Saturday Morning for Saturday 7 December 2024

7:11 Latest on Bridge Hill blaze

More ground crews will be on deck today to continue battling the high country scrub fire that's been burning in Canterbury.

The fire started very early on Thursday morning and has burned through more than 1000 hectares at Bridge Hill, northwest of Springfield.

One building, the Holloway Lodge near the peak of Bridge Hill was destroyed.

Seven fire crews monitored the site overnight, our reporter Krystal Gibbens has the latest.

 

7:13 Opposition fighters advance in Syria

It's reported Islamist-led rebels may be closing in on Homs - the country's third biggest city - as they continue their advance after taking Hama on Thursday. 

It's the largest offensive in years launched by opposition fighters in Syria.

It took Bashar al-Assad's government and many others by surprise as the fighters, led by a group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, took the second biggest city of Aleppo a matter of days ago.

Bashar Al Assad has largely held an iron grip on the country since the civil war over a decade ago - this week-long lightening advance is a blow to Syria's dictator, and his allies Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.

BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner explains the latest developments.

 

7:20 The grim picture of homelessness for women

Census data reveals there are more homeless women than men, with more than 57,000 women without a home.

Meanwhile, a new study by Ihi Research has also found that four out of five homeless women in Aotearoa are Māori, with some being as young as 15-years-old.

Many of them have been in state care, experienced sexual abuse and also the loss of their babies being uplifted.

Dr Catherine Leonard is the research manager at Ihi Research and talks to Mihi.

 

7:30 FENZ update on Canterbury fire

Incident Commander Collin Russell is on the ground and has just had a briefing with fire crews overnight.

He joins Susie with the latest.

 

7:32 How the system failed Olivia Podmore

The Olympic cyclist died in August 2021 of a suspected suicide, the day after the end of the Tokyo Olympics, which she was not selected for following a contentious nomination process.

Now, three years later, a coroner's inquest has shed light on the years of bullying Podmore endured, and how conditions did not improve for her, despite an independent review slamming the culture at the high performance-track-programme in 2018.

RNZ's Sports Correspondent Dana Johannsen joins Mihi to explain what has been revealed at the three-week inquest.

 

7:40 Did Scrutiny Week live up to its name?

Scrutiny Week at Parliament has just wrapped up, but was there much of that or more ducking and diving?

Department heads and ministers were grilled in 12 select committees, with police admitting they are not on track to meet the government's recruitment promise, in another session Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora was accused of 'cooking the books'.

Our political reporter Russell Palmer has been sitting in on some of the sessions and has done a Focus On Politics podcast on it.

He explained what it's all about.

 

7:50 Donating books this Christmas

Books unlock a new world of learning but what if you don't have access to them or can afford them?

Mihi sat down with Sonya Wilson, an award-winning children's author who founded her own charity Kiwi Christmas Books about five years ago and asked how the donations were going this year.

 

8:10 Feeling good about Flesh after Fifty

Acclaimed Australian photographer Ponch Hawkes has photographed five hundred naked women aged over 50, stripping off with them.

The idea behind Ponch's 500 Strong exhibtion, on at Melbourne's Museum of Australian Photography, is to break down stereotypes about the body beautiful as we age.

500 Strong was part of a much larger show Flesh After Fifty, co-conceived by curator Jane Scott to address the "invisibility of older women and the gendered shame attached to ageing."

Susie is joined by Ponch Hawkes and Jane Scott, who approached Ponch with the idea.

8:35 Put a cap on plastic: Trisia Farrelly

Efforts to secure a global treaty to cap plastic pollution failed at a meeting of almost 200 countries in Busan, South Korea, this week.

Almost half the nations present were onboard with the idea, those against were some oil-producing countries who said restricting plastic will harm developing nations.

According to the Ministry for the Environment global plastic production is expected to triple by 2060.

Trisia Farrelly is Senior Research Scientist at the Cawthron Institute and part of New Zealand's scientist coalition for an effective Plastics Treaty in Busan. 

9:05 So much is chance - Owen Marshall

Award-winning story-teller, poet and all-round national treasure Owen Marshall's latest collection of short stories, New Stories is about sliding doors moments - those accidental meetings, unexpected turns in the road, job offers that take us into new territories - the arbitrary and the unpredictable.

Owen Marshall ONZM, CNZM has been described as 'New Zealand's best prose writer'. He's written or edited more than 30 books, including bestselling novel The Larnachs. 

Several of Owen's books have been adapted for film, including the up-coming The Rule of Jenny Pen.

