Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Show notes for Sunday 18 December 2011

8:12 Insight: Sexually Transmitted Infections

New Zealand has climbing rates of chlamydia and the 2010/2011 year was the worst ever for the number of people infected with HIV. Philippa Tolley finds out what is being done to turn these statistics around and asks if more focus is needed in this area of health that many would like to ignore.

8:40 Fadi Kattan – Bethlehem at Christmas

Fadi Kattan, the owner of a tourism business in Bethlehem and the coordinator of the Palestine Solidarity Project, tells us about preparations for Christmas in the birthplace of Jesus, and reflects on why the city’s Christian community has dwindled from 85 per cent in 1948 to less than 40 per cent today.

9:06 Mediawatch

This weekend, Mediawatch looks at controversial new proposals for keeping the media honest in the future; and, in its final programme for the year, Mediawatch looks back at some of the worst of what the media had to offer in 2011 as well as some of the best, in a year when several big stories set huge challenges for the media.
Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.

9:40 Jacquelin Magnay – Olympian Spending

Millions of pounds of taxpayers money continues to pour into the coffers for the London Olympics in 2012, at the same time as the Government's austerity measures hit hard and unemployment soars to a 17-year high. Jeremy talks to Jacquelin Magnay, the Telegraph Group Olympics Editor about budget blow-outs, protests, and the failed hope that the Olympics would inspire Britons to take up sport.
Jacquelin Magnay's blog
Jacquelin Magnay's columns

10:06 Harriet Washington – The Corporate Takeover of Life Itself

Medical ethicist Harriet Washington's latest book is an exposé of the rush to own and exploit the raw materials of life—including human tissue. The US Patent Office has either granted patents, or has them pending, on more than 500,000 genes or DNA sequences. Hospital patients are often made to sign away ownership rights to their excised tissues – which then become the property of pharmaceutical companies. Harriet tells Jeremy the biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies patenting these genes are more concerned with profit than with the health or medical needs of patients.
Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself—And the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future, by Harriet Washington, is published by Random House.

10:45 Hidden Treasures

In this final edition of Hidden Treasures 2011, Trevor Reekie celebrates the career of an ever-modest bluesman; and showcases a Radio New Zealand exclusive of a topical new song by local singer songwriter Bernie Griffen.
Produced by Trevor Reekie

11.05 Ideas: The Big Ideas 2011/12

Political scientist Jon Johansson and human rights advocate Marama Davidson discuss the big ideas of 2011 and the ideas they think should have got more air time; the ideas that will dominate 2012, and those they would like to take centre stage. Topics for discussion include the Occupy movement, austerity measures, and the race for the White House; plus Jenni Adams, a senior lecturer in physics at Canterbury University, explains the significance  of claims that neutrino particles might travel faster than the speed of light.
Jon Johansson is lecturer in Political Science at Victoria University
Marama Davidson (Te Rarawa/Ngāpuhi/Ngātiporou) is an advocate for social justice and human rights with a focus on indigenous rights issues. She lives and works in the South Auckland region.

11.55 Feedback

What you, the listeners, say on the ideas and issues that have appeared in the programme.