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A 24-hour recording of RNZ National. The following rundown is sourced from the broadcaster’s website. Note some overseas/copyright restricted items may not appear in the supplied rundown:
29 March 2016
===12:04 AM. | All Night Programme===
=DESCRIPTION=
Including: 12:05 Music after Midnight; 12:30 Spectrum (RNZ); 1:05 From the World (RNZ); 2:05 New Jazz Archive (1 of 12, PRX) 3:05 Race Day by Robin McFarland, read by Russell Smith (RNZ); 3:30 An Author's View (RNZ); 5:10 Witness (BBC)
===6:00 AM. | Morning Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
RNZ's three-hour breakfast news show with news and interviews, bulletins on the hour and half-hour, including: 6:16 and 6:50 Business News 6:18 Pacific News 6:26 Rural News 6:48 and 7:45 NZ Newspapers
=AUDIO=
06:00
Top Stories for Tuesday 29 March 2016
BODY:
We have disturbing new figures showing how many offenders are missing at any one time having cut off their electronic bracelets. We ask if the Government will step in to protect Franz Josef from the flooding Waiho river and Police have annouced that the body of a 13-year-old boy who disappeared at a popular swimming hole in Southeast of Auckland yesterday has been recovered.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 28'39"
06:06
Sports News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'43"
06:09
Civil Defence warns future Franz Josef floods could claim lives
BODY:
Local government and civil defence officials on the West Coast say lives could be lost the next time the Waiho River near Franz Josef bursts its banks.
Topics:
Regions: West Coast
Tags: Waiho river
Duration: 2'09"
06:12
Only suspect charged in Brussels attack released
BODY:
Belgium's Federal Prosecutor's Office has released the only person charged with direct involvement in the bombings in Brussels last week.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Belgium
Duration: 3'58"
06:16
Pacific Research institute launches in Auckland
BODY:
The Government is making a multimillion investment in a new research programme to improve aid spending and economic development in the Pacific.
Topics: politics, Pacific
Regions:
Tags: New Zealand Institute for Pacific Research
Duration: 3'00"
06:19
Tributes paid to veteran rural broadcaster Frank Torley
BODY:
Figures from the agriculture and farming industry are remembering veteran broadcaster Frank Torley as a man who bridged the gap between the rural and the urban.
Topics: rural, media
Regions:
Tags: Frank Torley, Country Calender
Duration: 2'48"
06:22
Early Business News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
A brief update of movements in the financial sector.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 1'52"
06:25
Morning Rural News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sectors.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 4'10"
06:38
Criminals removing monitoring devices - tip of the iceberg
BODY:
RNZ has learned that between 20 and 47 offenders are missing at any one time around the country, having cut off their electronic monitoring devices.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: Ankle bracelets
Duration: 3'01"
06:44
New rules putting raw milk suppliers out of business
BODY:
Raw milk producers say new regulations introduced this month are over-the-top and will force some farmers out of business.
Topics: farming, law, food
Regions:
Tags: raw milk
Duration: 3'42"
06:49
Doubts lower OCR will further stimulate housing market
BODY:
A banking expert is casting doubt on whether cutting interest rates further will inflame the housing market.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: interest rates
Duration: 1'17"
06:51
Women sport leaders aim to increase business sponsorship
BODY:
The recent comments from the director of a United States tennis tournament about the relative commercial value of the men's and women's games has renewed debate about the disparity between genders in professional sport.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: interest rates
Duration: 2'23"
06:53
Andros plans to take Barker's brand global
BODY:
The French fruit processing company, Andros, says it plans to take the Barker's brand global through its international distribution network in Asia, the United States and Europe.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Andros
Duration: 1'36"
06:55
Jim Parker in Australia
BODY:
The Turnbull Government is flagging the possibility of a cut in company tax in the upcoming budget to spur jobs' growth.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: Australia
Duration: 1'57"
06:57
Business agenda
BODY:
A short business week -- is suitably light on events.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 23"
06:57
Morning markets
BODY:
Wall Street is tracking slightly higher this morning after data showed consumer spending rose a touch in February.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 54"
06:58
Business briefs
BODY:
Japan's NTT Data is buying Dell's technology services business for more than 3 billion US dollars as it pushes ahead to expand its business in North America.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'04"
07:07
Sports News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'19"
07:12
Removal of monitoring bracelets running between 20 and 47
BODY:
Between 20 and 47 offenders are missing at any one time around the country, having cut off their electronic monitoring bracelets.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: ancle bracelets
Duration: 4'10"
07:16
Auckland Council working to make Hunua Falls safe
BODY:
Police divers will today continue their search for a 13-year-old boy who disappeared at a popular swimming hole in Southeast of Auckland yesterday.
Topics:
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Hunua Falls
Duration: 4'22"
07:20
Warnings river could claim lives at Franz Josef
BODY:
Westland's mayor and civil defence say people could be killed the next time the Waiho River near Franz Josef roars through its stopbank.
Topics:
Regions: West Coast
Tags: Waiho river
Duration: 3'05"
07:23
English fields call for government assistance for Franz Josef
BODY:
I asked the Finance Minister and acting Prime Minister Bill English what they are planning to do to help.
Topics:
Regions: West Coast
Tags: Waiho river
Duration: 1'52"
07:25
Body of 13-year-old boy recovered
BODY:
Police have annouced that the body of a 13-year-old boy who disappeared at a popular swimming hole in Southeast of Auckland yesterday has been recovered.
Topics:
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Hunua Falls
Duration: 58"
07:26
PM leaves for Nuclear Security Summit
BODY:
The Prime Minister says developments like the Iran deal have made a difference to the international nuclear landscape, as John Key travels to Washington for the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: John Key, Nuclear Security Summit
Duration: 3'22"
07:29
Donald Trump lashes out at NATO just days from Nuclear Summit
BODY:
US Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump has blasted Nato calling it obsolete and he's called for a complete overhaul.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: Donald Trump
Duration: 3'04"
07:38
Lahore man says neighbourhood in lockdown since blast
BODY:
Pakistani authorities are continuing their search for the Taliban militants who claimed responsibility for a Lahore bomb attack that killed 70 people including many children.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Pakistan
Duration: 3'41"
07:41
Not all is doom and gloom in the agricultural sector
BODY:
New Zealand farming analysts say all is not gloomy in the agricultural community even though collapsing dairy prices have left a hole at the heart of the sector.
Topics: farming, economy
Regions:
Tags: rural economy
Duration: 3'25"
07:46
Food safety minister defends new raw milk rules
BODY:
Suppliers of raw milk fear new regulations could drive half of them out of business
Topics: farming, law, food
Regions:
Tags: raw milk
Duration: 4'56"
07:51
Government says rapidly changing workforce is nothing new
BODY:
Labour's Future of Work Conference last week generated headlines mainly because of a suggestion every adult New Zealander should be paid a universal basic income.
Topics: business, politics
Regions:
Tags: jobs
Duration: 3'53"
07:56
Remembering Frank Torley
BODY:
Frank Torley who fronted New Zealand's longest running programme, Country Calendar, has died after a short battle with cancer.
Topics: farming, media
Regions:
Tags: Frank Torley, Country Calendar
Duration: 4'05"
08:07
Sports News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'29"
08:12
US Capitol Complex in lockdown after shots fired
BODY:
The US Capitol Complex is in lockdown after shots were reportedly fired at the Capitol Visitors Center.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: US
Duration: 2'13"
08:14
Dangers of swimming at Hunua Falls
BODY:
The Council says it's the ninth death at the Falls since 1980. Andrew Baker is an ex-policeman and Chair of the Franklin Local Board.
Topics:
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Hunua Falls
Duration: 2'41"
08:16
Westland mayor calls on Govt to step up
BODY:
The Finance Minister Bill English says the Government is yet to decide whether to help pay to keep Franz Josef safe from future flooding.
