Saturday Morning for Saturday 19 March 2011

Guest details for Saturday Morning 19 March 2011

8:15 Tariq Ali

Born in Pakistan and based in London, Tariq Ali is an editor of New Left Review and has written seven novels and more than 20 books on world history and politics, most recently The Obama Syndrome: War Abroad. As the 2011 Sir Douglas Robb Lecturer at Auckland University he will deliver a series of three, free lectures: Islam and its Discontents (17 March), US Power Today: The Global Hegemon (21 March), and The Rise of China (23 March) - all from 7pm at the Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road.

9:05 John McBeth

New Zealand journalist John McBeth is based in Indonesia and writes for The Straits Times. He has been based in Asia for four decades, writing for the Bangkok Post and the Far Eastern Economic Review, for whom he became its longest-serving correspondent, heading the magazine's bureaus in Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia. He tells his story in the memoir, Reporter: Forty Years Covering Asia (Talisman, ISBN: 978-981-08-7364-6).

9:45 Ric Laplastrier

Ric Leplastrier is a seminal figure in Australian architecture and architectural education, and the first non-Danish recipient of the Dreyer Foundation Prize, in 2009. A Royal Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medallist in 1999, he received the Finnish Wood Award in 2004. Ric is visiting New Zealand to deliver The Dulux Futuna Lecture on 19 March, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for Futuna Chapel in Karori, Wellington.

10:05 Tim Robbins

Tim Robbins formed experimental political theatre group the Actors' Gang in 1981, and has also pursued a successful screen career as an actor, producer, director and screenwriter in films such as The Shawshank Redemption, Mystic River, The Player, Dead Man Walking, and Bob Roberts. He is also a singer and songwriter, and visits Auckland in that capacity on 30 April for one New Zealand concert in support of his debut album, Tim Robbins & the Rogues Gallery Band.

11:10 Simon Sebag Montefiore

British biographer, novelist and journalist Simon Sebag Montefiore worked as a war correspondent in the early 1990s, witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union and covered the wars in the Caucasus. His best-selling books include Young Stalin (2008), Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (2004), and Catherine the Great & Potemkin (2004). His new book, Jerusalem: The Biography (Weidenfeld, ISBN: 9780297852650), is a history of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence.

11:45 Johanna Emeney

Poet and English teacher Johanna Emeney is pursuing her doctoral thesis (on medical discourse in poetry) at Massey University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her poem, Radiologist's Report, is one of three shortlisted in the international category of Britain's prestigious Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine (won last year by C.K. Stead). Her first poetry collection, Apple & Tree, is due to be published in July. Johanna will participate in the Writers' Read-in on 25 March, organized by Auckland Libraries and the New Zealand Society of Authors to raise funds for the people of Christchurch.

Music played during the programme

Tim Robbins: Complain
From the 1992 film: Bob Roberts
Played at around 10:15

The Highwaymen: Gypsy Rover
The 1961 recording from the 1990 compilation album: The Best of the Highwaymen
(EMI)
Played at around 10:20

Tim Robbins and the Rogues Gallery Band: Time to Kill
From the 2010 album: Tim Robbins and the Rogues Gallery Band
(PIAS Recordings)
Played at around 10:40

Vangelis, and The Ambrosian Singers: Jerusalem
From the soundtrack to the 1981 film: Chariots of Fire
(Polydor)
Played at around 11:05

The Shadows: Kon-Tiki
The 1961 recording from the 1987 compilation album: Another String of Hot Hits and More
(EMI)
Played at around 11:40

Studio operators

Wellington engineer: Carol Jones
Auckland engineer: Ian Gordon