Saturday Morning for Saturday 21 December 2019

8:10 Ian Urbina - Human stories of crime on the high seas

From pirates to people smugglers, enslaved crews and dodgy fishing practices, the world's oceans are home to widespread and largely unchecked illegality.

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Ian Urbina has spent five years documenting the lawless behaviour flourishing on the high seas in his book The Outlaw Ocean.

He's also set up a non-profit journalism organization called The Outlaw Ocean Project dedicated to publishing more stories about life and conditions on board the global shipping fleet.

9:05 Oliver Gee - Rebuilding Notre Dame

Alongside thousands of Parisians, expat Aussie journalist Oliver Gee looked on with horror as the historic cathedral of Notre Dame burned in a huge fire in April this year.

Over the past eight months, some of France's biggest companies and wealthiest people have pledged millions of dollars to a fund set up to rebuild, repair and restore the building to its former glory.

So why is the cathedral so important to the French people? And aren't there better ways that this enormous pot of money could be spent?

Oliver Gee has lived in Paris for the past five years. His popular podcast, The Earful Tower is an audio travel guide to life in the French capital. He's also releasing a book called Paris On Air.

9:25 Peter Pomerantsev: 'when information is a weapon, everyone is at war'

How can we build up a more truthful picture of the world in the era of fake news, trolls, Trump and Putin? This is the question at the heart of Peter Pomerantsev's new book This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality.

Pomerantsev is a Soviet-born journalist, author and TV producer who's spent much of his life in Britain after his dissident parents were forced out of the USSR by the KGB.

He's also a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics.

10:05 Amanda Lund: The Complete Woman's guide to Christmas

Actor, comedy writer, and producer Amanda Lund provides a delicious pastiche of 1960s domestic life via the self-help advice of her audio alter-ego Marabel May in the The Complete Woman podcast.

Now the 'best-smelling' and 'critically-ashamed' Marabel is back in The Complete Christmas - a host of handy tips to make the festive season go swimmingly (or your husband's money back!).

Amanda Lund has appeared in TV shows Fresh Off The Boat, New Girl, Brooklyn 99, and Parenthood as well as the feature film Goosebumps.

As a podcaster she co-hosts The Big Ones and appears regularly on Spontaneanation and Superego as well as creating The Complete Woman, Complete Joy, and The Complete Wedding.

Along with Priyanka Mattoo and Maria Blasucci, Lund founded the Earios podcast network.

10:20 Josh Whale: putting electric motorbikes onto Rwanda's roads

Kiwi tech entrepreneur Josh Whale is building Africa's first electric motorbike business and an associated battery recharging network in Rwanda.

Motorbikes are widely used as taxis throughout Africa, as they are in other parts of the developing world. In Rwanda they account for more than half the total number of vehicles on the road.

So getting more of the country's existing fleet of around 100,000 motorbike taxis to switch from petrol to electric 'e-motos' will reduce emissions and the country's dependence on imported fuel.  It would also save the drivers money on fuel costs, potentially doubling their earnings.

10:40 Eva Orner: exposing the scandal at the heart of Bikram yoga

Bikram hot yoga has grown to be a global brand, with studios around the world and hundreds of teachers training each year under the guidance of its founder and guru Bikram Choudhury.

Choudhury came to prominence in the 1970s when his punishing hot yoga classes, fondness for celebrity clients, Rolls Royces and a snug pair of budgie-smugglers put him centre stage in Californian high society.

But according to Oscar-winning Australian director Eva Orner's latest documentary Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (Netflix) these eccentricities conceal a far darker side of sexual misconduct and abuse.

Orner's other documentary work includes Chasing Asylum (2016) and producer credits (alongside director Alex Gibney) on Taxi To The Darkside, which won an Academy Award for best documentary in 2008 and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, released that same year.

11:05 Adelaide bushfire update

At least four homes have been lost and 28 people have been taken to hospital with fire-related injuries, as a result of bushfires near Adelaide.

We'll cross to ABC News deputy editor Nick Harmsen in Adelaide for an update.

11:15 Tabby Besley: Advocate for LGBTQIA+ students

Society in general is more accepting of sexual and gender diversity but the fact that Rainbow students are five times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers shows there's still a long way to go.

Inspired by the support she received at her Nelson high school from a pioneering diversity group, Tabby Besley is working hard to improve the experience for LGBTQIA+ students while at school.

InsideOUT, the organisation she founded and directs is fighting back against a spectrum of exclusionary behaviour; from teasing to school uniforms, from bullying to bathrooms.

In 2015 she received a Young Leader Award from the Queen at Buckingham Palace and this week she made the shortlist for the Young New Zealander Of The Year award.

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 - available 24/7 or text HELP to 4357
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) - available 24/7.This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
• Youthline: 0800 376 633
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666 - available 24/7
• Kidsline: 0800 543 754 - available 24/7
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 - available 24/7

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

11:35 Sámi on screen - from cultural appropriation to consultation

The Sámi are an indigenous people of northern Europe with a population of about 100,000 spread across Norway, Sweden and Finland into Northern Russia. Traditionally they were a nomadic people with an economy centred around reindeer herding. Sámi languages were prohibited in schools and public life for many years.

Ánne Laila Utsi has been Managing Director of the International Sámi Film Institute since 2009. From a film-making background herself, Utsi guides other Sámi film-makers to tell their own stories. And she recently worked with Disney as a cultural consultant on Frozen 2 after concern that the first film had included elements of Sámi culture without consent. She has been in New Zealand as the first filmmaker in residence at the Māoriland Filmmakers Residency in Ōtaki.

Books mentioned in this show

The Outlaw Ocean - Crime and Survival in the Last Untamed Frontier
By Ian Urbina
ISBN: 9781847925862
Published by Penguin

This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality
By Peter Pomerantsev
ISBN: 9780571338634
Published by PenguinFaber