Saturday Morning for Saturday 17 August 2019

08:10  A cure for Ebola? Virologist Chris Smith

New antibody based treatments with a success rate of up to 90% are set to become a game-changer in the fight against the deadly viral disease Ebola.

A recent outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that began in August last year has killed more than 1,800 people.

Dr Chris Smith is a consultant virologist at Cambridge University and one of BBC Radio 5 Live's Naked Scientists.

He'll talk about the threat posed by Ebola, and the hope that these new experimental treatments will be able to contain the latest outbreak and lessen the 'aura of terror' surrounding this dreaded haemorraghic disease.

 

08:25  Sanam Maher - A Woman Like Her, the killing of Pakistan's first social media star

In 2016 Pakistan was rocked by the murder of its first internet celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, who had been dubbed the country's Kim Kardashian.

She selfied her way to social media stardom but faced criticism from those who viewed her behaviour as a threat to traditional Muslim values.

In A Woman Like Her, author Sanam Maher pieces together a sensitive and sympathetic account of Qandeel Baloch's life and death, from her rural childhood to her appropriation as an unlikely feminist icon. 

 

09:05  Janine Barchas: Jane Austen for the people

English writer Jane Austen was the author of 6 major novels including Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma.

In the nineteenth century, inexpensive editions of her books targeted at Britain's working classes were sold at railway stations, traded for soap wrappers, and awarded as school prizes.

US academic and Austen scholar Janine Barchas has been collecting and studying these previously ignored editions and is soon to release The Lost Books of Jane Austen which she describes as a cross between 'hard-core bibliography and Antiques Roadshow'.

Janine will be giving a talk Jane Austen - Master Paintings & Lost Books at Auckland Art Gallery on Sun 18 August, details here, and in Dunedin on Wed 21 August, details here

 

09:40  Fabian Wosar - Fighting the billion dollar problem posed by ransomware

Fabian Wosar of NZ business Emsisoft is a ransomware expert, helping schools, charities, businesses and individuals deal with this multi billion dollar problem.

A malicious code is introduced onto your computer when you click on a dodgy email or open a suspicious attachment. It infiltrates your system then next thing you know you're being contacted with threats to delete or encrypt your data like photos, images, music and documents, unless you pay a ransom to the person responsible.

Fabian Wosar had to leave Germany to go and live in England for his own safety as he feared being the target of the Eastern European criminal gangs who are heavily implicated in the global ransomware business.

 

10:05  From football to footwear: Tim Brown of Allbirds  

Former All White captain Tim Brown's Allbirds shoes, manufactured to a mantra of sustainability, have proved so popular that the company has grown to become a billion dollar behemoth in just 4 years.

The business began life as a potential career choice to follow after his footballing career, and was initially an online only business making just one style of shoe, a Wool Runner.

They now make a range of shoes from materials including merino wool, tree fibre, sugar cane and castor bean oil.

Social media influencers, a sympathetic press, and celebrity investors have helped to fuel its growth. And today merino wool sneakers have practically become part of Silicon Valley's uniform list.

Allbirds opened its first New Zealand physical store in Auckland this week.

10:35  The Art of Eavesdropping

A new exhibition at Wellington's City Gallery is using art to explore the many ways we're being snooped on.

Eavesdropping examines the diverse technologies and contexts involved (including political surveillance and detention) and questions our growing acceptance of digital eavesdropping.

It features works by international artists including Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Fayen d'Evie and Jen Bervin, and the Manus Recording Project Collective.

Kim will talk to curators James Parker from Melbourne Law School and Joel Stern from Liquid Architecture.

 

11:05  Playing favourites with Garage Project's Pete Gillespie

Brewer Pete Gillespie set up the Garage Project brewery in Wellington in 2011, following stints working at breweries in England and at the Malt Shovel in Sydney.

At the time it opened it was the only craft beer maker operating in the city, and it grabbed people's attention by brewing 24 different beers in 24 weeks.

Some past beers have featured unusual ingredients like cornflakes, seawater, cardamom and super-heated volcanic rocks.

He's playing favourites with Kim and his musical choices are likely to be similarly eclectic.

The brewery's also renowned for distinctive and diverse design and this is celebrated in a new book Garage Project: The Art of Beer. There is an exhibition launch for the book in in Auckland at Garage Project Kingsland on 30 Aug, details here 

 

Books mentioned in this episode:

 

A Woman Like Her

By Sanam Maher

ISBN 9781526607591

Bloomsbury

 

The Lost Books of Jane Austen

By Janine Barchas

ISBN 9781421431598

Johns Hopkins University Press

release date 8 Oct 2019

 

Garage Project: The Art of Beer

By Pete Gillespie Jos Ruffell

ISBN  9780143773986

Penguin 

 

 

 

Music played in this show

Song: Paperback Writer
Artist: The B-52s
Played at 9:08

Song: Do I Love You
Artist: Peggy Lee
Played at 11:13

Song: Golden Brown
Artist: The Stranglers
Played at 11:28

Song: Dirty Boots
Artist: Sonic Youth
Played at 11:45

Song: IV. Adagietto. Sehr langsam from Mahler's Symphony No 5 in C sharp minor 
Artist: New York Philharmonic
Played at 11:51

Song: Evil Has No Boundaries
Artist: Slayer
Played at 11:53

Song: Le Tournesol
Artist: Nana Mouskouri
Played at 11:57