Sunday Morning for Sunday 24 February 2019

7.11 Philip Duncan: Weekend of wet and wild weather

A number of big events have been planned for the weekend against a backdrop of weather warnings. Cyclone Oma's expected to pass by New Zealand over Saturday and Sunday bringing with it heavey rain, winds and storm surges. There's also predicted to be several cold fronts coming in from the south which will see temperatures plummet. Weather Watch's Philip Duncan talks about what's hit and where as well as how long the cold wet snap's expected to last.

7:15 Karen Kasler: U.S. political correspondent

Karen Kasler, a political journalist, talks about the  release this coming week  of the long-awaited Mueller report in the U.S., into Russian  collusion and intrusion, into American political and business affairs. Karen speaks to Jim about the two year investigation and the big questions that are hoped to be answered in the full public report. She will also talk about the impact it will have on Donald Trump's presidency.

7.20 Saeed Ghandhari: Optimistic Mars One applicant

In spite of the financial demise of the company behind the ambitious plans to colonise the red planet, New Zealand Mars One applicant, Saeed Ghandhari, is hopeful the project will still go ahead. He was one of hundreds of thousands who put themselves forward to be part of the project which involved a one way trip to Mars. In the past two weeks the company behind the project has filed for bankruptcy and there's doubts it was ever a legitimate project. Some have called it fraud. Saeed Ghandhari speaks to Jim Mora about why he's not giving up his dream just yet.

7:27 Three Minutes Max: Sir Bob Harvey

Three Minutes Max, short & sharp opinions from commentators around New Zealand. Here's Sir Bob Harvey with his thoughts on what's been happening in with the rāhui on the regional parks to stop the spread of Kauri die back

7:30 The House

This week on our parliamentary programme - the end of a 13-hour long debate, an MP's first words, and written questions. Produced by Daniela Maoate-Cox and Phil Smith.

7.45 Calling Home: Shannon Campbell in Berlin

Each week Sunday Morning gets in touch New Zealanders living abroad to talk about their lives as well as events and current affairs in their adopted countries. This week we speak to Shannon Campbell who's living in the German capital, Berlin. He works with the Deer Industry of NZ travelling around Europe giving cooking demonstrations and working with the exporters and the importers as well as catering for the New Zealand Embassy in Berlin. 

8:10 Insight:What's so scary about Huawei?

How did it happen that Huawei finds itself at the centre of a global row and is the suspicion justified?

8:34 John Minty: Splore Festival director

New Zealand's longest running music festival, Splore, is on again this weekend at Auckland's Tāpapakanga Regional Park. Thousands are expected for the event which kicked off on Friday afternoon, it finishes later this afternoon. John Minty is the festival's director, he speaks to Jim about the event's popularity and the impact of the uncertain weather forecast for the duration.

8.37 Three Minutes Max: Nicky Pellegrino

Three Minutes Max, short & sharp opinions from commentators around New Zealand. Here's author Nicky Pellegrino talking about her beef with literary snobbery.

8.40 Kevin Campbell: 30 years on from Flight 811 disaster

It's been 30 years since United Airlines flight 811's cargo door failed blew off the aircraft while it was nearly 7000 metres in the air. New Zealander Lee Campbell was one of nine passengers who were sucked out of the aircraft and killed. His parents, Kevin and Susan, embarked on a mission to discover why the door of the Boeing 747 was able to come loose mid-flight. They discovered there was a fault with the locking mechanism, that Boeing had known about, which was able to to be remedied by replacing aluminium parts with steel ones. Kevin Campbell speaks to Jim about Lee and what's happened in the three decades since he died en route from Honolulu to Auckland.

 
9.06 Mediawatch

This week on Meidawatch, how two provocative personalities from overseas stirred up our media this past week.

Also - Huawei in the headlines  and a paper’s plan to make people pay for their best stuff online.  Mediawatch is produced by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.

