Full Show Podcast: 09 March 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB. Welcome to the Sunday Session with
Francesca Rudkin and Whig Girls for the best selection of
great reads used TALKSB.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning and welcome to the Sunday Session. I'm Francesca Rudkin,
with you until midday to day. Today on the show,
one of the most celebrated British directors of our time,
Mike Lee, joins me. The award winning director has spent
his career portraying ordinary people in their lives in the
most extraordinary way. His films are character driven piece is
filled with all the tragedy and humor that make us human,

(00:50):
films like Secret and Lies, Vera Drake and Happy Go Lucky.
He's also created some moving period pieces, such as Mister Turner.
Now in his early eighties, he is still making films
in the same unrelenting independent fashion he's done his whole career.
Mike Lee is with Me after ten. Also on the
show today, Patricia Kelly is with us to talk about
her tribute to her husband Gene Kelly. She is bringing

(01:13):
her show Gene Kelly A Life in music to New Zealand,
showcasing his extraordinary career. Gen Kelly, he could do it all.
He was a dancer and actor, as singer and director,
a choreographer and Patricia Kelly is with us to talk
about the man and the magic he produced. After eleven
and the Sunday Session and has been another big week

(01:36):
for Health Minister Simeon Brown as he outlined his plan
to deliver a better health system for New Zealanders. At
the announcement on Friday, Brown outlined his five key health priorities,
a shift back to local decision making by July this year,
and that New Zealand Health would return to board governance.
What was most interesting was it the Minister already has
the cash and the plans lined up to achieve his

(01:57):
five priorities. Take note, ministers, this is how to give
an impression of action, even if what you've claimed as
your own has likely been conceived and developed by your predecessor.
Compared to Shane Retti's quite specific list of five key
priorities released at the same time last year, Brown has
pitched a little broader but is largely focused on the

(02:18):
same outcomes. Brown is going for a mix of quick
and long term fixes. Keir's waiting for elective surgery will
be thrilled to here the government is investing fifty million
between now and the end of June to reduce the backlog.
That's an additional ten five hundred and seventy nine procedures
and a nice way to shift the stats on one
of his priorities. But this is of course ambulance at

(02:40):
the bottom of the hill staff and it's just a
short term sugar hit if they can't then keep up
with future elective surgery demands and wait times. Hence, Brown
is now looking to shore up better contracts with private
operators to take the load off the public sector and
an ongoing capacity. One obvious issue with this is that
the private sector isn't evenly spread across the country postcode

(03:03):
lottery healthcare system anyone. This approach all so relies on
the private sector having the capacity to take on more
public elective surgery. So is this another step towards privatizing
our healthcare system? Hopefully not. But if it means getting
the surgery you have been waiting for in pain for
a long time, I am not sure voters will care
who is delivering the service. As long as it's prompt

(03:26):
and free. Brown's other priorities include making sure kiwis have
timely access to a doctor, reducing edy wait times, and
investing in health infrastructure, digital and physical, and earlier in
the week, Brown prepped himself for this priority. Earlier in
the week, Brown announced an increase in placements and incentives
for overseas doctors and nurses to work in primary care,

(03:48):
a twenty four to seven digital service for New Zealanders
to access online medical appointments, and a two hundred and
eighty five million uplift for general practice over three years.
General practitioners al turle welcomes the funding and attention on
general practice man they've been calling out for it for
a long time, but says more information is needed about
how the money will be spent and distributed. As always,

(04:11):
devil is in the detail. Will the two hundred and
eighty nine million land on the front line or will
it be used to recruit and train these overseas doctors,
pay the thirty million for the nurse recruitment initiative and
run the digital service. If so, then how does that
help GPS take on new patients and achieve the government's targets.

(04:31):
As for digital healthcare, there are already services on the market.
Not sure the government needs to invest in its own
so only time will tell if the Health Minister is
on the right path. But after only minor improvements against
targets last year, new Minister Brown needs to be seen
to take a bigger swing this year, even if he's
borrowing someone else's homework.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
The Sunday session.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
I think if you're on the front line, you might
have some thought on whether this is the right approach
or not. Love to hear from you, But as far
as keeping voters happier, were you impressed with Brown's announcement
this week? Ninety two? Ninety two is the text number
up next, We've got a fresh take on pension reform.
You're with News Talks EP. It is eleven past nine.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Relax, it's still the weekend. It's a Sunday session with
Francesca Rudgin and wood Girls for the best selection of
Greg reads us talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Thank if your texts Russell text to say absolutely yes, Francisca,
any health progress is progress, Bring it on. I had
another text that said anything that is going to get
me my hip operation, I don't care Francisca, as long
as it's soon. It's been twenty seven months on the
waiting list and now my other one is going so
most welcome to text me this morning. Ninety two ninety

(05:43):
two right, how to fix superannuation? It has been a
long time debate. Isn't it a problem Government's recognized but
don't want to touch and one many economists have called
for urgent action on as we deal with an aging population.
Generally the talk centers around raising the super age, but
one economist is offering a fresh take on the pension

(06:04):
reform and a new paper, Auckland Universe, the Associate Professor
Susan St John has introduced the idea of the New
Zealand Superinnuation Grant. To talk me through it, Susan St
John is with me now. Good morning, Susan, good morning,
So tell me what's the idea behind this proposal? Why
have you done the work?

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Well?

