Saturday Morning

 

7.11 Heavy rain and snow for the south

It's been a wet and wild start to the school holidays.

On Friday residents in Tapawera and Tadmor Valley near Nelson were warned to move to higher ground as a state of emergency remains in place. 

Mandatory evacuation orders came into force for parts of Spring Creek, north of Blenheim

Now all eyes - are on Dunedin and Clutha where an orange rain and snowfall warning is in place until later this evening.

MetService's head of weather news Heather Keats talks to Mihi.

7.15 The Israel-Iran conflict

This week the Middle East has been on a knife edge, after the US entered the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Within the last few hours US President Donald Trump has said he would bomb Iran again "without a question. Absolutely" if intelligence were to find that Iran can enrich uranium to a level higher.

After the US bombed Iran's nuclear sites last Sunday, president Trump claimed there was "complete obliteration."

He then announced a ceasefire, but Israeli strikes continued, sparking a furious outburst from Trump who dropped his own f-bomb at NATO summit.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner speaks to Susie.

7.32 Ngāpuhi settlement: 'Our people are pretty hōhā' 

This week negotiating the settlement for Aotearoa's largest iwi Ngāpuhi has seen yet another twist.

Earlier, NZ First MP Shane Jones said his party was drafting a member's bill to force Ngāpuhi into a single commercial settlement.

Last week, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith said having one deal was the government's preference and that time spent on negotiating can't be open-ended.

Moana Tuwhare, the General Manager of Te Runanga o Ngāpuhi and former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson speaks to Mihi.

7.48 Intellectually disabled twice as likely to live in hardship - report

Next Tuesday the IHC - which advocates for the rights, inclusion and welfare of people with intellectual disabilities will offiicially launch it's new report entitled "The Cost of Exclusion"

Ahead of that launch IHC advocate Shara Turner has come into the Wellinton studio to speak to us.

The report reveals that people with an intellectual disability are twice as likely to live in hardship or severe hardship in this country.

8.10 Rebecca Solnit: the long and winding road 

The indirect route to progress - where there's success without victory -  a win perhaps for future generations, if not immediately,  is the focus of award-winning Guardian columnist Rebecca Solnit's latest essay collection.

No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain argues for the long-term view and the power of collective action, making a case for seeding change wherever possible, and offering us all a path out of the wilderness.         

Rebecca Solnit talks to Susie about celebrating indirect and unpredictable consequences, and embracing slowness and imperfection, which, she argues, are key to understanding the possibilities of change. 

8.30 Remembering Takutai Tarsh Kemp 

This week Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp died, after a battle with kidney disease.

She is Ngā Rauru Rauru, Ngāti Rauru Tuwharetoa and Ngā Rauru iwi o Mōkai Patea. She was the former CEO of Manurewa Marae where she led the successful vaccination campaign during covid.

She will be remembered as a champion of community and whānau receiving an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to street dance and youth.
 
Takutai Tarsh Kemp won the Tāmaki Makaurau Māori electorate in the last election, beating Labour MP Peeni Henare by just 42 votes.

Her passing will now trigger a byelection, and will be the first test to see whether Māori voters still back Te Pāti Māori or have swung back to Labour.

Lara Greaves, an associate professor in politics at Victoria University, talks to Mihi.

8.45 Do natural remedies actually work?

Globally, health and wellness is a multi-billion-dollar industry.

There is a huge array of products out there claiming to help with sleep or stress or mood, including natural remedies.

But just how effective is bone broth for collagen, ashwagandha for anxiety or rosemary for memory?

Dipa Kamdar is a senior lecturer in pharmacy practice at Kingston University in London and speaks to Mihi.

9.06 Looting the temples: a story of crime and redemption

A new documentary uncovers the illicit trade in thousand year old looted Cambodian temple treasures.

From remote villages to elite international art institutions, LOOT uncovers  the underbelly of a multi-billion-dollar trade in blood antiquities and the global art houses receiving them.

LOOT is part of Doc Edge Film Festival, on now.

Mihi speaks with filmmaker Don Millar.

9.35 Endeavour discovery confirmed

Captain Cook's ship HMS Endeavour has been located off the US East coast - following 25 years of archaeological research and underwater investigations.  

