiate their contracts.

As a result they formed Fired Up Stilettos to fight for improved industry employment practices.

Despite being independent contractors, strippers are often subject to employment bonds, fines and restriction of trade clauses.

They've already gathered allies, with visiting UK musician Billy Bragg joining the picket, and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions standing in support.

Kim talks to 'Eve', one of the affected strippers. 

9.35 Claire Harman: all sorts of love for Katherine Mansfield

This year marks the centenary of the death of one of Aotearoa’s most loved writers, Katherine Mansfield. British author Claire Harman’s biography All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the art of risking everything begins and ends with that death - from tuberculosis, aged just 34 in France.

There’s been no lack of Mansfield scholarship, but Harman is well-placed to provide her wider appreciation. Her other literary biographies include Charlotte Brontë and Robert Louis Stevenson.

The centenary is being marked by a programme of events including this Sunday Mansfield in Her Own Words at the Mansfield Garden, Hamilton Gardens. The garden is a remarkable recreation of the setting for her short story ‘The Garden Party’.

10.05 Lydia Millet: extinction and other lighthearted matters 

American writer Lydia Millet's Twitter bio used to read "interested in apocalyptic thought, extinction, climate change and other lighthearted matters".

It sums up the contradictions of her work, which is simultaneously funny and concerned with the darkest ecological crises we face.

Tucson based Millet has authored over 25 books, including 2020 hit novel A Children's Bible, and was finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2010. Her latest novel is Dinosaurs.

10.45 On the road with organic gardener Kath Irvine

Since we last heard from gardener and The Edible Backyard author Kath Irvine, she’s uprooted and hit the road in a 12 metre long house truck.

She's got some some tips on how to revive soil ravaged by summer weather extremes, plus she'll share the story of Whanganui's St Joseph's Garden where volunteers grow organic veggies for the local food bank. Kim and Kath also discuss Gardening After a Flood.

11.05 John Miller: a life behind the lens at protests

Protest photographer John Miller (Ngāpuhi) has made a career capturing some of the most politically charged moments in our history. From the Māori land marches of the ‘70s to Ihumātao, the anti-Vietnam war protests to recent demonstrations against the invasion of Ukraine. 

Miller has also documented the Māori renaissance over the past 50 years, and gained the attention of the fine arts scene with recent exhibitions at the Sydney Biennale and numerous NZ public galleries. 

Miller’s photographs feature in exhibition 1970s Protest Photos at Te Auaha Gallery Wellington 4-15 March

11.35 Stephen Page: dancing the stories of Australia's great desert regions

Between the 1920s and 1960s many Aboriginal people from Australia’s great Western Desert and Kimberley regions were removed from their country and forced into hard labour on livestock stations. Despite this, the Traditional Peoples have maintained strong unbroken connections to their country. Now, Bangarra Dance Theatre’s new work Sandsong is bringing their stories and songs to Aotearoa.

Established in 1989, Bangarra is considered one of the world’s leading first nations companies. Stephen Page became artistic director in 1991, a role he’s finally stepping down from this year. 

Page is co-choreographer of Sandsong, to be performed at the Auckland Arts Festival 15-18 March.  

Books featured on this show:

All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the art of risking everything 
By Claire Harman
Published by Penguin
ISBN: 9781784744779.

Dinosaurs: a novel
By Lydia Millet
Published by W.W. Norton & Company
ISBN:  9781324021469

A Children's Bible
By Lydia Millet
Published by ‎W. W. Norton & Compan
ISBN: 1324005033
 

Songs featured on this show

There is power in a union
Billy Bragg
Played at 9.05am
 

Malade
Lawrence Arabia
Played at 9.35am
 

I'm a little dinosaur
Jonathan Richman
Played at 10.40am