Saturday Morning for Saturday 16 September 2023

8:10 Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May on the Abuse of Power

Most remembered for her failure to secure a Brexit deal, Theresa May was British Prime Minister between 2016 and 2019 and the longest-serving Home Secretary in over a century. 

A Remainer herself, her job as PM was to work out how the UK should honour the country's 2016 Brexit referendum.

May's book The Abuse of Power: Confronting Injustice in Public Life argues for a radical rethink of politics and public life. 

From the Hillsborough to Grenfell Tower tragedies, The Abuse of Power exposes powerful people serving themselves or protecting their organisation, rather than serving the interests of the powerless.  

8:55 Nathan Rarere: All Blacks vs Namibia

A week after their 27-13 defeat in the opening Rugby World Cup game against France, the All Blacks will want to beat Namibia.

RNZ Sports commentator Nathan Rarere checks in after the final whistle at the Stadium de Toulouse.

9:05 Julia Ebner: how extremist ideas are taking over

UK counter-extremism expert Julia Ebner thinks we are at the beginning of a digital dark age. 

QAnon proponents run for U.S. Congress, neo-fascists win elections in Europe, and celebrity influencers like (Kan)Ye West spread dangerous myths to millions.

All these are signs to Ebner that Enlightenment values are being eroded, and the myths and magical thinking of conspiracy theorists and other extremists are becoming part of mainstream culture.

Ebner, who is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in London, has been studying the growth of extremist ideas in our societies for the last decade. 

Her new book Going Mainstream is a follow on from her 2020 bestseller Going Dark, which was about radicalisation processes in the extreme fringes of society.

9:40 Graham Leonard: how prepared are we for a tsunami?

 

Long or Strong - Get Gone! -  most of us know this advice on when to evacuate due to tsunami risk following an earthquake, but if it happened would we actually act? 

Surveys suggest around a third of New Zealanders would either not evacuate, or not evacuate fast enough in the event of a tsunami. 

GNS Principal scientist Graham Leonard is in to talk about tsunami risk in New Zealand and what's being done to plan and prepare for one. 

Research shows that regular drills are key to preparedness, and an opportunity is coming up next month with the Tsunami Hikoi

 

10:05 Prof Kevin Tracey: how vagus nerve stimulation will revolutionise medicine  

The longest of the 12 cranial nerves, running from the brain stem to the colon, the vagus nerve is involved in controlling heart rate, digestion, our immune system, mood and even our voices. 

It's become a bit of an anatomical celebrity on social media with an explosion of interest in self-care "hacks" promising to make us calmer and happier.

Beyond the well-being hype there's genuine excitement from the scientific and medical worlds for the potential of vagus nerve stimulation therapy.

This electrical stimulation by way of an implanted device promises a breakthrough in treating inflammation, which is implicated in many autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Professor Kevin Tracey is an expert on vagus nerve signaling and discovered and mapped the neural circuits controlling immunity. 

He is professor of molecular medicine and neurosurgery at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York.

10:40 Ron Crosby: Te Kooti's Last Foray

Long-time bush man, lawyer and historian Ron Crosby's new book Te Kooti's Last Foray re-tells a forgotten period of Te Urewera history.

With the help of recently discovered diaries and by tramping the forests with ex-special forces soldiers, Crosby sets the historical record straight about the mass abduction in 1870 of 218 Whakatōhea people by prophet-to-be Te Kooti during the New Zealand Wars.

Ron Crosby is author of The Musket Wars - A History of Inter-Iwi Conflict 1806-1845; NZSAS: The First Fifty Years, and Andris Apse - Odyssey and Images.

 

11:00 One performer/ten Divas: Bernadette Robinson

What makes a diva? In her one-woman show DIVAS, Olivier-nominated Australian singer Bernadette Robinson brings to life Maria Callas, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, also Shirley Bassey, Miley Cyrus and Amy Winehouse, performed in-character based on a study of interviews with them.

DIVAS is coming to Auckland's ASB Waterfront Theatre 11-22 October.

11:40 Peter Butler: Night Tribe

Nelson-based author and entrepreneur Peter Butler's fourth book is Night Tribe, a young adult novel set in the Kahurangi National Park.

Peter's first job in Golden Bay was working on the Heaphy Track for the Forest Service. Today he's Chair of the Farewell Wharariki Health Post Nature Trust, helping to restore 12,000 hectares at the North West tip of the South Island.

Peter lived for many years on a bush block near the Heaphy Track, where he still grows horopito.  

He is the author of two non-fiction titles: Opium & Gold and Life & Times of Te Rauparaha. His first novel was Gravel Roads.

 

 

Books featured on this show:

The Abuse of Power: Confronting Injustice in Public Life  
By Theresa May
Published by Hachette
ISBN: 9781035410460

Going Mainstream How extremists are taking over
By Julia Ebner
Published by Ithaka Press
ISBN: 9781804183168

Te Kooti's Last Foray
By Ron Crosby
Published by Oratia Books
ISBN: 9781990042348

Night Tribe
by Peter Butler
Published by One Tree House
ISBN: 9781990035333

Music played in this show

Song: Playing Games
Artist: Bernadette Robinson
Time played: 11:05

Song: Being Alive
Artist: Barbra Streisand: The Broadway Album
Time played: 11:15

Song: Diamonds Are Forever
Artist: Shirley Bassey
Time played: 11:25

Song: Back to Black
Artist: Amy Winehouse
Time played: 11:30

Song: Over the Rainbow
Artist: Judy Garland
Time Played: 11:40