Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Guest details for Saturday Morning 30 August 2008

8:12 Nick Davies

Nick Davies has been named Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year for his investigations into crime, drugs, poverty and other social issues. He writes regularly for The Guardian and makes TV documentaries. The most recent of his five books is Flat Earth News (Chatto & Windus, ISBN: 978-0-70118-145-1), about falsehood and distortion in the media.

8:30 Joanne Drayton

Biographer and curator Joanne Drayton was awarded a National Library Fellowship in 2007 to write the biography of Dame Ngaio Marsh, whose books have sold more copies than any other New Zealand author. Ngaio Marsh: Her Life of Crime (HarperCollins, ISBN: 978-1-86950-635-3) delves into the fiercely guarded private life of one of the 'Queens of Crime' of the 1930s and 40s. Joanne Drayton will launch her book as part of her event, An Evening with Dame Ngaio Marsh, at the Christchurch Writers Festival on Friday 5 September, in the Great Hall where all Ngaio Marsh's Shakespeare productions took place, and will appear in the Festival event Painting a Picture: the Art of Biography, on Sunday 7 September. She is also a keynote speaker at the Going West Books & Writers Festival 2008, the annual Waitakere event held during August and September.

9:05 Michael Braungart: design beyond sustainability

Dr Michael Braungart is Professor of Process Engineering at Universitat Luneburg in Germany, and is one of the principals at McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry. He has initiated worldwide scholarly and scientific inquiry into the adverse environmental and physiological impacts of industrially-produced consumer goods, and co-authored the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. Michael Braungart is a keynote speaker at the Better By Design CEO Summit in Auckland on 1 September.

9:45 Anton van Helden: melon whales and magic

Anton van Helden is Te Papa's Marine Mammals collection manager, responsible for one of the largest cetacean collections in the world. He maintains the New Zealand Whales Stranding Database and identifies whales for the Department of Conservation. He is one of the top sleight of hand magicians in New Zealand, and performs with the Wellington Improvisation Troupe.

10:05 Playing Favourites with Denise L'Estrange-Corbet

With partner Francis Hooper, Denise L'Estrange-Corbet established fashion business WORLD in 1989. Her tell-all memoir about the NZ fashion industry, All That Glitters (Random House, ISBN: 978-1-86979-042-4), recounts details of her tempestuous childhood and life-long struggle with depression (all royalties from the book going to the Mental Health Foundation). After a five-year break, WORLD return this year to Air New Zealand Fashion Week, from 16 to 21 September.

11:05 Food with Alexa Johnston

Alexa Johnston works as a freelance art curator and writer. Her definitive biography of Sir Edmund Hillary was a finalist in the Montana Book Awards. An enthusiastic and accomplished baker from a young age, Alexa has an impressive collection of both cooking utensils and Kiwiana cookbooks. In her new book, Ladies, A Plate: Traditional Home Baking (Penguin, ISBN: 978-014300-8637), she writes about the history of some New Zealand baking classics and shares her favourite traditional recipes, including one for Cheese Scones.

11:25 Paul Whelan

Since winning the 1993 Lieder Prize in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, bass baritone Paul Whelan has had a busy concert and recital career, performing in Britain, Spain and Australia over the last 12 months. He returns to New Zealand to sing in the Vector Wellington Orchestra production of Bluebeard's Castle on 6 September.

11:45 Children's Books with Kate De Goldi

Kate De Goldi will discuss:

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (Allen and Unwin, ISBN: 978-1-74114917-3)

The Church Mouse (36th anniversary edition) by Graham Oakley (The Five Mile Press, ISBN: 978-1-74211-135-3

My Place (20th anniversary edition) by Nadia Wheatley & Donna Rawlins (Walker Books, ISBN: 978-192115065-4)

Music played on the programme

Emilíana Torrini: Big Jumps
From her forthcoming album: Me and Armini
(Rough Trade)
Played at around 9:40

Playing Favourites with Denise L'Estrange-Corbet:

Freda Payne: Band of Gold
The 1970 single
(Invictus)
Played at around 10:20

Roxy Music: Street Life
The 1973 single from the album: Stranded
(Island)
Played at around 10:35

Elemeno P: Baby Come On
From the 2008 album: Elemeno P
(Universal)
Played at around 10:50

Studio operators

Wellington engineer: Damon Taylor
Auckland engineer: Jeremy Ansell