Sunday Morning for Sunday 11 December 2022

8:10 Dr Brennan Spiegel: Is IBS a form of “Gravity Intolerance”?

A wild new hypothesis suggests that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) could be a form of 'Gravity Intolerance'.

Dr Brennan Spiegel from Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles is a distinguished and widely published Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA. His hypothesis in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, argues that it might not be just IBS where gravity may be at play in our health.

8:40 Dr Ali Hill: Nutritional Research

There is so much nutrition research that doesn't just stay in journals. Such is the interest in what we eat and drink that mainstream media pluck findings from the annals of science, and some of it needs putting into perspective.

Dr Ali Hill joins us again from the Department of Human Nutrition at Otago University: Skipping meals, black tea if you're old, why? And stress-reducing fermented foods.

8:50 Emily Writes: Going goblin in 2022

The phrase "goblin mode" has been selected by the Oxford Dictionary as its word of the year. In an online vote, it was decided that "goblin mode" best sums up the temper of the times.

Wellington author and blogger Emily Writes joins us, to talk about eating chips straight from the bag, not wearing pants, and watching junk TV.

9:06 Mediawatch

Mediawatch looks at how the government's plans for public media are meeting increased scepticism and political resistance. 

Also: our biggest publisher of news is rejigging reporting in the regions and pondering the future for local papers in print - and an American editor talks about what happens when closures create 'news deserts.'

9:37 Calling Home: Mike Temara in Vero Beach

Most of us have heard of the Hamptons, where rich people from New York own mansions. Apparently, Florida has an equivalent, it's called Vero Beach. Mike Temara is calling home from there this week.

Mike played rugby for Auckland  Māori back in the day and met his wife Christine, from Syracuse New York originally, when she was here playing basketball. They have raised three high-achieving and very tall children. 

10:05 Coen Lammers: Qatar Live World Cup Update

Coen Lammers joins us once again live from Qatar with the latest highs and lows from the World Cup.

10:15 Dr Mandy Hagstrom: Sexist Science in Sport.

Staying with soccer, next year NZ will co-host the biggest women's sporting event in the world, the FIFA Women's World Cup.

As we look forward to some of the joy involved, and hopefully less scandal regarding the host nations, we talk to Dr Mandy Hagstrom is a kiwi sports scientist at the University of New South Wales about the lack of research into women in sport.

10:30 Professor Jarrod Haar: Re-adjusting to the commute.

As the most severe impacts of the pandemic fade, many employers are beginning to re-adjust their policies on hybrid working with some now requiring employees to come into the office at least three days a week. 

For many people the days of the 30-second commute may be drawing to a close.  Which raises the question of the commute itself. You wouldn't know that thousands of people in Auckland are working from home, everyone you talk to says the traffic's worse than ever. We talk to Professor Jarrod Haar from AUT about why the commute is something many people dread. 

10:45 Jeremy Sutton: Relationship breakdown season

After analysing Facebook posts detailing break-ups, data experts discovered December 11 was the most common day for it, outstripping splits at the beginning of the year and around Valentine's Day.

Jeremy Sutton is an Auckland barrister, family lawyer and divorce lawyer. He joins us to look at some of the reasons December is a tough time to stay together.

11:06 David Spiegelhalter: Micromorts and superforecasting

Do speed cameras reduce the chance of death? How dangerous is flying? What’s the risk of passive smoking? Micromorts - units of risk equating to a one-in-a-million chance of death – can help answer these questions.

Mathematician and statistician David Spiegelhalter has done the numbers and shares what he knows about your risk of death. He’s Chair of the Winton Centre at the University of Cambridge, author of the Art of Statistics, and co-author Covid by Numbers.

11:35 Dr Filip Gedin: Cannabis no better than placebo for pain

Cannabis is no better than a placebo for treating pain. That's the claim of a new study of studies out of Sweden. Dr Filip Gedin is with the Pain Neuroimaging Lab at the Karolinska Institute, a research-led medical university in Stockholm and one of the world's top medical schools.

The study also examined the way media coverage may affect a patient's expectations of cannabis in treating pain.