Saturday Morning for Saturday 28 January 2023

8.10 Coverage of the Auckland floods

 

8.30 Prof Tim Jackson: Imagining life after Capitalism

Sustainable growth was the focus of the recent World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, but how realistic is this goal, and what would it look like? 

The idea of degrowth, as a counter to the status quo of aiming for exponential growth, has also been gaining popularity. 

Last year’s IPCC report on mitigating climate change cited it for the first time, and the European Research Council has recently given NZ$15.5 million to degrowth academics to study ‘post growth’ policies. 

Professor Tim Jackson is a specialist in sustainable development at the University of Surrey, Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity and on Air New Zealand’s Sustainability Advisory Panel. His latest book is Post Growth - Life after Capitalism.

9.05 Playing Favourites with Robyn Malcolm 

Robyn Malcolm’s screen portrayal of crime-matriarch-gone-straight(ish) Cheryl West in Outrageous Fortune made her a household name but her repertoire extends far beyond West Auckland. 

It’s been a busy 35 years since her screen debut in Shark in the Park. Acting, writing, producing and the face of NZ Actors' Equity during the Hobbit Law employment controversy. 

In 2023 she’s on screen in two new productions: Far North, a dark comedy with fellow Shortland Street alumni Temuera Morrison, and new drama series After the Party. 

10.00 Prof Richard Taylor: bio-inspired technology improving the eye 

A professor in physics, psychology and art, Richard Taylor believes the bio-inspired technology he is developing with a team at the University of Oregon could one day lead to a bionic eye. 

Taylor is exploring how diseased regions of the retina can be replaced by fractal electronic implants, converting light into electrical signals. They have grown rodent retinal neurons on a fractal-patterned electrode, mimicking the repeating branching pattern in which neurons naturally grow.

He has also used bioinspired fractal images to reduce people's stress levels. Known for his work across disciplines, he is also considered a leading expert on the artist Jackson Pollock, proving that his paint splatters are in fact fractals.

Prof Taylor is giving a free public talk in Rotorua on the 8th of February, on the stress-reducing properties of fractals, as part of the 10th International Conference on Advanced Materials. 

10.35 Kevin Buley: Auckland Zoo turns 100

Auckland Zoo's centenary is being marked by an exhibition and a book, 100 Years, 100 Stories, revealing how much the zoo's role has changed over that time. 

Last year the zoo also opened their biggest development to date: the South East Asia Jungle Track, including a climate-controlled tropical dome, high canopy rainforest area and tropical swamp.

Today the zoo also works as an advocate for conservation and to help many native species from extinction. But what will it look like in another 100 years?

Director Kevin Buley has worked in the industry for nearly 25 years, including as head of zoo programmes at Chester Zoo, the UK's largest visitor attraction outside of London. He has been in roles at Auckland Zoo since 2010.

11.05 Fantastic Negrito: 18th-century ancestors inspire gospel-psych-blues concept album

An out-of-the-blue email claiming to be from a relative inspired funky blues artist Fantastic Negrito’s acclaimed album White Jesus Black Problems. It saw him follow his family tree back seven generations to Elizabeth Gallimore, an indentured servant from Scotland, who was charged in Virginia, 1759 with unlawfully cohabitating with a Negro slave.

Also known for his work as activist and urban farmer, Xavier Dphrepaulezz grew up in an orthodox Muslim household in Oakland. A near-fatal car accident in the 1990s derailed his pop music career but he reinvented himself as Fantastic Negrito, going on to win the first NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2015 and a Grammy for Contemporary Blues Album in 2017. 

Fantastic Negrito performs at WOMAD in New Plymouth Sunday 19 March. 

11.30 Morgan Davie: drama in the realm of Dungeons and Dragons 

The world of tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons has been shaken by a major fracas in its community. 

Tabletop gaming has experienced a major rise in popularity in recent years, thanks partly to TV shows such as Stranger Things and The Big Bang Theory.

But proposed licensing changes by D&D publisher Hasbro put that at risk as fans swore off the game and threatened to boycott upcoming movies. Elsewhere the industry is facing problems of inclusivity. 

Morgan Davie, a Wellington tabletop enthusiast and gaming developer and author gives us the lowdown on what's going on.

 

Books featured on this show:

Post Growth: Life after Capitalism 
By Tim Jackson
Published by Polity Books
ISBN: 9781509542529

Auckland Zoo: 100 Years, 100 Stories 
By Sarah Ell, Aja Pendergrast and Jane Healy
Published by Sherlock & Co
ISBN 9780473648084

 

 

Music played in this show

Song: Fever
Artist: Aldous Harding
Played at 8.30am

Song: Mass No. 2 in G Major, D. 167: I. Kyrie        
Artist: Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Claudio Abbado 
Played at 9.25am

Song: Etudes Op.33 - 3. Vivace assai. (Agitato)        
Artist: Martin Jones 
Played at 9.35am

Song: Saint-Saëns: Carnival Of The Animals - The Swan            
Artist: Yo Yo Ma     
Played at 9.50am

Song: ​Venamous Dogma
Artist: Fantastic Negrito
Played at 11.05am

Song:Oh Betty
Artist: Fantastic Negrito
Played at 11.30am