Topics:
Regions: West Coast
Tags: Waiho river
Duration: 4'47"
08:21
Advocate shocked by numbers ditching bracelets
BODY:
The number of offenders ditching their electronic monitoring devices is a huge concern for a victims' rights advocate.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: ancle bracelets
Duration: 3'50"
08:25
Nigerian father with history of deceit deported from NZ
BODY:
A Nigerian father of two has been deported after he was jailed for using false passports.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: immigration
Duration: 4'40"
08:30
Markets Update for 29 March 2016
BODY:
A brief update of movements in the financial sector.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 40"
08:36
Petition to allow guns at NRA conference
BODY:
Almost 25 thousand gun-toting Republicans have rallied against a firearms ban at the party's presidential nomination convention in Ohio.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: US
Duration: 3'07"
08:39
Arts community mourns the sudden loss of Founders Theatre
BODY:
The sudden closure of Hamilton's major performance centre has caught the local arts community off-guard and people aren't happy.
Topics:
Regions: Waikato
Tags: Founders Theatre
Duration: 3'40"
08:43
Hopes high for Kiwifruit exports.
BODY:
As dairy farmers come to terms with a devastating downturn in incomes, kiwifruit growers are looking ahead to a bumper season.
Topics: farming
Regions:
Tags: kiwifruit
Duration: 3'06"
08:49
Rising number of marine pests on hulls
BODY:
Rising numbers of marine pests on boat hulls are threatening mussel farms and marine environments.
Topics: farming
Regions:
Tags: marine pests, mussel farms
Duration: 2'58"
08:53
Maori catholic event marks 70 years
BODY:
Hundreds of Maori gathered in Whanganui over Easter, marking 70 years of their catholic hui.
Topics: te ao Maori
Regions:
Tags: Catholic clubs
Duration: 2'45"
08:55
Phil Kafcaloudes with news from Australia
BODY:
Time to chat to our Melbourne correspondent Phil Kafcaloudes.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Australia
Duration: 3'53"
=SHOW NOTES=
===9:06 AM. | Nine To Noon===
=DESCRIPTION=
Current affairs and topics of interest, including: 10:45 The Reading: One Girl One Dream by Laura Dekker (5 of 8, RNZ)
=AUDIO=
09:08
Rio Olympics athletes at high risk of infection from contaminated water
BODY:
The Rio Olympics begin in just over 4 months, and New Zealand is set to send its biggest team ever, around 220 athletes. Over a quarter of those are the sailors, canoeists and rowers who will compete on Rio's contaminated lakes, rivers and beaches. Rio based water and environmental scientist, Dr Fernando Spilki, has been conducting regular tests of the olympic waterways, and says athletes are at very high risk of infection, as there are such high levels of fecal matter entering the water; levels comparable to countries like India. He says his tests found viruses that induce vomiting such as rotovirus as well as Fecal coliforms that could cause cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid.
Topics: sport, environment
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 18'27"
09:32
Talking to Western Jihadists
BODY:
For the last two years Amarnath Amarasingam has been delving into the world of Western Jihadists - interviewing both those who have gone to fight overseas in Iraq and Syria, and their often extremely distressed families. Amarnath is a Fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, and co-directs a study of Western foreign fighters at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He's recently been interviewing families of fighters named in leaked recruitment documents from Islamic State.
EXTENDED BODY:
The families of some 'Western jihadists", who have gone to fight in Iraq and Syria, have only found out the fate of their loved ones through recently leaked documents.
The documents, giving details of Islamic State (IS) fighters, have informed some families of the deaths of their relatives and given them closure.
Some of the families did not even know their relatives were in Syria.
Over the past two years Amarnath Amarasingam has delved into the world of Western Jihadists - interviewing both those who have gone to fight overseas in Iraq and Syria, and their often extremely distressed families.
Mr Amarasingam, a Fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism and co-director of a study of Western foreign fighters at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, recently interviewed families of fighters named in leaked recruitment documents from IS and said that for some parents, the documents were the only confirmation their child had joined IS.
"I remember talking to an American fighter who told me, 'my parents still think I'm working for a call centre in Europe' or something like that - he'd told his parents he'd got a job and he was leaving, and he later died."
Listen to the full Nine To Noon interview with Amarnath Amarasingam here:
He said most fighters did tell their parents, when they landed, they were joining IS, but afterward there was an issue of how often they could communicate.
"And most of them do keep in touch with their children, so once a week or once a month they get a phone call or a WhatsApp or whatever - but it is an active war zone and there's Coalition air strikes and Russian air strikes and sometimes there's parents who don't get that call.
"And I think that's more agonising in a way because sometimes eight, nine, 10, 11 months have gone by and they haven't received one text message, received one phone call, and so you just never know what's going on.
The leaked documents were the first confirmation for some families that their relatives had died. That gave some families closure and also a better chance of getting a death certificate.
"With these certificates you can close bank accounts, close mobile phones, you can close out their life - which until then is not possible."
He said the Turkish media who had released some of the documents had taken steps to protect the families, by removing last names and mothers' names of the fighters.
"I think a lot of the families worry about not just their children in Syria who are fighting but other members of the family who, if the last names and stuff were leaked to the media and out to the public, they would have trouble finding school and work."
Some families were hoping to use the information to prosecute the IS recruiters, he said.
"You can kind of trace some of these guys back to their home countries because sometimes you're seeing the same guys sometimes show up over and over again, and so there's some interest for theses mothers to know if it can be used for prosecution later on down the line or something like that."
It would be difficult to do, however.
"The forms would need to be authenticated and stuff like that and I'm not sure how that would survive in a court of law."
But there was no question that at least some of the forms were genuine.
"They had names of the mothers and the phone numbers that I knew about because I had interviewed the parents - but it was never in the media, it was never anywhere.
"It would have been too much of a task for some forgers in Turkey to pull off."
He said it was important to try to understand IS's motivations and who their fighters were.
"When it comes to push factors I think it's a bit all over the place unfortunately so we can't really get to this idea of there's one person who leaves or one kind of person who's susceptible to this message.
"I've spoken to converts, people who've been born into the faith, who were university educated, high-school dropouts, people from all different ethnic backgrounds, religious backgrounds, people with siblings or no siblings, people who are married with children as well as single people."
Topics: conflict
Regions:
Tags: terrorism, Syria, Jihaddist, Islamic State, extremism
Duration: 15'53"
09:50
US correspondent Susan Milligan
BODY:
Presidential elections.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: US
Duration: 9'12"
10:07
World renowned expert on portraiture, Mette Skougaard
BODY:
Mette Skougaard is the director of Denmark's Museum of National History and National Portrait Gallery - which is situated in the remarkable Frederiskborg Castle - the largest renaissance castle in Scandanavia. It was built in the early 17th century as a royal residence for King Christian the fourth of Denmark and Norway. Among other things, the museum houses the largest collection of portraits in Denmark - including paintings, busts, reliefs and portrait photography. Among the most prized portraits are those depicting Denmarks royal family over the centuries - which also reflect the family's changing role in society.
EXTENDED BODY:
"A good portrait gives you this sense of presence of another person" ~ Mette Skougaard.
Mette Skougaard is in New Zealand to judge the Adam Portraiture Award.
She tells Lynn Freeman portraits are a fascinating way to connect with figures from the past:
Mette Skougaard is the director of Denmark's Museum of National History and National Portrait Gallery – which is situated in the remarkable Frederiskborg Castle – the largest renaissance castle in Scandanavia. It was built in the early 17th century as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway.
The museum houses, alongside other works, the largest collection of portraits in Denmark – including paintings, busts, reliefs and portrait photography. Among the most prized portraits are those depicting Denmarks royal family over the centuries – which also reflect the family's changing role in society.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: portraiture, painting
Duration: 30'21"
10:36
Book review - Out of the Shadows: The Life of Millicent Baxter
BODY:
Out of the Shadows: The Life of Millicent Baxter by Penny Griffith, Pen Publishing. Reviewed by Harry Ricketts, co-editor of the quarterly review, New Zealand Books Pukapuka Aotearoa.
Topics: books
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 7'21"
11:06
Politics with Matthew Hooton and Stephen Mills
BODY:
The Flag debate. The Bradley Ambrose defamation case. Labour's 'Furture of Work Commission'.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 25'35"
11:35
Cycling team that competed in the 1928 Tour de France
BODY:
In 1928 the first english speaking team competed in the Tour de France. The Ravat Wonder team was made up of cyclists from New Zealand and Australia. Wellington man, David Coventry happened upon their story in 2012, and was so intrigued he immediatly set to writing a fictionalised version of their race. It became his first novel, The Invisible Mile, which was recently named one of four fiction finalists in the 2016 Ockham book awards. The book centres on one of the kiwi riders in the team, a fictional character, from Taranaki, for whom the gruelling ride is more of a pilgramage to the world war 1 battle fields that inflicted so much emotional damage on his brother.