Speaker 4 (06:24):
The idea behind the proposal is that when we look around,
if we see all sorts of social issues that are
just not being dealt with, and many of the younger
people are very unhappy summer leaving to go to Australia.
Our health systems falling apart all these sorts of things.
But at the same time, we've got an exceptionally generous

(06:46):
Zealand supernuation scheme which has served us very well. But
when we look at the social security budget, we have
to ask the question, where are our priorities here? Is
it a priority to pay everybody at sixty five, regardless
of whether they're in well paid full time work. Our

(07:07):
millionaires will own multiple properties, is it right? It is
our priority to pay them a very large weekly each
and at the same time when they've got hungry children.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
So it's really interesting, Susan, that you're not trying to
find a way for us to just afford superannuation, but
also how we can be dealing with a heap of
other social issues.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
I'm afraid I'm losing you. I can't hear it.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Okay, can you hear me now, Susan.

Speaker 4 (07:42):
It's a little bit better, Okay, all.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Right, Sorry, I was just saying, so you're the research
that that you've gone into here, this plan that you've
come up with, it's not just so that we can
afford superannuation, but so that we can help solve a
whole lot of other issues that we have in the country.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yes, I think so that's right. Of course, when we
look to the future and we look at the school
pressures that are coming from an aging population, and we
look at the associated health care costs, we really do
have to take our heads out of the sand.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Susan, you've introduced the idea of the New Zealand super
Annuation Grant. Can you talk me through how that would work?

Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yes, Well, there's a paymrote that everybody would get exactly
as they do at the moment, and we've modeled a
whole lot of ways of doing this. But let's say
you're on the married rate of SEPA. Well, you would
then currently be getting about twenty one thousand a year
tax free. Oh and sorry after tax. Well, we would

(08:47):
pay that twenty one thousand as a grant and then
with all your other income it would go onto a
separate tax schedule. And you can organize that tax schedule
to be as progressive as you like, to save as
much money as you like, to claw back at the
top end as fast as you want. But you can

(09:09):
devise moderate scenarios that wouldn't affect lower income super immoritance much,
if at all, while allowing people to keep at least
some super until the mid one hundred, one hundred and
fifty thousand rates.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
So would the super then the non non taxable grant.

Speaker 4 (09:34):
Yes, yes, I mean people get it and after tax
terms now that it would not be part of taxable income,
so your other income would go onto a separate schedule.
It's the basic income idea that you have the secure

(09:54):
amount of money, non conditional income that is there if
you need it as a cushion. So even high income
people who don't neketed at all would still be able
to fall back on that if they chose to.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
Gotcha, So you have this non taxable grant, but then
if you have other income still coming in that potentially
can be taxed at a higher.

Speaker 4 (10:23):
Rate, that's right, okay, And that's how you clow it
back from the top end of superinuitance, the ones that
are well paid, that have multiple assets and lots of
passive income.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
How much would this save, Susan.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
It depends on what you model, what kind of rate
you set for the grant. You could bring it in
exactly the same as currently applies, where you could play
around with that a bit. It depends on the tax schedule,
but on the one that I think makes the most

(11:04):
sense a minimum three billion, so possibly three to five billion,
and growing over time.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Over how long Susan.

Speaker 4 (11:16):
Well, you've had a model that's going out, but we've
got an increasing number of people coming into retirement. We
know that median wealth is very high in higher age groups,
so there's potential to save the significant amount of money

(11:37):
and to do good things with it.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
And in terms of other ideas that have been thrown around,
would this one be the most sort of straightforward and
easy to implement?

Speaker 4 (11:46):
I think so. The other two levers that can be
used and often come up. One is the age raising
the age to sixty seven. Well, you can't do that immediately.
You might have to have a twenty year phasion, and
it doesn't affect any existing retirees, so it's not capable
of saving the same amne. The other option is the

(12:09):
worst and most disastrous option that you would choose, indexation
to CPI, which is what now they do for benefits
of course, and over time what that would do would
be to produce older person poverty on a scale that
we just have never seen.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
So could this be implemented almost immediately with little impact?

Speaker 4 (12:30):
He's given a political will, and I mean ideally what
you would have is a political accord around this. We
can't afford the back and forth with policy. And we
did have an accord for thirteen years or so, not
for thirteen years. We had the surcharge for thirteen years
and that was cemented in with an accord in nineteen

(12:51):
ninety three which wasn't abandoned until the late nineteen nineties.
So we have had political accord before and we could
work a bit harder on that.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Susan, thank you very much for your time in talking
us through that this morning. That was Associate Auckland University
Associate Professor Susan st. John, So came to hear your
thoughts on this potential option for superannuation. So you would
have New Zealand super paid as a non taxable grant
to those who are eligible. Then they would be taxed
at higher rates on their other income from those who

(13:25):
did not receive New Zealand supers. So have a think
about that. Let me know your thoughts the Sunday session. Okay.
Cyclone Alfred in Queensland and New South Wales has downgraded
to a tropical low after hitting mainland last night. A
sixty one year old man died after being swept away

(13:46):
by floodwaters in northern New South Wales. More than two
hundred and sixty thousand homes and businesses are left without
power as of yesterday. Australian correspondent Murray Olds joins me. Now,
good morning, Murray, thanks your time, No.

Speaker 5 (13:59):
Worries, Francesca, Yes, good morning to you. I'm nice and
dry down here in Sydney. But boy boy, they're getting
smacked up north big time.

Speaker 6 (14:05):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
So what was it like when the cyclone hit the
main land?

Speaker 5 (14:09):
Well, look, get it sort of run out of puff.
As you said, it's now been called ex tropical cyclone Alfred,
so it's a bit of a mouthful. Certainly, Alfred was
threatening all last week. It was coming in from the ocean.
It arrived sort of fridaysh parked on Bribe Island and
then as you say, arrived across the coast and it

(14:31):
much diminished in terms of energy, in terms of destructive
power as it crossed the coast around nine o'clock last night,
came in just north of Brisbane. But of course that
is not to understate the just extraordinary impact it's had.
I mean, if you know anything about Queensland, so the
coast out asked to Woomba. That's where heavy rains and

(14:55):
very very strong winds are being felt. It's the same
south of the border because this system is this weather
system is still packing an enormous punch. So you've got
this morning. Think the last stat I saw three hundred
and fifty thousand homes and businesses blacked out, So you know,
it gives you a sense of the scale. Here, I'm
just looking through my notes here, you've got Quantison Jetstar.

