Sunday Morning for Sunday 22 October 2017

7:11 Political panel

We've had three days to absorb the fact that the country is heading in a different direction with Jacinda Ardern at the helm in a Labour-led coalition, in partnership with Winston Peters and NZ First, and with the Greens part of the government for the first time. Political scientist and commentator Dr Bryce Edwards, Jenna Raeburn former National Party staffer now with government relations firm Barton Deakin, and Ben Thomas from PR company Exceltium look at the days ahead. 

7.34 Vaping gets the backing of the Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health is now backing e-cigarettes to help the country reach its Smokefree goal by 2025.  
Although e-cigs with nicotine were made legal early this year, the government hadn't endorsed them as a way to quit smoking. Rebecca Ruwhiu-Collins runs smoking cessation programmes for some of the most at-risk smokers in the community - low-income Maori and Pasifika women. Her "Vape 2 Save" programme is doing just that, saving their health, and saving them money. 

7:48 Waterview Tunnel: what's bad about a game changer? 

NZ Transport Agency figures show more than 6.5 million vehicles have travelled through the $1.4 billion twin tunnels since they opened in July, more than 400,000 trips each week. The NZTA says travelling from the airport to the CBD during peak afternoon weekday times used to take between 35 and 44 minutes via Manukau Road and Gillies Ave; it now takes 25 minutes through the tunnel. Urban advocate Patrick Reynolds from Greater Auckland discusses the benefits and advantages.

8:10 Insight: Voluntary euthanasia - choice or slippery slope?

New Zealanders have consistently voted in favour of voluntary euthanasia in opinion polls, and MP David Seymour's members' bill is due to be debated in Parliament. But there are still strong voices against voluntary euthanasia, including many from the medical profession. In this Insight, Alex Perrottet talks to those who've suffered the death of close ones, and concerned doctors about the implications of the End of Life Choice Bill.

8.37 David Sessions: the rise of the mega-rich thought leader

A recent essay in the New Republic magazine “The Rise of the Thought Leader  - how the super rich have funded a new class of intellectual” reveals the change in public appreciation of thought leaders - Ted X-style vs traditional thinkers perhaps. David Sessions who wrote the essay says the super-rich are especially interested in supporting the rise of the thought leader over and above the public intellectual. David Sessions is a doctoral student in modern European History at Boston College, a former editor at The Daily Beast, and his writing has appeared in Jacobin and Newsweek.
Twitter @davidsess

9:06 Mediawatch

This week Colin Peacock looks at why we might be getting more Te Reo on TV in the future.
And how the media pursued our politicians as they hammered out the new government this week.

9.40 Cycling helmets: do we actually need them?

British journalist and author Peter Walker reckons bike helmet laws do more harm than good. He says they don't do much to improve safety but they're great at getting people to avoid cycling altogether. Peter Walker  is the author of How Cycling Can Save the World.
Twitter @peterwalker99

10:05 Richard Gladwell: How Emirates Team New Zealand Stunned the World

Sailing journalist and photographer Richard Gladwell covered the 2017 America's Cup series in Bermuda and has written a book - Lone Wolf : How Emirates Team New Zealand Stunned the World. It's about how a rookie New Zealand crew, sailing a radical foiling catamaran, trounced the defender, Oracle Team USA becoming what Gladwell describes as  the most successful professional sailing team in America's Cup history. 

10.30 ‘Kids will say they've never touched soil, they've never held a worm’

Bette Midler founded the New York Restoration Project driven by the conviction that all New Yorkers deserve high-quality green spaces within walking distance of their homes. When it started, New York was a different place  - strewn with litter and with few green community spaces such as gardens and parks. Deborah Marton is the executive director of the New York Restoration Project and was in NZ recently for a conference. She says physical disorder in an urban environment leads to social disorder.

11:07 Theatre taonga Rawiri Paratene on his latest project

Rawiri Paratene is a New Zealand acting taonga who's appeared in everything from Playschool to Whalerider, Hamlet to fully Te Reo spoken Purapura-whetu. Rawiri's again stepping out, starring in the return season of the award winning Te Pō at Q Theatre from 25 October to 4 November  in Auckland. He's filling the role left by another legendary thespian, George Henare, who's starring as the Sultan in the theatre adaptation of Disney's Aladdin in Sydney. Rawiri talks about his career and close connection to politics.

11:25 Te Papa’s new artistic endeavour

Te Papa's new art gallery, Toi Art, will open next March. Two floors of the national museum will be dedicated to four exhibitions that include fashion, jewellery and abstract art. The new gallery will feature two major retrospective shows by prominent artists: the Pacific Sisters - a collective working across fashion, performance, music, and film; and notable contemporary jeweller Lisa Walker. As well, Kaleidoscope: Abstract Aotearoa, will feature an immersive work by Auckland-based contemporary artist Tiffany Singh and the fourth exhibition will be drawn from Te Papa's art collection, Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand. Te Papa head of art Charlotte Davy and Sarah Farrar, Te Papa's senior art curator explain what the new gallery will mean for New Zealand art.

11:45 Charity giving away books

Doug Van Belle is a science fiction and fantasy author and a senior lecturer in media studies at Victoria University. He is passionate about getting books into the hands of children and their carers and is part of a books initiative aiming to do just that. Called Fund a Book NZ, its aim is to raise funds to support the Books in Schools programme and other literacy initiatives.  Fund a Book NZ will be at the Armageddon Expo in Auckland this weekend giving away thousands of books and looking for sponsors for this initiative that's been adapted from a successful US model.  
To to find out more about FundABookNZ contact CEO Wendy Van Belle, wendy@fundabook.org
Kiwi Authors interested in having their books considered for part of the FundABook programme both here and in the US can contact Doug Van Belle doug@fundabook.org
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