Saturday Morning for Saturday 19 April 2025

7:10 Auckland weather watch

Metservice has lifted the severe thunderstorm watch which saw flooding and power outages in Auckland overnight and the opening of an evacuation centre in Three Kings. 

General manager of Auckland Emergency Management, Adam Maggs talks to Mihingarangi Forbes about clean-up efforts. 

7:13 US/Ukraine peace talks stall

The US Secretary of State says America may abandon peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in days if no progress is shown.

Marco Rubio, speaking after a series of meetings with European politicians in Paris, says President Trump still wants an agreement, but added that the US had other priorities. 

US correspondent Simon Marks speaks to Susie Ferguson.

7:20 Latest from the Middle East

In the Middle East, Hamas has formally rejected Israel's latest ceasefire offer, medical sources say dozens have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza and a UN agency says Gaza is running out of food.

BBC's Middle East expert, Sebastian Usher speaks to Mihi.

7:25 Women defined in the UK

This week, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that only biological and not trans women meet the definition of a woman under equality laws. The decision confirms that single-sex services for women such as refuges, hospital wards and sports can exclude trans women.

Domestically, the coalition has directed Health New Zealand to say "women" instead of "pregnant people" in its communications about health issues.

Head of YWCA Tāmaki Makaurau, Dellwyn Stuart, talks to Susie about the ramifications of the UK ruling.

7:33 3G cellphone buyers beware

If you're thinking about buying a new cellphone, a reminder that the country's 3G networks are being shut down from the end of the year, which means that devices which rely on it may only work for a few more months.

The Telecommunications Forum is warning retailers about their responsibilities to consumers as they've known about the shutdown for some time but may still be selling new phones which only have a short lifespan.

Paul Brislen, Chief Executive of the Telecommunications Forum talks to Susie about what consumers need to lookout for.

7:40 Fed a Fam for $5

Times are tough for many families, 1 in 4 Kiwi-kids live in households where food runs out.

Earlier this week, the charity Kiwi Harvest - launched a Nationwide Fundraising Appeal called 'Fill the Hunger Hole'. Their mission is to rescue surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and distribute it to other charities and community groups across the country.

CEO Angela Calver tells Mihi that just $5 can provide a full day's worth of meals for a family of four.

7:45 Remembering our nurses

An event on the eve of this year's Anzac Day will celebrate the role of nurses in both military and civilian service, with a special focus on the Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps.

A commemorative bronze plaque is being unveiled in their honour, at Art of Remembrance 2025, at Kāhui St David's in Grafton in Auckland.

Georgina Greville is a senior nurse at Middlemore Hospital. Her grandmother and her great aunt were both nurses who served in World War I and she joins Susie from our Auckland studio.

7:54 Making poppies

Since World War I, poppies have been a symbol of remembrance as they flourished in the soil churned up by the fighting and shelling on the Western Front.

Soala Wilson has been busy organising the making of 10 thousand felt poppies in Palmerston North.

She talks to Mihi about the logistics behind such a precious undertaking.

8.10 Thomas Perls: life over 100

If you were to turn 100 years old this year, you would have been born in 1925 and would’ve lived through World War Two and the moon landing, rock n' roll, punk and grunge. Seeing bank books replaced by pay wave and growing old in the digital age.

The world is a very different place today, and yet so many things are the same. People still search for love, security and the meaning of life. So, what do centenarians make of it all? 

Dr Thomas Perls is founder of The New England Centenarian Study - the world's largest study of centenarians.

He shares whether where you live makes a difference to your quality of your life and living a long one.  And you can take part in an adjacent study here.

8.30 Abdulrazak Gurnah Theft

Abdulzarak Gurnah’s new novel Theft is his first since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021.

Like many of his novels, the story takes place Zanzibar, the island of his birth, and is a coming-of-age story, told against rapid post-independence change.

Abdulrazak is Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent and the author of ten previous novels, including Afterlives, which was named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, Washington Post and TIME magazine. 

He was midway through writing Theft when he heard about his Nobel Prize win, and he joins Saturday Morning to relay what impact this had on the process.

9.05 Stephen Wainwright, reflecting on the arts

Stephen Wainwright is finishing at Creative New Zealand after 35 years of service.

He joined the organisation in 1990 and became chief executive in 2006 – leading the country’s only national arts funding agency through multiple governments, an earthquake, and a pandemic.

