Saturday Morning for Saturday 27 March 2021

8:10 Dr Tom Doyle: Church structure to blame for abuse

Dr Tom Doyle, who is a priest, canon lawyer and addictions therapist, this week gave evidence to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry faith-based redress hearing in Auckland, where he blamed the hierarchy and structure of the Catholic Church for abuse by priests.

Since 1982, he has been involved in the issue of clergy sexual abuse, beginning with his work as the staff canon lawyer at the Vatican Embassy in Washington DC.

His involvement includes pastoral care of victims and their families, canonical defence advocate for accused clerics, consultant to dioceses and religious communities and as an expert witness and consultant in civil and criminal cases throughout the United States and other countries.

The Abuse in Care Inquiry will be publishing its Redress report (on abuse in the care of both state and faith-based institutions) and giving recommendations later this year. Its final report and further recommendations will be released in 2023.

Information for abuse survivors can be found on the Abuse in Care website.

8:30 Ex Bank of England Governor Mark Carney: building a human-values based economy

Mark Carney is the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Finance Adviser for COP26.

He was Governor of the Bank of England until last year, and prior to that was Governor of the Bank of Canada.

His new book, Value(s): Building A Better World For All challenges free market fundamentalism and blames it for damaging the values upon which a good society is based.

He calls for change in a post-Covid world, where values of sustainability, solidarity and responsibility are embedded into decision-making as a framework to build a better world.

9:05 Booker winner George Saunders shares his love for Russian short stories

George Saunders won the Booker Prize for his 2017 novel Lincoln in the Bardo.

For the last 20 years, he has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his students at Syracuse University.

He shares a version of that class in his new book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.

Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.

9:40 Dr Stephen Curran: Avi Loeb, aliens and other 'utter crackpottery'

A few weeks ago, Kim spoke to Professor Avi Loeb, the former chair of astrophysics at Harvard University, who believes an object that passed through our solar system had extraterrestrial origins.

Avi Loeb declared the object, dubbed Oumuamua, was most likely a piece of advanced technology created by a distant alien civilisation.

Dr Stephen Curran is a senior lecturer in astrophysics at Victoria University who, hearing the interview, declared Avi Loeb's theory 'utter crackpottery'.

10:05 Caolan Robertson: Creating an off-ramp from the alt-right

Caolan Robertson is a writer, filmmaker and former PR person for the alt-right.

Between 2017 and 2019 he was a correspondent for Rebel Media, a director and producer for Alex Jones, Lauren Southern and English anti-Islamic activist Tommy Robinson, and created content for many others on the online right.

He was spokesperson for Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern during their aborted 2018 NZ tour.

He's had a major change of heart and mind and is now collaborating on a deradicalization project called Future Freedom, with the aim of helping others exit the alt-right movement.

10:30 Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell: Husband and wife crime-writing duo

Judy Melinek is a forensic pathologist at Wellington Hospital. Her training in forensics at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner is the subject of the memoir Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner, co-authored with her husband, writer T.J. Mitchell.

They have recently released the second Jessie Teska medical thriller Aftershock (the first was First Cut) and are appearing at events at the Auckland Writers Festival.

11:05 Playing Favourites with Michael Baker

In the last year epidemiologist Michael Baker has become a household name and face.

As a member of the Ministry of Health's Covid-19 technical advisory group he strongly advocated for an elimination strategy and his advice helped inform the government's decision for a national lockdown.

He has been professor of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington since 2013.

He joins Kim to play some of his favourite music and talk about the times that shaped him.

One of the tracks is by his daughter's band Mermaidens, who are currently on tour and another is a song which is performed by the choir Note Bene. Michael's wife Katie Chalmers is a member of Note Bene. 

A character based on Michael will feature in Transmission, a play which opens at Bats Theatre on 20 April. It focusses on the decision-making around New Zealand's decision to Lockdown a year ago.

Books mentioned in this show:

Value(s): Building A Better World For All
by Mark Carney
ISBN: 9780008421090
Published by HarperCollins

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
By George Saunders
ISBN: 9781984856029
Published by PenguinRandomhouse

Aftershock
bY Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell
ISBN: 9781335147295
Published by Harlequin

 

 

 

Music played in this show

Song: Don't You Think I Do Enough
Artist: Lontalius
Played at 10:35

Song:Tijuana Taxi
Artist: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Played at 11:10

Song: Love Will Tear us Apart
Artist: Joy Division
Played at 11:20

Song: The Element Song
Artist: Tom Lehrer
Played at 11:32

Song: Soft Energy
Artist: Mermaidens
Played at 11:40

Song: There is no Depression in New Zealand
Artist: Blam Blam Blam
Played at 11:54