(15:18):
We're hoping to resume flights Sunday morning. This morning the
latest news there Brisbane Airport has reopened, but of course
there are still very very strong winds to the point
where it's not safe to get these planes in the air.
They're trying to reposition aircraft from around eastern Australia, but
while ever these winds are happening, they can't get the

(15:38):
aircraft flying. Overnight in Brisbane, torrential rain, very strong winds.
Two people hurt by falling trees, one of those in hospital.
You've got also an inquiry now underway Franchester into how
on Earth. Two big army trucks collided near Lismore in
northern New South Wales. The army was called in across

(16:00):
the weekend, early in the weekend, in fact, I think
they were called on Friday. Anyway, there were thirty six
people on these two trucks that at least one of
them rolled and thirteen are in hospital, three of them
very very seriously. So you've got a whole lot of
moving parts and there's no way known this emergency is
anywhere near over they've got flood their warnings in northern

(16:22):
New South Wales. And these are the same people who
were smacked by massive flooding only three years ago. They're
still traumatized. They were coming out of COVID, the poor buggers,
and then all of a sudden this weather have been
arrived and they were getting drowned. So it is just
so tough for a lot of these communities, small communities.
Many people can't afford the sharretts. There's not a lot

(16:42):
of work there. They sort of retire there. So many
people have built on floodplains. As soon as the river rises,
I mean, their modest accommodations are often swept away.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Marie, are there any thoughts on recovery yet or is
the focus just on getting through at the stage.

Speaker 5 (16:59):
Oh look, it's a bit of buzz to be honest.
It's a very good question because you know we are
in election mode over here. Anthony Albernie, the Prime Minister,
making it very clear late last week and to anyone
who will listen to him, there are emergency payments available
to people to help that initials to the stage of
the cleanup. But it's very very much still in so

(17:21):
much of this disasters on if you like, from Harvey
Bay Way up north of Brisbane to mid north coast
of New South Wales. That's probably I'm guessing now, but
maybe if I said, it's almost the length of New Zealand,
so it's a hell of a it's a hell of
a zone and people are just trying to hang on
and they've got very strong winds forecast today. More rain

(17:44):
is on the way, Rivers are rising, particularly in southern
New South Wales, because the rain is landing now up
at the headwaters of these rivers, and there's a very
intricate and very elaborate, very numerous river systems that feed
down to the coast. So you've still got the weather
event happening. People are beginning by with generators. There's one

(18:05):
guy who makes pies. I saw him on the news
last night. He said, I don't know how the help
that we're going to possibly cope because everybody's turning up
on a hand for the pies, for people that were
working their tails off trying to help their neighbors.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
Are there any more idiots going to the closed beaches?

Speaker 5 (18:22):
Well you've seen a few, haven't you. And I mean
some of the wave heights are just astonishing. I mean
twelve thirteen fourteen meters this is off the coast, But
imagine how much power they are packing when they get
in to make landfall. And there are these fools who
are up and you know, we've got lovely coastal pools
over here, people hanging out of the railings and the
waves arrive. Well, you know the basic warning the police

(18:45):
don't do that, because what they do is then put
themselves and others who go to their rescue at risk.
You had one guy you mentioned, the sixty one year
old fellow. He was in northern New South Wales. Tried
to cross a bridge that looked to be safe. He
had a big four wheel drive, you know, like a
high lux of something along those lines, and he was

(19:05):
simply swept all and he managed to get out of
his vehicle hang on to a tree for half an
hour he was communicating with rescuers. They had no way
of getting to him, and sadly he lost his grip
and fell into the water. And now they found his body.
There's another person also missing, but luckily that that death
toll was not as high as it's been previously in
these similar events. You don't get these cyclones all the time.

(19:27):
I mean, the last cyclone they had in this part
of the world, this far south was nineteen ninety and
prior to that nineteen seventy four, so there's are very
rare events. But boy, oh boy, when they arrived, they
pack a punch.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
Murray, thank you for your time this morning. Really appreciate it. Yes,
we hope that those wins and that rain starts to
listen over the day. Thank you for the update. It
is twenty nine past nine. You're with the Sunday Session.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
It's the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin on Newstalks.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
At b I'm with us now as Newstalks. He'd be
Political editor. Jason Wolves. Good morning, Jason, good morning. Yeah,
Phil Goff, do we know when this dismissal will come
into play? Is it immediate?

Speaker 7 (20:10):
I'm pretty sure it was immediate, as in just basically, sorry,
you've done this as unacceptable, We're moving on. And I
feel a little bit bad for Phil Goff. I mean,
you know, it was probably a bit silly saying it,
but it happened at what's called an events at Chatham House,
and traditionally we have something because journalists called Chathamhouse Rules,
which come from the Chatham House, which means that basically,

(20:32):
if it's said, you're not allowed to report on it,
or it's off the record, as it were. So it's
somewhat ironic that he's essentially been fired because he said
something at Chatham House.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah, you're not that to identify who said it.

Speaker 7 (20:45):
Yeah, well, I mean again, this is the thing, like
these rules over the years have changed so much and
they're open to so much interpretation that some one person's
off the record as another person's background.

Speaker 8 (20:56):
So it all gets a little confusing. So I can
see why he was.

