Afternoons for Tuesday 19 June 2018

Short Story Club

This Thursday we discuss two poems by young poets:

I want to get high my life with you by Hera Lindsay Bird:

and Hero Vegetable by Ashleigh Young

We have both poets collections to give away to the writer of the best email about the poems jesse@radionz.co.nz

1:10 First song

1:15 Are video games introducing teenagers to gambling?

Countries around the world are cracking down on the legal status of video game "loot boxes" - randomised in-game rewards which give players advantages and are purchased with real money.

Lots of the games target teenagers - and some countries have banned them for meeting the criteria to be defined as gambling - but so far New Zealand hasn't been part of that discussion.

Dr Aaron Drummond from Massey University today published a paper looking at loot boxes

1:25 Working from home: mums dealing P

The founder of female recidivist offender charity RAW Annah Stretton talks about why the female prison population is increasing. Women caught in the criminal underworld see running a drug business from home as a good option to pay the bills. They cook more than dinner.

1:35 Do birds have emotions?

Kea are among the most interesting and playful birds around - but can they experience and influence one another's emotions?

Ximena Nelson from Canterbury University recently won a grant from the The Templeton World Charity Foundation to explore exactly that.

1:40 Great album: The Saturday Night Fever Movie Soundtrack

2:10 Book critic Pip Adam

Pip discusses 3 new NZ books: 

The Facts by Therese Lloyd

Are Friends Electric? by Helen Heath

And Helen Rickerby's poem:  George Eliot: A Life

2:20 Paddy Burgin, luthier

Wellingtonian Paddy Burgin is a luthier by trade. He makes guitars and other stringed instruments, including mandolins and even the odd harp. He's been doing it for more than 20 years and musicians from all over the world have commissioned and bought Burgin guitars.

He brings in several of his guitars and shows us the different sounds and styles, as well as looking back on where this instrument originated and how it has changed over the years.

3:10 The world's best family game?

Jesse reckons this is the best "parlour" game he has heard of. Caitlin Cherry explains The Poetry Game.

3:15 Sir Nigel Shadbolt: Don't fear robots, fear human stupidity

Get ready for the future because one day soon robots will  be part of the family. Rather than turning on humans like we see in the movies, we will be trusting them to look after the very young and the very old. 

This is the view of Sir Nigel Shadbolt, a professor of computer science at the University of Oxford. He says instead of fearing artificial intelligence, we should be more afraid of human stupidity. 

He's co-written a book that explains how smart machines are reshaping our lives and our societies It's called The Digital Ape: How to Live (in Peace) with Smart Machines

3:30 Ours: Treasures from Te Papa

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

4:05 The Panel with David Slack and Julia Hartley Moore