Sunday Morning for Sunday 16 April 2023

8:10 Barbara Else: It’s been quite a ride 

By the time she was forty, Barbara Else was married to a globally recognised academic physician with two beautiful teenage daughters. But in a moment of madness — or realisation — she packed her car and took off to live with the man who would become her second husband. 

 After decades of award-winning novels, plays, short stories, as well as books for children, Barbara Else has written her memoir. Laughing at the Dark is a funny and beautifully written tale and Barbara’s journey is also representative of many New Zealand women growing up in the 70s and 80s who carved a path for the social and psychological freedoms younger generations enjoy today. 

8:45 Dr Paul Fairie: History repeating itself 

If you think men today are too feminine, kids today are spoiled, and we need to get back to teaching the basics, political scientist Paul Fairie's says we've seen it all before. 

9:06 Mediawatch 

Mediawatch looks at the official review of the response to Auckland's Anniversary Weekend floods. What did that tell us about the media's role in a major emergency?  

And why flying pizza is front-page news here - and not for the first time.   

9:36 Rod Badcock: The race to electrify the sky  

Most forms of transport, from cars to bikes and buses, all have been electrified – but so far, the electrification of the aviation industry has failed to takeoff  

But a group of New Zealand scientists working at the cutting-edge of electrical engineering hope to make inroads into the problem of getting electric planes into the air.  

One of those scientists is Professor Rod Badcock from Paihau-Robinson Research Institute 

He joins us to talk about his area of expertise - superconducting engineering – and whether New Zealand could be at the forefront of electric aviation  

Sir Donald Runnicles: Raising the baton in New Zealand 

Considered one of the greatest conductors in the world, Sir Donald Runnicles makes his New Zealand debut this month. 

Currently the General Music Director of one of the world's greatest opera houses - Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Music Director of the annual Grand Teton Music Festival, the Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Sir Donald takes to the podium with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducting Ernest Bloch's legendary work Schelomo, and Dmitri Shostakovich's magnificent Tenth Symphony. 

Lukas Mayo: My Latest Track 

Ōtautahi/Christchurch artist & producer Pickle Darling AKA Lukas Mayo has joins us to introduce a track from their new album, LAUNDROMAT. 

Calling Home: Jono Rankine in Hong Kong 

Auckander Jono Rankine is calling home from Hong Kong 

Tony Murrell: Autumn gardening questions answered 

Tony Murrell joins us to take your autumn gardening questions. 

Eric Ngan: Sharing the world one sketch at a time 

The 11th International Urban Sketchers Symposium is taking place in Auckland next week. (19-22 April). Urban Sketchers is a global community of sketchers dedicated to the practice of on-location drawing.  

 We’re joined by keen sketcher and one of the Symposium organisers, Eric Ngan. 

Julie Zhu: Conversations With My Immigrant Parents  

The Third season of the award-winning podcast Conversations with my Immigrant Parents is out. 

It is a podcast and video series where immigrant whānau have conversations they normally wouldn't, crossing barriers of language, generation, and expectation.  

 Julie Zhu and her co-host and producer Saraid de Silva travel Aotearoa meeting families from different countries, sitting in as they speak to each other about love, disappointment, what home means to them. 

 As well as a talented podcaster Julie is also a film maker and photographer.