Saturday Morning

8.10 Lucy Jones: The Metamorphosis of Motherhood

Through pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, women undergo dramatic physical and psychological change. 

There is no other time in a human's life that entails such dramatic change - other than adolescence.

And yet this life-altering period is largely neglected by science, medicine, and philosophy. 

Acclaimed journalist and writer Lucy Jones reveals the research behind this transition in her new book Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood. 

Jones reveals the dangerous consequences of our neglect of the maternal experience - and explores the patriarchal and capitalist institutions that created the untenable situation mothers face today.

8.35 Norman Ohler: Nazis, drugs, and the CIA

The little-known story of how Nazi experiments into psychedelics covertly influenced the CIA and shaped the foundation of America's war on drugs has been told in the new book by best-selling author Norman Ohler.

Following on from the themes in his 2015 book Blitzed, which looked at methamphetamine use by the Third Reich, new book Tripped examines how the Nazis experimented with LSD at Dachau in efforts to find a "truth serum". 

When the US liberated Germany, they discovered the research which led to the CIA's notorious brainwashing and psychological torture program of the 1950s and 1960s. Only now is LSD starting to gain mainstream acceptance for uses such as treating anxiety.

9.05 David Finnigan: Scenes from the Climate Era 

Australian playwright David Finnigan is bringing Scenes from the Climate Era to Auckland next month. Set in the past, present and possible future, the show snaps between the absurd, the turbulent and the vulnerable in twenty-five short scenes.

The show opened last year at Sydney's Belvoir Theatre to rave reviews. Finnigan has been working with director Jason Te Kare (Every Brilliant Thing, Cellfish) to adapt the script to weavie in mātauranga Māori alongside Western climate science.

Scenes from the Climate Era is on at Q Theatre Rangatira from 2 - 24 August. Tickets and more information here. 

9.35 Antonia Murphy: The ethical pimp who inspired Madam

In 2016 Antonia Murphy started a feminist escort agency in New Zealand called The Bach. It wasn't the career she planned, but after immigrating to New Zealand from America and raising a family her life changed when her marriage ended in divorce and she needed income quickly.

After writing about her experience running an 'ethical brothel' for HuffPost in 2016, which was republished in 2021, Murphy received a call from a television producer wanting to make a show based on The Bach. 

Madam is a fictionalised TV series starring Rachel Griffiths and based on Murphy's life experiences, and is screening now on Three and ThreeNow. Her non-fiction memoir by the same name comes out in October.

10.05 Ken Wylie: The guilt of surviving a deadly avalanche

Ken Wylie was guiding climbers on British Columbia's remote La Traviata peak, when an avalanche came crashing down, burying him and 12 others.

Seven people died that day in January 2003, but Ken survived.

The book he wrote about the experience, Buried, is a reflection of the mistakes and the motivations that contributed to the tragedy, how it influenced the rest of his life, and how out of tragedy and guilt came some personal and professional growth. 

Wylie is now devoted to educating others about hazard management. He appeared recently in Wanaka at the Southern Hemisphere Alpine Conference (SHAC), which the Mountain Safety Council holds every two years.

10.45 Danyl McLauchlan: Silicon Valley's cult of tech utopianism

Writer Danyl McLauchlan joins Susie to tackle life's big questions, ideas, and thinkers.

This week he tackles TESCREAL, the acronym you may have seen pop up online over the past few months. 

Coined by the computer scientist Timnit Gebru and the philosopher Emil Torres, TESCREAL stands for transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism and long-termism. The pair propose this acronym describes a suite of right-wing ideologies that are coming to dominate Silicon Valley.

11.05 Playing Favourites with Marlon Williams

Marlon Williams joins the show to play some of his favourite music.

The Lyttelton superstar cut his musical teeth as a member of a church choir.  His love of choral music has extended into other aspects of Williams' career, and he and Ria Hall will be performing at the closing ceremony of the Choir Games on 20th July.

Books featured on this programme:

Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood
By Lucy Jones
Published by Penguin Press
ISBN: 9781802061307

Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age
By Norman Ohler
Published by Atlantic
ISBN: 9781805462682

Buried 
by Ken Wylie 
Published by RMB | Rocky Mountain Books
ISBN: 978-1771600279