King's Birthday Morning with Paddy

8:10 Pioneering embryologist Dr John Peek: 40 years since NZ's first 'test-tube' baby

This month marks 40 years since New Zealand's first 'test-tube' baby was born. The birth of Amelia Bell in June 1984 - only six years after the world's first ever baby conceived outside the womb - was a medical breakthrough in the country's fertility treatment. However, the history-making event was kept under the radar, with the technology and its pioneering practitioners facing intense public backlash. Four decades later, there are close to 35,000 babies conceived via in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in Aotearoa. As the treatment has become more mainstream, so too have difficult conversations around infertility. This was not the case for most aspiring mothers in the 80s. Jocelyn Goodman was one of the first mothers to undergo the treatment, which was conducted in secrecy, at the National Women's Hospital by doctors John Peek, Richard Fisher, and Freddie Graham - all three of them trailblazers in IVF. Today Dr Peek, an embryologist, becomes a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to fertility treatment and reproductive health. He and Jocelyn Goodman speak to Paddy about the early days.

8:40 Kat Kaiwai: Building roads and communities

When Katareina Kaiwai (Ngāti Porou, Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga) entered the civil construction industry 12 years ago, she was one of few women on the tools. Having grown up in a household free from gender roles she was suprised to find that being a woman set her apart. These days, she runs her own company on the East Coast - Tairawhiti Contractors - a critical service in a rohe that has suffered multiple severe weather events in recent years. During Cylone Gabrielle, Kaiwai and her crew of 38 - half of whom are women - ensured life-saving fuel was available to the only medical facility in the area - Te Puia Springs Hospital. These days she actively encourages women into the industry through the outreach programme Girls in Hi-Vis and runs a school lunch service feeding close to 500 tamariki. Today, she is honoured with a King's Service Medal for her mahi and services to women and the civil construction industry.

9:05 Sir Peter Beck our newest knight takes flight

In a David and Goliath space-race, Sir Peter Beck, a boy from Invercargill, is more than holding his own. In 2009, Beck's then-fledgling company - Rocket Lab - became the first in the Southern Hemisphere to launch a rocket into orbit. Today, the company is valued at US$2 billion on the stock market, employs 1,800 people globally, and is the most prolific commercial launch provider behind only SpaceX - owned by one of the world's wealthiest men, Elon Musk. Rocket Lab's 49 missions have included NASA's 2022 lunar CAPSTONE mission, and more than 160 satellites into orbit for scientific, national security, and university research. The newly appointed Knight speaks to Paddy.  

9:45 Hands in the dirt with Leah Evans 

The arrival of winter leaves no shortage of work in the garden. According to Leah Evans, author of Hands in the Dirt, the next few months are all about preparing for the rush of spring, and if you want garlic, you best have the bulbs in the ground now. Text your gardening questions to 2101.

10:05 Emily Perkins: 5 things to perk you up 

Wellington writer Emily Perkins is the country's latest literary darling, taking out the top prize at the recent Ockham Awards for her novel Lioness. Judges described the novel as "an incisive exploration of wealth, power, class, female rage, and the search for authenticity". Today, Emily Perkins joins Paddy with five things to perk us up on a public holiday, and they’re far from highbrow.

10:30 Stephen Davis investigates a cold case whodunnit

It's been 24 years since Australian astrophysicist Rodney Marks died in mysterious circumstances in Antarctica. The death, during the cold, dark, winter months was treated as a suspected suicide – a theory disputed by those who knew him well. Despite years of painstaking work, every attempt by New Zealand Police to investigate what happened on the south pole base were blocked by American authorities. In his cold case deep-dive, journalist Stephen Davis says Antarctica remains a wild west in the years since Marks' death - with no laws, and no accountability. However in the course of his investigation into what happened to the 32-year-old he believes he has identified people with the means, motive, and opportunity for murder.

11:05 The People's Choice: Hori Shaw

Hori Shaw, also known as Hoaris the Boaris, was crowned the winner of the 'People's Choice' at the recent Aotearoa Music Awards. The musician from Opotiki is known for songs that reflect life on the East Cape, with notable singles, Pig Hunting and Paradise 35 which is a love letter to State Highway 35. He joins Paddy to chat life and lay down some of his best reggae beats. 

11:30 Inshallah: A bike tour through god's country 

Directed by Georgia Merton and Isobel Ewing, 'Inshallah', has taken out the Best Self-Filmed film at this year's Mountain Film Festival. The short follows the friends as they bike pack through the mountainous valleys of northern Pakistan, hitching rides on trucks, weathering snow, and encountering the peak of hospitality. 

11:50 NZ's latest Michelin chef: 'A honey of a man'

Chef Nick Honeyman might have restaurants in Auckland and the South of France, but today he joins us from Bali... where he has been cooking up a storm at the Ubud Food Festival. He and Paddy talk good food, surf breaks, and five-year-olds correcting your French. 

 

Paddy's Playlist:

Jungle - Back on 74

The Rodger Fox Big Band - Starburst

Cold Chisel - Forever Now 

Rufus & Chaka Khan - Tell Me Something Good 

Hori Shaw - Paradise 35, Pig Hunting, Country Roads, Mother Nature, Time to Make a Stand

Parliament - Give Up the Funk

Fred Again - Kyle (I Found You)