Saturday Morning for Saturday 23 October 2021

8.10 Susan Thornton: Taiwan tensions raise heat on US-China relationship

Tensions between China and Taiwan have been described as the worst in 40 years after the Chinese air force intensified its overflights into the Taiwanese air defence zone earlier this month.

The growing tension has seen the United States and Canada send warships through the Taiwan Strait, a move condemned by the Chinese military who say they are threatening stability in the region. Taiwan is now being seen as at the heart of the superpower rivalry between China and the US.

Susan Thornton spent nearly 30 years working on Eurasia and East Asia for the US state department. Currently she is a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center. 

8.35 Nathan Harris: intimate Civil War tale treads new ground

The debut novel from Nathan Harris has received high praise and has been added to Barack Obama’s summer reading list, selected for Oprah’s Book Club, and longlisted for The 2021 Booker Prize.

The Sweetness of Water tells the story of brothers Landry and Prentiss, who were born into slavery and are finally freed as the American Civil War draws to its bitter close. The brothers forge an unlikely bond with a Georgia farmer who believes he has lost his son in the war. 

Harris has just completed a fellowship at the renowned Michener Center for Writers at University of Texas. The Sweetness of Water was awarded the Kidd prize, as judged by Anthony Doerr.

9.05 Dame Cindy Kiro: the first female Māori governor-general

Dame Cindy Kiro became New Zealand’s first female Māori governor-general when she was sworn in at a ceremony at parliament this week. Raised in South Auckland, Dame Cindy (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu), was the first in her family to graduate from university, and rose to become a pro-vice chancellor at the University of Auckland. Her most recent posting was as the chief executive of the Royal Society - Te Apārangi.

After her swearing in as the Queen's representative, Dame Cindy said she wanted to use her role to reach out to marginalised people and to acknowledge the unsung heroes that hold the community together.

9.35 What's art got to do with it? Megan Dunn on art in hospitals

Megan Dunn joins the show to discuss the intersection of art and life, looking at the ways art is and isn't good for our wellbeing. This week, what art hangs on the walls of the hospital and why? 

Dunn’s interest began when she noticed a photograph by contemporary artist Jae Hoon Lee in her doctor's surgery in Wellington, and continued after spending time at Auckland Hospital. The result was ‘Art in the Waiting Room’, an essay that appears in her latest book Things I Learned At Art School.

Megan Dunn is an art writer and also the author of the novel Tinderbox.
 

 

10.05 Miriam Margolyes: ‘sometimes I know I’m being naughty’

At age 80, gleefully outspoken actress Miriam Margolyes tells her eye-popping life story in the new memoir, This Much Is True. The self-described ‘fat Jewish lesbian’ has appeared in scores of film and television roles over the decades including The Age of Innocence, Romeo + Juliet, Blackadder, and the Harry Potter series. 

Most recently Margolyes, who has dual British and Australian citizenship, hosted the ABC documentary series, Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian, in which she took a road trip around the continent to explore what the Australian dream means.

Margolyes is also a frequent guest on The Graham Norton Show. Watch a clip from one of her appearances below.

 

11.05 Fiona Clark: veteran photographer celebrated in ‘Unafraid’

In the mid-1970s artist Fiona Clark pushed the envelope with her vivid photographs of Auckland’s burgeoning queer scene. At the time, the inclusion of two of her images in New Zealand’s first major survey of photography The Active Eye caused such a stir that the show was forced to close at several venues, and Clark’s career was nearly stubbed out before it had even begun.

Four decades later, a new documentary directed by Lula Cucchiara recounts how the Taranaki-based photographer overcame censorship, homophobia, sexism and debilitating physical injuries to become one of the country's most respected social documentarians.

Fiona Clark: Unafraid is screening as part of NZIFF. Head over here for more details.
 

 

11.35 Gardening with Kath Irvine: compost and healthy citrus

Organic gardener Kath Irvine returns to share some tips around spring gardening and to answer your questions. 

This week her topics include building your own compost, dealing with guava moths and ensuring healthy citrus trees. 

Irvine runs workshops from her permaculture home garden in Ōhau, in the Horowhenua. Her practical guide to growing organic fruit and vegetables The Edible Backyard, has recently been published.

Send your questions for Kath to saturday@rnz.co.nz or text 2101.

Books mentioned on this show:

Things I Learned At Art School
By Megan Dunn
ISBN: 9780143774853
Publisher: Penguin

This Much Is True
By Miriam Margolyes
ISBN: 9781529379891
Publisher: Hachette

The Sweetness of Water
By Nathan Harris
ISBN-13: 9780316461245
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.

 

Music featured in this programme:

When a Man Loves A Woman
Percy Sledge
Played at 9.35am

Down Nuh River
serpentwithfeet
Played at 10.55am