Sunday Morning for Sunday 31 March 2024

8:06 Calling Home: Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray from the Great Loop, USA 

Maungaturoto locals, Juleigh Parker and Peter Gray are calling home from the USA. They’re taking on the Great Loop in their vessel, Plenty. 

The Great Loop is a system of waterways that encompasses the eastern portion of the United States and part of Canada. The entire loop stretches almost 10,000 km covering the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. 

8:25 Jack Whaley-Cohen: The Sunday Quiz    

Quiz master Jack Waley-Cohen joins us once again as our Sunday Morning question master.      

Jack is the mind behind the questions on BBC quiz show Only Connect which is known for being both difficult to crack and totally obvious.   

It’s Sunday morning, so wake up your brain and have a go!   

8:30 The House

As usual on Sunday morning, at a different time from usual because of the Easter Sunday church service last hour, it's The House, the weekly report from Parliament. 

08:45 The headlines we didn't read

RNZ producer, Mary Argue, has been reading all the headlines - so you don’t have to.  

She'll discuss everything from how useful a degree is in the modern world to what to eat before a colonoscopy. 

9:06 Mediawatch  

Mediawatch looks at how dolphins stalled the Sail GP regatta last Sunday and fired up Sir Russell Coutts in the process. Also, politicians and the media... but were important facts drowned out by all the noise?  

And a big review of the Cyclone Gabrielle response says the emergency management was not fit for purpose. 

9:40 Dan Weijers: Life inside the Matrix 

While there’s no denying our lives have become better in many ways thanks to the internet and smartphones - genuine human interaction has dropped drastically, leaving society at large in an epidemic of loneliness. 

Dystopian sci-fi classic ‘The Matrix’ came out 25 years ago, yet Dan Weijers argues its themes are more relevant now than ever before.  

Dan Weijers is a senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Waikato. 

10:05 Adam McGrath: A life in song 

One of New Zealand's most esteemed singer-songwriters Adam McGrath has captivated audiences both as part of beloved roots band, The Eastern, and latterly as a solo artist. 

He’ll be in Wanaka as part of the Aspiring Conversations Festival, 4 -7 April in a special event exploring songwriting called Tower of Song. 

10:30 Stacy Gregg’s: The Easter Bunny Hunt 

International best-selling author Stacy Gregg has just released two new books for children and pre-teens. 'The Easter Bunny Hunt' is inspired by the adventures of her own cat and dog. And for pre-teens ‘Nine Girls’ is based on Gregg’s own upbringing in Ngāruawāhia, set in the political tumult of the 1980’s.  

Stacy chats with Jim about the inspiration behind her new works and what she has planned for her Easter Sunday.  

11:05 Robert J. Koester: The Science of search and rescue 

Whether an individual is stuck under rubble or has just wandered off the beaten track, it’s more than likely the search and rescue team will be using the work of Robert J.Koester to locate the missing person. 

He’s a world leading search and rescue expert and the author of numerous books, including the seminal ‘Lost Person Behavior’ which has become the go-to guide for planning search and rescue missions around the world. 

Robert J.Koester joins Jim Mora to discuss his life's work. 

11:30 Tali Sharot: The benefits of seeing our lives in a new light 

Habituation is a neurological process which helps us to adapt to new environments keeping ready to reap any benefits or negate any hazards. 

Tali Sharot is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and the co-author of Look Again: The power of noticing what was always there. She believes there are benefits to seeing the things we are used to in a fresh light.