Topics: sport, history, author interview
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 9'34"
11:45
Media commentator Gavin Ellis
BODY:
Gavin Ellis is a media commentator and former editor of the New Zealand Herald. He can be contacted on gavin.ellis@xtra.co.nz
Topics: media
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 13'59"
=SHOW NOTES=
[image:63312:half] no metadata
09:05 Rio Olympics athletes at high risk of infection from contaminated water
The Rio Olympics begin in just over 4 months, and New Zealand is set to send its biggest team ever, around 220 athletes. Over a quarter of those are the sailors, canoeists and rowers who will compete on Rio's contaminated lakes, rivers and beaches.
Rio based water and environmental scientist, Dr Fernando Spilki, has been conducting regular tests of the olympic waterways, and says athletes are at very high risk of infection, as there are such high levels of fecal matter entering the water; levels comparable to countries like India.
He says his tests found viruses that induce vomiting such as rotovirus as well as Fecal coliforms that could cause cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid.
09:20 Talking to Western Jihadists
For the last two years Amarnath Amarasingam has been delving into the world of Western Jihadists - interviewing both those who have gone to fight overseas in Iraq and Syria, and their often extremely distressed families. Amarnath is a Fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, and co-directs a study of Western foreign fighters at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He's recently been interviewing families of fighters named in leaked recruitment documents from Islamic State.
09:45 US correspondent Susan Milligan
10:05 World renowned expert on portraiture, Mette Skougaard
Mette Skougaard is the director of Denmark's Museum of National History and National Portrait Gallery - which is situated in the remarkable Frederiskborg Castle - the largest renaissance castle in Scandanavia. It was built in the early 17th century as a royal residence for King Christian the fourth of Denmark and Norway
Among other things, the museum houses the largest collection of portraits in Denmark - including paintings, busts, reliefs and portrait photography.
Among the most prized portraits are those depicting Denmarks royal family over the centuries - which also reflect the family's changing role in society.
[gallery:1872]
10:35 New Zealand Books Pukapuka Aotearoa
Out of the Shadows: The Life of Millicent Baxter by Penny Griffith
Pen Publishing
Reviewed by Harry Ricketts, co-editor of the quarterly review, New Zealand Books
10:45 The Reading: One Girl, One Dream written and told by Laura Dekker
(Part 5 of 8)
11:05 Politics with Matthew Hooton and Stephen Mills
[image:63382:half] no metadata
11:20 The kiwi and Aussie cycling team that competed in the 1928 Tour de France
In 1928 the first english speaking team competed in the Tour de France. The Ravat Wonder team was made up of cyclists from New Zealand and Australia. Wellington man, David Coventry happened upon their story in 2012, and was so intrigued he immediatly set to writing a fictionalised version of their race.
It became his first novel, The Invisible Mile, which was recently named one of four fiction finalists in the 2016 Ockham book awards.
The book centres on one of the kiwi riders in the team, a fictional character, from Taranaki, for whom the gruelling ride is more of a pilgramage to the world war 1 battle fields that inflicted so much emotional damage on his brother.
11:45 Media commentator Gavin Ellis
===Noon | Midday Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
RNZ news, followed by updates and reports until 1.00pm, including: 12:16 Business News 12:26 Sport 12:34 Rural News 12:43 Worldwatch
=AUDIO=
12:00
Midday News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
The Corrections Minister says her department is working on an electronic monitoring device that can't be removed. Athletes competing in this year's Olympics in Rio are being warned that if they swallow just a spoonful of the city's water they risk up to a 99 percent chance of infection.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 15'29"
12:17
Kiwi Pacific Foods joint venture to be wound up
BODY:
Shares in listed food and beverage industry investor Veritas have fallen sharply this morning after it said its Kiwi Pacific Foods joint venture is to be wound up.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'03"
12:19
NZ commercial properties show strongest ever increase
BODY:
New Zealand commercial properties are in hot demand reflecting the strongest ever increase in the number of properties sold.
Topics: business, economy, housing
Regions:
Tags: real estate, property sales
Duration: 2'14"
12:23
Midday Markets for 29 March 2016
BODY:
For the latest from the markets we're joined by James Malden at Macquarie Private Wealth
Topics: business, economy, housing
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 2'35"
12:26
Business briefs
BODY:
Christchurch based tourism company, Guthrie Holdings, has bought specialist travel operator Relaxing Journeys.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 20"
12:27
Midday Sports News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
The New Zealand cricketers were keeping a keen eye on this morning's World T20 dead rubber between South Africa and Sri Lanka, which South Africa won by 8 wickets, as they look to get a read on the Delhi pitch.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags: cricket, T20, tennis, golf, Rugby Sevens
Duration: 2'28"
12:35
Midday Rural News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sectors.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 8'21"
=SHOW NOTES=
===1:06 PM. | Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm===
=DESCRIPTION=
An upbeat mix of the curious and the compelling, ranging from the stories of the day to the great questions of our time (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
13:15
Water Quality - Marnie Prickett
BODY:
Months of hard work and campaigning is coming to a head in Parliament today with the Choose Clean Water group arriving in the capital to present a petition on cleaning up our country's waterways. Marnie Prickett is the group spokesperson.
Topics: rural, farming, health, environment
Regions:
Tags: water, water quality, Choose Clean Water, conservation
Duration: 12'57"
13:29
New Zealanders and surrogacy
BODY:
A same-sex male couple from Auckland are caught up in a surrogacy-tangled web of red tape and deceit, leaving them stranded in Mexico with their three newborn children. Lawyer Debbie Dunbar has written about this issue and shares her knowledge of local surrogacy laws.
EXTENDED BODY:
A same-sex male couple from Auckland are caught up in a surrogacy-tangled web of red tape and deceit, leaving them stranded in Mexico with their three newborn children.
David and Nicky Beard had paid through an adoption agency for two surrogates to carry their children, but the money disappeared. It was never used – as intended – for medical and hospital bills.
Debbie Dunbar, a partner at law firm Rainey Collins, has written about this issue. She talks with Jesse Mulligan about New Zealand's surrogacy laws and why couples often look overseas for surrogates.
Topics: law, life and society
Regions:
Tags: surrogacy, Mexico, Cancun, law
Duration: 6'39"
13:35
Food Writer - Katie Parla
BODY:
Rome-based American food writer Katie Parla writes for Bon Apetit and the New York Times. She has just published a book called Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavours and Forgotten Recipes from an Ancient City.
Topics: author interview, books, food, history
Regions:
Tags: Rome, food, Italian Food
Duration: 13'32"
13:48
Favourite Album
BODY:
Autumn 66 - The Spencer Davis Group.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: The Spencer Davis Group
Duration: 11'15"
14:10
FBI Phone Hack - Paul Spain
BODY:
The FBI has dropped its legal action to force Apple to assist in unlocking the phone of one of the San Bernadino shooters. The agency says its found a technique to get into the phone without Apple's help, meaning the court battle's been dropped. To discuss the possible ways the FBI may have managed to unlock the phone I'm joined by Gorilla Technology CEO Paul Spain who's also the host of NZ Tech Podcast.
Topics: law, technology
Regions:
Tags: FBI, Apple, iphone, hacking, San Bernadino
Duration: 6'25"
14:25
Classic New Zealand Albums
BODY:
Thoroughbred - Rockinghorse
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: Rockinghorse
Duration: 34'54"
15:05
Simon Sebag Montefiore
BODY:
You can't make this stuff up: a family that rules a vast empire for 300 years by using torture against their enemies. A family that throws wild parties including dwarfs jumping out of pies. The House of Romanov is one of the greatest dynasties in history that ended with the execution of Tsar Nicolas II and his children in 1918. British Historian Simon Sebag Monteflore tells the epic story of the family and how their rule still defines Russia today in his book Romanovs: 1613 to 1918
Topics: author interview, history
Regions:
Tags: Romanovs, Russia, Tsars
Duration: 24'53"
15:45
Panel Pre-Show - Jesse & Jim & Zara
BODY:
What the world is talking about with Jesse Mulligan, Jim Mora and Zara Potts.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 14'06"
21:20
Dunnocks - and what bird sperm can tell us
BODY:
Bird sperm from native species such as robins, as well as introduced dunnocks from Dunedin, may shed light on problems with male fertility and infertile eggs.
