Saturday Morning for Saturday 30 March 2024

 

8:10 The need for a holistic approach to dementia

World renowned brain health expert, clinical neuroscientist and pioneer in dementia research Professor Vladimir Hachinski is the recipient of the 2024 Ryman Prize, a $250,000 grant for the world's best discovery, development, advance or achievement that enhances quality of life for older people.

It's celebrating the major contribution Professor Hachinski has made to the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and the links between 'the terrible three' - stroke, dementia and coronary heart disease.

Professor Hachinski advocates for prevention by promoting the idea of "holistic brain health", linking cerebral health with our ability to interact and form meaningful relationships with others.

Professor Hachinski joins Susie alongside New Zealand-based dementia educator Caroline Bartle.

9:05 Viet Thanh Nguyen: A Man of Two Faces

Writer Viet Thanh Nguyen remembers watching Apocalypse Now for the first time and not knowing whether to sympathize with the Americans or with the Vietnamese.

Growing up as a refugee in America, having fled Vietnam as a child, resulted in a unique but unsteady identity with which to view American culture and politics. 

He won the Pulitzer Prize fiction award for his debut novel The Sympathizer which takes place in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

His other books are the sequel to The Sympathizer; The Committed; a short story collection, The Refugees; Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. His most recent publication is a memoir: A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial. 

Viet Thanh Nguyen is coming to the Auckland Writers Festival in May.

9:40 Baron Hasselhoff's: the art and craft of great chocolate 

For many, Easter means chocolate.  And for chocolate makers Easter is one of the busiest times of year.  

Susie pops in to Baron Hasselhoff's chocolate boutique in Wellington to catch up with "chief chocolate disciple" Clayton McErlane. 

10:05 Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These

Irish novelist and short story writer Claire Keegan was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022 for her book Small Things Like These. 

It's the story of a coal merchant whose eyes are opened to the horror of the laundry run by nuns one Christmas.

The Booker Prize judges described it as "both a celebration of compassion and a stern rebuke of the sins committed in the name of religion".

Keegan is appearing at Wanaka's Festival of Colour next Sunday, along with Audrey McGee, talking about why Irish writers are making a big impact.

10:35 Girls State: Imagining a world run by young women

Filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss's creative partnership spans two decades, winning them Emmy awards and several prizes at Sundance.

Their latest documentary Girls State follows teenage girls from Missouri navigating a week-long immersive democratic experiment, learning how to build a government from the ground up. Girls State airs on Apple TV from April 5.

It serves as a companion  to their 2020 film Boys State which followed a similar experiment.

They also directed The Mission, about American Christian missionary John Chau who was murdered when he tried to contact and convert one of the most remote tribes in the world on North Sentinel Island.

 

11.05 Gwyneth Hughes: Mr Bates vs The Post Office

The British Post Office scandal been described as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in the country's history.

Between 1999 and 2015, over 900 UK subpostmasters were falsely accused of theft and fraud as the result of faulty accounting software. Some were convicted and jailed, and more lost marriages, families and their mental health.

A faulty accounting system doesn't perhaps sound like the makings of gripping drama, but it's been made into a series: Mr Bates vs The Post Office, The first episode airs on Sunday 31 March on TVNZ and on TVNZ+.

It was written by Gwyneth Hughes, a journalist turned screenwriter.

 

11:40 Kate De Goldi: reading for pleasure

Kate De Goldi is one of New Zealand's most celebrated authors, an Arts Foundation Laureate, and a voracious reader.

She joins Susie to share three books she's loved; Cahokia Jazz  by Francis Spufford, Hatch and Match by Ruth Paul, and Falling Animals by Sheila Armstrong.

 

Books featured on the show:

A Man of Two Faces
By Viet Thanh Nguyen
Published by Grove Atlantic
ISBN: 9780802160508

Small Things Like These 
by Claire Keegan
Published by Faber
ISBN: 9780571368709

Music played in this show

Song: Blackbird
Artist: Beyonce
Time played: 10:30

Song: Guess How much I love you
Artist: The Lucksmiths
Time played: 11:05

Song: Kansas City Stomp
Artist: Jelly Roll Morton
Time played: 11:35

Song:Hey Ya!
Artist: Outcast
Time played: 11:53