Speaker 7 (20:59):
Quite confused or might have been quite confused about it.
But nevertheless, to what it does highlight is that there
is a little bit at this time of a worry
about the Trump administration and not wanting to say anything
that it's going to upset them, because as far as
the comments about Donald Trump or the remarks made against him,
questioning his understanding of his history, like Phil Goff did,

(21:22):
is probably quite a minor one, but nevertheless it highlights
just how worried New Zealand is about this administration.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
So do you think at any other time it would
have been a severe telling off as opposed to a sacking.

Speaker 7 (21:33):
I think so. I think that it's just given the
all sorts of attentions there are in the proneness of
the Trump administration to do potentially something quite rash. I mean,
we're looking down the barrel of agricultural tariffs, we're looking
down the barrel of steel and aluminium tariffs for US
as well. At this stage, the government is trying to
do all it can to ensure that New Zealand gets

(21:54):
an exemption for that. And if we have one of
our top diplomats out there even slightly making fun of
Donald Trump, that's not going to play very well for US.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
School Lunchgate continues.

Speaker 7 (22:06):
Yeah, well, I mean it almost seems like it's never
going to end, you can't really open a newspaper or
a listen to a news bulletin without seeing something about it.
And you know, in a lot of cases quite rightly,
the burned plastic issue is obviously problematic with the kid
that got burned after opening one of his and it'd
splashed everywhere, very problematic. So the Education Minister and the

(22:31):
Associate Education Minister, so that is David Seymour and Erica Stamford.
They've been trying to meet this week, or at least
Erica Stamford has been trying to meet with David Seymour.
They said that they were going to make it work
on Tuesday, they didn't find the time. They said they
were going to make it work on Wednesday, again, they
couldn't find the time. From what I understand, the issue
seems to be in Seymour's office in terms of finding

(22:52):
his availability as it were. But it really highlights what
is a tense and frosty relationship between Erica Stamford and
David Seymour, and this issue is just really exacerbating it.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Adrian does he owe us an explanation for his resignation
this week?

Speaker 9 (23:11):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (23:11):
Absolutely, I mean he is the most powerful non elected
civil servant in New Zealand like by quite some margin,
and he just decided to up and leave, and not
only that, just didn't tell anybody why. I mean, we've
what we've been forced to do is just in this
void of any actual information, is to speculate. And it
seems like the main factor is the fact that he

(23:34):
is upset at the fact that he's not going to
get as much funding for the Reserve Bank as he
would have liked. Every single government department is taking haircuts
and it seems the Reserve Bank was no exception to that,
and so he's just uped and left. And if it
was you know, if it was a health reason or
if it was some family issue, usually we would have
sort of been briefed by one of the two sides,

(23:56):
Reserve Bank or the government to say, hey, maybe tone
it down.

Speaker 9 (23:59):
A little bit.

Speaker 7 (23:59):
He's going through this, this and that, but there's been
none of it. And so obviously the issue is that
he's had this blow up with the Finance. Listen, he's
just decided, you know what, Nope, not for me anymore.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
I'm going I quite like that, though, Jason. I like
the fact we've not being told it's to have more
family time or for health reasons and things like that.
That's sort of you know, you never quite know how
truthful sometimes those you know, those explanations are yeah.

Speaker 8 (24:24):
And I agree for the most part.

Speaker 7 (24:25):
I mean, not using your family as a crutch because
you're just a bit annoyed at work. I mean, I
guess that's admirable. But still, I mean, the fact is,
we would have found out anyway what the issue is.
I mean, it seems like it is this funding problem.
Why didn't somebody just come out and say that is
we had the well, the chair of the bank coming
out and saying, you know, oh, it's a personal reasons.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
We know that it's just not happy. He doesn't want
to be there any longer. It's that simply spit up.
But I do think that it wasn't professionally handled. You know,
as you say, you have a very large public role there.
You need to show some respect to the board. You
need to go through a sort of a process. You
don't just kind of you know, so that's it. I'm
out to see you later. So definitely could have been

(25:05):
handled I think a bit more of a dignified manner.
Jason Walls Thank you as always good to catch up
with you. It is a twenty two to ten News
Talks ATB.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
For Sunday session full show podcast on iHeartRadio powered by
News Talks FB.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
News Talks AB. I don't forget that one of the
most celebrated British directors of our time, Mike Lee, is
going to be with me after teen very much looking
forward to talk to him. He's got a new film
out right now, Saving Butts by Sinking Puts. That's what
it's all about for South Canterbury man Barry Coleman. Yesterday
Barry set off on a year and a half journey
to play every golf course in New Zealand, a total

(25:43):
of four hundred and fourteen courses. Barry's quest is in
honor of his wife Megan, who he lost two years ago,
and to raise money and awareness for mental health. Barry
Coleman joins me, now, good morning.

Speaker 10 (25:56):
Barry, good morning.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
How did this idea come about of playing every golf
course in New Zealand?

Speaker 10 (26:03):
Okay, So, after I lost my wife, Megh, I was
playing golf one day with three of my mates and
they came up with an idea to start a charity.
So we called it the Links Foundation and it went
from there. So we did two big tournaments on Go
Meet Golf for Hope, and then I got the idea

(26:25):
to do more and do the affording four hundred.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
And fourteen because you and your friends you've already raised
seventy five thousand for I Am Hope. This is obviously
a really important cause to you.

Speaker 10 (26:37):
Better Yes, I Am Hope an amazing charity and through
New Zealand and the youth and put counseling in that.
So we thought it's a good charity to sponsor.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Am I right that you've sold your house and you're
taking time off work to do this. This is a
big commitment.

Speaker 10 (26:57):
So I'm unemployed. Yes, that's left my job, but I
can go back to it after I finished the trip
and you've sold up the house. Yeah, and where I
go living in a camp even for fifteen months.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
It's fantastic. I know you've been supplied to camp a
van for the trip. It's going to be raffled off,
so you are you literally driving from one golf course
to the next and living out of this van for
a year and a half.

