Photo of Stacy Schiff

Stacy Schiff Photo: supplied

 

 

8:12 Stacy Schiff: witches

American historian Stacy Schiff won the Pulitzer Prize for her 1999 book Vera (Mrs Vladimir Nabokov), and her books on Saint-Exupéry, Cleopatra, and Benjamin Franklin have all been widely acclaimed. Her new historical investigation is The Witches: Salem, 1692 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson).

 

 

Photo of Monique Oliver

Monique Oliver Photo: supplied

 

 

8:50 Monique Oliver: aspiring astronaut

Taranaki student Monique Oliver was one of 48 secondary school students from around the world chosen to attend a space programme at NASA’s Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre in Texas. She received a $10,000 Study Start Scholarship this week at the AMP Scholarships National Awards, and will take up university study in engineering and astrophysics next year in Auckland.

 

 

Photo of Adam Zeman

Adam Zeman Photo: supplied

9:05 Adam Zeman

Adam Zeman is Professor of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology at the University of Exeter, and chaired the British Neuropsychiatry Association from 2007 to 2011. His specialised clinical work is in cognitive and behavioural neurology, including neurological disorders of sleep, and his main research interests are amnesia associated with epilepsy and disorders of visual imagery. He has written on neurology for lay readers in Consciousness: a User’s Guide (Yale University Press, 2002), and in A Portrait of the Brain (Yale University Press, 2008). Professor Zeman is the Neurological Association of New Zealand visiting professor for 2015, and will speak at the association’s annual conference in Napier (18-20 November).

 

9:45 Shakespeare with David Lawrence

David Lawrence is director of The Bacchanals, a Wellington theatre company he founded in 2000 to explore text-based theatre and redefine classic works. Their next production is A Christmas Karel Capek which opens at BATS on 4 December. David will discuss the Shakespeare plays The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew.

Photo of Peter Dasent

Peter Dasent, with Blackie Photo: Alex Craig

10:05 Playing Favourites with Peter Dasent

Peter Dasent is a New Zealand composer and songwriter living in Sydney, whose founding membership of the bands Spats and The Crocodiles established long-time working relationships with musicians Tony Backhouse and Fane Flaws, and lyricist Arthur Baysting. He has been the pianist and musical director on ABC-TV’s PlaySchool since 2000, writing numerous original songs and producing albums. Peter formed The Umbrellas in Sydney in 1985; the group recently released their fourth album, Lounge Suite Tango, their first in 20 years, and celebrated their 30th anniversary with a Sydney concert. In 2013 he recorded an album, Songs for Solo Piano (Armchair Records), at Abbey Road Studio in London; it was released last month, and Peter is returning to Wellington for a performance of the songs at Old St Paul’s on 15 November.

11:05 Ian Reid: bones and disease

Photo of Ian Reid (right) with Mark Bolland (left) and Andrew Grey

Ian Reid (right) with fellow researchers Mark Bolland (left) and Andrew Grey Photo: supplied

Ian Reid MD FRSNZ is Distinguished Professor in Medicine at the University of Auckland, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Science, and a prominent figure in international bone research. This week the Royal Society of New Zealand awarded him the country’s most prestigious science award, the Rutherford Medal, for his contributions to the understanding and treatment of metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis and Paget’s disease. He also received the Liley Medal from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, for his contribution to health and medical sciences in advancing the treatment of osteoporosis. In addition to the medals, he and his team won the top award of $500,000 at the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes.

Photo of Bill Manhire

Bill Manhire Photo: Ed Swinden

11:35 Bill Manhire

Bill Manhire was New Zealand’s inaugural poet laureate, and the founder of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington. His new book, The Stories of Bill Manhire (VUP, ISBN: 9780864739254), collects his stories from previous collections The New Land, South Pacific, and Songs of My Life, with previously uncollected or unpublished stories, his novella The Brain of Katherine Mansfield, and the memoir Under the Influence. His third musical collaboration with composer Norman Meehan and singer Hannah Griffin, Small Holes in the Silence (Rattle Records), features the saxophone of Hayden Chisholm and the work of other poets (including Hone Tuwhare, James K. Baxter, and Alistair Campbell), and will be launched on 13 November at a concert at St Andrew’s on the Terrace.

This Saturday’s team:

Producer: Mark Cubey
Wellington engineer: Rachel Smith
Auckland engineer: Tony Stamp
Research by Infofind

Music played in this show

Artist: Peter Dasent
Song: Homage to Monsieur Hulot
Album: Songs for Solo Piano
Label: Armchair Records, 2015
Broadcast: 10:05

Artist: Jimmy Yancey
Song: Tell ‘Em About Me
Album: The 1939 recording from the compilation Jimmy Yancey Vol. 1 1939-1940
Label: Document
Broadcast: 10:15

Artist: The Small Faces
Song: Tin Soldier
Album: The 1967 single recording from the compilation Greatest Hits: The Immediate Years 1967-1969
Label: Immediate
Broadcast: 10:25

Artist: Frank Zappa
Song: Little Umbrellas
Album: Hot Rats
Label: Bizarre, 1969
Broadcast: 10:40

Artist: Nino Rota
Song: Amore per Tutti
Album: Giulietta degli Spiriti (Juliet of the Spirits)
Label: CAM, 1965
Broadcast: 10:50

Artist: Aldo Ciccolini
Song: Gnossienne V (Modéré)
Album: Erik Satie (1866-1925)
Label: EMI, 1985
Broadcast: 10:57

Artist: Norman Meehan (piano) Hannah Griffin (voice) Hayden Chisholm (saxophone)
Song: Death of a Poet
Album: Small Holes in the Silence
Label: Rattle
Broadcast: 11:40