EXTENDED BODY:
"The sperm is on a race to get to the egg, and I'm on a race to get the sperm under microscope." Helen Taylor, University of Otago
This year's bumper kakapo breeding season has highlighted a significant problem in the conservation of rare species - nearly half of the more-than-120 kakapo eggs that have been laid are infertile, and a significant number of fertile eggs are dying before they hatch.
Scientists suspect much of the problem lies with the male birds, which may be 'shooting blanks' or have poor quality sperm.
The problem is not unique to the endangered kakapo, and University of Otago post-doctoral researcher Helen Taylor has spent the last year on a bird sperm-collecting tour of the country to see if she can get some clues to what is going on.
Population bottlenecks
The birds that are part of her study include natives such as South Island robins and hihi, or stitchbirds, as well as familiar introduced blackbirds and dunnocks, or hedge sparrows.
New island populations of native birds often experience a genetic bottleneck because only a small number of birds are translocated. For example, just five robins were taken from Kaikoura to establish a new population on Allports Island.
In the case of dunnocks and blackbirds, only a few birds survived the long boat journey from England in the 1800s, when naturalisation societies were populating New Zealand with familiar English birds. All the dunnocks alive in New Zealand today, for example, are descendants of just 200 birds.
All these species have gone through a severe population bottleneck, when only a few individuals survived, and as a result there is not much genetic diversity and a high incidence of inbreeding (close relatives mating with one another).
"Inbreeding seems to have a universal effect on male fertility, and it's not clear why," says Helen. "This hasn't been studied this much in birds, either, and by looking across a variety of birds we are trying to see if there is a common mechanism that makes males susceptible to inbreeding depression … we're looking for genes that might be affected, so genes for spermatogenesis or sperm manufacture."
Helen says many of our native birds are threatened and in low numbers, and that trying to boost reproductive success is very important.
"If we're seeing birds with quite high incidences of hatching failure we need to know why that is. Is it problems with embryo development or is it issues to do with male fertility, so that we can try and manage for that in the future," says Helen.
What sperm can tell us
Helen collects semen from birds using cloacal massage, and says that even a tiny amount of semen can contain millions of sperm.
"It's pretty cool. You can see [the sperm] swimming, and these ones are swimming pretty fast," comments Helen as she looks at a sample of magnified dunnock sperm.
"What I'm working on is concerned with male fertility in birds, and in particular with sperm quality, so sperm motility, sperm morphology and DNA fragmentation within sperm, and how that might be related to genetic diversity and inbreeding in species that have experienced population bottlenecks."
A computer-assisted sperm analysis system connected to a microscope automatically videos and tracks the sperm, and collects information on how fast each sperm is swimming and whether it is swimming in a straight line or in circles (the motility, or movement).
"If they're swimming round and round in circles then obviously that's not going to get them anywhere. Bird sperm tends to swim quite straight, so if we're seeing sperm that's got a very smooth, straight trajectory then that's a really good sperm that's going to make good headway in the female's reproductive tract."
Helen says she has been very impressed by the variation in sperm she has looked at.
"The sperm of the different birds are so different. Some are longer than others, some are short and fat, and some of them swim in a certain way."
"We're looking for differences in sperm quality between males, and trying to figure out what's causing it," says Helen. "Is it to do with their age? Is it to do with inbreeding and genetic diversity - that's what I'm most interested in … or with their social status?"
Inbreeding is reduced genetic diversity caused by mating between close relatives, and it may affect reproductive success. A recent study with gazelles showed that inbreeding results in sperm with high levels of DNA fragmentation, or damage. Sperm with high DNA fragmentation swim more slowly, have more abnormalities, and if they manage to fertilise an egg there is a higher rate of death in the offspring. In humans, DNA fragmentation causes higher rates of miscarriage.
No one has looked at these issues in birds before, and Helen says "we want to see if there is damage at a fundamental level, is inbreeding depression affecting the DNA that is being carried by the sperm cells? Because that could have implications for fertility, embryo development and a wide range of traits that could cause problem with reproduction."
The interesting sex life of the dunnocks of Dunedin Botanic Gardens
Dunnocks, or hedge sparrows, are - at first glance - unremarkable small brown birds that look like house sparrows. But they are actually a type of bird know as an accentor, and are not closely related to house sparrows.
There is a thriving population of dunnocks in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, and they are well known birds, having been studied intensively by a succession of students from the Department of Zoology.
Carlos Esteban Lara is the latest PhD student, and he is studying the mating systems of the dunnock, which - for a small drab bird - turns out to have an interesting sex life.
Dunedin's dunnocks have two different approaches to making and raising babies.
Some birds practise monogamy, but others practise polyandry, in which several males mate with a female and then both help her raise her chicks.
Carlos says this is a great system for a female - by having several helpers she can raise more chicks. But he says from a male perspective it is not such a good deal, as each male fathers fewer chicks than he would if he had a monogamous mate.
"Because there are many males mating with the same female it creates sperm competition, because they need to produce better sperm to guarantee paternity," says Carlos.
Helen Taylor is collaborating with Carlos in the collection and analysis of sperm from the Dunedin Boatnic Gardens' dunnocks, and the benefit for both of them is that they are collecting sperm from dunnocks with a known history. Carlos knows exactly who is related to who, which birds are the dominant alpha males and which the lower ranked beta males, as well as other personality traits such as which birds are bold and which are shy.
Ultimately Helen's hope is that those tiny samples of sperm may hold the answer to many questions related to biology and conservation. Hopefully, it will help solve problems such as the low fertility dogging endangered species like the kakapo. It might also shed light on human fertility as well.
Want to know more?
During the 2009 kakapo breeding season Our Changing World featured several stories on sperm collection from kakapo, artificial insemination and the creation of a kakapo sperm bank.
Sheri Johnson talked with us about her research on zebrafish sperm and aging fathers.
Helen Taylor appeared on Our Changing World during her PhD research into the genetics of little spotted kiwi populations at Zealandia sanctuary and elsewhere.
And Helen and Sheri also updated their work and shared their results.
Topics: science, environment
Regions:
Tags: birds, conservation, sperm, fertility, inbreeding, genetics, dunnocks
Duration: 23'37"
=SHOW NOTES=
1:10 First Song
'Release Me' - Anna Coddington.
1:17 Water Quality - Marnie Prickett
Months of hard work and campaigning is coming to a head in Parliament today with the Choose Clean Water group arriving in the capital to present a petition on cleaning up our country's waterways. The group is made up of conservationists and filmmakers who have travelled the country documenting the diminishing water quality. During their travels they have collected 15 thousand signatures and have joined up with a hikoi from Turangi to march on Parliament a short time ago. Marnie Prickett is the group spokesperson.
1:27 Surrogacy Nightmare - Debbie Dunbar
David and Nicky Beard had paid money for two surrogates to carry their children through a Cancun adoption agency. However the money disappeared and was never used as intended for medical and hospital bills, leaving the family stranded. Their case highlights the difficulties many couples face in New Zealand with our surrogacy laws which are prohibitive for same sex male couples. Debbie Dunbar, partner at Rainey Collins has written about this issue and shares her knowledge of local surrogacy laws.
1:35 Food Writer - Katie Parla
Rome-based American food writer Katie Parla writes for Bon Apetit and the New York Times. She has just published a book called Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavours and Forgotten Recipes from an Ancient City.
1:40 Favourite Album
Autumn 66 - The Spencer Davis Group.
2:05 FBI Phone Hack - Paul Spain
The FBI has dropped its legal action to force Apple to assist in unlocking the phone of one of the San Bernadino shooters. The agency says its found a technique to get into the phone without Apple's help, meaning the court battle's been dropped. There's no word on how it's accessed the data but it has for now put to an end the debate about digital privacy rights and national security concerns. To discuss the possible ways the FBI may have managed to unlock the phone I'm joined by Gorilla Technology CEO Paul Spain who's also the host of NZ Tech Podcast.
