Summer Weekends for Sunday 21 January 2024

08:12 Naomi Alderman on gripping new thriller The Future

Naomi Alderman is a British author whose fourth novel The Power was a New York Times best seller. Made into a Netflix series released last year, Alderman's science-fiction thriller tells the story of teenage girls who develop the ability to release electrical jolts from their fingers which allows them to become the dominant sex.

Alderman's latest novel is page-turner The Future, published in 2023. Like much if her work, it is thought provoking, dystopian in nature and lofty in its ambition to critique the modern world.  With cutting wit, it depicts a future where narcissistic billionaires live separate lives from the rest of us by hiding away in lavish secret bunkers.  

Alderman is a provocative writer unafraid to tackle hefty subjects - including big technology, religion and the climate crisis. She has been described as Margaret Atwood's protégée and in addition to her writing, has created video games including fitness app Zombies, Run! which has been downloaded millions of times. Naomi Alderman joins Susana Lei'ataua on The Weekend to speak about her career, the art of writing and her influences. 

 

08:35 Pseudo Echo'​s Brian Canham on taking New Zealand audiences to Funky Town 

Australian band Pseudo Echo's biggest hit was their 1985 cover of Lipps Inc's Funky Town which topped the charts in Australia and New Zealand. The band was at the peak of its powers in the 1980s and toured the world - playing in Europe, North America and performing a fondly remembered concert alongside Stevie Wonder. 

Lead vocalist and guitarist Brian Canham - the only remaining original band member - is bringing the group to Aotearoa for three dates over the coming weeks, where they're performing alongside Simple Minds, Texas and Collective Soul.

Brian joins Susana Lei'ataua on The Weekend to preview the shows and reminisce about the band's 1980s heyday. 

 

09:05 Naomi Arnold: Phoning in from the Te Araroa Trail - Week 3

Each weekend during our show we've been catching up with New Zealand Geographic writer Naomi Arnold who is walking the 3,000-kilometre Te Araroa Trail from Cape Reinga to Bluff. 

The weather hasn't been playing ball across Te Waipounamu over the past week, but Susana managed to speak with Naomi on Friday afternoon to see how she's getting on.

Listen back to Naomi's previous updates: 

• Week 1
• Week 2

Or you can follow Naomi on Instagram for real-time updates on where she's up. 

For those interested, Naomi is wearing Injinji Performance Toesocks. 

 

09:30 Silvia Pinca: Rewilding pine forest into native bush 

Silvia Pinca is a biologist and ecologist living on 180 hectares of native bush in Northland. She is in the process of removing invasive species and replanting native trees on her former sheep and pine farms. She's had great success so far, because Kiwi and other native birds are already making themselves at home.

Silvia's website says her project has "the goal of restoring and protecting a native forest, offsetting carbon emissions, educating to sustainable living in the bush, researching on plant successions and forest ecology."

She joins Susana Lei'ataua on The Weekend to talk about her project and what life is like living in a geodesic dome. 

 

09:45 Let's get Quizzical 

Quizmaster Jack Waley-Cohen has joined The Weekend throughout January and brings us his final set of tricky puzzles. 

Jack is well placed to provide some brain-busting questions as he is the man behind the questions on the BBC quiz show Only Connect - a show known for being fiendishly difficult.

 

10:00 Sunday History Hit with Thomas Rillstone 

Thomas Rillstone, host of the award winning History of Aotearoa New Zealand Podcast, joins Susana Lei'ataua on The Weekend for the final instalment in our three-part Sunday History Hits series. Across the two instalments so far we've delved into some of Aotearoa's quirky, eccentric and less well known characters. 

Today, Thomas looks at the history of brewing here in Aotearoa including the early brews concocted by Captain Cook in 1772 to prevent his crew members onboard the Resolution succumbing to scurvy. 

Thomas then takes us on a historic tasting tour of well-known beer brewers Speight's and DB Breweries. 

 

• Listen to part one: Baron Charles Philippe Hippolyte de Thierry
• Listen to part two: The wild life of pre-colonial British trader Barnet Barns

 

 

10:30 Michael Norton: Harnessing the surprising power of everyday actions 

What if a simple ritual could help you feel better, improve your day and help collaboration with other people? 

Dr Michael Norton is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School who has been studying the effect of social factors on peoples' behaviour for more than a decade.

He joins Susana Lei'ataua on The Weekend to discuss his book The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions.

 

11:00 Lynn Davidson: Do You Still Have Time for Chaos?

How do you build a life after the kids have left home? What if they decide to move to the other side of the world? How do you keep a sense of place when life changes completely?  

New Zealand author Lyn Davidson teaches creative writing and writes poetry, fiction, memoir and essays. She faced those big questions when she left Aotearoa with scant resources to build a life in Scotland and has turned this frightening experience into her memoir Do You Still have Time for Chaos?

Lynn joins The Weekend host Susana Lei'ataua in the RNZ Wellington studio to talk about her project and early life at the Circa Theatre in the capital.  

 

11:30 Gardening with Fiona Eadie and Tony Murrell 

Fiona Eadie is head gardener at Larnach Castle in Dunedin and Tony Murrell is principal designer at Auckland's Murrell Gardens. Together they have a wealth of knowledge to share and help our gardens thrive.

Text your questions to 2101 and Fiona and Tony will do their best to answer them.