Speaker 10 (27:28):
So trail light I'm from aboard and giving me a
camp a ven to travel around to every golf course.
I'd say I'm going to raffle it off after my trip,
but I don't go with it.

Speaker 9 (27:41):
Though.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
What do you think Megan would think of this idea, Perry?

Speaker 10 (27:47):
I could be proud of me and you would think
that was amazing, And yeah, yes, I must every day.
So yeah, proud of what I'm doing.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
I know that you've got three daughters as well. Are
they going to be able to join you at some point?

Speaker 10 (28:02):
I live all over the country and when I passed
through it going to come and join her for a
couple of days or a week hopefully.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
And I hear that word is spread and you're already
being invited to a few barbecues and and had requests
for people to join you. Was that right?

Speaker 10 (28:20):
Yes, I've been trying to lose weight and get fit
for the tour, but yeah, a lot of barbecues and
wake up and there's bacon and eggs ready for me,
and so it's not going too well on the diet.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
Well, you've got you know, you've got to get keep
your stamminer up, Barry. You sit yourself quite a target here.
Four hundred and fourteen courses. Are you good at golf Berry.

Speaker 10 (28:44):
No, just average golfer. Yeah, so are some of these?

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Are some of these courses going to be quite challenging
for you?

Speaker 10 (28:52):
Yeah, certainly yes, my bigger resort ones, even the nine
of them holes around the Zealand pretty tough, yes, some
of them. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
You started yesterday your home course, Wheden's Country Club. How
did the round go yesterday, Barry?

Speaker 10 (29:08):
Yeah, it was great.

Speaker 5 (29:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (29:10):
The greenkeeper had a challenge called Greenkeeper's Revenge, so there
was obstacles on the greens and stuff like that, and
it's very interesting. So it was a great way to start.
And Weedam's have been great support to me.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
So I know that you've got you give a little
page and I'll give that information in a minute. But
are you are you keen for people to come along
and be part of this as well?

Speaker 10 (29:33):
Yes, and I'm too right, but to be going the
page and message me and I'll be glad to have
some company along the way. Very great.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
What courses are you most looking forward to?

Speaker 10 (29:47):
There's a few up in the North Island and the
resort ones that comes down south. That's what friends want
to join with.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
So some of those really kind of flash nice private ones.

Speaker 8 (30:00):
Berry.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
They're they're they're letting you in and everyone's very keen
to support you at those ones, are they?

Speaker 10 (30:05):
Yes, like down in Millbrook and in Queenstown that day
I will join you down there, so yeah, I'll catch
up for those.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
Well, what do you think your biggest challenge is going
to be over these four hundred and fourteen days or courses?

Speaker 10 (30:22):
I should say, See, it's going to be some highs
and lows. It's going to be quite draining every day
traveling and in the course, isn't it. And hopefully it's
the body or get through it plus the weather sometimes
it's not going to be very nice I suppose. Yeah,
are the most challenging things.

Speaker 2 (30:41):
Oh, Barry, really nice to talk to you, and I
wish you all the best, and I think we're going
to be very proud. You can find Barry Coleman's give
a little page by looking up his name and searching
saving butts by sinking puts, and you'll be able to
see when maybe I give you a bit more information
as to hate and follow him and when he's in
your region and you can, I don't know, go and
sink some parts with Barry it is fourteen to tenure

(31:04):
with NEWSTALKSB digging.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
Into the issues that affect you. The mic Hosking Breakfast.

Speaker 11 (31:10):
So, no, the airline is not in great shape. It
is at best okay. And no, this doesn't look like
a job completed in any way, shape or ball. It
looked like a fairly dull old the fair, didn't it.
A handful of people sitting on cheap chairs in a room,
and Phil looked like, jeez, I got a three afternoon
I might go along and ask it. They had that
vibe about it, didn't It really didn't need to be
the career ending mess that it turned out to be.

(31:31):
So no teriffs at all on anything for Mexico. Canada
is still in the gun. The agriculture has been moved on.
Maybe maybe not, but yesterday we got the cats who
the hell.

Speaker 8 (31:40):
Knows what's going on?

Speaker 11 (31:42):
Back tomorrow at six am The mic Hosking Breakfast with
the rain driver of the lam Used Talk zed B.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
There's no better way to start your Sunday. It's the
Sunday Session with Francesca Rutkin and Wiggles for the best
selection of Greg reads Used Talk.

Speaker 5 (31:57):
Said be.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Thanks for your text this morning. One reads Jason is wrong.
There isn't a frosty relationship between Erica and David. She
was on my show this week and said they get
on well and have a good relationship. Another one here,
High Francisca in response to your guest, why would I
work hard all my life? Pay my taxes? We're talking
about the superannuation here, pay my taxes and save a
couple of million for a comfortable retirement after working fifty years,

(32:20):
and then lose my weekly pension, which my taxes have
paid for. And then for her to say my super
should go to pay for people who were struggling to
pay for child poverty. In my twenties, I got told
my boy parents, don't start to have a family until
you can afford to. Adults need to heed this advice.
Don't have children until you can afford it, and don't
expect the taxpayer to pay for your choices. It was
from John, Thank you. Another one here on the superannuation.

(32:44):
So it sounds like if mar and par rental owners
would be taxed at high rates on the rent once
they retired, if they sold their rental, they would be
taxed at a high rate soon as they put their
money in the bank, So a little bit of feedback
for you there on the super thank you for that
for golf. I tend to agree with Jason on that though.

