Saturday Morning

 

 

8.10 The sinister side of the man who saved Rwanda: Michela Wrong

It's thirty years since the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, perpetrated by the Hutu-led government.

British journalist Michela Wrong's book Do Not Disturb, The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad explores the legacy of the genocide, exposing a murderous in-coming regime that operates on a "grand scale deceit", exercising a destabilising influence on the wider region.

Michela has reported from and written about Africa for almost three decades, working for Reuters and the Financial Times.

Michela is visiting NZ this week, giving a series of talks at the invitation of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.

8.45 John Adams: stopping the Stonehenge road tunnel

From the A303 in Wiltshire, motorists can catch sight of the megalithic structure of Stonehenge. But as a primary route for both commuters and holiday makers the road is notoriously traffic-clogged, and plans to upgrade the road have been decades in the making. However, the plans face strong opposition. 

They include building a road tunnel under the World Heritage Site in Wiltshire and costs have surged as high as £2.5 billion ($5.3 billion).

John Adams is the chairman of the Stonehenge Alliance, a group dedicated to fighting the project that they consider too vast and intrusive to the prehistoric site.

9:05 Grace Blakeley: Vulture Capitalism

Grace Blakeley takes aim at capitalism in her latest book Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom.

In the book, Blakeley asserts that rather than failing, capitalism is working exactly as intended - allowing corporate and political elites to advance their own interests at the expense of the rest of us.

Susie is joined by Grace to discuss how instead of feeling powerless, there is a new path we can take to democratise the economy for a better future for all.

9:45 Edible Gardener Kath Irvine: everything asparagus

For those with asparagus patches: what to do to prep for a boomer crop in spring.  Or, if you are planning an asparagus patch: how to kick start it.

10:10 A curse and a genetic code: PM's Science Prize winners

Thirty years ago, nurse Maybelle Ngapere McLeod realised a genetic link to the stomach cancer which killed many of her whanau was much more likely that the effect of a curse.  She took her suspicions to Otago university, and the rest is history. Maybelle is part of the team awarded the top Prime Minister's Science Prize for transformative impact.

The Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer Team is led by Professor Parry Guilford, Director of the Centre for Translational Cancer Research at the University of Otago, in conjunction with members of the McLeod whānau and their community in Mount Maunganui.

The research has resulted in a genetic test which gives the ability to understand their risk of cancer and take life-saving action. Professor Guilford joins Susie, along with Mabelle Ngapere McLeod and fellow team member, and whānau University of Otago Associate Professor Karyn Paringatai.

 

11.05 Finn McCahon-Jones: letters between best friends

A collection of letters written to and from iconic New Zealand painter Colin McCahon sheds light on a special relationship spanning four decades. McCahon met penpal Ron O'Reilly in 1938, when the pair were just 19 and 24 respectively.

They wrote to each other regularly, amassing hundreds of letters covering McCahon's art practice, the contemporary art scene, ideas, philosophy, and spiritual life. A selection of the letters chosen by McCahon scholar Peter Simpson has been published in a new book Dear Colin, Dear Ron - with an afterword by McCahon's grandson Finn.

11:30 Colour analysis to put you in the pink

Colour analysis seems to be having a renaissance.  Some will remember it from the 1980s.  Or maybe you had your colours done and know that you suit a soft autumn or a bright spring and have taken your swatches shopping.

Rachel Bilu of Colour Lab Stylist is Susie's guest.

 

Books featured on this show:

Do Not Disturb, The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
By Michela Wrong
Published by: Fourth Estate
ISBN: 978-0008238872

Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom
By Grace Blakeley
Published by: Bloomsbury
ISBN:    9781526638076

Dear Colin, Dear Ron
By Peter Simpson & Finn McCahon Jones
Published by Te Papa Press
ISBN: 978-1-99-116552-7