The Weekend for Sunday 6 January 2019

 

08:12 Trump warns of "years" long shutdown in fight with divided congress

As a Democratic majority took charge of the U.S. Congress this week, President Donald Trump dug in his heels over a partial federal government shutdown that has lasted a fortnight so far. While Congress passed bills to reopen the government Friday, it did not include funding for President Trump's border wall with Mexico, and the Senate has indicated it would not pass any legislation the President does not support. Providing analysis is Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times. He has covered four presidents, previously reported for The Washington Post, and has written five books. 

08:45 Eddie Beetham: Predicting the future of Pacific atolls

Eddie Beetham is an Auckland University wave scientist who has co-designed a simple calculation that predicts when and where Pacific Islands will be inundated by the ocean. The calculation was developed to be accessible for inhabitants of the islands to use themselves.
 

09:05 Leta Hong Fincher: China threatened by feminist awakening

Leta Hong Fincher's latest book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China, makes a case for the Chinese women's rights movement being the most powerful social force in modern-day China and explains why the country's rulers feel so threatened by the demand for gender equality. Dr. Fincher was the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University's Department of Sociology in Beijing. 

 

09:30 Insight: Loneliness - facing the void

With the UK having appointed a Minister for Loneliness in 2018, Insight investigates what can be done in New Zealand to address the problem, which will likely balloon as the population ages.

 

10:05 Piers Steel: Why we procrastinate - and how to stop

Piers Steel is one of the world's leading thinkers on the science of motivation and procrastination. He is a Distinguished Research Chair at the University of Calgary, and his book, The Procrastination Equation lays out a toolkit for "how to stop putting things off and start getting stuff done."

 

10:35 Adrian Sutherland: Sustainable, organic gardening

Adrian Sutherland runs a Facebook page called One Minute Gardening, where he gives tips to readers from his home in Gisborne. He is also a talented artist. Send in your questions for Adrian to answer about simple, stripped-back gardening and growing your own kai: text 2101, or email theweekend@rnz.co.nz.

 

11:05 Musical Obsessions: Angella Dravid on P. D. Q. Bach

Angella Dravid took home the Billy T. James award at the 2017 New Zealand International Comedy Festival, and her gentle, awkward brand of comedy has also featured on Funny Girls, Jono and Ben, and The Spinoff. She introduces listeners to P. D. Q. Bach - a fictional classical composer invented by musical satirist Peter Schickele - who is billed as a forgotten relation of Johann Sebastian Bach. 

 

11:40 Kitchen Stories: Hanifa and Nilufar cook Uzbek food

Nilufar Allayarova and her daughter Hanifa Kodirova came to New Zealand from Uzbekistan when Hanifa was four (now she's 18 and about to head off to university). They explain how Uzbeks prepare and celebrate food, bringing recipes for a dish of celebration and peace, Uzbek Plov, as well as Uzbek Manti (steamed dumplings) and Uzbek Somsa (Buttery Pastry filled with either meat or vegetables)

 

Music played in today's programme

 

Need a Little Time by Courtney Barnett          

The Only Living Boy in New York by Simon & Garfunkel

This is the Day by The The                         

Blood by Seth Haapu & Maisey Rika

 

Comedian Angella Dravid's obsession with  P. D. Q. Bach

Pervertimento For Bagpipes  
The Art of the Ground Round
The Abduction of Figaro - Act I, Scene I 'Found a peanut'