(33:04):
I think that any other particular time, when there weren't
the terrible teas, these terroriffts, the idea of these terrorifts
floating around, that that would have been a you know,
you would have got a severe warning or telling offer,
you know, as opposed to an instant dismissal. But here's
the thing. I look, I know it was a Chathamhouse event,

(33:25):
but I still in this day and age where it
seems whatever you say, wherever you sat, it can be
taken and shared numerous different ways. I probably still wouldn't
rely on that. I wouldn't go. But it's Chathamhouse rules.
You know, I shouldn't be you know, identify, you know,
nothing should be identified as to who said what. I

(33:47):
should be able to be in here and speak freely.
That is, of course the idea of the Chathamhouse rule.
But I think if you're a public figure, if you're
a diplomat, and you know you shouldn't say something out
in public, I don't think it matters whether you're under
Tathamhouse rules. You shouldn't say it in there either, because
I think it's really naive to think that people aren't
going to go, hmmm, it's slightly inappropriate for a diplomat

(34:09):
to say, maybe I shall share that and off it goes.
It's the same you can, you know, share information at
at Chathamhouse rules on social media, but it's the same thing.
You can't directly or indirectly identify the speaker or a
participant or who said anything. So I don't know, it's
a bit tough, but I still think if you a diplomat,

(34:31):
you know what you're allowed to say and you know
what you're not and I think you're really naived to
think that those things won't get out there. Righty ho,
Hey the Little Things is back. This is the podcast
that I do with my friend Louise Ari. Season four
launched yesterday, which is very exciting. Our first guest is

(34:52):
Lara Brighton. She's a Canadian born natural path. She lives
she's based here now in christ Church, but spends a
lot of the time traveling the world talking about metabolism.
So if you can't get through the day without snacking
on a sweet treat to try and build energy, up.
If you're feeling tired, if you can't lose weight, then
it may be an issue with your metabolism. And in

(35:13):
this first podcast, she just kind of explains to us
what the metabolism is and the impacts that you know,
our lives can have on it, and how it can
be making us feel this way. So, look, if you're
not feeling if you start twenty five and you're not
feeling a hundred, haven't listened to the podcast. It's really
interesting and she's very motivating when it comes to maybe

(35:35):
looking after our general health a little bit better. You
can get the little things at iHeartRadio or wherever you
get your podcasts. It is seven to ten News Talks EPP.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
The Sunday Session full show podcast on iHeartRadio powered by
News talksb.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yes Apology. Someone text to say, it's just a Chathamhouse rule.
It is just one rule. You're quite right. It is
a very simple rule that nothing should be done to
identify either explicity or implicity. Who said what it's all
about trying to have an environment where you can have
an inclusive and open dialogue and you can all say
what you really think. It's used a lot by government

(36:15):
and research organizations and universities and things like that. So
you should be able to say whatever you want, but
nothing should be attributed to you. So you know, ideas
or what was said may be revealed, but it can't.
You don't know who said it, but you're right. It
is just a rule, one simple rule someone broke anyway.

(36:36):
Mike Lee is one of the most celebrated British directors
of our time. His films include Life Is Sweet, Very Drake,
Another Year, Happy Go Lucky, Naked and Mister Turner. With
numerous awards and nominations for his impressive body of work,
least he meanted his reputation as one of the most
celebrated British directors of our time. He's in his early eighties,

(36:57):
he's still going making the films the way he wants
to and not bending to the will of Hollywood. And
Mike Lee is with me. Mixt Hey, if you were
in Auckland over the last couple of nights, you might
have seen Chris Stapleton play Spike Arena apparently sold out.
He's a little bit of Tennessee whiskey to end the

(37:18):
our Bactually.

Speaker 12 (37:50):
Your's a glass's branded.

Speaker 9 (38:08):
On a ey This all on your all times.

Speaker 13 (38:23):
Tennessee Tennessee, What's here, Tennessee, What's here, Tennessee? What's Tennessee's.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Tennessee?

Speaker 13 (38:52):
What's here?

Speaker 1 (38:58):
It's Sunday.

Speaker 5 (38:59):
You know what that means.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
It's the Sunday Session with Francisca, Rutkins and Wickles for
the best selection of great Reeds news talk.

Speaker 6 (39:07):
Say good morning.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
Welcome to the Sunday Session. Good to have you with
us this morning. Mike Lee is considered the godfather of
British cinema. Across his sixty years in the film industry,
Mike has been an actor, producer, screenwriter and director, his
films famously focusing on the struggles of ordinary people, pretraying
real people and their real life problems. His latest film,

(39:35):
it's called Hard Truths. It's a Tragy comedy telling the
story of a woman, Pansy, who is deeply unhappy with
the world.

Speaker 14 (39:41):
Look at you, fix your face, dealing with the public,
handling people's food, people can't stand them, cheerful, grilling people.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
You know, I've got healthy shoes.

Speaker 14 (40:01):
I've been harassed people all day.

Speaker 9 (40:04):
I'm sick to death with it.

Speaker 15 (40:08):
I just want a top.

Speaker 8 (40:09):
Will stop.

Speaker 2 (40:14):
It's I said Deeply Unhappy. Our Truths released in cinemas
this week, and director Mike Lee is with me. Mike,
it's so good to have you with us. Let's start
by talking about Mary Angel Baptiste, who plays Pansy. You
last work together on Secrets and Lies in nineteen ninety six,
a bit a time there between films, isn't there? Has
a reunion always been on the cards?

Speaker 16 (40:36):
Yes, of course. I mean we're stay in touch. I
mean we're close, we're friends, you know, and she lives
in La and so she comes over occasionally. So we
had to arrange to get her over for a stretch
of time to do it, which she's very happy with that. Yeah,
I mean it was always going to happen and finally,
and it was actually going to happen sooner. It was
going to happen in twenty twenty, but the pandemic scopp

(40:59):
of that. But yeah, finally we did it two years ago.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Pansy is a unique character. I can't imagine anybody else
taking her on.

