Sunday Morning for Sunday 30 April 2023

8:10: Dr Pete Watson: Fighting the Flu 

Health officials are warning this year's flu season could be one of our worst, and the push is on to get vaccinated. There has been a sharp rise in Influenza B strains which haven't been widely circulating since 2019 and reports that flu cases have more than doubled in recent weeks.  

Influenza can be deadly, especially for some of our most vulnerable, and there are real concerns our immunity is low after Covid.   Hospitals are getting prepared for the winter period with Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand announcing their winter plan in the next week.   

Te Whatu Ora's interim national medical director Dr Pete Watson, joins Sunday Morning to discuss the current strain of influenza, how it is different to Covid, and how we can better prepare. 

8:20 James Barron: Whanganui rainbow heritage building recognised. 

New Zealand's first rainbow listing of a significant building has just been announced.  

23 Ridgway Street in Whanganui was the private office of the city's former Mayor - Charles Mackay.  

In 1920 Mackay shot returned soldier Walter D'Arcy Cresswell through the chest because Cresswell was threatening to out MacKay as homosexual, if he didn't resign as mayor immediately.  

Former District Councillor and Whanganui Businessman James Barron was behind the campaign to get the building recognized. 

Other buildings on the Heritage New Zealand Rainbow Project list include Frank Sargeson's Takapuna residence, and a 19th Century Cuba St building in Wellington connected to Carmen Rupe, the trailblazing transgender woman and entertainer. 

James Barron explains to Sunday Morning the importance of recognising these buildings. 

8:35 Natalie Merchant: Keeping her courage  

 American Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant thought she would never sing again after spinal surgery three years ago.  The operation involved surgeons having to make an incision in her throat and move her vocal chords.  But the 59-year-old did recover and has just recorded her new album Keep Your Courage.   

Many of Merchant’s songs explore personal and very emotional themes, and often address complex social and political issues.   Her latest album is inspired by poet Robin Robertson whose work she read during her recovery, and the coronavirus pandemic. 

9.10 Mediawatch

This week Mediawatch looks at New Zealand's biggest publisher of news putting up paywalls online for three of its biggest papers. 

Also: how improved citizenship rights for Kiwis in Australia was swiftly swamped in the media by fears of a 'brain drain' - and some economic predictions that ended up wide of the mark.  

9.40 Calling Home: Tony Everitt in Atami, Japan 

Heritage Hiking Tour Guide Tony Everitt talks about life in Atami, Japan where he has been living with his wife for eight years. 

The region has stunning natural and cultural heritage, is a UNESCO Geopark which means it has active volcanoes and hot springs (including one in his bathroom) and beautiful flora & fauna. 70% of Japan's land area has been planted in indigenous forest as they furiously suck carbon out of the air. Atami is on Japan's 60-year-old main trunk bullet train line, Tokaido, which can get Tony to Tokyo station in 45 minutes travelling at 285 kph.  Tony is Calling Home from Atami and shares his life with Sunday Morning.  

10.10  Dr Yaniv Hanoch: The Science of Decision Making 

Dr Yaniv Hanoch is a Professor in Decision Science at Southampton Business School. He has spent his career looking at decision making and risk-taking across the lifespan and across domains. His latest research looks at the thousands of decisions we make every day, like choosing what to wear or whether to have cereal or toast for breakfast.  Dr Hanoch says contrary to belief, having fewer choices is better than having more.  And even with less choice there is often emotion attached to the process.  he tells Sunday Morning about strategies to help us make better decisions that are more maximising and satisfying.  

10.15 Jane Ross: Finding Filmmaker Gaylene Preston’s Learning Fast and its stars.   

In 1979 an aspiring filmmaker, cameraman and sound recordist went to a little Masterton school to follow the lives of a group of students. The school was Makoura College, a small, predominantly Māori low decile school.   

For two years the students felt like film stars while the crew followed them around the campus.  It made them dream big, consider the infinite possibilities of life and what might happen when their high school years finished. 

For many years the film, Learning Fast couldn’t be found.  It was finally tracked down and has been digitised by Nga Taonga Sound and Vision and will feature at this year's Wairarapa Film Festival.   

Festival organiser Jane Ross has invited the filmmakers to return for the screening.  The director is none other than Dame Gaylene Preston, the camera operator Alun Bollinger, and the sound recordist, Lee Tamahori, all now internationally acclaimed filmmakers.   

Jane is now hoping to find the stars of the film and bring them all together at the Wairarapa Film Festival. 

10.35 Morra Aarons-Mele:  The Anxious Achiever 

Author Morra Aarons-Mele is a (mostly) happy, successful person. She also identifies as an extremely anxious overachiever, and she's working to normalize anxiety.  In her latest book "The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower," she digs deep into how we can manage and use our anxiety to our advantage. 

She says the book is not just for anxious people, it is for anybody who feels like anxiety is impacting their daily life.  

11.10: Sandra Russell: Finding your identity after cancer 

Psychotherapist Sandra Russell shares her experience of confronting the emotional challenges of living with incurable cancer in her book The Feeling of Cancer. 

Beyond the physical and medical demands of modern cancer treatment, she looks at the emotional impacts and how cancer can threaten not just your life, but your very identity.  

11.30 Grant Duncan:  Slowing the AI Juggernaut 

This week an open letter signed by more than 25,000 people, including Elon Musk and Apple's Steve Wozniak has called for all Artificial Intelligence labs to immediately pause the training and development of AI systems for at least six months. 

The letter asked rhetorically, 'Should we risk loss of control of our civilization?'.  

Associate Professor Grant Duncan from Massey University says the letter assumed that ‘our civilization’ is something that ‘we’ had been controlling.

He joins Sunday Morning to explain why he believes the open letter was unrealistic about the effectiveness of a six-month pause and what could be achieved within that time.