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Rula Lenska previews upcoming New Zealand shows

24 Mar 2024

Coronation Street star Rula Lenksa is coming to New Zealand to star in the stage version of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Audio

Sunday 31 March 2024

On today’s show

8:06 Live from the Sky : Wairarapa Balloon Festival 

Hot air balloon pilot Howard Watson chats to Jim live from the sky over Wairarapa. 

Howard has been flying since 1996, and is the chairman of the Wairarapa Balloon Festival, of which he’s taking part in this Easter weekend.  

Wairarapa Balloon Festival.

Photo: Wairarapa Balloon Festival

8:15 Calling Home: Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray from the Great Loop, USA 

Maungaturoto locals, Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray are calling home from the USA. They’re taking on the Great Loop in their vessel, Plenty. 

Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray's boat, "Plenty"

Photo: Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray

The Great Loop is a system of waterways that encompasses the eastern portion of the United States and part of Canada. The entire loop stretches almost 10,000 km covering the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. 

Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray

Photo: Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray

The Great Loop

Photo: Tom Fish · geo.fish · Fish Eye, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

8:35 Jack Whaley-Cohen: The Sunday Quiz    

Quiz master Jack Waley-Cohen joins us once again as our Sunday Morning question master.      

Jack is the mind behind the questions on BBC quiz show Only Connect which is known for being both difficult to crack and totally obvious.   

It’s Sunday morning, so wake up your brain and have a go!   

Sunday Morning Quiz image

Photo: RNZ

8:40 Robert J. Koester: The Science of search and rescue 

Whether an individual is stuck under rubble or has just wandered off the beaten track, it’s more than likely the search and rescue team will be using the work of Robert J.Koester to locate the missing person. 

He’s a world leading search and rescue expert and the author of numerous books, including the seminal ‘Lost Person Behavior’ which has become the go-to guide for planning search and rescue missions around the world. 

Robert J.Koester joins Jim Mora to discuss his life's work. 

Woman with pen and paper.

Photo: WANG KAIYAN / XINHUA VIA AFP

9:06 Mediawatch  

Mediawatch looks at how dolphins stalled the Sail GP regatta last Sunday and fired up Sir Russell Coutts in the process. Also, politicians and the media... but were important facts drowned out by all the noise?  

And a big review of the Cyclone Gabrielle response says the emergency management was not fit for purpose. 

Mediawatch looks critically at the New Zealand media - television, radio, newspapers and magazines as well as the 'new' electronic media. Photo:

9:40 Dan Weijers: Life inside the Matrix 

While there’s no denying our lives have become better in many ways thanks to the internet and smartphones - genuine human interaction has dropped drastically, leaving society at large in an epidemic of loneliness. 

Dystopian sci-fi classic ‘The Matrix’ came out 25 years ago, yet Dan Weijers argues its themes are more relevant now than ever before.  

Dan Weijers is a senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Waikato. 

Skinny Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix.

Skinny Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix. Photo: Roadshow

10:10 Tali Sharot: The benefits of seeing our lives in a new light 

Habituation is a neurological process which helps us to adapt to new environments keeping ready to reap any benefits or negate any hazards. 

Tali Sharot is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and the co-author of Look Again: The power of noticing what was always there. She believes there are benefits to seeing the things we are used to in a fresh light. 

Tali Sharot composite image with book

Photo: Tali Sharot

10:30 Stacy Gregg’s: The Easter Bunny Hunt 

International best-selling author Stacy Gregg has just released two new books for children and pre-teens. 'The Easter Bunny Hunt' is inspired by the adventures of her own cat and dog. And for pre-teens ‘Nine Girls’ is based on Gregg’s own upbringing in Ngāruawāhia, set in the political tumult of the 1980’s.  

Stacy chats with Jim about the inspiration behind her new works and what she has planned for her Easter Sunday.  

Stacy Gregg composite image

Photo: Stacy Gregg

10:40 Hayden Paddon “Don't just dream it, achieve it!” 

Former World Rally Championship driver  Hayden Paddon is currently defending two rallying titles on opposite sides of the world – The FIA European Rally Championships and the New Zealand Rally Champioship. 

Hayden joins us for a catch up. 

PADDON Hayden Daniel (NZL), HYUNDAI i20 WRC, HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WRT, portrait during the 2018 WRC World Rally Car Championship, Wales Rally Great Britain from October 4 to 7, at Deeside, Wales - Photo Thomas Fenetre / DPPI (Photo by THOMAS FENETRE / DPPI Media / DPPI via AFP)

Photo: THOMAS FENETRE

11:10 Adam McGrath: A life in song 

One of New Zealand's most esteemed singer-songwriters Adam McGrath has captivated audiences both as part of beloved roots band, The Eastern, and latterly as a solo artist. 

He’ll be in Wanaka as part of the Aspiring Conversations Festival, 4 -7 April in a special event exploring songwriting called Tower of Song

Adam McGrath

Photo: Adam McGrath

11:30 Mary Argue’s “Headlines we didn’t read” 

RNZ producer, Mary Argue, has been reading all the headlines - so you don’t have to.  

She'll discuss everything from how useful a degree is in the modern world to what to eat before a colonoscopy. 

Man drinking coffee using digital tablet on balcony. (Photo by CAIA IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / NEW / Science Photo Library via AFP)

Photo: CAIA IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

 

 

 

 

Photo: Supplied

For those of you curious about the Sunday Morning show theme tune, it was written by Jim’s daughter, Rebecca Mora when she was 18 and studying music composition at Auckland University. 

‘Hatstand’ is the title and it was mastered by RNZ engineer Andre Upston.