The identity of the wreck beneath the waves in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, was confirmed by the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) in a report released this week. Between 1768 and 1771, Captain James Cook commanded the Endeavour on his first Pacific voyage to New Zealand, Tahiti, and Australia. 

The Endeavour was then sold and renamed as the Lord Sandwich, before being scuttled during the American War of Independence in 1778. Co-author of the ANMM report is Dr James Hunter, who is also the acting manager of maritime archaeology at the Australian National Maritime Museum. He speaks to Susie.

9.45 Georgie Falloon: Big Shoes to Fill

25 years ago, Wairarapa farming woman Georgie Falloon founded a business that became the first ever online shoe retailer in NZ.

Georgie thought shoes were supposed to be painful. She grew up with large feet (size 11 age 12), shopping for school shoes in the men's department. As a young woman, she usually wore sports shoes. 

When she couldn't find a pair of pretty shoes to wear to her wedding, she founded Willow Shoes for Long Feet.

10.06 Alice Austen: 33 Place Brugmann

In 2005 Alice Austen traded in her career as a lawyer to focus on her love of writing. And it paid off, now an award-winning screenwriter, producer and playwright, perhaps best known for writing and producing the critically acclaimed 2019 film Give Me Liberty. Austen also co-founded the Harvard Human Rights Journal and was the first American to receive a fellowship to the European Court of Human Rights. 

Her latest work, 33 Place Brugmann is her debut novel. 

It's a thoughful historical debut set in Second World War Brussels as the Nazis invade Belgium. The novel's focus is on the inhabitants of a large apartment building. Despite being a work of fiction, the house was not only a real place, but one Alice herself lived in.

10.35 Nadine Hura: finding the words to talk about climate change 

Wellington essayist Nadine Hura's new collection Slowing the Sun is a karanga to those who have left us and those still with us, with a message to hold fast to ancestral knowledge for future generations.

Overwhelmed by the complexity of climate change, Hura set out to find a language that connects more-deeply with the environmental crisis. 

Through science, pūrākau and poetry, Nadine attempts to understand climate change in relation to whenua and people.

11.06 The highs and lows of driving with a disability 

Learning to drive is a rite of passage for many, symbolising freedom and independence. But everyone knows that learning to drive, comes with some hair raising, white knuckle moments, and the new TV series called License to Drive has plenty of them. 

Sure to have audiences on the edge of their seats, the series provides an intimate, often laugh out loud look at the journey undertaken by a group of disabled New Zealanders from all walks of life learning to drive. Filmed around the motu, each episode follows learner drivers - alongside their driving instructors, as they experience the emotional highs and lows of getting behind the wheel. Some are nervous first-timers, others are coming back from a life-changing injury and must entirely re-learn to drive using different parts of their body.

Mathias Bridgman is one of the learner drivers on the show, he's been learning to drive with his feet. We're also joined by series producer Jai Waite from Sweet Productions, a former Wheel Black, turned TV producer.

 

11.35 Secrets, surprises and the supernatural in new series: Dead Ahead

Offering home grown dramedy with a supernatural twist, Dead Ahead is a new series launching this coming Monday on TVNZ+.

Centred around the Wharekoa family who have recently returned to Aotearoa after years away living in London, it's the latest bi-lingual show on the platform, with characters speaking in both English and Te Reo Māori.

We obviously can't give too much away but it involves secrets, surprises and three mischievous kēhua - ghosts.  

Award winning actor Scotty Cotter from Kura, The Sounds and Shortland Street, co-created the series and he talks to Susie and Mihingarangi about spirituality and the creative process.

11.48 New Westland heritage-based "Legendary Coasters" app 

The grand reopening of the Hokitika Museum took place yesterday. 

Alongside the reopening, and taking the town's history out of the museum and into the streets, is the Legendary Coasters App. This is an immersive storytelling tool, mixing fact with fiction, that lets users explore Hokitika's colourful history through significant characters from the past. 

Susie speaks with App project manager Zane Smith, Hokitika Museum Director Laureen Sadlier, and Westland District Council's Community Services Manager Marcus Waters.