Sunday Morning for Sunday 13 December 2020

 

7.10 Kiwis have little confidence businesses will pay back wage subsidy money

A new survey from Research New Zealand has found that almost ninety percent of New Zealanders think we should take action against the big companies that appear to have profited from Covid-19 wage subsidies, while 70% of people believe we should encourage Inland Revenue to investigate these companies. Research NZ managing partner Emanuel Kalafatelis joins the show with the results.

7.18 Excessive phone time not bad for mental health

Contrary to popular belief, new research shows that the amount of time we spend on smartphones is not related to poor mental health. In fact, general smartphone usage is a poor predictor of anxiety, depression and stress, according to researchers out of Lancaster University, who are advising caution when it comes to digital detoxes. Lead author Heather Shaw explains.

7.32 The House

A weekly digest of the events in Parliament with Daniela Maoate-Cox and Phil Smith. New MPs have been delivering their first speeches in the House sharing stories about their backgrounds and their plans for their parliamentary career. Our parliamentary programme The House has highlights. 

7:45 Beware the decoy effect 

There's one particularly cunning type of pricing strategy that marketers use to get you to switch your choice from one option to a more expensive or profitable one. It's called the decoy effect, and the phenomenon happens when consumers swap their preference between two options when presented with a third option. Gary Mortimer, a Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at the Queensland University of Technology, joins the show to discuss. 

8.10 $250k prize for world-leading Alzheimer's researcher 

World-leading Alzheimer's researcher professor Miia Kivipelto had an audience with Jacinda Ardern -- albeit via video link -- earlier this week when she was awarded the 2020 Ryman Prize for more than 20 years of research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's Disease and dementia. The Ryman Prize is an annual $250,000 international award for the best work carried out anywhere in the world that has enhanced quality of life for older people. It is the richest prize of its kind in the world. Professor Kivipelto joins the show to discuss her pioneering research and the impact it is having.

8.20 Calling Home: Megan Rae in Venice

Megan Rae lives a life many people on the planet can only dream of. She has a PhD in linguistics and runs a summer school at Ca'foscari University of Venice. The international tourists are gone, the canals are so quiet you can see fish in the water and in the middle of lockdown, unable to go anywhere, Megan, who grew up in Takapuna, gave birth to her first child Mathilde. She calls home from Campo Santa Margherita just off Venice's Grand Canal.

8.40 The Panel with Dame Diane Robertson and Michael Barnett

On the Weekend Panel this morning are Dame Diane Robertson, Executive Director of the New Zealand Data Trust, with Michael Barnett, Chief Executive of the Auckland Business Chamber. They'll be discussing the Royal Commission into the Christchurch mosque shootings, the controversial Safety Warehouse drop, Auckland's roads, New Zealand schools' poor results in maths and science and intergenerational inequality.

9.06 Mediawatch

Mediawatch looks at how our media companies weathered the storm of Covid-19 in 2020 and an upswing in local  media ownership. The chief executive of Stuff Sinead Boucher talks about how she bought the company for one dollar earlier this year - and the company’s prospects for 2021.  

9.50 'Year of two halves' for NZ hospitality industry

The latest Restaurant Association Hospitality Report is out today, and it shows that nationwide sales for the hospitality industry reached an all-time high of $12.1 billion in the year ending March 2020, before unsurprisingly plummeting when Covid-19 reared its ugly head. Marisa Bidois is CEO of the Restaurant Association of New Zealand.

10:04 Unearthing the untold stories of prominent women in history 

'The Mystery of Mrs. Christie' tackles the historical puzzle of crime novelist Agatha Christie's mysterious eleven-day disappearance at the beginning of December in 1926. New York Times bestselling author Heather Terrell (writing as Marie Benedict) joins the show to discuss her latest book and what drives her to tell the untold stories of prominent women in history 

10.25  Mindfulness might not work as you thought

We've all been told about the myriad benefits of mindfulness, but a recent study out of the University of Buffalo has found that mindfulness actually provides little or no benefit when individuals are coping with active stressors. We're speaking with the lead author,Thomas Saltsman from the University of Buffalo's Department of Psychology.

10.45 My Current Song: Ainslie Allen, 'Done and Gone'  

She was famous for gracing our screens as a 16-year-old on Young Entertainers with Jason Gunn in the late 1990s, but there's a lot more to Wellington country musician Ainslie Allen than her past television endeavours. Ainslie is about to release her long-awaited debut album 'Betty' and today she is with us to debut her first single, 'Done and Gone.'

11.05 The metalhead waging war on jar sauce  

Sydney-based comedian and YouTuber Nat (of 'Nat's What I Reckon' fame) was one of the few people who was able to truly benefit from the restrictions that lockdown brought, with his hugely popular cooking tutorials providing light relief and top food tips in equal measures. And now he's written a book about it -- Un-cook Yourself: A Ratbag's Rules for Life. 

11.36 How to live your best student life

The Tasty Twins are Wellington's Emily and Sophie Martin and they have a big social media following with their keenness for healthy minds and healthy bodies. Their new book, The Healthy Kiwi Student: A Food, Fitness & Lifestyle Guide is the ultimate student survival guide, providing inexpensive recipes, fitness tips and general advice.