Sunday Morning for Sunday 18 September 2022

8:10 Corin Dann – Live from London

We get the latest from London as preparations for the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II continue from RNZ’s Corin Dann.

8: 15 Calling Home – Vanda Pera

We talk to Christchurch-born Vanda Perry, now the landlady at the Crown Inn in Capel in Surrey, England.

8:45 Dr Jonathan Cox – Manuka honey and drug-resistant lung infection

Dr Jonathan Cox is a senior lecturer in microbiology at Aston University in Birmingham, UK and part of a team that has developed a potential new treatment combining natural manuka honey with a widely used drug to treat a potentially lethal lung infection and greatly reduce side effects of one of the current drugs used for its treatment. 

9:06 Mediawatch

This week Mediawatch looks at how pressure on the big online platforms to pay for news is building up - and hints that the government is forcing the issue.

Also: how a report on a local election contest caused controversy in the capital - and the death of the Queen still looming large in the media.

9:37 David Robson – Staying curious

Award-winning neuroscience writer David Robson is always a popular addition to the Sunday Morning show. Prolific author of The Intelligence Trap, The 7 Primes Of Life and The Expectation Trap, David's writings have also appeared on BBC Future, New Scientist, Nature, The Guardian, The Observer and The Washington Post.

He joins us to talk about his recent writing on the topic of curiosity.

10:06 Tony Hadley - Spandau Ballet and a life through a lens

Spandau Ballet were one of the heavyweights of the 1980’s New Romantic era selling upwards of 25 million albums. Even when they got older their last big reunion tour was a huge success. The band formed at school, so the bonds were there, but they weakened and undercurrents appeared culminating in an enormous squabble over royalties.

Lead singer Tony Hadley is in NZ this coming week with his fabulous Tony Hadley Band on a 40th anniversary tour. He joins us to talk about his new book, My Life in Pictures.

10.35 Dr. Zazie Todd - Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy

Dr Zazie Todd, the award-winning author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy, is back with a new book called Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy.

Zazie's the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, she writes The Pawsitive Post premium newsletter, and she also has a column at Psychology Today.

Zazie Todd lives now in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, with her husband, one dog, and two cats.

11:05 Dr Jack Watling – Is the tide turning in Ukraine?

What happens now in Ukraine, with Russia seemingly on the back foot, and Ukraine being able to front-foot offensives using new weaponry from the West?

Award winning analyst, Dr Jack Watling is our regular go-to commentator on the way this war is being fought.  He's the senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the UK's leading defence and security think tank.

Jack’s been up close as the decisions are being made on the Ukraine side.

11:30 Joanna Wildish – Foraging for tea

This past week, Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori /Maori Language Week, kawakawa's had boiling water poured over it up and down Aotearoa. Kawakawa's been used over the years for kidney and stomach problems, stings and cuts and wounds and nettle stings, cramping, bloating, constipation. There seems nothing that 10 good kawa kawa leaves can't do to improve your health. The teas we buy, of course, contain micronutrients, magnesium and zinc and useful bioactive compounds, but can we just shop straight from our gardens for tea? Or even from the gaps between our paving stones?

Christchurch's Joanna Wildish knows all about making tea from plants we may usually ignore or even shun. Joanna founded the Ōtautahi Urban Foraging group, it has a very lively and useful Facebook page where people exchange tips on all manner of topics, with recipes as well for foods we can foraged for.