9:30 Michelle Rahurahu: Poorhara

Essayist, poet and now novelist Michelle Rahurahu's first novel Poorhara has been praised by critics as "possibly the best Aoteraroa novel of the year."

Poorhara is a tragi-comic story of two cousins, Erin and Star, on an epic journey towards their whenua in a bashed-up 1994 Daihatsu Mira.They're chasing their dreams - but can they afford them?

Michelle was a co-editor of Te Rito o te Harakeke, an anthology of Maaori voices for Ihumaatao. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letter, where she won the Modern Letters Fiction Prize.  She was shortlisted for the Michael Gifkins Prize for Poorhara.

9:50 Bloodsuckers Blood drive

A blood donation pop-up where you can find out your blood type, at the Auckland Museum next weekend, is a handy partner to brand new international exhibition Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches.

Here the extraordinary role blood plays in nature, medicine and mythology is explored through natural science, history and pop culture.

Susie is joined by Norma Henry - Exhibition Project Manager for the Ontario Museum where Bloodsuckers has travelled from, and  Scott Sinclair, from the New Zealand Blood Service.

10:05 Stan Grant: Murriyang Song of Time

Mihi speaks with writer, journalist, historian, and author Stan Grant, a Wiradjuri first nations Australian with a long and distinguished broadcasting career, reporting extensively from war-torn countries around the world for more than three decades.

Stan's new book Murriyang Song of Time is a response to the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum and a meditation interweaved with a memory of his father, a Wiradjuri cultural leader, asking how any of us can say goodbye to those we love.

10:35 Brannavan Gnanalingam: The Life and Opinions of Kartik Popat

Brannavan Gnanalingam is one of the first South Asian writers to be published in New Zealand.  

His eighth novel, a political satire is The Life and Opinions of Kartik Popat.

Think Veep, or Yes Minister - set in the Beehive.  It's also a book about ideas, about fitting in. 

Brannavan Gnanalingam is an award-winning novelist and film reviewer, and former columnist for the Sunday-Star Times.

11:05 Brotha D on creating pathways in tech

This year many traditionally stable jobs and industries have born the brunt of challenging economic times.

According to the World Economic Forum, 69 million jobs will be created in the next four years, driven by new technologies.

In Aotearoa, technology is one of our fastest growing exports but, we have a shortage of workers and Māori and Pasifika make up only about 4% and less than 3% respectively.

Trying to change that is a bit of a blast from the past.

Danny Leaoasavai'i - better known as Brotha D - is a music producer who started making a name for himself in the 90s and who helped found Dawn Raid Entertainment.

He's now the Creative Lead at the South Auckland Creative and Tech Hub. Mihi  went for a tour with him.

11:25 Pavlova with a choux twist

Maxine Scheckter is the creative force behind Sugar Flour, a small patisserie school in Wellington.

Her classes take the most beautiful recipes and simplify the steps for any home baker to try their hand at.

Maxine has worked at some of the top restaurants including, Logan Brown in the capital, Gateaux Thoumieux in Paris, and Fat Duck and Sketch in the UK, all known for creating exceptional food.

She teaches Susie how to make her spin on the classic pavlova - berry pavlova choux pastries.

11:45 Painting in Antarctica

From the vastness of ice to the raw power of swells taller than buildings, Antarctica is a landscape that is deadly as it is beautiful.

In recognition of the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton's final expedition, last year, 22 young people travelled to South Georgia, a British territory in the Antarctic region, as part of Antarctic Heritage Trusts' Inspiring Expeditions.

Artists Charlie Thomas and Rose Lasham were both part of the group and their work, inspired by the trip, is currently on display at the New Zealand Maritime Museum.

They talk to Mihi about what it was like visiting the frozen continent.

 

Books featured on today's show:

New Stories
By Owen Marshall
Published by Penguin
ISBN: 9781776950010

Poorhara
By Michelle Rahurahu
Published  by Te Herenga Waka University Press

Murriyang Song of Time
By Stan Grant
Published by: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9781761427909

The Life and Opinions of Kartik Popat
by Brannavan Gnanalingam
Published by: Lawrence and Gibson
ISBN: 978-0-473-72597-6

Music played in this show

Song: Step Into Your Power
Artist: Ray LaMontagne
Time played: 8:40

Song: Galveston
Artist: Glenn Campbell
Time played: 10.30

Song: I Put a Spell on You
Artist: Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Time played: 11:58

Song: Whistling in the Darkness
Artist: The Phoenix Foundation
Time played: 11:57