2:10 BBC Witness - Polaroid
Now we're going back to the late 1940's and the invention of the first instant camera. Mike Lanchin of the BBC history programme Witness recalls how it was called the Land camera but became better known as the Polaroid.
2:20 Classic New Zealand Albums
Thoroughbred - Rockinghorse. With Wayne Mason, Carl Evenson & Clinton Brown.
3:10 Feature Interview - Simon Sebag Montefiore
You can't make this stuff up: a family that rules a vast empire for 300 years by using torture against their enemies. A family that throws wild parties including dwarfs jumping out of pies. The House of Romanov is one of the greatest dynasties in history that ended with the execution of Tsar Nicolas II and his children in 1918. British Historian Simon Sebag Monteflore tells the epic story of the family and how their rule still defines Russia today in his book Romanovs: 1613 to 1918.
3:30 Our Changing World
Helen Taylor, at the University of Otago, has been collecting and analysing sperm from different birds around New Zealand. Early one morning Alison Ballance joins Helen, and PhD student Carlos Esteban Lara, in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, to find out about the sperm study, and also about the local population of dunnocks, or hedge sparrows, that are giving their sperm to science.
3:45 The Panel Pre-Show
What the world is talking about with Jesse Mulligan, Jim Mora and Zara Potts.
=PLAYLIST=
JESSE'S SONG:
ARTIST: Anna Coddington
TITLE: Release Me
COMP: Anna Coddington
ALBUM: Single Release
LIVE: Download
FEATURE ALBUM:
ARTIST: The Spencer Davis Group
TITLE: Somebody Help Me
COMP: Jackie Edwards
ALBUM: Autumn 66
LABEL: Fontana
ARTIST: The Spencer Davis Group
TITLE: Together Till The End Of Time
COMP: Frank Wilson
ALBUM: Autumn 66
LABEL: Fontana
ARTIST: The Spencer Davis Group
TITLE: When A Man Loves A Woman
COMP: Andrew Wright, Calvin Lewis
ALBUM: Autumn 66
LABEL: Fontana
GREAT NEW ZEALAND ALBUM:
ARTIST: Rockinghorse
TITLE: Greyest Morning Blue
COMP: Wayne Mason
ALBUM: Thoroughbred
LABEL: EMI
ARTIST: Rockinghorse
TITLE: Smoke On Down The Line
COMP: Carl Evenson
ALBUM: Thoroughbred
LABEL: EMI
ARTIST: Rockinghorse
TITLE: Through The Southern Moonlight
COMP: Evenson, Mason, Robinson, Brown, Norris
ALBUM: Thoroughbred
LABEL: EMI
ARTIST: Rockinghorse
TITLE: Wind Chimes (Instrumental)
COMP: Evenson, Mason, Robinson, Brown, Norris
ALBUM: Thoroughbred
LABEL: EMI
ADDITIONAL TRACK:
ARTIST: Thomas Oliver
TITLE: If I Move To Mars
COMP: Thomas Oliver
ALBUM: Singe release
LABEL: Aston Road
PANEL HALF TIME SONG:
ARTIST: The English Chamber Orchestra
TITLE: Lark Assendng
COMP: Vaughan Williams
ALBUM: Vaughan Williams : The Lark Assending, Oboe Concerto; Delius: Summer Night on the River; etc.
LABEL: Deutsche Grammophon
===4:06 PM. | The Panel===
=DESCRIPTION=
An hour of discussion featuring a range of panellists from right along the opinion spectrum (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
15:45
Panel Pre-Show - Jesse & Jim & Zara
BODY:
What the world is talking about with Jesse Mulligan, Jim Mora and Zara Potts.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 14'06"
16:05
The Panel with Damon Salesa and Stephen Franks (Part 1)
BODY:
What the Panelists Damon Salesa and Stephen Franks have been up to. Economist Michael Reddell discusses whether New Zealand is being guided towards having a low wage low skill economy. Up to 45 criminal offenders who've cut off their electronic monitoring bracelets are on the loose on any given day. It's over. The country has backed the current flag to remain as our national heraldry.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 25'24"
16:06
The Panel with Damon Salesa and Stephen Franks (Part 2)
BODY:
The Lark Ascending has once again been voted at the most popular piece of classical music by British voters. What the Panelists Damon Salesa and Stephen Franks have been thinking about. Film critic Sarah McMullan discusses the new Batman v Superman movie and whether her views hold any sway anymore. A new US study has found regular cannabis smokers end up in less skilled jobs and earn less money than their parents. A couple of examples of social media posts which made mainstream news stories. A Muslim shopkeeper has been killed for expressing love for the UK.
Topics:
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Tags:
Duration: 24'39"
16:07
Intro
BODY:
What the Panelists Damon Salesa and Stephen Franks have been up to.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 5'11"
16:12
Low wage economy
BODY:
Economist Michael Reddell discusses whether New Zealand is being guided towards having a low wage low skill economy.
Topics: economy, business, refugees and migrants
Regions:
Tags: wages, jobs, employment, Skills
Duration: 12'16"
16:25
Electronic monitoring
BODY:
Up to 45 criminal offenders who've cut off their electronic monitoring bracelets are on the loose on any given day.
Topics: law, crime
Regions:
Tags: GPS monitoring, Criminal Offenders
Duration: 4'24"
16:30
The flag remains the same
BODY:
It's over. The country has backed the current flag to remain as our national heraldry.
Topics: life and society, politics, identity
Regions:
Tags: flag, referendum, national identity
Duration: 3'29"
16:35
Lark ascends again in the UK
BODY:
The Lark Ascending has once again been voted at the most popular piece of classical music by British voters.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: The Lark Ascending, Clasical Music, UK
Duration: 3'21"
16:38
Panel says
BODY:
What the Panelists Damon Salesa and Stephen Franks have been thinking about.
Topics: Pacific, politics, transport, law
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 6'43"
16:45
Everyone's a critic
BODY:
Film critic Sarah McMullan discusses the new Batman v Superman movie and whether her views hold any sway anymore.
Topics: media, arts
Regions:
Tags: Batman v Superman, Wonderwoman, film, criticism
Duration: 6'29"
16:52
Dope smokers slide down the social ladder
BODY:
A new US study has found regular cannabis smokers end up in less skilled jobs and earn less money than their parents.
Topics: health, life and society
Regions:
Tags: drugs, cannabis, Acheivement
Duration: 5'18"
16:57
Social media feeding mainstream media
BODY:
A couple of examples of social media posts which made mainstream news stories.
Topics: internet, life and society
Regions:
Tags: Royal Easter Show, Miss Moonshine
Duration: 1'34"
16:59
Threats
BODY:
A Muslim shopkeeper killed for expressing love for the UK.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: United Kingdom
Duration: 1'08"
=SHOW NOTES=
===5:00 PM. | Checkpoint===
=DESCRIPTION=
RNZ's weekday drive-time news and current affairs programme
=AUDIO=
17:00
Checkpoint with John Campbell, Tuesday 29th March 2016
BODY:
Watch Tuesday's full program here. It begins 5 minutes in.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 00"
17:08
500 NZ Post jobs to go by end of June
BODY:
500 New Zealand Post workers are expected to lose their jobs by the end of June, as part of its larger plan to cut up to 2000 positions.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: NZ Post, jobs, employment, EPMU
Duration: 5'18"
17:14
Cabinet Minister says ministers' accessibility paramount
BODY:
Senior Cabinet Minister, Paula Bennett, says she does not want to see MPs and ministers made less accessible despite receiving death threats.
Topics: politics, crime, law
Regions:
Tags: death threats, Politicians, Accessability
Duration: 2'51"
17:16
Broken sluice gates muddy Hawke's Bay rivers
BODY:
Wairoa District Council ratepayers are tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket due to broken sluice gates, which have caused silt to flow from the Waihi Dam into local rivers.
