Sunday Morning for Sunday 19 September 2021

8:12 Why 7,000 steps a day might be the new target for health 

When it comes to walking, we're often told that 10,000 is the number of steps we need to be taking each day for health. However, new research shows that might not be the miracle number we should be striving (or -- as Chris Hipkins put it -- spreading our legs) for. 
The 10,000 steps a day for health theory has been around since the 1970s, although it hasn't been supported with scientific evidence. 
A team led by University of Massachusetts' physical activity epidemiologist Amanda Paluch looked at the association of steps and mortality and found that 7,000 steps per day could be the new target for middle-aged people. Professor Paluch is with us to discuss the study.  

8:24 What's behind ABBA's incredible staying power? 

It has been more than 40 years since their last single, but ABBA are back in the charts with two new songs -- I Still Have Faith in You and Don't Shut Me Down. 
ABBA's diehard fans certainly still have faith in them, though as ABBA fan expert Shanika Ranasinghe wrote in a recent piece in The Conversation, some of those fans would have died waiting for the Swedish pop group to put out new material. 
Shanika is a post grad student at Royal Holloway, University of London and a card-carrying member of the ABBA fan club. Her ongoing PhD research looks at ABBA fandom in the 21st-century, specifically ABBA's long-term fans.

8:39 The Weekend Panel with Stacey Morrison and Mike Hutcheson 

Among other topics this morning, our panellists will be discussing Te Wiki o te reo Māori, Janet Wilson versus Judith Collins and the safety of the latter's leadership, the controversial couple who flew to Wanaka and the backlash against them, how many steps a day we should be taking, and the continuing vaccination rollout in New Zealand. 

9:06 Questions remain over cancelled Black Caps tour 

The sudden decision to cancel the New Zealand cricket tour of Pakistan, just moments before the scheduled start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi is drawing a massive amount of criticism from commentators and fans around the world. The call was made by New Zealand Cricket after what they called a "credible security threat". Joining the show to analyse the situation are RNZ sports reporter Clay Wilson and veteran cricket commentator Bryan Waddle, who was on tour with the Kiwi cricketers when a bomb exploded near their hotel in Pakistan in 2002.  

9:28 Mediawatch

Mediawatch looks at how the media zeroed in on our social cohesion this week  - as the current lockdown in Auckland became the longest we've had so far. Also: Mediawatch talks to the BBC's Peter Taylor, a reporter with 50 years of experience reporting terrorism and violence -- and how it can be overcome...

10:04 Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie: 'Is there anything she can't do?'  

Wellington actor Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie has been described as "dazzlingly talented" in Vogue, and has worked alongside such movie stars as Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson and Kirsten Dunst, to name just a few. 
She was predicted to dominate the screen in 2021, and with four major movies out this year -- including Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho, which has just premiered at the Venice Film Festival -- those predictions have been on the mark. Indeed, IndieWire film critic Nicholas Barber wrote that Harcourt McKenzie's performance as Eloise in Last Night in Soho was "so delightful and versatile that there doesn't appear to be anything that she can't do". 
Thomasin joins the show from the capital to discuss her latest movie projects, life and work in lockdown and what she would like to be if she wasn't an actor. 

10:35 My Current Song: 'Hello Hello' by The Eyes Open (featuring Aly Cook) 

Kiwi country singer Aly Cook has strong ties to the Aussie music scene, so it's perhaps no surprise that she's working as part of a New Zealand and Australian music collective. The Eyes Open's new track, 'Hello Hello', has seen the Nelson-based singer-songwriter reunite with writing partners Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup (of The Angels and Jimmy Barnes Band fame) and his wife, Kay, to offer a message of hope in these crazy Covid times. 

10:48 Food with Vanessa Baxter: toasties  

Our love affair with the toasted sandwich seemingly knows no bounds. But not all toasted sandwiches are created equal. A revolution in the art of toasted sandwich making has seen many Kiwis up their games in recent years -- moving on from the classic cheese and pineapple or the bog-standard Wattie's Spaghetti toastie to more adventurous combinations. (The winning entry in this year's Great NZ Toastie Takeover competition was slow roasted pork belly, provolone, chimichurri, American mustard, pickles and apple chilli gel slathered between toasted sourdough...) 
Vanessa Baxter is back with us to pay homage to the toastie and discuss classic and non-classic filling options and different ways to cook them.

11:06 How the pandemic became a referendum on work 

For many people, jobs have become little more than a completely relentless, unsatisfying toil. Especially since Covid-19 came along. So why then does work ethic still hold so much sway? 
Jamie McCallum is a professor of sociology at Middlebury College in Vermont. His area of interest in work, labour and social movements, and his latest book is Worked Over: How Round-the-Clock Work Is Killing the American Dream. He joins the show to discuss the book and how the current pandemic has created a referendum on the value of work.

11:35 Dr. Sarah Watson on parenting in the pandemic

It's been hard for kids to feel motivated during the pandemic, and it's been hard on families as well, especially with people trying to do so many different things in shared spaces. But there are also ways to build better family relationships during Covid-19. Dr. Sarah Watson is the Clinic Director and a registered Child & Adolescent Clinical Psychologist at Totally Psyched. She joins the show to answer your questions and share some tips on parenting in the pandemic. Email sunday@rnz.co.nz or text 2101 with your questions for Dr. Watson.