Sunday Morning for Sunday 18 June 2023

8:10 Jack Watling: Ukraine Conflict update 

Dr Jack Watling is joining us again on the situation in Ukraine as the battles resume with improved weather on the ground, and a long summer of warfare seeming to be in store.  

Jack is from New Zealand  originally, and is the senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the world's oldest and the UK's leading defence and security think tank. 

He's won international media awards for his analysis. And he has spent periods of his time since this war began on the ground with the armed forces in Ukraine.  

8:30 Bob Stanley: Fathoming the Brothers Gibb 

Since founding the indie pop group Saint Etienne, Bob Stanley has also enjoyed a career as a music journalist, writing extensively for the Guardian and the Times of London as well as the major music magazines. His books, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop and its prequel Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop are considered by many to be definitive guides to the history of the genre. 

His latest book is about just one band in that history. Bee Gees: Children Of The World, the rise of a broke band of brothers who lived in England, then Australia and then England again.  

Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb went from setting other people's property on fire, in one reported incident, to setting the world on fire with dance music. With a career spanning ballads in the 1960s, disco in the seventies, numerous number one songs - often sung by other people - through the 1980s and 90s, they would be the most successful family musical trio of all time. 

The Bee Gees You Tube channel still gets a million and a half views a day, and the famous songs continue to bring in millions of dollars a year. 

9:10 Mediawatch 

Mediawatch looks at the response to the revelation of ‘inappropriate editing’ of online world news at RNZ  - and asks two experts what may come out of the investigation into how it happened.  

Also: Mediawatch asks about claims that state-sponsored offshore disinformation campaigns could be undermining our media. 

9:30 Calling Home: Mimi Todhunter in Venice 

This Sunday, Mimi Todhunter is calling home from Venice 

10:06 Jo McCarroll: When should we water our garden? 

The journal New Scientist has dispelled some old wisdom about the need to water your garden early in the morning before the day warms up. It says that's not necessary, and sometimes it's not a good idea - same with watering in the early evening. 

How can this long-agreed-on idea be wrong? Editor of NZ Gardener, Jo McCarroll joins us. 

10:30 Moby: Music, fame, and loneliness

In 1999 Moby’s album ‘Play’ sold 12 million copies worldwide making it the biggest selling electronic record ever. After that enormous success came more lauded music and crusades on behalf of veganism, animal rights and humanitarian aid projects along with some years of personal and sometimes public turmoil. 

Moby’s in his late fifties now and doesn't need to make music for the money. On his new album, Resound NYC, he has reimagined and orchestrated fourteen of his best-known tracks. With celebrated guest vocalists including Gregory Porter, Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs), Margo Timmons, and Amythyst Kiah alongside less familiar names: Moby discovered P.T. Banks singing in a wedding band in Texas, while the father of Danielle Ponder joins her on the remake of Run On. 

In his new Moby Pod podcast he is joined by Lindsay Hicks and shares his insights, experiences, and offers a unique perspective on music, animal activism, and beyond. 

He joins us to talk about the album, about getting older and his love of orchestration. 

11:10 Ray Algar: Top athletes live longer 

A study from the International Longevity Centre in the UK has found that if you compete at the Commonwealth Games, you’ll live significantly longer, on average, than other people.  

Sadly, we can’t all be good enough athletes to take part in the Commonwealth Games, but are there lessons here for the rest of us anyway? 

On of the report’s authors, health and fitness researcher, Ray Algar takes us though the findings. 

11:30 Dr. Ali Hill: The Nutrition Edition 

Dr Ali Hill join us for our regular nutrition chat. She makes sense of the headlines that claim will make us look better, feel better and live longer. Could what they call NR be a magic ingredient for our health? Or taurine? What about seaweed, or even a diet of just fast food?