Sunday Morning for Sunday 27 September 2015

7:10 Sandra Grey and Joan Withers – Sexism in the Workplace

Recent reports of what's been described in the UK media as a "mushroom cloud of retro sexism" has focused the attention back on gender discrimination in the workplace. Dr Sandra Grey is president of the Tertiary Education Union and Joan Withers, MBA, is a businessperson and company director. She chairs the TVNZ Board, and heads the board of directors of Mighty River Power.

7:30 Current Affairs: The Week in Parliament; measuring time and the tricky problem of leap seconds; and Radio New Zealand International’s Sally Round is just back from Fiji where it’s a year since Frank Bainimarama and his FijiFirst party won a landslide victory at the polls.

8:12 Insight:  Auckland's Quest for Affordable Housing

Housing in Auckland has never been further out of reach of so many first-time buyers. The median sale price of $755,000 is nearly 10 times the estimated mean household income. Three times the income is considered "unaffordable". The city is already two years into the three-year Housing Accord, aimed at boosting land supply, home building, and thereby easing prices, but it's made no impact with average sale prices rising 20 per cent in a year. Some experts argue New Zealand doesn't have systems in place to successfully turn out sufficient numbers of reasonably priced homes. In this week's Insight, Todd Niall looks at why the numbers of affordable homes being built in Auckland only amount to a drop in the housing bucket, and at whether anyone has plans big enough to make a difference.
Produced by Teresa Cowie

8:42 Dr Lora Wu – The National Sleep Deficit

Thousands of New Zealanders suffer from sleep problems – and the beginning of daylight saving just adds to a growing national sleep deficit. Dr Lora Wu is a post-doctoral fellow at Massey University’s Sleep/Wake Research Centre.

9:06 Mediawatch

Papers and their publishers under pressure, and how the media seized on the story of ‘the prime minister and the pig’. Also: World Cupwatch – how Japan was overjoyed but overlooked; and facing the facts on Richie's reputation.
Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.

9:40 Prof Harlene Hayne – Celebrating Academic Success

Does the tall poppy syndrome really exist? Professor Harlene Hayne, Vice Chancellor of Otago University, believes it does and says it’s time we started celebrating our academic successes in the same way we celebrate our sporting ones.

10:07 Julian McMahon and Ursula Noye – Death Penalty for Drug Crime

There are 33 countries and territories that retain the death penalty for drug crimes – including many of our regional neighbours. Many of us watched in horror as the Bali 9 were shot by firing squad in Indonesia earlier this year. October 10 is the World Day Against the Death Penalty and this year the theme is ending the death penalty for drug crimes. Julian McMahon is an Australian barrister who has worked on death row cases in the Asian region, and Ursula Noye is Vice-President of Reprieve Australia, an NGO fighting the death penalty around the world. They have been visiting New Zealand on a trip organised by the Drug Foundation to urge our Government to speak up against the death penalty to our neighbours and trading partners.

10:35 Bruce Ansley – A Wild Road Trip

Writer Bruce Ansley travelled some of New Zealand’s most awe-inspiring and remote roads while researching his latest book: Wild Roads: A New Zealand Journey. The book features 60 routes ranging from scenic coastal highways to treacherous mountain passes.

11:06 Seth Shostak – Life in Space

Seth Shostak is senior astronomer and Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California. (SETI is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).He spends much of his days searching for signals from life in outer space.  Seth Shostak is also host of the radio show, Big Picture Science: He is coming to New Zealand as a guest speaker at the Aoraki Mackenzie Starlight Festival in Twizel, Oct 9-11

11:30 Mike Nock – The Sounds of Len Lye

New Zealand jazz pianist Mike Nock has more than 100 albums to his name - including collaborations with Tal Farlow and Yusef Lateef. He’s been in New Plymouth looking at links between jazz music and the sculptures of Len Lye.