Sunday Morning for Sunday 20 March 2022

On The Weekend Panel it was claimed that the Russian businessman, Alexander Abramov, is a "close mate" of President Putin and is supporting the Russian effort in Ukraine.

RNZ accepts that these allegations are incorrect. Mr Abramov is not the subject of sanctions anywhere in the world and RNZ apologises to Mr Abramov.

8:11 "It's my duty to tell the world about Russia's war crimes" 

Kyiv Independent journalist Asami Terajima had intended to remain in her home city of Kyiv as the conflict in Ukraine continued to play out, but escalating tensions in the capital forced her to flee with a heavy heart earlier this month.
Terajima, who was born in Japan and moved to Moscow with her parents as a child before settling in Ukraine in 2010, relocated to Lviv along with other colleagues earlier this month when it became clear that Kyiv was going to become a hot spot in the coming days and weeks.
The twenty-one-year-old had wanted to stay in Kyiv but the threat of danger - and the fact she has no experience reporting in a combat zone - made it untenable for her to remain. 
Terajima is now focusing her coverage on what's happening in other parts of the country, including Russia's brutal attack on Mariupol. 

8:25 Will Putin lose even if he wins in Ukraine? 

Russian president Vladimir Putin has failed to read the room by invading Ukraine, says historian and political scientist Dr Liana Fix, and there are several ways in which he could ultimately end up losing - even if he wins on the battlefield.

In a recent piece in Foreign Affairs, Fix, a Resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, D.C, and co-author Michael Kimmage detailed how this "senseless" war in Ukraine will continue to backfire on Putin. Especially when one considers there are millions of interconnected Russian-Ukrainian families. 
Dr Fix joins the show from Berlin to discuss the mistakes Putin has made in invading Ukraine and how they will eventually come back to bite him. 

8:39 The Weekend Panel with Heather Roy and Selwyn Manning

Joining us on the Panel this morning are former ACT deputy leader Heather Roy and journalist Selwyn Manning from Evening Report. Among other topics, they'll be discussing the situation in Ukraine, whether there is a crisis in our health sector, the departure of Simon Bridges from Parliament, and tourists coming back into New Zealand four or five months ahead of schedule. 

9:06 Mediawatch

This week Mediawatch looks at how the media have responded to fast-rising prices  - with loud claims of 'crisis'. Also  - a new effort to get important news and issues into the ears of younger people -  and a new talk radio network is signaling a new approach. 

9:38 Why our bones are a lot more than just scaffolding 

As part of the musculoskeletal system, our bones work with muscles and joints to hold our body together and support movement. 
But our bones do so much more than provide support for our body.
Research over the past couple of decades has shown that bones engage in complex chemical conversations with other parts of the body, not to mention being a key depository for the minerals that are essential for our nerves and cells to work properly. 
Professor Laura McCabe is a physiologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing who is an expert on bones and the role they play in our body. She joins the show to discuss the fascinating role bones play aside from ensuring we remain upright. 

10:04 Calling Home: Belinda Waymouth in Santa Monica 

Belinda Waymouth is an environmental journalist and advocate who lives in Santa Monica with her husband, the stand-up comedian Jake Johannsen, and 17-year-old daughter, Fionnula. 
The family owns a home in Santa Monica (a city of 90k people), which is five blocks from the beach, where they surf. 
However, Belinda's been doing it tough health-wise recently. She is currently recovering from a stem cell transplant and dealing with Multiple Myeloma cancer. 
Belinda has been living in Santa Monica for 20 years now. She moved to California in 1992 after three years in NYC, and has also previously worked as an actress, featuring in shows like Without a Trace, Nip/Tuck and CSI Miami and the Meet the Spartans movie. 
She's Calling Home this morning. 

10:33 How to train your brain to be more spontaneous

If you're someone who struggles with being spontaneous, you are probably lacking in a personality trait called openness to experience.
Openness to experience is one of the 'Big Five' personality characteristics. It reflects how you are motivated when faced with a new situation or opportunity. Some people embrace new things and others simply don't. 
However, there are ways those of us who are less spontaneous by nature can start saying yes to new opportunities more often. 
Art Markman is a professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin and Founding Director of the Program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations.
He's with us to look at how we can train our brain to be more spontaneous. 

11:05 My Current Song: Chris Priestley & The Unsung Heroes, 'Huria Matenga'  

My Current Song this morning is from Chris Priestley & The Unsung Heroes, who are currently touring New Zealand, singing about... our unsung heroes. 
Prominent actor and director Peter Elliott is the show narrator, and the song we're playing this morning, 'Hūria Mātenga' is about the bravery of a young Māori woman who became a hero in 1863 when the newly built brig, Delaware, ran into bad weather and was wrecked on rocks at what is now known as Delaware Bay. Hūria was one of five local Māori women who helped the crew get ashore after
Peter's with us to discuss the tour (which currently sees them in Dunedin for the Fringe Festival) and the story of Hūria Mātenga, who was later painted by Goldie. 

11:30 How do we know what we should be eating? 

Depending on who you listen to, eggs - like grapefruit, kale and myriad other foods and drinks - are either helpful to your health or a cause of big problems. 
Indeed, for every study promoting wine or coffee as being beneficial to your health, there's another telling you to either reduce your consumption or cut it out of your diet altogether. (Roughly 20,000 studies have been conducted on whether coffee should be part of our daily routine.) 
Kale burst onto the scene around 2013 and was quickly branded an all-conquering superfood - thanks in part to celebrity endorsements from the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé - only to have molecular biologist Ernie Hubbard publish a report that suggested eating too much kale could be linked to low-level thallium poisoning.   
With a constant array of research studies and news stories about what we should or shouldn't be putting into our bodies, a key question arises: who should we be listening to? 
Journalist Nicole Schmidt has been looking into the topic. 

11:45 The perfect song for any time of the day 

There is endless variety when it comes to the types of music people like waking up to - from country and western to classical to grindcore. Different strokes for different folks.  
But there is no debating what the best song is for any time of the day. According to science, it's The Police's (slightly creepy) 1983 smash hit 'Everything Breath You Take.' Its secret? Being the epitome of an 'in the middle' - some might even say bland - type of song. 
Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark analysed streaming data for nearly four million songs on Spotify to find out if there was a pattern to the types of songs people listen to over a 24-hour period. 
Lead researcher Ole Adrian Heggli is with us to discuss the Aarhus study and why The Police came out on top.