Saturday Morning for Saturday 8 May 2010

Guest details for Saturday Morning 8 May 2010

8:15 John Freeman

John Freeman is the editor of the quarterly literary magazine Granta and a prolific book critic, with reviews published in over 200 publications. His first book is Shrinking the World: the 4,000-Year Story of how Email Came to Rule our Lives (Text Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-921520-94-5). John is a guest at the 2010 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival (12-16 May).

8:40 Julian Glover

Julian Glover has been the chief leader writer for The Guardian since 2006. He launched the Guardian Unlimited Politics website ahead of the 2001 general election, before joining the paper's news desk, and has worked at the Economist and on several BBC Radio documentaries.

9:05 Fiona Pardington

Fiona Pardington is a leading New Zealand photographer. Her latest exhibition, Eros & Agape, currently showing at Suite gallery in Wellington (to 15 May), comprises prints of two sets of plaster head-and-shoulder busts; one set illustrating the pseudo-science of phrenology, the other taken from French murderers. Her upcoming show, Ahua: a Beautiful Hesitation, is a series of large-scale portraits of life-casts made of Maori and Pacific peoples during Dumont d'Urville's voyage to the Pacific in 1837-1840; it opens at the Sydney Biennale on 12 May (to 1 August). Another version of Ahua: a Beautiful Hesitation opens at Two Rooms gallery in Auckland on 27 May, with a second show of images of phrenology busts, The Language of Skulls (both to 26 June).

9:45 Language with Jen Hay

Jen Hay is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Canterbury, and is the director of the New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour. She will talk about multimodal speech perception, and the McGurk effect, as seen here and here.

10:05 Playing Favourites with Rhian Sheehan

New Zealand musician Rhian Sheehan has released four albums (all on LOOP), and his work has appeared on TV programming and commercials, movie trailers and short films worldwide. His soundtrack for We are Astronomers, a space dome film narrated by David Tennant (Dr Who), was commissioned by the UK's National Space Centre and is currently screening at planetariums throughout the world. Rhian is a nominee in the Creative Gold section of the NZ Gold Awards. He will be joined by 15 contemporary, classical and electronic musicians for the second (and only 2010) live performance of his album, Standing in Silence, alongside a backdrop of moving images created for the show, at the Opera House, Wellington (19 June).

11:05 John Kay

British economist John Kay has a career spanning academic work, think tanks, business schools, company directorships, consultancies and investment companies. He writes a weekly column in the Financial Times, and his latest book is Obliquity: How Our Goals Are Best Pursued Indirectly (Profile, ISBN: 9781846682889).

11:35 Philip Pullman

British author Philip Pullman has written over 20 books, and is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (Northern Lights, 1995; The Subtle Knife, 1997; The Amber Spyglass, 2000). His latest book is The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Text Publishing, 9781921656194).

Music played during the programme

Laura Marling: Blackberry Stone
From the 2010 album: I Speak Because I Can
(Virgin)
Played at around 9:45

Playing Favourites with Rhian Sheehan

Rhian Sheehan: Standing in Silence Pt.3
From the 2009 album: Standing in Silence Parts 01-14
(LOOP)
Played at around 10:10

Amiina: Sexfaldur
From the 2007 album: Kurr
(Ever Records)
Played at around 10:25

Jose Gonzalez: Cycling Trivialities
From the 2007 album: In Our Nature
(Imperial)
Played at around 10:35

Sean Lennon: Would I Be the One
From the 2006 album: Friendly Fire
(Capitol)
Played at around 10:50

Studio operators

Wellington engineer: Tony Schwartz
Christchurch engineer: Andrew Collins