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Saturday Morning for Saturday 26 September 2009

  • Tobias Harris: Japanese Government

    8:10 AM.Japan and East Asia specialist, who worked for a member of the DPJ in the upper house of the Diet in 2006-2007. Audio

  • Muriel Watt: solar power

    8:32 AM.Australian solar energy expert who is visiting New Zealand to present the 2009 IPENZ Pickering lecture: The Future of Solar Energy: Developments in Photovoltaics and Opportunities for New Zealand. Audio

  • Nick Hornby: writing, movies, music and autism

    9:10 AM.Bestselling novellist and essayist; his new novel is Juliet, Naked, and he recently adapted Lynn Barber's memoir An Education into the film of the same name. Audio

  • Playing Favourites with Rob Matthews

    10:05 AM.Rob Matthews was blind by the age of 20, found inspiration in running, and has won 29 international gold medals. He tells the story in the memoir Running Blind. Audio

  • Food with Annabelle Langbein

    11:05 AM.One of New Zealand's most celebrated food writers; her latest book is Anyone Can Cook: Fresh Ideas for Busy Lives. Audio

  • Christine Fernyhough

    11:35 AM.Former Auckland businesswoman and philanthropist who moved to the high country of the South Island and wrote The Road to Castle Hill and new book Ben and Mark, Boys of the High Country. Audio

  • Listener feedback

    11:45 AM.Kim Hill reads emails and texts from listeners to Saturday Morning. Audio

Guest details for Saturday Morning 26 September 2009

8:15 Tobias Harris

Japan and East Asia specialist Tobias Harris is a Ph.D. student in political science at MIT who has been published in the Wall Street Journal Asia and the Far Eastern Economic Review, and has appeared as a commentator on the BBC, CNBC Asia, and Bloomberg. He also contributes to the East Asia Forum website. Tobias worked for a member of the DPJ (the new party of government) in the upper house of the Japanese Diet in 2006-2007.

8:30 Muriel Watt

Australian solar power expert Dr Muriel Watt has worked in government energy agencies, private companies and universities on energy related matters since 1980, and is currently a project manager for renewable energy consulting company IT Power Australia, and part-time Senior Lecturer in the School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales. She is visiting New Zealand to present the 2009 IPENZ Pickering lecture: The Future of Solar Energy: Developments in Photovoltaics and Opportunities for New Zealand.

9:05 Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby is the author of the bestselling novels High Fidelity (1995), About a Boy (1998), How to Be Good (2001), A Long Way Down (2005), and Slam (2007); the football memoir Fever Pitch, and four books of essays: 31 Songs (2003),The Polysyllabic Spree (2004), Housekeeping vs. the Dirt (2006), and Shakespeare Wrote for Money (2008). His new novel is Juliet, Naked (Viking, ISBN: 9780670915668), and he recently adapted Lynn Barber's memoir An Education (Penguin, ISBN: 9780141039558) into the film of the same name; it opens in New Zealand on 8 October.

During the interview, Kim and Nick talk about the new Anne Tyler novel Noah's Compass (Chatto & Windus, ISBN: 9780701184247), three novels by Marilynne Robinson (Housekeeping, Gilead and Home), and the non-fiction book What Good are the Arts? by John Carey. They also talk about Nick's songwriting collaborations with musician Ben Folds, including the 2004 William Shatner album Has Been (Shout! Factory) and the Treehouse school attended by Nick's autistic son.

10:05 Playing Favourites with Rob Matthews

Rob Matthews inherited Retinitis Pigmentosa from his father, and was blind by the age of 20. He found inspiration in running and has won 29 international gold medals, participated in seven Paralympic Games, and set 22 world records. He was awarded with the M.B.E for Services to Sport for the Disabled in 1987. After 23 years running for Great Britain, Rob represented New Zealand for the first time at the 2009 World Paralympic Triathlon Championships, winning the silver medal, and will compete next month in the New Zealand National Road Cycling Championships in Nelson. He tells his story in Running Blind (HarperCollins, ISBN: 978-1-86950-801-2), first time in New Zealand publishing history that an adult non-fiction title has been printed in Braille at the same time as print.

11:05 Food with Annabelle Langbein

Annabel Langbein is a cook and gardener, and one of New Zealand's most celebrated food writers. She is the author and publisher of 15 books, of which the latest is Anyone Can Cook: Fresh Ideas for Busy Lives (Annabel Langbein Books, ISBN 978-0-958-2668-0-2).

11:30 Christine Fernyhough

Former Auckland businesswoman and philanthropist Christine Fernyhough moved to the high country of the South Island in 2004, and is the author of the best-selling book, The Road to Castle Hill. With her photographer husband John Bougen, she has written Ben and Mark, Boys of the High Country (Random House, ISBN: 978-1-86979-068-4), documenting the life of two young brothers whose parents manage the 40,000 hectare Mount White Station in Canterbury.

Music played on the programme

Madness: Forever Young
From the 2009 album: The Liberty of Norton Folgate
(Yep Roc)
Played at around 9:15

William Shatner: That's Me Trying
From the 2004 album: Has Been
(Shout! Factory)
Played at around 9:50

The Mountain Goats: Romans 10.9
From the 2009 album: The Life of the World to Come
(4AD)
Played at around 9:55

The Fabulous Howard Morrison Quartet: Rioting in Wellington
From the 1964 album Alive! … Need We Say More
(La Gloria Records)
Played at around 11:30

Playing Favourites with Rob Matthews

Queen: We Will Rock You
From the 1979 double album: Live Killers
(Parlophone)
Played at around 10:20

Cyndi Lauper: Time After Time
From the 1983 album: She's So Unusual
(Portrait)
Played at around 10:30

Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé: Barcelona
From the 1988 album: Barcelona
(Polygram)
Played at around 10:45

Bill Whelan: The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe
From the 1996 album: Riverdance
(Celtic Heartbeat)
Played at around 10:55

Studio operators

Wellington engineer: Steve Burridge
Auckland engineer: Ian Gordon
Christchurch engineer: Monique Devereaux