Sunday Morning

8:10 ReliefAid founder Mike Seawright on the ground in Ukraine  

Aucklander and ReliefAid founder Mike Seawright is on the ground in Ukraine where he is overseeing aid distribution operations and a Kharkiv reconstruction programme.  

The situation in Kharkiv is particularly tense, but residents, despite the ongoing aerial bombardment, are determined to remain in their homes and their spirit remains unbroken. 

Mike Seawright joins this week’s stand-in host Bryan Crump for an update.  

8:30 Deke Sharon on finding that pitch perfect vocal  

Deke Sharon was music director for the three Pitch Perfect movies and is credited with modernising contemporary acapella singing. 

He is part of the jury panel for the World Choir Games 2024 in Auckland this July, and joins Bryan Crump for a chat about his career, why acapella has risen in popularity, plus what it takes to succeed in the world of choral music.  

9:10 Mediawatch 

The government is pondering policies to help our news media cope with their current crisis — which is made more acute by millions of us getting our regular news from the likes of Facebook, Google, and TikTok.  

However, those platforms don’t seem to care much about news.  

For this week’s Mediawatch, our friends at the ABC in Australia ask if journalism can survive this way.  

9:35 Doc Edge Preview: Providing pets with a sanctuary from family violence  

Annie Goldson’s film Refuge: A Duty to Care is screening at this year’s Doc Edge Film Festival. 

The film focuses on life at a Pet Refuge shelter which provides the pets of family violence victims with a sanctuary while their owners find a safe place to call home. 

Annie joins Bryan Crump.  

 

 

10:10 Calling Home: Hinemoana Baker in Berlin  

Poet and musician Hinemoana Baker (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa and Te Āti Awa) is calling home on the eve of her return to Aotearoa.  

She has been living in Berlin since 2016, when she was awarded Creative New Zealand's Berlin Writer's Residency. 

Over the years, she has recorded multiple albums, published books of poetry and attended writers' festivals and arts residences at home and overseas.  

She will be back in New Zealand to take up a writer's residency at Randall Cottage in Wellington.  

10:30 Amorina Kingdon: How Sound Rules Life Underwater 

Science writer Amorina Kingdon’s new book explores how underwater animals use sound to survive. 

Sing Like a Fish: How Sound Rules Life Underwater submerges the reader in the one-time unexplored underwater world and looks at how scientists are using technology to study natural and man-made noises — from the surface to the depths of the abyss. 

Amorina joins Bryan to talk about her research  

11:10 Matariki garden observations with Kelly Francis  

Kelly Francis founded charitable trust Whenua Warrior in 2017 to address food security across Aotearoa – making it her mission for edible gardens to be accessible to all New Zealand communities.  

During the Matariki holiday and at the start of the lunar new year, Kelly joins Bryan for a kōrero about seasonal planting, observations to make around the garden, and the challenges posed by climate change including Spring arriving earlier.  

11:35 Hope for those with Long Covid 

Long-term fatigue is often paired with debilitating chronic pain – and its effects have been underplayed for too long.  

Hamish Wilson and John Douglas Dunbar join Bryan to discuss the growing understanding of the neurological effects on pain in the wake of Covid-19 and how this is providing sufferers with optimism.  

11:50 The Big Swim: Keeping Kiwis safe on the water  

This July, New Zealanders are being asked to raise money for Coastguard NZ by nominating a distance they think they can swim during the month and asking friends, family and colleagues to sponsor them. 

The Big Swim will ensure we can enjoy our waters safely – including boaties, kayakers, paddle boarders and jet skiers.