9:37 Justine Murray: Te Matatini

Thousands of performers have been giving it their all for the past few days at Te Matatini. The Kapa Haka Festival is the largest in the country and has attracted 46 teams including two from Australia. Thousands of spectators have also turned up at Wellington's Westpac stadium to watch the incredible performances and support their whānau. RNZ's Te Ahi Kaa presenter Justine Murray has been in the capital watching the action. She speaks to Jim Mora about the final stages of the competition and who's in the running for winning some of the big events.

9:41 Three Minutes Max: Jules Older

Three Minutes Max, short & sharp opinions from commentators around New Zealand. Here's Jules Older with his thoughts on the referendum on legalising cannabis and how it's worked in the U.S for his own family.

9:40 Rich Mattson: Genetics could affect the quality of your marriage

Advances in gene mapping and understanding their influence on people has led to researchers discovery that genetics can have an influence on romantic relationships. A team, led by Binghamton University Associate Professor of Psychology Richard Mattson, evaluated genetic combinations of the Oxytocin Receptor gene and its influence on how spouses support one another, as a measure of relationship quality. The gene was targeted as it is known to be relevant to social behaviour. Richard Mattson speaks to Jim about their research, what they discovered about the impact of genetics on partnerships and if there's one gene that makes all the difference to a successful marriage.

 

10.04 Nicholas Crane: Writing his way around the world

Nicholas Crane was on the move from a very young age, camping and hiking with his father, going on to explore Norfolk by bicycle. He's since gone on to make many journeys all over the world as well as writing books about his adventures and discoveries. He's also presented a number of BBC programmes, Map Man, Coast, Great British Journeys and Nicholas Crane's Britannia and Town. His latest book is 'You are Here, A Brief Guide to the World', which is about the vital role of geography in understanding the big issues facing the planet and humanity today. He speaks to Jim about how his wunderlust and observations from a life spent travelling have all factored into his book. He says a number of challenges facing the planet right now can be addressed through geography.

10:37 Dr Gregory Smith: From homeless alcoholic to stellar academic achievement

Dr Gregory Smith is today a respected lecturer of social sciences at Southern Cross University. But his life before academia was a mix of drug addiction, alcoholism and homelessness. He spent a decade living in the bush with no human contact and no man-made tools. It was there he came to the realisation that he could reclaim his life and give society another chance. His book, Out of the Forest, details the sad childhood he endured to the incredible tale of survival after he went bush. Dr Gregory Smith talks about how he so dramatically turned his life around and now, when he can, helps others to do the same.

11.04 Dr Adam Grant: Finding motivation and meaning in life

Dr Adam Grant has spoken to some of the most successful business people in world to tap into where their motivation came from as well as how they managed to get to the top of their games. He's one of the leading global voices on management, and the author of a very successful book called 'Originals', about how non-conformists change the world. He's currently a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania specialising in organisational psychology. He also hosts an online podcast 'Worklife'. He speaks to Jim about his studies as an organisational psychologist  on how we can find more  motivation and meaning and lead more generous and creative lives.

11:25 John Mathers: Changing Made in China to Designed in China

John Mathers has spent nearly four decades in the brand and design industry. In his current roles as Director of the British Design Fund and as a visiting professor of design strategy at Shanghai's Tongji University he's got a good grasp of what's happening with China's brand design and innovation. He believes they are poised to move from 'Made in China' to 'Designed in China' with ambitions to move from manufacturing to creative industries. He speaks to Jim about the way he believes China can adapt more quickly than the western world and what impact that will have internationally.

11.45 Dawna Ballard: Rethinking how time is used

Tesla founder Elon Musk schedules his day into 5 minute blocks so as not to waste it. Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey fasts 22 hours out of 24 to maximize it. Time is something we're culturally conditioned to think of as a scarce resource we're beholden to use as productively as possible. Dawna Ballard is an expert in chronemics - the study of time as it's bound to human communications - and she says we need to reclaim our time. She is sharply critical of employers who try to extract as many hours as possible out of their workers, and encourages people to be more intentional about turning down unpaid labour and blocking out chunks of their day to relax.