Saturday Morning for Saturday 20 November 2021

8.10 Simon Marks: Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty

American teenager Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed two men and wounded another during protests against police brutality and riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020, has been acquitted of all charges in court in New York. After deliberating for 26 hours a jury found Rittenhouse, 18, not guilty of reckless and intentional homicide and other charges. Rittenhouse had claimed self-defence while prosecutors dismissed the self-defense claim, saying Rittenhouse "provoked" the events during a night of unrest in Kenosha. Simon Marks reports from Washington.

8.20 Dr Chris Smith: why does the Covid-19 vaccine wane?

Our regular commentator, Cambridge University consultant clinical virologist Dr Chris Smith joins us with the latest Covid-19 science, and to answer your questions.

This week we’ll be asking Dr Smith why the effects of the Covid-19 vaccine wane over time, when other vaccinations do not? How likely is it that another variant might sidestep the existing vaccinations? And is there any sign of this pandemic burning itself out?

Send your questions for Dr Chris Smith to saturday@rnz.co.nz or text 2101.

8.40 Michael Parmenter: bringing a fresh outlook to folk dancing

Over the last few years renowned choreographer Michael Parmenter has shifted his focus from contemporary dance to the realm of participatory social dancing. Parmenter, who is known for striking large-scale works such as 2018 dance opera OrphEus, first discovered the pan-European delights of Balfolk dancing a decade ago when he was undertaking his doctorate in Paris.

Recently Parmenter has been teaching Balfolk classes in Auckland, and his Full Moon Folk Ball held at the Titirangi hall as part of the 2021 Auckland Art Festival was a sold-out festival highlight. The event will be returning next year at the Auckland Town Hall, with no experience or partners necessary.

The Full Moon Folk Ball takes place on 18 March 2022. Head over to the AAF website for more details.

9.05 Alina Chan: finding the origins of Covid-19

The origin of Covid-19 still remains a mystery that may never be solved. Was it the result of a spillover from animals to humans, or the result of a lab leak? The idea that the SARS-CoV-2 virus could have accidentally escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China has been widely condemned as a conspiracy theory fuelled by anti-Chinese sentiment. 

But some people insist lab leak is a plausible theory, and one of them is Canadian molecular biologist Dr Alina Chan. She's a gene-therapy specialist at the Broad Institute of MIT at Harvard, and has co-authored a book with popular science writer Matt Ridley, Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19. 

9.30 Aroha Novak: sewing shadows of our native plant past

When Christchurch’s Hagley Park was created in the late 19th century native plants such as ferns, cabbage trees and flax were replaced by English plants like beech, elm and oak. As part of the Scape Public Art Season 2021, Dunedin artist Aroha Novak is presenting The Native Section, nine hand-embroidered billboards surrounding the park. The billboards depict removed indigenous flora and reference both Māori and European ways of remembering ​and cataloguing — whakataukī and botanical drawings.  

Novak works as a public artist drawing attention to her sites’ cultural and environmental history. Previous projects include The Brook Project, an installation at the decommissioned sports stadium Carisbrook, and a Timaru mural of tī kōuka (the cabbage tree), referencing its significance in the area. Novak has just completed a project with children at Port Chalmers School Dunedin, presenting flora and fauna from the forest floor. You can see a video of the results here.

Head over here for a guide to the Scape Public Art Season 2021. 

10.05 Prof Franca Ronchese: why skin is ground zero for allergies

Groundbreaking new research at the Malaghan Institute in Wellington has found that immune cells in the skin behave differently than their counterparts found elsewhere in the body, suggesting they play a much bigger role in the onset of allergies than originally thought. Immune cells rely on unique chemical signals to inform them about whether and how to react to potential threats in the body. One of these signals is called IL-13, a molecule that is made when immune cells detect cellular damage caused by allergens or parasite infections. 

The discovery is the culmination of several years’ work led by Professor Franca Ronchese of the Malaghan Institute, and throws into question the long held belief that the body’s immune cells all behave the same, regardless of where they are.

Professor Ronchese and her team believe it might be a key piece to the puzzle in understanding why the skin is so often ‘ground zero’ for people developing allergic conditions not just in the skin, but elsewhere in the body.

10.35 James Cridland: what does the future hold for radio?

All this week RNZ has been celebrating 100 years of broadcasting in New Zealand, the first broadcast having been made on the 17th of November 1921 by Professor Robert Jack from Otago University’s physics department. 

But what of radio’s future? The internet and social media have seen a huge growth in streaming images and video, but podcasts have also become increasingly popular. Yet 2021 survey data tells us that over 3.7 million New Zealanders also listen to live radio every week. 

James Cridland is a self-dubbed radio futurologist and consultant with radio stations based in Brisbane. He edits a weekly newsletter following radio's international future trends. Cridland has worked in radio since 1989 and launched the world’s first streaming radio smartphone app in 2005 for London’s Virgin Radio, before joining the BBC to work on their BBC iPlayer.

11.05 Sophie Roberts: taking destiny into her own hands

After her father became terminally ill, theatre director and dramaturg Sophie Roberts discovered she had a hereditary gene mutation that comes with an 80 percent risk of developing stomach cancer, as well as a 30-40 percent risk of breast cancer. So she decided to take destiny into her own hands and five months ago she had her stomach removed. 

Now Roberts is working on an ambitious Silo commission called Break Bread which broadcasts the rambunctious hidden lives of all of us. Working under the constraints of the pandemic, the production looks to move beyond traditional black box theatre and into the digital sphere while retaining the shared, immersive characteristics of live theatre.

Break Bread opens on Tuesday 30th November. Head over here for more details.

11.35 Fergus Barrowman: giving writers a sporting chance 

Preeminent literary magazine Sport was founded by writers Damien Wilkins, Elizabeth Knox, Nigel Cox and their Victoria University Press (VUP) publisher Fergus Barrowman in 1988. Sport folded in 2020 as the pandemic hit and VUP have now published an anthology of the magazine’s latter years, A Game of Two Halves: The Best of Sport 2005-2019, edited by Barrowman. 

Dedicated to excellence in new writing, Sport has published many of our most well- known authors early in their careers, from Emily Perkins and Eleanor Catton to recent national award winners Pip Adam, Tayi Tibble and Airini Beautrais. It has also featured the work of many fine New Zealand photographic artists.

Books mentioned in this show:

Viral: The Search For The Origin of Covid-19
By Alina Chan and Matt Ridley
Publisher: Fourth Estate
ISBN: 9780008487508
 

A Game of Two Halves: the Best of Sport 2005-2019
Edited by Fergus Barrowman 
Publisher: Victoria University Press
ISBN: 9781776564316

 

Music featured on this show:

You gave me the key
Julie Doiron
Played at 11.33pm