Summer Times for Tuesday 8 January 2019

 

9:05 Eating around the ocean 

More than 100 varieties of fish are caught in New Zealand waters, but most people tend to stick to a select few tried and true species when it comes to the dinner table.

Last month the Auckland Fish Market revamped its facilities, adding a bunch of new restaurants and also a brand new fishmonger offering more sustainable species of fish to encourage people to broaden their palates. The market is owned by the Sanford Fishing Company, and its general manager Justine Powell 

9:15 LANDSAR: Ian Newman 

Ian Newman is the LANDSAR (Land search and rescue), Group Support Officer for the Upper North Island - in the second of our series of LANDSAR volunteers, he talks about unforgettable searches, and how having served in the army equipped him with many invaluable skills he now applies to search and rescue operations.

9:25 100 Objects

One of the most interesting ways to look at history is through objects. It's one of the reasons museums still have a place in a digital world. But there's a strong argument to be made that our hallowed halls don't always reflect the lived experience of the cultures museums are trying to examine. The history of material culture has taken huge leaps in recent decades. 

The BBC and the British Museum carried out an excellent project recently where it surveyed the history of the world in 100 objects. The program included items as diverse as a Japanese bronze mirror, a British suffragette defaced penny and the credit card. 

Jock Phillips is a free-lance writer who lives in Wellington, and is one of the country's most well-known historians. He's now in the early stages of an new project called A History of New Zealand in 100 Objects. It's early days for the project right now but we thought we might be able to help Jock out. What are objects from your part of Aotearoa that act as keys into stories about the land and the peoples who have lived on it. 

We talk today to three listeners who have made fascinating suggestions! 

9:35 Waimangaroa's Firefighting Family

Carmen  and her firefighting aunt Lynn Brooks, two members of a family that has a long involvement with the Waimangaroa Fire Station on the West Coast of the South Island, continue our series on volunteering around the country.

9:45 Otago in 2019 

RNZ's Tim Brown looks ahead to a year in Otago and Southland as the regions grapple with growth and the problems that can come with it. 

10:05 Kapiti lizards research 

Driftwood and rock piles are proving a huge hit with the lizard population enjoying the Lizard Garden on the Kapiti Coast. It's been in place for about a year and all the volunteers who work on the site are really encouraged by the lizard sightings.

It's part of Ngā Uruora - the Kapiti biodiversity project where dedicated volunteers are working hard to restore the vegetation and encourage back even more wildlife to the area. They're also one of the newest parts of the country to become part of the Cacophony Project to try and find out more about bird life. 

10:25 A pear tree has a birthday 

At the Stone Store in Kerikeri a very special tree is about to have a big birthday. Liz Bigwood from the Kerikeri Mission Station joins us to talk about the significance of the orchard on and around the orchard grounds. 

10:40 Hidden gems of 2018 NZ music 

Gareth Shute wrote an excellent piece late last year about unsung gems of 2018 in New Zealand music. We asked him in to spin some of these tunes for us and talk about what's going on in the kiwi scene. 

11:05 Indira Chowdhury

Collecting and preserving the oral histories of remote Indian communities and the craftspeople whose ways of life are changing,   is the mission of Dr Indira Chowdhury. Education and the internet are seeing children living in remote agricultural and tribal areas wanting to move away rather than following their family traditions.

But a surprising number of traditional crafts are surviving - because artisinal practitioners are adapting their work to reflect contemporary life. Dr Chowdhury is a founding member of the Oral History Association of India, and is also the founder of Archival Resources for Contemporary History in Bengaluru, now known as ARCH@Srish.

11:20 Ethno NZ Festival 

Ethno New Zealand is an artistic residency of traditional/folk/world music that gathers musicians and singers from New Zealand and the rest of the world for 10 intense days of music, friendship, sharing through workshops. It all kicks off next Friday and Hanna Wiskari from Ethno NZ joins us to talk about what's coming up.

11:30 Wild Felt​

Next in our series on Kiwis keeping age old crafts alive - Simone Bensdorp from Christchurch who creates a myriad of colourful creations out of Felt. 

11:50 Whanganui Opera Week 

The Whanganui Opera Week is in fuull swing at the Royal Theatre. We check in with Bev Kirkwood to see how it's all going.