Saturday Morning for Saturday 27 March 2010

Guest details for Saturday Morning 27 March 2010

8:15 Martin Lord Rees

Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM, PRS, is an English cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer Royal since 1995, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge since 2004, and President of the Royal Society since 2005. He is visiting New Zealand as the Rutherford Memorial Lecturer in the 350th year since the founding of the Royal Society of London, and gave lectures in Christchurch (The Next 20 Years in Astronomy), and Wellington (The World in 2050). A recording of the Wellington lecture will be broadcast on Radio New Zealand National on Easter Sunday and available as a podcast. Lord Rees contributes the concluding chapter, Looking 50 Years Ahead, to a new book, Seeing Further: the Story of Science and the Royal Society, edited by Bill Bryson (Harper Press, ISBN: 978-0-00-730256-7).

8:45 Lloyd Jones

Lloyd Jones is the author of a number of books including the prize-winning Mister Pip (Penguin, ISBN: 9780143008965). He is the chair of the Bougainville Library Trust which has been set up to work with local people in Arawa, Bougainville to build, stock and fundraise for a community library. The project and accompanying www.bougainvillelibrary.org.nz website will be launched on March 30.

9:05 Dee Boersma

Dr Dee Boersma is Professor of Biology and holds the Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science at the University of Washington. Over the past 27 years her research on Magellanic penguins in the South Atlantic has led to her being described as "the Jane Goodall of penguins". In 1995, she was the William Evans Visiting Fellow at the University of Otago, and has been visiting the university's Centre for Science Communication from January through March 2010 as a Fulbright US Senior Scholar.

9:45 Kate's Klassic: Virgil's Aeneid

Kate Camp's fourth collection of poetry, The Mirror of Simple Annihilated Souls (VUP, ISBN: 9780864736215), was recently published. She will discuss The Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil (Penguin Classics, ISBN: 978-0-14-044932-7), translated and with an introduction by David West. During the discussion she mentioned Dan Carlin's podcast, Hardcore History.

10:05 Dr John

Singer and pianist Dr. John has been a key figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues since the 1950s. His most recent album, City That Care Forgot (429 Records), deals with various aspects of post-Katrina New Orleans, and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2009. He and his band the Lower 911 play two concerts at the National Jazz Festival in Tauranga on 4 and 5 April, and one at The Civic in Auckland on 7 April.

10:30 Dame Malvina Major

New Zealand singer Dame Malvina Major maintains an active international singing career, and is Professor of Voice at the University of Canterbury. Her show, My Life in Song, featuring special guests Rachelle Pike, Karl Perigo, Vicki Lee and Kirsten Simpson, travels to a number of South Island centres (Blenheim, Greymouth, Queenstown, Invercargill, Gore, Alexandra, Dunedin, Oamaru, Ashburton, Timaru) from 6-18 April. In May, she will undertake seven recitals in North Island centres with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

11:10 C.K. Stead

Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, has published 11 novels, two collections of short stories, 15 collections of poems, six books of literary criticism and/or literary essays, and edited a number of books. He was Professor of English at the University of Auckland for 20 years and took early retirement in 1986 after which he became a full-time writer. He is currently in the U.K, where his short story, Last Season's Man, has won the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, of £25,000 for a single story.

11:30 Bee Dawson

Social historian Bee Dawson has published several histories, including studies of New Zealand's colonial women and the air force. Her new book is A History of Gardening in New Zealand (Godwit, ISBN: 9781869621568)

Music played during the programme

Dr John and the Lower 911: City That Care Forgot
From the 2008 album: City That Care Forgot
(429 Records)
Played at around 10:05

Dr John: Right Place Wrong Time
The 1973 single from the album: Right Place Wrong Time
(Atco)
Played at around 10:30

Ian King: Death and the Lady
From his 2009 album: Panic Grass & Fever Few
(Fledg'ling)
Played at around 11:15

Meshell Ndegeocello: Crying in Your Beer
From the 2009 album: Devil's Halo
(Mercer Street)
Played at around 11:35

Studio operators

Wellington engineer: Lianne Smith
Christchurch engineer: Hamish Doake