Topics: environment, farming
Regions: Hawkes Bay
Tags: Wairoa, water quality, Waiau River, Sluice Gates, Eastland Group
Duration: 4'39"
17:22
Eastland Groups CEO speaks to Wairoa council
BODY:
Gates owner Eastland Group declined to be interviewed by Checkpoint and released a statement.
Topics: environment, farming
Regions: Hawkes Bay
Tags: Wairoa, water quality, Waiau River, Sluice Gates, Eastland Group
Duration: 32"
17:22
Water petition with 12k signatures delivered to Parliament
BODY:
Thirty people walked from Turangi to Parliament to present a petition calling to improve the quality of New Zealand's waterways.
Topics: environment, farming, politics
Regions:
Tags: water quality, parliament
Duration: 2'37"
17:25
Hunua Falls dangerous for swimming, says Council
BODY:
After two deaths in less than a fortnight at Hunua Falls, near Auckland, locals and the council are questioning whether it should remain open for swimming.
Topics: life and society
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Hunua Falls, deaths, drowning, safety
Duration: 2'46"
17:28
Pakistan PM meets with security officials over bombing
BODY:
Security forces have been raiding homes in Pakistan believed to be connected with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the Taliban splinter group responsible for the recent suicide bombing in Lahore.
Topics: conflict, politics
Regions:
Tags: terrorism, Pakistan, Taliban, Lahore
Duration: 3'39"
17:34
Evening business for 29 March 2016
BODY:
News from the business sector including a market report.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 3'16"
17:37
Operation Resolve cracks down on burglaries
BODY:
Auckland's police force are assigning 20 extra officers purely to solving burglaries - which currently go unresolved 95% of the time.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: police, Burglary, Operation Resolve
Duration: 5'10"
17:37
Operation Resolve cracks down on burglaries
BODY:
Auckland's police force are assigning 20 extra officers purely to solving burglaries - which currently go unresolved 95% of the time.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: police, Burglary, Operation Resolve
Duration: 5'10"
17:43
2.2 billion to replace country's asbestos water pipes
BODY:
Water New Zealand estimates 9-thousand kilometres of asbestos cement pipes will need to be replaced in the next two to three decades.
Topics: health, environment
Regions:
Tags: Infrasturcture, Water New Zealand, asbestos
Duration: 2'58"
17:45
Bunnings management removes defribillators
BODY:
Bunnings is under fire from its staff members after reportedly removing staff-financed defibrillators from its stores.
Topics: health, law
Regions:
Tags: Bunnings, employment, Defibrillators, First Union
Duration: 5'40"
17:51
FBI crack apple phone security, drop lawsuit
BODY:
The FBI has dropped its legal case against Apple. It says it has now successfully unlocked an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen.
Topics: law, technology
Regions:
Tags: FBI, Apple, iphone, Cracked
Duration: 1'23"
17:53
Tech reporter on ramifications of FBI unlocking iphone
BODY:
The FBI has unlocked the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, and is dropping its legal case against Apple as a result.
Topics: law, technology
Regions:
Tags: FBI, Apple, iphone, Cracked
Duration: 2'27"
17:55
Religious extremists will never succeed in taking over Pakistan
BODY:
Acclaimed, award-winning Pakistani journalist and writer Bina Shah wrote in British newspaper The Guardian that religious extremists would never succesed in taking over the country. She joins us now from Karachi.
Topics: conflict, life and society
Regions:
Tags: Pakistan, Image, terrorism
Duration: 4'34"
18:05
Sports News for 29 March 2016
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'27"
18:08
New proposal to reduce emissions in Wellington
BODY:
The Wellington City Council has announced an ambitious plan to reduce emissions in the capital city.
Topics: politics, environment
Regions: Wellington Region
Tags: emissions, pollution, Wellington City Council
Duration: 2'45"
18:08
NZ couple and triplings stranded in Mexico
BODY:
The parents of three babies born to two surrogate mothers in Mexico say they are stranded in Central America and need $15,000 to return home to New Zealand.
Topics: life and society
Regions:
Tags: Mexico, surrogacy
Duration: 2'06"
18:14
Stroke patient dies after being given wrong drug
BODY:
A junior doctor, who gave the wrong drug and the wrong dosage to an elderly stroke patient who later died, has escaped punishment.
Topics: law, health
Regions:
Tags: Junior Doctor, stroke, drugs
Duration: 5'18"
18:19
Gunman sparks panic in US Capitol
BODY:
A gunman has sparked panic at the heart of the US Capitol grounds, wounding a visitor in a stand-off with police before being shot himself. Reuters' Linda So reports.
Topics: politics, crime
Regions:
Tags: Washington, gunman
Duration: 1'30"
18:21
Gunman at Capitol Hill one-off criminal act
BODY:
New York Correspondent Mimi Chiahemen joins Checkpoint to discuss the apprehension of the gunman on Capitol Hill.
Topics: politics, crime
Regions:
Tags: Washington, gunman
Duration: 3'18"
18:24
Former MP becomes NZ's first Rastafari celebrant
BODY:
Former Green MP Nandor Tanczos is now an official marriage celebrant and the first Rastafari celebrant in NZ.
Topics: spiritual practices
Regions:
Tags: Rastifarianism, Marriage Celibrant
Duration: 4'31"
18:50
Today in Parliament Tuesday 29 March 2016
BODY:
Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Minister in Charge of the Flag Referendums, Bill English was the inevitable fall guy when the Opposition used Question Time to extract maximum political mileage from the defeat of the PM's preferred new flag design in the second referendum. Other questions included requests for Environment Minister, Nick Smith, to endorse a 12,000-signature petition seeking a national standard for rivers with a water quality suitable for swimming. Debate begins on the committee stage of the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 5'15"
=SHOW NOTES=
===6:30 PM. | Worldwatch===
=DESCRIPTION=
The stories behind the international headlines
===6:55 PM. | In Parliament===
=DESCRIPTION=
===7:06 PM. | Nights===
=DESCRIPTION=
RNZ's weeknight programme of entertainment and information
=AUDIO=
19:12
Our Own Odysseys - The Plain of Jars
BODY:
In 2003, Upper Hutt author of 'In the Lions Throat' Bob Marriott and his wife Linda visited the Plain of Jars in Laos, a mysterious megalithic archaeological landscape...
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: travel, Laos, jars.
Duration: 18'27"
20:12
Nights' Pundit - Economics
BODY:
there's no such thing as a free lunch - with independent scholar Brian Easton... low interest rates and world secular stagnation...
Topics: economy, business, history, money
Regions:
Tags: economics.
Duration: 18'15"
=SHOW NOTES=
[image:63298:full]
7:12 Our Own Odysseys - The Plain of Jars
In 2003, Upper Hutt author of 'In the Lions Throat' Bob Marriott and his wife Linda visited the Plain of Jars in Laos, a mysterious megalithic archaeological landscape...
7:30 The Sampler
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
19:30
The Sampler for Tuesday, 29 March 2016
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North; the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson .Paak; and a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North; the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson .Paak; and a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: Run River North, Anderson .Paak, Blind Willie Johnson
Duration: 30'43"
19:35
Drinking From A Salt Pond by Run River North
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North.
A Korean-American indie-folk band. That sounds like it has the potential to be something a bit different, and that potential was in evidence on Run River North, the self-titled debut of this young quintet from Los Angeles’ Koreatown. But that was two years ago, and on their second album it appears that Run River North have rethought their approach.
The first record was largely acoustic, with Alex Hwang’s balladic singing and the faintly eastern touches of Jennifer Rim’s violin suggesting an Oriental Mumford and Sons. It wasn’t super-original, but at the heart of the music was an experience that gave the group a real point of difference: Run River North are the sons and daughters of immigrants, and their family stories seemed to be the starting point for many of the songs. Hwang has said that, for the new album, the focus of the writing became more personal, focusing on relationships than histories. But that’s hardly been the most drastic development.
For Drinking From A Salt Pond, Run River North have gone from a substantially acoustic outfit to one that’s not just electrified but pumped up with the aural equivalent of steroids.
I’ll grant them this: Run River North can write an anthem. It’s not hard to picture a huge swaying crowd singing along, football-style, to these choruses. But neither is it in the least bit original - a cross between early Arcade Fire and the previously-invoked Mumfords.
