Sunday Morning for Sunday 30 September 2018

7:11 Indonesia tsunami: why was the warning lifted?

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency had put a tsunami warning in place when Friday's 7.5 quake hit, but lifted it soon after. A subsequent tsunami has claimed hundreds of lives in the city of Palu. The man who helped design Indonesia's early warning system (EWS) Dr Bapon Fakhruddin explains how it should work. 

7:20 Dr Cliff Law: impact of acidity in seawater

The world's oceans are becoming more acidic due to the absorption of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Dr Cliff Law from NIWA says a study done off the Otago Shelf for around 20 years shows pH levels dropping and carbon dioxide rising in the surface water and the atmosphere.

7:30 The House

7.43 Bryce Wilkinson: are our tax dollars being well spent?

A new report has looked into whether taxpayers are getting value for the tax dollars spent. The New Zealand Initiative has looked at productivity compared to how much money the government spends on core sectors such as education and health. The author of Fit for Purpose? Are Kiwis Getting the Government They Pay For is senior research fellow Dr Bryce Wilkinson.

8:10 Insight: tackling soft diplomacy - politics, rugby and the Pacific

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned a study last year into the feasibility of a Pacific-based Super rugby side. The players want it, administrators are keen and the competition's governing body, SANZAAR, is open to the changes post 2020. RNZ Pacific's sports reporter, Vinnie Wylie, investigates who will pay for it, who's in charge and why our government is getting involved?

8:38 Economist Peter Temin: the US's vanishing middle class 

Professor Peter Temin applies a well-known economic model to outline a two track economy  - one that is educated with good jobs, and another much larger sector where people are burdened with debt and anxious about their job, if they have one.  And in between, the middle class - which he says is disappearing. His latest book is The Vanishing Middle Class - Prejudice and Power in a Dual Economy. Peter Temin is the Gray Professor Emeritus of Economics at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

9:06 Mediawatch

Jacinda-mania went global this week - but did the media mistake exposure for impact and influence? Also: how the big news media merger ended up on the rocks; the US Supreme Court case triggered by social media; and how an over-reaching campus cop hit the headlines. With Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose. 

9:37 Mike McRae: who defines the meaning of unwell?

A new book by Mike McRae challenges our modern definitions of illness. “Unwell” delves into who decides what a disease is and the changing nature of what defines an illness. McRae is a science communicator with a passion for anatomy, disease and medicine.

10.04 Rugby Foundation cooks up a recipe-book fundraiser

Lisa Kingi-Bon is the chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Foundation, set up in 1986 to raise funds for badly injured players. Lisa Kingi-Bon and Daniel Buckingham, a Wheel Blacks Olympic gold medallist in 2004 who is now manager of  Attitude TV, talk about the NZ Rugby Stars Cookbook - created to raise funds for the foundation. It includes excellent recipes by current and past players including Damian McKenzie, Brad Shields, Richie McCaw, Brodie Retallick and Liam Squire. Click on the gallery above for a recipe from Sir Bryan Williams. 

10.25 Stacy Gregg: no wizard required in pony books  

Former journalist Stacy Gregg has created a winning formula in her children’s books - they always feature a girl and a horse. Her pony books have been massively successful, having sold more than 110,000 copies in NZ and 2m around the world. She’s the third biggest selling children’s author for her publisher HarperCollins, behind David Walliams and Dr Seuss. Her research for her books takes her to far-flung corners of the globe. For her latest book, her 23rd, The Fire Stallion, she headed to Iceland.

Stacy is meeting fans and signing books for the school holidays.
Monday 1 October
10.45am - 11.15am at Whitcoulls Northwest
12.30pm - 1pm at Whitcoulls Albany Foodcourt
2.30pm - 3pm at Whitcoulls Silverdale
Tuesday 2 October
11am - 11.30am at Whitcoulls Botany
12.45pm - 1.15pm at Whitcoulls St Lukes

10.45 Gus van Sant: back working with Joaquin Phoenix

Acclaimed director Gus Van Sant has a new film out on October 4 called Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot. It's about the life of Portland cartoonist John Callahan - confined to a wheelchair due to a car accident after a massive night of drinking. Gus Van Sant is one of the most celebrated film makers in modern cinema, with films like 'My Own Private Idaho',  'Good Will Hunting', 'Drugstore Cowboy' and 'Elephant.' He explains how Robin Williams introduced him to the story of Callahan. 

11.04 Cartoonist Michael Leunig: “simplicity is beautiful”

Australian cartoonist, artist and poet Michael Leunig is the author of more than 30 books of cartoons and poetry featuring his familiar duck character, such as "Musings from the Inner Duck" and his latest "Ducks for Dark Times". He also created Mr Curly, one of life's contemplative outsiders. Leunig’s cartoons reflect on human problems and display his love of life's simple everyday pleasures. He's heading to the Nelson Arts Festival which begins on October 11, for an appearance on October 14 in which he'll talk and draw. There'll be a camera above him, so the audience can watch his drawings in real time.

11:35 Peter McNeil: Pretty Gentlemen

If you’ve heard the song Yankee Doodle, you’ve heard “stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni”. But what was macaroni in that context? Peter McNeil's book "Pretty Gentlemen - Macaroni Men and the Eighteenth-Century Fashion World" is a fascinating insight into the influence of the macaroni. McNeil is a distinguished professor of Design History at University of Technology Sydney and considered a world expert on 18th-century men's dress. He’s giving two talks at Te Papa over WoW weekend on 6 and 7 October. One is called High Heel Heaven, the other is Pretty Gentlemen.