Sunday Morning for Sunday 23 September 2018

7:11 Cameron Swanson: e-scooters poised to hit our streets

The new rage in micro-mobility is about to be unleashed on our streets. Two companies have  licences to operate electric scooter ride-share schemes. Onzo and Lime are both going to battle it out on Auckland streets, while Christchurch has approved Lime to set up its business there. Lime’s company “launcher” Cameron Swanson is in New Zealand for the roll-out. He talks about the reaction to the e-scooter phenomenon in the US and what we can expect here.

7:20 Alison Griswold: Americans divided over e-scooters 

New York based Quartz journalist Alison Griswold @alisongriswold has been following the mixed reaction to the e-scooter phenomenon as it rolled out in cities across the U.S. Some cities have banned them, others only allow their use on footpaths. Safety concerns for pedestrians have followed the arrival of the latest ride-share schemes. Griswold explains regulators are playing catch-up with the start-ups.

7.30 The House

7:45 Jason Reeve: compiling the first list of NZ’s flu pandemic victims

The 1918 Flu Pandemic took the lives of 8600 New Zealanders over a period of 2-3 months when there were only a million people in the country. It is still our worst natural disaster. From September 30 commemorative activities will start and include a memorial service at Waikumete Cemetery in Auckland where more than 1100 victims are buried - 400 of them had only one headstone. Jason Reeve from Ancestry.com has been putting together the first comprehensive list of NZ victims. He will give a free speech at Auckland Central Library on 3 October.

8:10 Insight: the dirty business of NZ's plastic exports to Malaysia

Every year New Zealand sends thousands of tonnes of plastic overseas to be recycled, with much of it going to Malaysia. But people living there say there aren't systems for dealing with Malaysia's own waste. Nita Blake-Persen heads to Malaysia to investigate imported plastic, which often ends up burned or dumped by illegal factories.

8.38 Valleys Project: ridding Fiordland of predators

The government's goal for the country to be predator-free by 2050 is an ambitious one. Rats, stoats and possums kill about 25 million native birds every year as well as native wētā, snails and lizards. After many years of hard work behind the scenes with DOC, Auckland ophthalmologist Dr Michael Fisk set up The Valleys project, allowing people to adopt valleys in Fiordland, home to unique and endangered wildlife like takahe, whio and kea. Fisk has already done a lot of work in the Cozette Valley. Inspired by Michael's mission, South Auckland teacher Martin Wright and a group of tramping mates have now "adopted" a valley themselves, and this summer will work on eradicating pests in the Upper Iris Burn.

The Valleys Conservation Project on Facebook

Ex AUTC Adopt a Valley on Facebook.

New Zealand National Parks and Conservation Foundation

9:06 Mediawatch

How the media marked the milestone of 125 years of votes for women. Also: covering the toxic 1080 campaign - and how the media coped with a shock All Blacks defeat.  Presented by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.

9.38 Sir Owen Glenn: philanthropist

On September 24, the University of Auckland is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of its Sir Owen G. Glenn Building, which houses the business school. It's a purpose-built space originally made possible by a $7.5m donation by Sir Owen - it actually open in February 2008. But Sir Owen isn't in the country all the time, so on Monday while he is here he will also announce the Sir Owen G. Glenn Scholarship recipients. The long-time philanthropist who has supported many educational, cultural and sporting causes over the years, talks to Jim Mora. 

10.04 Michael Morpurgo: War Horse author has soft spot for NZ

The theatrical production of War Horse is coming to New Zealand next year, from the original 1982 children’s book by Sir Michael Morpurgo. The National Theatre of Great Britain made the book into one of the most triumphant stage events of modern times and it’s received dozens of international awards, including a Tony for best play on Broadway. War Horse was also made a Steven Spielberg movie - all about the boy Albert and his horse Joey, engulfed in the maelstrom of the World War One. The stage show's been seen by 7 million people and next June heads to The Civic in Auckland. Sir Michael has an affinity with New Zealand and is keen to return then.

10.40 Charlie Huenemann: knowing more than yourself

Dr Charlie Huenemann is professor of philosophy at Utah State University. He's the author of several books and essays on the history of philosophy, but he also likes having fun with it. He's written pieces like “How You Play the Game: A Philosopher Plays Minecraft’, and "Why Not To Trust Other Philosophers". His Huenemanniac blog is both funny and whimsical, and one philosophy website recommended him as the “most underrated philosopher of the week”. He's written recently in the journal Aeon about the wisdom to be found from the oracle at Delphi - the most famous advice that came from the oracle was "Know Thyself".

11.04 Workplace ageism: Jarrod Haar

The struggle for job seekers over a certain age has been well documented but a recent Linkedin post also detailed the struggle an employer had to convince his company to hire someone over 50. AUT Professor of Human Resource Management, Jarrod Haar, talks about the cause and potential solutions to stop workplace discrimination against older workers.

11:20 Chris Stephens: gaining age, losing friends

A recent poll in Australia found 25% of men between 30 and 65 have few or no social connections and 17% of all people have no mates at all they could visit without invitation. In 1984 only 7% of people had no one they could just drop in on. An OmniPoll survey showed the average number of close friends for people in 2018 is 3.9, compared with the 2005 average of 6.4. Dr Chris Stephens, Professor of Social Science Research at Massey University's School of Psychology; is part of HART, the Health and Ageing Research Team and looks at local research on whether social connections matter as much.  

11.38 David Miller from Il Divo on how the formula still works

Il Divo is the most successful popera ensemble in history with record sales of 30 million, highly successful tours. Impresario Simon Cowell had the idea that you could continue the success of the legendary three tenors by tweaking the repertoire and adding more sex appeal, and he was right. It's been a long time together for Il Divo - they are now in their late 40s. The aptly named Timeless tour brings them to Spark Arena for one show in Auckland in October. Il Divo's American tenor David Miller explains the  recipe for longevity and the changing face of music.