Saturday Morning for Saturday 30 October 2021

8.10 Prof Idelber Avelar: is the end in sight for Bolsonaro?

A senate panel in Brazil has backed a report calling for criminal charges against president Jair Bolsonaro for his handling of the Covid pandemic, including crimes against humanity. The coronavirus death toll in Brazil totals more than 600,000 - the second highest in the world behind the United States. And while Bolsonaro’s ratings plummet, former leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva looks poised to make a return in 2022 after having his own convictions quashed earlier this year.

Professor Idelber Avelar teaches Latin American Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He joins the show to discuss the developments in Brazil, and what might happen next.

 

8.35 Mikayla Cahill: the importance of visibility for intersex people

At 15 years old Mikayla Cahill learned she was supposed to have been born a boy. Mikayla was born with an intersex condition called complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, meaning she started to develop as a male foetus, but her body couldn’t process testosterone so she developed as a female.

Intersex people make up roughly 2% of the population - comparable to the percentage of people born with red hair. However, people with intersex variations have long been stigmatised and left feeling unseen. For years Mikayla, now 26, was reluctant to identify as intersex because she was told it would be too hard for other people to understand. But talking about her condition has opened up a whole new world.

Where to get support:
Intersex Youth Aotearoa – National intersex youth community network run by Intersex Awareness New Zealand.
Rainbow Youth – A support network for sexuality and gender diverse youth in Aotearoa. 

 

9.05 Joanna Lumley: A Queen For All Seasons

British actress, activist and dedicated royalist Joanna Lumley is busier than she’s ever been with multiple projects on the go, but somehow she’s managed to find time to curate and edit a book celebrating Queen Elizabeth II. Entitled A Queen For All Seasons, the book is a treasure chest of special writings and vignettes that create a vivid portrait of the 95-year-old who is Britain's longest reigning monarch and the very first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

Another of Lumley's project is the operatic rom com Falling For Figaro, in which she portrays a fearsome singing coach and former opera diva who lives in the Scottish Highlands. Falling For Figaro opens in New Zealand cinemas on 18th November.

 

10.05 Maata Wharehoka: supporting different ways of dying

Maata Wharehoka lives with a painful lung disease - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD. Her chronic pain is such that she'd seriously consider euthanasia if she met the legal requirements when the End of Life Choice Act takes effect on 7 November. 

Wharehoka (Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Kuia) has been a voluntary euthanasia advocate for many years. A trained nurse, she works as a death doula, reviving traditional methods of death and burial. Her whānau believe Māori traditionally had a form of euthanasia. 

Wharehoka is also spokeswoman for Parihaka Pā, where she has been a caretaker of the marae for over 30 years. This coming Friday 5 November marks 140 years since Māori were evicted from the peaceful settlement.

 

10.35 Jan Oliver Lucks: There Is No ‘I’ in Threesome

 When filmmaker Jan Oliver Lucks (aka Ollie) and his girlfriend got engaged, they decided to do away with the tradition of monogamy and take the plunge into an open relationship. The couple, who lived at opposite ends of the country due to professional reasons, decided to document their polyamorous experiment, in which they are each allowed to date and sleep with other people for a year leading up to their wedding.

Using cellphones, the couple recorded their experience in the hopes that the resulting documentary would make them poster children for an alternative to monogamy. But things didn’t quite go to plan.

There Is No I In Threesome is screening as part of NZIFF. Head over here for details.

11.05 Playing Favourites with author Steve Braunias

The last commercial record pressing plant in New Zealand closed in 1987, with urban legend suggesting that EMI disposed of it in Wellington Harbour. The closure of the plant was largely due to the rise of modern technologies, such as cassettes and CDs. But from the mid-50s up until then the LP was king in Aotearoa - with many homegrown hits being pressed into vinyl.

Award-winning journalist Steve Braunias has spent many years sifting through op shops to amass a collection of New Zealand pressed records that provide a fascinating window into our culture of the time. He has now documented some of his weird and wonderful finds - from Bill & Boyd to Tina Cross - in his new book Cover Story.

Braunias has hand-selected some favourite tracks from his collection to share on the show.

Books mentioned in this show:

A Queen For All Seasons
By Joanna Lumley
ISBN: 9781529375923
Publisher: Hachette

Cover Story
By Steve Braunias
ISBN-13: 9780947506896
Publisher: Oratia Media

 

Music played on this show:

 

Lucia di Lammermoor / Act 2: 'Chi mi frena in tal momento'
Sutherland, Pavarotti, Milnes, Ghiaurov and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Played at 9.50am
 

Blessed is The Man

Paul and Colleen Trenwith 

Played at 11.15am
 

Hurdy Gurdy Man

The Otumoetai College Concert Choir 

Played at 11.25am
 

All Your Love

The Underdogs Blues Band

Played at 11.30am
 

The Skater's Waltz

Ernisto Verrecchia

Played at 11.40am
 

Ave Maria 

Kiri Te Kanawa

Played at 11.50am

Columbus Stockade

George Stewart  and the Mainland Hoedowners

Played at 11.57am