Saturday Morning for Saturday 28 August 2021

8.10 Dr Srinjoy Bose: what’s next for Afghanistan?

As many as 170 Afghan people and 13 American troops are being reported as having been killed in a blast outside Kabul’s international airport on Thursday night. The blast by a suicide bomber came as the US and other countries raced to complete a massive evacuation of their citizens and Afghan allies following the Taliban takeover of the country.

A group known as ISIS-K, has claimed an ISIS militant carried out the suicide attack, but no evidence has been provided to support the claim. In televised comments from The White House, US President Joe Biden has vowed to hunt down those responsible and “make them pay”.

Dr Srinjoy Bose is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of NSW, and is an expert on Afghanistan. He joins the show to discuss the unfolding situation, which is likely to significantly complicate the effort to airlift thousands of people out of Afghanistan.

8.30 Dr Norman Swan: Covid Trans-Tasman relations 

Covid-19 has seen Sydney investigative journalist and broadcaster Dr Norman Swan thrust into a role as a trusted voice in the long pandemic. He joins the show to update us on how things are in Australia with Covid, in the wake of the recent loss of a Trans-Tasman bubble and as New Zealand and Australia deal with the virus differently.    

Swan hosts the ABC's programme Health Report, and Coronacast, a podcast dedicated to informing Australians on the latest in the Covid-19 pandemic. He was one of Australia's first medically trained journalists - having trained in medicine at the University of Aberdeen in his home country Scotland. 

9.05 Prof Joseph Dahmen: mycelium, a living building material 

Mycelium, the root system of fungi, has increasingly started to be used as an alternative to plastic, but its uses are also extending into architecture and design as a living, construction material. There’s already a company in New Zealand making Styrofoam-replacing mycelium packaging.   

Joseph Dahmen, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture, has been working with mycelium based materials for many years, principally in designing furniture and buildings. Dahmen and his wife, designer Amber Frid-Jimenez, once built a wall at the Museum of Vancouver of mycelium bricks that were left alive and eventually fused together. Dahmen is now using mycelium to create a biodegradable composting toilet for refugee camps. After use, it can simply be buried.
 

 

9.30 Lillian Hanly: the tough decision of being tested for Huntington’s

In her new short documentary Fifty Percent, Lillian Hanly grapples with an agonising decision: should she get tested for Huntington’s disease? Her grandfather, New Zealand artist and printmaker Pat Hanly, had the neurodegenerative disease, and her biological mother also has Huntington’s - as do other members of her family. Hanly has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the genetic mutation that leads to the disease, which has a range of debilitating symptoms - physical, mental and psychological.

A simple blood test would determine if she has the mutation - but at 27 years old, Hanly is conflicted about what the results might bring. Is it better to know and plan for the future, or carry on unaware?

Fifty Percent has been released as part of the latest season of Loading Docs.
 

 

10.05 Dr Jada Watson: celebrating 'the F word’ in country music

For years female country artists in North America have been told by radio programmers that they are the “tomatoes” of an all-male salad. In other words, they are the garnish and their music should be played sparingly.

Dr Jada Watson, a professor of musicology at the University of Ottawa, says this attitude leads to a direct impact on the success of songs by female country artists. But despite this, women country artists continue to make songs that could be considered strong feminist anthems - following in the tradition of Loretta Lynn’s banned 1975 tune ‘The Pill’, a song that celebrated the dawn of birth control.

Dr Watson has teamed up with New Zealand singer-songwriter Tami Neilson for a special show called The F Word, which celebrates a rich songbook of country classics, doubling as a tongue-in-cheek expose of gender inequality in country music. 
 

11.05 Bryan Brown: Aussie actor turns crime writer with Sweet Jimmy

Australian actor Bryan Brown is a familiar face on our screens. With an acting career stretching back four decades, Brown has appeared in more than 80 films, including Breaker Morant, The Thorn Birds, Gorillas in the Mist, Cocktail, and Along Came Polly.

Now, in his early 70s, Brown is adding another feather to his cap by trying his hand at crime writing. His debut book, Sweet Jimmy is a collection of short stories that have been described as taut and crackling with character, in the vein of modern Aussie noir.

11.40 Toby Morris: the Covid cartoonist who is Dad Man Walking 

Cartoonist Toby Morris’ latest book is Dad Man Walking, chronicling his adventures in fatherhood. It’s a return to a theme - his first book in 2013 was titled Don’t Puke On Dad. Yet in the intervening years both Toby’s subject matter and profile as a cartoonist have widened significantly – including becoming the in-house cartoonist for The Spinoff, offering up political commentary on a wide range of issues, and writing a graphic novel on Te Tiriti O Waitangi. 

Morris  teamed up with Siouxsie Wiles in 2020 to create comics for Covid-19 communications, which were widely shared and resulted in work for the World Health Organization. Morris has also created artwork for musicians including The Beths and Phoenix Foundation, and brands ranging from L&P to the Edmonds Baking Powder box.
 

Books mentioned on this show:

Sweet Jimmy
By Bryan Brown
ISBN: 9781761065224
Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Dad Man Walking
By Toby Morris
ISBN: 9780143775171
Publisher: Penguin


Songs featured in this show:

Song: Faraway Eyes
Artist: Rolling Stones
Played at 9.06am

Song: It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
Artist: Kitty Wells
Played at 10.15am

Song: Mama's Broken Heart
Artist: Miranda Lambert
Played at 10.20am

Song: What Are You Gonna Tell Her?
Artist: Mickey Guyton
Played at 10.25am

Song: Redesigning Women
Artist: The Highwomen
Played at 10.35am

Song: The Pill
Artist: Loretta Lynn
Played at 10.45am

Song; Late Night Grande Hotel
Artist: Nanci Griffith
Played at 10.50am

Song: Back When I Was 4
Artist: Jeffrey Lewis
Played at 11.35am