Saturday Morning for Saturday 3 April 2021

8:10 David Putrino: Covid's "Long Haulers"

Lingering symptoms such as crippling fatigue, "brain fog",  breathlessness, heart palpitations, chest pain and  aching muscles or joints are a grim reality for a subset of people infected with Covid-19.

Women are more likely to be affected than men and it can hit people whose infections were mild or who were asymptomatic.

Many of these Covid "long haulers" feel they are not being listened to by their doctors and have had their distress dismissed.

Dr David Putrino is the director of rehabilitation innovation at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and works with Covid-19 patients at Mount Sinai's Center for Post-Covid Care.

8:30 Javier Blas: The World for Sale

Javier Blas is chief energy correspondent at Bloomberg News and coauthor of The World For Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources.

The book aims to lift the lid on the billionaire commodity traders who buy, hoard and sell the earth's resources no matter how corrupt, famine-stricken or worn-torn the country they come from.

Some traders also gain political power despite sanctions and regulations - helping Saddam Hussein to sell his oil, fuelling the Libyan rebel army during the Arab Spring, and funnelling cash to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin.

9:05 Helen O'Hara: Women vs Hollywood

In her book Women vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film Helen O'Hara explores the role of women - both in front of the camera and behind it - since the birth of Hollywood.

The dawn of cinema saw women take the lead in many areas of film making, only to be pushed aside and their contributions written out of film history.

Helen O'Hara sees the tide turning again with a new generation of women shaping some of the biggest films and demanding gender equality.

Helen O'Hara is a film journalist who writes for Empire magazine and co-hosts The Empire Film Podcast.

9:35 Vic Crone: Paul Callaghan's vision 10 years on

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the late Sir Paul Callaghan's legendary 'vision' speech at the McGuinness Institute event where he presented the idea of New Zealand becoming a place where talent wants to live and that 100  inspired entrepreneurs could turn this country around.

Sir Paul talked about lifting our activities in science, technology and engineering and he advocated sustainability.

The McGuinness Institute hosted a public webinar to mark the anniversary, reuniting many who were present on that day.

The CEO of Callaghan Innovation, Vic Crone, assesses how far Aotearoa has come with Sir Paul's vision.  

10:05 Playing Favourites with Florian Habicht

Filmmaker Florian Habicht joins Kim for a chat and to play his favourite music on the day of the world premiere of his new documentary, James & Isey.

Florian Habicht has worked with musicians Jarvis Cocker, Beck and the late, avant-garde theatre director, Warwick Broadhead and many New Zealanders know him for his first doco, Kaikohe Demolition.

During a stint directing advertisements for the Lotteries Commission, Florian Habicht met James and Isey and they asked him to make a film as Isey approached her 100th birthday.

James and Isey premieres on April 3 (the day Isey turns 102) at Auckland's Civic Theatre. The film will be released nationwide on May 6.

11:05 Kevin Roose  how to be human in the age of automation

New York Times technology columnist and host of the podcast Rabbit Hole, Kevin Roose is the author of Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, in which he lays out a vision for how humanity can live well in the age of machines.

Roose says we don't need to become more like machines - hyper-efficient, data-driven workhorses - to survive. Instead, he says, we should focus on being more human and doing the kinds of creative, inspiring and meaningful things even the most advanced AI can't do.

11:40 Danyl McLauchlan: Life's big questions: Jordan Peterson

Scientist and writer Danyl McLauchlan joins Kim to tackle life's big questions, ideas and thinkers.

 

This week he's considering controversial Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson, author of 2018's super-selling self-help guide 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.

 

Peterson has recently released a follow up Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life.

 

McLauchlan regularly contributes essays to The Spinoff and released his first collection, Tranquillity and Ruin in February of this year.

 

He's also the author of comic noir novels Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley and Mysterious Mysteries of the Aro Valley.

Books mentioned in this show:

The World For Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources
By Javier Blas and Jack Farchy
ISBN: 9781847942654
Published by Random House Business

Women vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film
By Helen O’Hara
ISBN: 9781472144423
Published by Hachette

Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
By Kevin Roose
ISBN: 9781529304732
Published by PenguinRandomhouse

 

Music played in this show

Song: The Medicine Man
Artist: Keb' Mo'
Played at: 8.35

Song: Hei, Pippi Langstrumpf
Played at 10:15

Song: Amarcord
Composed by: Nino Rota
Played at 10:25

Song: Dishes
Artist: Pulp
Played at 10:40

Song:Mahi Kinikini
Artist: The Tahiwis
Played at 10:55

Song: Revival
Artist: Aldous Harding
Played at 11:40