Sunday Morning for Sunday 21 November 2021

8:11 Groundswell promises to be "mother of all protests" 

Back in July, farmers and their friends took to the streets of more than 50 towns and cities in New Zealand in 'A Howl of Protest' against what they said is a "a tsunami of regulations." Today the Groundswell movement is promising 'the Mother of all Protests' - and this time anger about vaccine mandates and the Covid response has made the mix more volatile. 
The editor of  the 115-year-old King Country News Heather Carston takes the temperature for us in her region. 

8:25 Do smartphones and social media make us lie more? 

We're connecting with people more than ever before, thanks to the introduction of smartphones and social media. But that also means we have more opportunities to lie to people. 
A seminal 2004 study was among the first to investigate the connection between deception rates and technology. The study found people told the most lies per interaction on the phone, while the least lies were told via email.  
David Markowitz, an Assistant Professor of Social Media Data Analytics, University of Oregon, wanted to do a follow-up study, to see how well those earlier results held up. He joins the show to discuss his new study, Revisiting the Relationship Between Deception and Design, outline the social interactions in which people are most likely to lie, and explain why they lie in the first place.

8:39 The Weekend Panel with Dr Ella Henry and Jenée Tibshraeny  

Joining us on the Weekend Panel this morning are AUT associate professor Dr Ella Henry and Interest.co.nz's press gallery journalist Jenée Tibshraeny. Among other topics, they'll be discussing objections to the housing intensification bill, Auckland's borders opening up, interest rates, vaccine mandates and Guyon Espiner's documentary on New Zealand's drinking culture. 

9:06 Radio in NZ 100 not out - but what is its future? 

Radio in New Zealand marked its centenary this week with tributes to its staying power in the past and confident claims that it's here to stay in future. Several stations now have bigger audiences than ever and radio is the most profitable part of some of our commercial media companies. But soon after he became Radio New Zealand's chief executive back in 2013, Paul Thompson said radio was a "medium in decline." Does he still think that? 

9:35 Veteran tech reporter warns against tech titans' overreach

Rory Cellan-Jones is a former BBC technology correspondent and author of 'Always On: Hope and Fear in the Social Smartphone Era.' 
The 63-year-old recently left the BBC after a 40-year association with the broadcaster, which saw him covering technology since before Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in his Harvard dorm room in 2004.    
BBC viewers complained when Cellan-Jones reported the iPhone launch as news in 2007, but it went on to become the most profitable product ever manufactured. 
In his book, Cellan-Jones weighs up the pros and cons of digital innovation in our lives - and we ask if we will really be living in Facebook's founder's brave new virtual 'Metaverse' five years from now.

10:04 Why we need to can the phoney generation wars 

We've heard it all before. 'Boomers' - arguably the most disliked generation - only think about themselves, while millennials (aka 'snowflakes') wouldn't know a hard day's work if it slapped them across the face. 
But where does all of this generational angst - which is by no means new - get us?
Bobby Duffy is a Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute, King's College London. In his new book, Generations, he argues that it's a shame people see fit to sum entire generations up in just a few characteristics, because acknowledging the differences between the different generations is essential for the progress of society. 
Duffy joins the show to discuss the generational wars and how throughout history it's always been the latest generation of young people who are viewed as uniquely wrong or weird.  

10:40 Calling Home: Rebecca Brady in Buffalo, N.Y. 

Wellington-born, Buffalo-based business owner and mother of three Rebecca Brady isn't exaggerating when she says her life has become a bit hectic in the last few weeks.
Rebecca is the founder of an artisan cracker and roasted seed business based in Cheektowaga, Top Seedz, and late last month her company won a US$1 million prize in a local business competition. Along with the cash injection, which will be used to fund an automated manufacturing system, Top Seedz will also receive a year-long business mentorship. 
The other thing about the Top Seedz story is that 90% of the company's employees are women and all are refugees. 
Rebecca, who left New Zealand nearly 30 years ago and did stints in Japan and Singapore before settling with the family in Buffalo, is Calling Home this morning. 

11:05 'This is deeper into The Beatles than we've been before' 

Beatles fans have been awaiting Sir Peter Jackson's new three-part documentary 'The Beatles - Get Back' with keen anticipation ever since the project was first announced.   
Using 60 hours of footage and 150 hours of unheard audio, the series documents the 22-day process that resulted in The Beatles' penultimate 'Let It Be' album, in the band's own words. 
Journalist, writer and critic John Harris has compiled the material into a book which is also part of the same project, also titled 'The Beatles - Get Back' - the first official standalone book to be released by The Beatles since international bestseller The Beatles Anthology. 
Harris was invited to scour through the hours of audio and video footage from the January 1969 sessions. And he says the material paints the band in a different light to the idea that at this stage of their career they were a dysfunctional band that was at odds with each other. 

11:35 Off the tracks: New Zealand's lost railway network 

Dr André Brett is a historian, researcher and writer who specialises in Australian and New Zealand history, in particular histories of politics, railways, the environment, and the economy. 
The Wollongong-based New Zealander's latest book, Can't Get There from Here: New Zealand's Shrinking Passenger Rail Network, 1920-2020, traces the expansion and - more commonly - the contraction of New Zealand's passenger rail network over the last century. Indeed, New Zealand now has less than 1500km of track for passenger services - the lowest total since the 1870s - while only Wellington and Auckland have meaningful everyday rail transport.
Dr Brett is with us to discuss the new book, the role rail has played in New Zealanders' lives over the years, and how we have been left with an attenuated passenger railway that is unfit for the 21st century.