He explains how he ended up working in the arts despite, as a child, wanting to be a cricketer when he grew up – plus what he’s got to look forward to in semi-retirement.

9:35 GIVE WAY! Steven Page and Dave Armstrong

In 2012, our excentric give way rule which had allowed right-turning traffic at intersections was abolished.

New Zealand was the only country in the world which had this rule, and the proposed change prompted objections from some concerned that making the change would cause traffic chaos – and even damage our national identity.

Now there's a musical comedy about it called Give Way - The Musical – which is premiering in Wellington next weekend

The original songs are written by Invercargill-based new playwriting talent and former postie, Steven Page, whose script won the 2023 McNaughton South Island Play Award.

Steven Page and show producer Dave Armstrong tell Susie all about it.

10.05 Kiwi on Broadway: Hayden Tee

Romeo and Juliet is widely considered the greatest love story ever told, but where art thou Juliet?

New musical & Juliet reimagines how the story ends and what would happen if Juliet didn't end it all over Romeo and instead got a second chance at life and love on her own terms.

Kiwi actor Hayden Tee played Lance Du Bois in the original Australian production and has reprised the role on Broadway. He speaks with Mihi live from his dressing room at the Stephen Sondhiem Theatre on Broadway, ahead of curtain up.

10.20 She Speaks! Harriet Walter

Harriet Walter is one of the world's most accomplished Shakespearean actors, though most of us will likely recognise her for her many memorable TV characters, which have earnt her multiple Primetime Emmy nominations.

In recent years she's played the abominable Lady Caroline in Succession, and parts in Ted Lasso, Killing Eve, The Crown, and Downton Abbey.

Her decades with the Royal Shakespeare Company have seen her play most of Shakespeare's leading women and despite her immense admiration for Shakespeare's mind, words and empathy for his female characters, the fact remains that his women rarely take centre stage.

Harriet's book She Speaks!: What Shakespeare's Women Might Have Said imagines in 'Shakespearean' verse and prose what, with more lines and stage time, we'd have heard the Bard's leading women say.

Harriet Walter will be appearing at the Auckland Writers Festival 13-18 May.

11.05 From dancer to dean - Katie Lawrence

The Very Reverend Katie Lawrence is the first woman to serve as Dean of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul in New Zealand.

Originally from Cyprus, part of a Royal Air Force family, she went on to spend over 20 years as a professional dancer performing, teaching and choreographing around the world, before feeling called to ministry, something that she thought was never on the cards for her prior to feeling her calling.

After studying theology at Durham University, she was ordained in 2016 and joined the Wellington Cathedral in 2019 before becoming the cathedrals ninth Dean in 2023 and the first woman to take up the role.

Katie believes the cathedral is a place for everyone in the community, and in her role has led services for major public events and national moments of mourning, including state services, memorials such as the Loafers Lodge fire, and engagement with national protests outside Parliament.

 

11.35 Liam Dann: inflation, tariffs and your KiwiSaver

Inflation is on the up. The Consumers Price Index inflation rate increased 2.5% in the 12 months to the March 2025 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ on Thursday.

New Zealand Herald business editor-at-large Liam Dann is here to unpack what that means.

Liam is the author of BBQ Economics: How money works and why it matters.

11: 50 Triple word score: Scrabble Masters Champs

The country's top 24 Scrabble players have descended on Mt Albert this Easter weekend to decide who will be New Zealand's 41st Scrabble Masters Champion. 

The crown is hotly contested over 23 games and is one of the premier events in New Zealand's Scrabble calendar.

The tournament in Tāmaki Makaurau started on Good Friday and ends on Easter Sunday.

Susie speaks to Chris Tallman – the new Vice President of NZ Scrabble who is hoping to take the crown despite being up against the 13-times champion.

 

Books included in this show 

• She Speaks!: What Shakespeare's Women Might Have Said
• By Harriet Walker
• Published by Little Brown
• ISBN: 9780349018911

 

• Theft
• By Abdulrazak Gurnah
• Bloomsbury Publishing
• IBSN: 9781526680150

 

 

Music played in this show

Song: Give Way
Performed by Jackson Burling, Lily Tyler Moore, Bronwyn Turei, Carrie Green, Alex Greig
Time played: 9:35

Song: Petite Fleur
By: Sidney Bechet
Time played: 10:58

Song:Romeo and Juliet
By: Dire Straits
Time played: 10:58