Speaker 16 (41:08):
Well, I mean, that's kind of that's an interesting way
putting it. I mean, of course, there are lots of
very good character actors who would have done their own
version of the same sort of character. But that's not
really the point. The way I work with actors, as
you will know probably is, you know, I regard them
as creative artists in their own rights, and we have

(41:29):
great space for them, for us to explore and to
develop and grow the characters and the relationships and their world.
So in that context, I mean, she is brilliant. She's
a brilliant character actor. She's a brilliant she's very versatile.
She's got a great sense of humor, she's got a
great sense of We share a sense of humor and

(41:50):
a sense of the grotesque, you know. And so yeah, was,
as it were, pansis right up our street, so to speak.

Speaker 2 (41:59):
Asy, you mention your style of directing and involves developing
the characters and the script through improvisation and rehearsal, this
collaborative What is it you love so much about this approach?

Speaker 16 (42:09):
Well, I mean the point is this, it's this is
not quite answering your question. It's the only way that
I know about to create things. I mean, you know,
I obviously in the early days I sat in rooms
and wrote things, but I could never come up with
anything like any of the films that I've made other
than the way that we've made them, where there's no

(42:31):
break distinction between the acting, the direction, the script is
all part of a whole. So to me, it's the
natural and natural way. It's become very early on. It
became the natural way to create material. And the actual
definition of the actual action itself happens during the actual

(42:55):
shoot where we shoot. You know, we build each sequence,
each scene seen by seeing location by location, by improvising
and then scripting through rehearsal, and then being rejoined by
the crew and working on how to film, and then
filming it. So all of which is preceded by a

(43:16):
few months of preparatory work. And really that's to me,
it's the only way to work. Actually, as a much
of interest, this year it's the sixtieth anniversary of when
I first worked in this way.

Speaker 2 (43:32):
Congratulations, thank you very.

Speaker 16 (43:35):
Much, nineteen sixty five.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
It's very impressive. It's interesting because when people sort of hear, oh,
there's no script, and they improvise and things like that,
it's very misleading because it implies that there's sort of
something lucy goosey about these films, but in fact it's
the complete opposite. If you watch one of your films,
there is so much precision involved, not just worth the

(43:59):
dialogue and the characters, but with the locations that you choose,
with the at direction, with the wardrobe. It all informs
the characters.

Speaker 16 (44:08):
I think that's right, and I appreciate your saying that,
because that is absolutely you've summed it up better than
I could. And of course the collaboration with the actors,
with the production designer, the costume designer, the makeup designer,
and indeed the cinematographer is always central to the whole
operation of preparing and creating the world of the film.

(44:30):
And that's what it's all about. And yes, I mean,
as you what you're talking about is the great myth
about the films is that is a sort of ad
hoc ad lib mess of people just add libbing in
front of the camera and then it's somehow we go
away and bail it all out like a bolus spaghetti. Well,
of course, that is, as you say, about a million

(44:51):
miles away from the other end of the spectrum from
the truth. I mean, that is a way of making films.
But it's had no appeal to me at all.

Speaker 2 (44:59):
Actually, I can't imagine it would be for everyone. Is
it something that you have to be quite mindful of
when you cast your film and how.

Speaker 16 (45:07):
Your Yeah, definitely there are there are actors and actors.
There are very good actors who can't who aren't character actors,
they play themselves. There are actors who really, unless you
give them a script, they are saying they don't get
it and they don't want to, you know they you know.
And there are people, of course, the other thing about

(45:27):
which I have to be vigilant, people who think they
they'd be good at this, but actually what they think
it's about, you know, I mean, what it's not about.
And this improvisation is a huge plays a huge role
in the creative process. But it is about being in
character and behaving how your character will behave, not trying

(45:49):
to think of funny things to say, and you know, sports,
it's absolutely not theaters.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
More accurately, do you have actors in mind when you're
conceiving your films?

Speaker 16 (46:06):
Yeah, but I don't ever commit to I know we
have got the film, the budgets in place, and we
know how much time there is. Yeah, and then I
invite actors to take part. I usually have quite extensive
auditions I mean they're always new actors. Most of the
actors in Hard Truth are new to me. Not some
of the ones playing minor parts have come in sort

(46:29):
of notice. But the central characters only Michelle and Marie
Anne are people I've worked with before.

Speaker 2 (46:37):
Do you enjoy that working with new people all the time?

Speaker 16 (46:42):
It takes about five minutes to forget that their first
time is. You know, we get down to it and
it's all going on.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Are you a bit of a fictionist or a control
freak when it comes to your films?

Speaker 16 (46:53):
Yes, I am, of course. But there's a difference between
a fascist control freak who doesn't let anybody express themselves.
There's such an and somebody who needs to be in control.
But for who it's important that everybody expresses themselves and
we really let things go in on predictable directions. But
in the end, yeah, I mean it has to be

(47:13):
under control and you know, and and done with a
high degree of perfectionism. So I think it was I
think it's worth qualifying that slightly.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
This approach that you have towards making your films, How
does how difficult does that make life for your producers
and you're working with Georgina Lowe at the moment, is
it hard to sell a film when you don't necessarily,
you know, have the script and do everything the way
everybody else does things.

Speaker 16 (47:40):
We don't know, we don't. It isn't that we don't
necessarily we don't have. We apart from historical films, we've
always had to say, can't tell you what it's about,
can't discuss casting, and don't interfere with it. Occasionally you
get back, as you say it, fantastic, go for it,
and mostly we get people either telling you to f off,

(48:01):
or they say, well, yes, we really really really respect
what you do and we like your films, but not
for us, and not for us as code for, we
can't get involved in a project that we can't interfere
with and generally screw up. So that's what happens. So
it's tough. It is very difficult, and indeed it's got harder,

(48:23):
and even as we speak, we're struggling with the budget
for the next film.