Even with the high production, it’s pretty clear that Run River North are super-competent players, so it’s a pity they haven’t put their skills to more imaginative use. But it is as though they have banished from their frame of reference anything beyond the most obvious crossover moments from the last decade of indie rock.
I find myself reflecting on Los Lobos. Like Run River North they are Californians, and the children of immigrants – in their case from neighbouring Mexico. In their formative years they mastered the dominant styles of the day; the rock and soul they heard on the radio. But it was hearing the English band Fairport Convention and the way they drew on their folk heritage that inspired Los Lobos to investigate their own, and it was only after delving into the deep well of Mexican traditional music that their rock’n’roll found its own distinctive character.
Run River North have already hinted at their unique heritage in their earlier album, but it feels as though they have barely broken the surface. Who knows, perhaps if they were to return to that well and truly immerse themselves as Los Lobos did, they might emerge with a sound like no one else.
Songs featured: Ghost, 29, Can’t Come Down, Intro (Funeral) Parade, Ghost, Pretender.
Drinking From A Salt Pond is available on Nettwerk Records.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: Run River North, music, music reviews
Duration: 7'54"
19:40
Malibu by Anderson Paak
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson Paak.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger checks the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson Paak.
With the volley of high-profile hip-hop/R&B releases in the first part of this year, a few very good new albums in the genre have been a little overshadowed, and I think this is one of them.
Anderson .Paak is a singer, rapper, multi-instrumentalist and producer from Southern California, whose profile grew exponentially with his appearance on last August’s Dr Dre album Compton: A Soundtrack - one of several young below-the-radar talents showcased on the veteran’s surprise release.
Originally going by the name Breezy Lovejoy, for most of this decade he’s been Anderson .Paak – a variation on his birth name, Brandon Paak Anderson.
Continuing the motif of Californian beaches he began with Venice, his first album as Anderson .Paak from 2014, he has called this latest album Malibu. It’s a very musical offering, roaming freely through hip-hop, jazz, rock’n’roll and whole lot of different kinds of soul.
At times Paak is a rapper, trading rhymes with a raft of guests including The Game and Schoolboy Q. But more often than not he is a singer, with a gentle and soulful delivery. That’s the Paak we’re introduced to right at the start of the album in ‘The Bird’, a song that contains more than a hint of his life story.
Paak’s mother was Korean and, as he says in the song, a farmer. She had her own business growing strawberries in the Southern California city of Oxnard, though later did prison time for a blue collar crime, a sentence Paak says was out of proportion with the offence. His father was African-American and had been in the air force before he too was imprisoned. He died when Paak was still young.
This background informs without dominating the songs on Venice. Paak’s outlook might be tinged with sadness, but he is not consumed with anger. More often than not, he is finding things to celebrate.
Sometimes the joy is simply in the music, like the mad fusion of surf-beat, party claps and 80s dancefloor that Paak somehow cooks up in a track like ‘Parking Lot’.
Anderson .Paark’s Malibu is at times meditative, at other times wonderfully mad. And its eclecticism might account for the cultish rather than crossover success it’s seen so far. Still, it’s a record that’s brimming with invention and musicality, not to mention heart and a whole lot of soul.
Songs featured: The Season/Carry Me, Heart Don’t Stand A Chance, Room In Here, The Bird, Am I Wrong, Celebrate, Parking Lot.
Malibu is available on Steel Wool/OBE.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Anderson Paak, music, music reviews
Duration: 10'12"
19:50
God Don’t Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
An old 19th century hymn, composed by an English clergyman, was the basis for one of the most singular pieces of music ever put to disc: Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground’. Johnson plays the melody on a D-tuned guitar, which he frets with an object – possibly a knife - in free floating phrases, which he answers himself in a wordless impassioned moan.
Recorded in Texas in 1927, it’s a haunting piece that has inspired film soundtracks, been covered by everyone from Fairport Convention to the Kronos Quartet, and – in its original form – been sent to interstellar space: one of 27 sound samples of human expression launched aboard the Voyager space probe. If any extraterrestrial out there ever gets to hear it, we’ll know the blues are truly universal.
But of the man who made this extraordinary piece of music, what do we know? He was blind, moved around the American south and played gospel music on the streets for change, sometimes in duet with his wife. There is a story that his version of ‘Samson and Delilah’ was so stirring that when he played it outside the New Orleans Custom House he was arrested for inciting a riot.
His recording career lasted a mere 18 months, and he reportedly died of pneumonia, some time in the 1940s. But his music has continued to exert a powerful pull on listeners and musicians alike, as this new compilation shows.
It’s a tribute album, funded by a kickstarter campaign and produced by Jeffrey Gaskill, who similarly oversaw a collection of Bob Dylan’s gospel songs a few years back, and he’s been particular and smart in his recruitment. The contributors are all well-established, with strong links to blues and gospel if not directly to Johnson’s music.
Tom Waits, whose whole career as a singer might be an attempt to match the ferocious passion of Johnson, is one of this small but distinguished group of acolytes and offers two tracks here, as does Lucinda Williams, both of them emphasising the raw bluesy side of their characters.
There are sweeter voices here too, though no less committed in their delivery. Always prone towards the Biblical, Sinead O’Connor sounds right at home in a stomping, hand-clapping account of ‘Trouble Will Soon Be Over’. And then there’s an actual gospel group, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, who deliver their selection – ‘Motherless Children’ - in classic quartet style.
At other times it’s Johnson’s phenomenally fine guitar playing that’s being honoured. There’s a lovely ‘Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning’ from microtonal master Derek Trucks, and a less refined but wonderfully rattling reading of ‘Bye and Bye’ – with cane-fife and drum accompaniment – from Memphis bottleneck man Luther Dickinson.
And there’s an uncharacteristically animated Cowboy Junkies, who let Johnson set the tempo for their version of ‘Jesus Is Coming Soon’, building on a sample of Johnson’s own recording.
If there’s any fault with these new interpretations, it’s a tendency to take the rawness of Johnson’s recordings and exaggerate it. None go the opposite way - as the Kronos Quartet did with their wonderful 2009 recording of ‘Dark Was The Night’, or Ry Cooder with his Johnson-inspired Paris Texas theme - which was to treat Johnson’s blues to an almost-classical reinvention.
But I did especially like the track that closes the disc. Once again, it’s ‘Dark Was The Night’, this time performed in a New Orleans street-style by Rickie Lee Jones. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone sing the words.
Songs featured: Dark Was The Night, The Soul Of A Man, It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Trouble Will Soon Be Over, Motherless Children, Bye and Bye, Jesus Is Coming Soon.
God Don’t Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson is available on Alligator Records.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: Blind Willie Johnson., music, music review
Duration: 14'17"
7:30 The Sampler
music album reviews & music discussion with Nick Bollinger
8:12 Nights' Pundit - Economics
there's no such thing as a free lunch - with independent scholar Brian Easton... low interest rates and world secular stagnation...
8:30 Window on the World - A Swedish Tale
international public radio documentaries
9:07 Tuesday Feature - Exchanges at the Frontier: Supermassive Black Holes and the Evolution of Galaxies
10:17 Late Edition
a round up of today's RNZ News and feature interviews as well as Date Line Pacific from RNZ International
11:07 At the Eleventh Hour - Global Village
music from a myriad of cultures
... nights' time is the right time...
===7:35 PM. | The Sampler===
=DESCRIPTION=
A weekly review and analysis of new CD releases
=AUDIO=
19:30
The Sampler for Tuesday, 29 March 2016
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North; the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson .Paak; and a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North; the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson .Paak; and a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: Run River North, Anderson .Paak, Blind Willie Johnson
Duration: 30'43"
19:35
Drinking From A Salt Pond by Run River North
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews an electric second album from Korean-American folk rockers Run River North.
A Korean-American indie-folk band. That sounds like it has the potential to be something a bit different, and that potential was in evidence on Run River North, the self-titled debut of this young quintet from Los Angeles’ Koreatown. But that was two years ago, and on their second album it appears that Run River North have rethought their approach.
