Afternoons for Tuesday 23 January 2018

Short Story Club

This Thursday we discuss the short story How Women Behave When Men are Losing their Wives by Sue Orr.

1:10 First song: Nomad performs live

If you haven't heard of the band Nomad, we think you will soon. They're a trio from Christchurch, aged just 19 and 20, and already their two singles Oh My My' and 'All Of My Heart'  have been played on spotify nearly 3 million times.

They join us in our Auckland studio to perform an acoustic version of one of their new songs.

1:15 #Knit for Jacinda

It all started with this tweet:

So I woke up this morning feeling like 'I want to knit for Jacinda's pēpi WHO'S WITH ME'

But then I thought her baby will prob get loads of lovely things, and many other bubs are in need of warm clothes and hats and booties to go home from hospital.

— Heather McCracken (@HeatherKMcC) January 19, 2018

Now knitters all around the country are knitting items for the Middlemore Foundation wool programme, which encourages keen knitters to make booties,  beanies and wooly jumpers for babies who come through the South Auckland hospital. But knitters are encouraged to approach their local hospital charities too.

They are sharing ideas and patterns via the twitter hashtag #knitforjacinda

We speak to the coordinator of the wool programme, Diane McEntee

1:25 Danger in the garden - Yucca plants

Yuccas have been involved in at at least 28 cases of ear trauma seen at Melbourne's Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital since August 2012. Professor Stephen O'Leary co-authored an article in the UK journal Clinical Otolaryngology about yuccas and talks to Jesse about the damage the pointy plants can do.

1:35 Rising Water Temperatures Indicate a Sea Change for Marine Life

Last December NIWA was reporting that Summer sea temperatures around the country were already 2 degrees higher than normal for that time of year and up to 6 degrees warmer off the West Coast in the Tasman Sea.
A continued warming of the oceans could permanently damage the marine environment and eventually New Zealand fisheries. Dr Matt Pinkerton is the Principal Marine Ecology Scientist at NIWA and discusses how ocean warming will affect us.

1:40 Great album: Hole: Live Through This

2:10 Book critic Elizabeth Heritage

Elizabeth Heritage tells us about real person fanfiction

2:20 Music Feature: Peter Thomas, conductor

For this week's music feature we're going to play some big, loud and well-known classics.

But you may not know the performers behind them as well as you would know the ones on screen. We're talking film scores.

And for it we've got the music director of the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, Peter Thomas along. Peter uses Star Wars as a case study to explain the intricacies of orchestral music in film.

He also explains how he listens when he enjoys music and gives tips on how to cope at orchestral concerts.

3:10 Luvvie Ajayi: Professional Trouble Maker

Veteran blogger Luvvie Ajayi likes to think of herself as a professional trouble maker.  On the blog she's been writing for 14 years, she takes aim at anything and anyone she feels is in need of improvement. 

She judges, she says, because there is so much to be concerned about: sexual harassment, homophobia, online trolls.  She doles out the hard truths and what we can do about our flaws in her book, I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual.

3:30 Science and environment stories

Stories from Our Changing World.

3:45 The Pre-Panel Story of the Day and One Quick Question

4:05 The Panel with Michele A'Court and Stephen Franks