Sunday Morning for Sunday 20 October 2019

 

7.11 Keith Quinn on the Rugby World Cup

The All Blacks kick into the playoff stage of their Rugby World Cup campaign overnight Saturday with a highly-anticipated quarter-final clash against Ireland in Tokyo. Celebrated New Zealand commentator Keith Quinn offers his analysis of the match and the other quarter-finals being played in Japan this weekend.

7.20 Boris Johnson's Brexit deal hanging in the balance

Britain and the EU appeared on the verge of a last-minute Brexit deal during the week, with Prime Minister Boris Johnston comparing it to being on Everest's "Hillary Step", saying we "can see the peak". But despite hours of frantic talks between EU chiefs and the UK the deal never came through. Guardian Brexit correspondent and senior reporter Lisa O'Carroll joins the show with all the latest.

 

7:31 The House

In our Parliamentary programme, The House, we hear some of the ideas that that Youth MPs are feeding back to their real counterparts about how to run the country, and MPs bravely demonstrate that training in grammar isn't a prerequisite.

7.45 Calling Home: James Whitta in Malmö, Sweden

New Zealander James Whitta is living the dream in his role as a product developer for the world's largest home furnishing retailer, IKEA, in its spiritual birthplace. The award-winning furniture designer is Calling Home this week from the hippest city in Sweden, Malmö.

8.08 Insight: Horse Racing: Flogging tracks to survive

Forcing racing clubs to close their tracks and outsourcing the TAB could revitalise the horse racing industry, but as Max Towle discovers, some diehards won't accept change without a fight.

8:41 Dr. Robert Ballard: 'I will solve the Amelia Earhart mystery'

He's discovered the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck, and retired United States Navy officer Dr. Robert Ballard is confident he will be the man who finds Amelia Earhart's missing plane, despite coming up short in his latest expedition. The famous deep-sea explorer's journey to solve one of the world's greatest mysteries will be documented in Expedition Amelia, which will premiere on Tuesday October 22 on National Geographic.

9:37 Yes, wisdom (and happiness) really does come with age

Yes, you do get wiser with age, as it turns out. Dilip Jeste is a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at UC San Diego and director of the UCSD Center for Healthy Aging, and he's challenging people to take another look at their perceptions around ageing, which he says is most certainly not all doom and gloom.

10:04 Justin Trudeau tipped to 'squeak back in' as Canadian PM

Canadians are heading to the polls as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seeks a second term in office. He faces stiff competition from Andrew Scheer from the Conservative Party and Jagmeet Singh from the New Democratic Party. Veteran public affairs columnist for The Globe and Mail, Lawrence Martin is picking Trudeau to gain re-election, despite the recent 'blackface' scandal that rocked Trudeau's campaign. 

10.25 Christine Fernyhough: Mid-century living in the Butterfly House

For over 30 years, philanthropist and author Christine Fernyhough has built an extraordinary collection of over 4000 everyday objects of mid-century New Zealand craft, design and folk art. She talks to Jim about the collection, which is documented in her new book, Mid-Century Living: The Butterfly House Collection, and how she managed to come across all of her treasures.

10.45 Rugby community mucks in after Typhoon Hagibis

Former New Zealand and Japan Sevens player Scott Pierce joins the show from Kamaishi to look at the work that has been done by locals and the rugby community alike to clean up after the devastation caused by Typhoon Hagibis last weekend, including a heart-warming story that saw the Canadian Rugby World Cup players pick up spades and muck in after their game against Namibia was cancelled. 

11:05 Jung Chang: 'I still have a tremendous optimism for China'

Chinese-born British writer Jung Chang's books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies outside mainland China, where they are banned. Her new book, Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister, documents the dominant roles the Song sisters played in 20th-century Chinese life. She joins the show to discuss her latest book and why she still remains optimistic about the future of her homeland.  

11.30 Kitty Flanagan's 488 Rules For Life

The very witty Kitty Flanagan has helpfully put together a comprehensive guide to modern behaviour, and help everyone around you be a bit less irritating, with her new book, 488 Rules For Life: The Thankless Art of Being Correct. She covers the important things: work microwave etiquette involving last night's fish curry, walking and texting, wearing far too much perfume on public transport, or what to do with the last of the toilet paper. Oh, and whether middle-aged men should have ponytails. (Spoiler alert... They shouldn't.) It began as a bit of a joke on Kitty's popular segment on ABC TV's The Weekly, and her publishers reckon the resulting book has the power to change society.