The first record was largely acoustic, with Alex Hwang’s balladic singing and the faintly eastern touches of Jennifer Rim’s violin suggesting an Oriental Mumford and Sons. It wasn’t super-original, but at the heart of the music was an experience that gave the group a real point of difference: Run River North are the sons and daughters of immigrants, and their family stories seemed to be the starting point for many of the songs. Hwang has said that, for the new album, the focus of the writing became more personal, focusing on relationships than histories. But that’s hardly been the most drastic development.
For Drinking From A Salt Pond, Run River North have gone from a substantially acoustic outfit to one that’s not just electrified but pumped up with the aural equivalent of steroids.
I’ll grant them this: Run River North can write an anthem. It’s not hard to picture a huge swaying crowd singing along, football-style, to these choruses. But neither is it in the least bit original - a cross between early Arcade Fire and the previously-invoked Mumfords.
Even with the high production, it’s pretty clear that Run River North are super-competent players, so it’s a pity they haven’t put their skills to more imaginative use. But it is as though they have banished from their frame of reference anything beyond the most obvious crossover moments from the last decade of indie rock.
I find myself reflecting on Los Lobos. Like Run River North they are Californians, and the children of immigrants – in their case from neighbouring Mexico. In their formative years they mastered the dominant styles of the day; the rock and soul they heard on the radio. But it was hearing the English band Fairport Convention and the way they drew on their folk heritage that inspired Los Lobos to investigate their own, and it was only after delving into the deep well of Mexican traditional music that their rock’n’roll found its own distinctive character.
Run River North have already hinted at their unique heritage in their earlier album, but it feels as though they have barely broken the surface. Who knows, perhaps if they were to return to that well and truly immerse themselves as Los Lobos did, they might emerge with a sound like no one else.
Songs featured: Ghost, 29, Can’t Come Down, Intro (Funeral) Parade, Ghost, Pretender.
Drinking From A Salt Pond is available on Nettwerk Records.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: Run River North, music, music reviews
Duration: 7'54"
19:40
Malibu by Anderson Paak
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson Paak.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger checks the jazz and soul tangents of eclectic hip-hop musician Anderson Paak.
With the volley of high-profile hip-hop/R&B releases in the first part of this year, a few very good new albums in the genre have been a little overshadowed, and I think this is one of them.
Anderson .Paak is a singer, rapper, multi-instrumentalist and producer from Southern California, whose profile grew exponentially with his appearance on last August’s Dr Dre album Compton: A Soundtrack - one of several young below-the-radar talents showcased on the veteran’s surprise release.
Originally going by the name Breezy Lovejoy, for most of this decade he’s been Anderson .Paak – a variation on his birth name, Brandon Paak Anderson.
Continuing the motif of Californian beaches he began with Venice, his first album as Anderson .Paak from 2014, he has called this latest album Malibu. It’s a very musical offering, roaming freely through hip-hop, jazz, rock’n’roll and whole lot of different kinds of soul.
At times Paak is a rapper, trading rhymes with a raft of guests including The Game and Schoolboy Q. But more often than not he is a singer, with a gentle and soulful delivery. That’s the Paak we’re introduced to right at the start of the album in ‘The Bird’, a song that contains more than a hint of his life story.
Paak’s mother was Korean and, as he says in the song, a farmer. She had her own business growing strawberries in the Southern California city of Oxnard, though later did prison time for a blue collar crime, a sentence Paak says was out of proportion with the offence. His father was African-American and had been in the air force before he too was imprisoned. He died when Paak was still young.
This background informs without dominating the songs on Venice. Paak’s outlook might be tinged with sadness, but he is not consumed with anger. More often than not, he is finding things to celebrate.
Sometimes the joy is simply in the music, like the mad fusion of surf-beat, party claps and 80s dancefloor that Paak somehow cooks up in a track like ‘Parking Lot’.
Anderson .Paark’s Malibu is at times meditative, at other times wonderfully mad. And its eclecticism might account for the cultish rather than crossover success it’s seen so far. Still, it’s a record that’s brimming with invention and musicality, not to mention heart and a whole lot of soul.
Songs featured: The Season/Carry Me, Heart Don’t Stand A Chance, Room In Here, The Bird, Am I Wrong, Celebrate, Parking Lot.
Malibu is available on Steel Wool/OBE.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Anderson Paak, music, music reviews
Duration: 10'12"
19:50
God Don’t Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson
BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nick Bollinger reviews a tribute to gospel-blues man Blind Willie Johnson.
An old 19th century hymn, composed by an English clergyman, was the basis for one of the most singular pieces of music ever put to disc: Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground’. Johnson plays the melody on a D-tuned guitar, which he frets with an object – possibly a knife - in free floating phrases, which he answers himself in a wordless impassioned moan.
Recorded in Texas in 1927, it’s a haunting piece that has inspired film soundtracks, been covered by everyone from Fairport Convention to the Kronos Quartet, and – in its original form – been sent to interstellar space: one of 27 sound samples of human expression launched aboard the Voyager space probe. If any extraterrestrial out there ever gets to hear it, we’ll know the blues are truly universal.
But of the man who made this extraordinary piece of music, what do we know? He was blind, moved around the American south and played gospel music on the streets for change, sometimes in duet with his wife. There is a story that his version of ‘Samson and Delilah’ was so stirring that when he played it outside the New Orleans Custom House he was arrested for inciting a riot.
His recording career lasted a mere 18 months, and he reportedly died of pneumonia, some time in the 1940s. But his music has continued to exert a powerful pull on listeners and musicians alike, as this new compilation shows.
It’s a tribute album, funded by a kickstarter campaign and produced by Jeffrey Gaskill, who similarly oversaw a collection of Bob Dylan’s gospel songs a few years back, and he’s been particular and smart in his recruitment. The contributors are all well-established, with strong links to blues and gospel if not directly to Johnson’s music.
Tom Waits, whose whole career as a singer might be an attempt to match the ferocious passion of Johnson, is one of this small but distinguished group of acolytes and offers two tracks here, as does Lucinda Williams, both of them emphasising the raw bluesy side of their characters.
There are sweeter voices here too, though no less committed in their delivery. Always prone towards the Biblical, Sinead O’Connor sounds right at home in a stomping, hand-clapping account of ‘Trouble Will Soon Be Over’. And then there’s an actual gospel group, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, who deliver their selection – ‘Motherless Children’ - in classic quartet style.
At other times it’s Johnson’s phenomenally fine guitar playing that’s being honoured. There’s a lovely ‘Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning’ from microtonal master Derek Trucks, and a less refined but wonderfully rattling reading of ‘Bye and Bye’ – with cane-fife and drum accompaniment – from Memphis bottleneck man Luther Dickinson.
And there’s an uncharacteristically animated Cowboy Junkies, who let Johnson set the tempo for their version of ‘Jesus Is Coming Soon’, building on a sample of Johnson’s own recording.
If there’s any fault with these new interpretations, it’s a tendency to take the rawness of Johnson’s recordings and exaggerate it. None go the opposite way - as the Kronos Quartet did with their wonderful 2009 recording of ‘Dark Was The Night’, or Ry Cooder with his Johnson-inspired Paris Texas theme - which was to treat Johnson’s blues to an almost-classical reinvention.
But I did especially like the track that closes the disc. Once again, it’s ‘Dark Was The Night’, this time performed in a New Orleans street-style by Rickie Lee Jones. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone sing the words.
Songs featured: Dark Was The Night, The Soul Of A Man, It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Trouble Will Soon Be Over, Motherless Children, Bye and Bye, Jesus Is Coming Soon.
God Don’t Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson is available on Alligator Records.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags: Blind Willie Johnson., music, music review
Duration: 14'17"
=SHOW NOTES=
===8:13 PM. | Windows On The World===
=DESCRIPTION=
International public radio features and documentaries
===9:06 PM. | None (National)===
=DESCRIPTION=
Astrophysicist Professor Storchi Bergmann talks about black holes and their role in the evolution of galaxies (3 of 4, BBC)
===10:00 PM. | Late Edition===
=DESCRIPTION=
RNZ news, including Dateline Pacific and the day's best interviews from RNZ National
===11:06 PM. | None (National)===
=DESCRIPTION=
A selection world music, along with jazz, rock, folk and other styles, artists and songs with world and roots influences chosen and presented by Wichita radio host Chris Heim (2 of 12, KMUW)