Saturday Morning

8.10 Should all drugs be decriminalised?

More than 150 experts have signed an open letter calling on the NZ Government to legalise and regulate all psychoactive substances. The letter marks the launch of Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, an organisation to reduce the harm of drug use.

It's an idea already in practice in different corners of the world. In January 2023, the province of British Columbia, Canada, kicked off a three-year trial allowing adults to possess up to 2.5 grams of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine or meth without being arrested. However, the pilot programme has come under increasing pressure from opponents and some of the measures have recently been rolled back.

Dr Lindsey Richardson is associate professor at the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia and Research Scientist at the BC Centre on Substance Use. She is joined by Dr Fiona Hutton, associate professor in criminology at Victoria University Wellington, and member of Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa.

8.35 Jonathan Rauch: Allowing free speech

American author Jonathan Rauch argues free speech and robust criticism should be encouraged and defended, even when it's racist, sexist or causes hurt.  

A gay, Jewish writer and thinker Rauch admits free speech can do harm, but argues minorities are better off in a society where free speech is embraced.

Rauch has been visiting NZ at the invitation of the Free Speech Union discussing the necessity of academic freedom.

He's a senior fellow in the Governance Studies programme at the Brookings Institute, the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, government, and LGBT rights. 

9.05 Connie Walker: Stolen, murdered and ignored, Indigenous women

Award-winning Canadian investigative journalist Connie Walker had been telling stories about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls for years, and wondering why they received so little attention.

All this changed with her true-crime podcasts. Missing & Murdered and Stolen have been wildly popular, the latter winning a Pulitzer Prize and a Peabody Award.

But despite the prizes and the millions of followers, in a climate where profitability is prioritised over important journalism Stolen is being axed by Spotify beyond the current third series. 

9.30 Vincent Deary: Why rest is vital to beat burnout

The incremental stresses of modern life can easily build, to kill joy, and tip us towards physical and psychological burnout.

It's tempting to "push on" but Prof Vincent Deary argues we need to accept our capacity to carry stress is finite and work harder at resting - a skill most of us need to consciously practice.

The professor of psychology at the UK's Northumbria University and clinical fatigue specialist's new book is How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living. It's an exploration of our varying responses to the corrosive pressures of daily life, especially work, and an ode to the necessity of rest, recovery and the lost art of convalescence.

10:05 Joy Womack: the American ballerina who danced for Russia

At just fifteen years old Joy Womack left her family home in Texas and travelled to Moscow to follow her dream of becoming a Prima Ballerina at the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet Company. 

In the face of incredible challenges, she became the first American to graduate from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy's punishing training program with a red diploma, and the second American woman to sign a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet. 

Womack's captivating story has been made into a movie by the New Zealand filmmaking team of James Napier Robertson and Tom Hern. The biopic Joika, which is currently screening in NZ cinemas, stars actress and classically trained dancer Talia Ryder, and the real Womack served as choreographer and consultant. 

10.45 Singer Hollie Smith unveils her debut art exhibition

Many people will be familiar with the name Hollie Smith, she is one of the country's most successful music artists with three #1 debuting solo albums, and a slew of awards under her belt. But in recent years the singer has been pursuing another artistic endeavour.

Next month, Smith will be opening her debut exhibition entitled 'It's Not Music', a collection of oil paintings that present the human form at its most raw and vulnerable. Her paintings - which have never been seen outside the members of her family and friends - will be shown alongside some of photographic slides by her grandfather, a former president of the Dunedin Photography Exhibition.

'It's Not Music' is showing at Eyes On Fire Gallery in central Auckland from 6th till 27th June.

11:05 Playing Favourites with Dame Jane Campion

In 2022 Dame Jane Campion made history as the first woman to win Academy Awards for both directing and screenwriting. She was already household name here in Aotearoa, for her films The Piano and An Angel At My Table.

The 2022 Best Director Oscar for The Power of the Dog, which was filmed in Central Otago, added to her large collection of awards including a Palme d'Or, two BAFTAs, two Golden Globes and a Silver Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival.

Dame Jane joins Susie to talk about her life and career and share some of her favourite music.

She is appearing in-conversation with Emily Perkins at the Auckland Writers Festival on Sunday 19 May.

 

Books featured on this programme:

How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living
By Vincent Deary
ISBN: 9780241008355
Published by Allen Lane