Speaker 2 (48:28):
But not all directors get to make the films they
want to make, or make them the way they want to.
I mean, you know, remaining independent is obviously is clearly
a decision that you've made in one, I think you
should be very proud of.

Speaker 16 (48:43):
Well, I mean, I'm my concern at this stage of
the proceedings. I mean, I'm in my eighties. Michaelson is
for the young filmmakers and filmmakers of the future in
the context of independence people. You know, I want filmmakers
to have that freedom to make films the film they

(49:04):
want to make how they want to make them, and
not to be dictated to or to be kept endlessly
being strung along by procrastinating backers and executives and all
the rest of it streamers. So yeah, people's young filmmakers said,
what advice do you have? And I also say, well,

(49:25):
the only advice I got is never compromised. And it's
a hard journey. I mean, they don't getting around it.
It's tough, you know, but.

Speaker 5 (49:33):
You have to.

Speaker 16 (49:33):
My late producer would come back from meetings with potential backers.
He'd say, look, they don't care that there's no script,
and they don't care they don't know what it's about.
But they will insist on a name, meaning a Hollywood name. Yeah, listener,
And I'd say, well, let's walk away. So yeah, but

(49:54):
but they'll give you as they know they won't they'll
give the hard time, you know, and that's so, you know,
you have to you have to not compromise with it.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
Throughout your career, you're focused on real life, real issues,
real people. Have you always been an observer.

Speaker 16 (50:11):
Of people from an early age?

Speaker 17 (50:14):
Really? Yeah?

Speaker 16 (50:17):
I mean when I was I think I was I
was twelve when one of my grandfathers died and it
was a very cold, snowy day in Manchester and we
were in the house and the house was full of
more less of various kinds, and the guys struggled down
the stairs with the coffin. One of the guys carrying

(50:41):
the pall bearers had a long drip at the end
of his nose, and I remember thinking, this is I'd
like to make films about this sort of thing, you know,
has inspired me, you know, that's for example, you know.

Speaker 2 (50:54):
So yeah, one thing I love about your films is
that you recognize that sometimes the best, you know, one
way to get through tragedies and difficult times is to
do it with humor and the importance sort of humor
in our lives. Do you think if there was either
a time we recognized how much humor there is alongside tragedy.
This is the time. The sort of the world out

(51:16):
there is a little bit of a hell and a
handbang at the moment, Michael, or do you think no
more than usual?

Speaker 16 (51:22):
Well, it's that's that's a tough question in a way,
because I love your expression of hell and a handbag.
I mean, yeah, Actually, the world at the moment is
entering on a daily basis ever more disastrous territory than waters.
And it ain't funny, that's for sure. However, what you're

(51:44):
actually talking about is the fact, as far as I'm concerned,
is that life is comic and tragic. People say to me, oh,
you when you decide to be funny, and when I don't, actually,
I mean, I think you know hard truth is a
very much you know, people laugh uprooriously in the early
part of the film, and it isn't that what's happening

(52:04):
is just zany because what's happening you laugh, but you
know what underlying what's going on. Of course, there's a
certain point in the film when you stop laughing, but
that just is organic and comes out of what's going on.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Really, Mike, I know that you don't like to reveal
too much about new projects. But I understand you are
seat to shoot your next film this year. Is that right?

Speaker 4 (52:30):
I hope?

Speaker 16 (52:30):
So what do you say we're set to shoot it.
We're not set to shoot it because we have money together.
I would like to say we're set to shoot it.
We're planning to if we can. And given what I've
already mentioned several times, which is I discover what the
film is on the journey of making it, you won't
be surprised if I'm not going to tell you what
it is that we don't know yet. We don't know

(52:53):
what it is, so to speak.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
Still a lot, a lot of observations to put on screen, though, Mike,
it's one. It's wonderful.

Speaker 16 (52:59):
Obviously life goes on, you know, and life is there
to explore.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
Wonderful. I can't thank you enough of your time. Thank
you so much. It's been a pleasure to meet you.
That was legendary British filmmaker Mike Lee. His new film
Hard Truths is in cinemas this Thursday. It's twenty one
past ten. You're with News Talks FB GRAB Recover.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
It's the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudgin and Wikeles for
the best selection of great bringings used talksb.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
There really is something for everyone at Wickles. They have
the most amazing selection of stock to choose from. Whether
you're into reading, art and craft, jigsaw puzzles, games, and
so much more, or just needing to find the next
perfect gift at the moment, They've got some great deals
on stationary. Wick Calls Jigsaws are two for thirty five dollars.
You can get two packs of Uno card game for
twenty dollars. Plus there's twenty percent of all Lonely Planet titles.

(53:51):
If you're planning a trip somewhere, now is the perfect
time to stock up on travel guides for you all
your destinations and Lonely Planet go everywhere, and don't forget
the wick Cauls Top one hundred, Kids, fifty Kids Top
fifty and Jones Picks are simply the best book recommended.
With a huge selection of books, games, puzzles, toys, gorgeous
stationary and twenty percent of all Lonely Planet books. There

(54:14):
really is something for everyone at wit Calls.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
The Sunday session.

Speaker 2 (54:33):
Long put it, Sam Fender there, people watching bringing us
into our entertainment segment and I'm joined by Steve Newall,
editor at Flickstar Coto.

Speaker 18 (54:41):
And said, good morning, good morning to you.

Speaker 19 (54:44):
Key.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
We directed James Ashcroft. He is what's his next film,
because he's just released a film.

Speaker 18 (54:51):
Just about to release the film film, I think far
from a household name at the stage. James Ashcroft has
released one film to date, which was twenty twenty one's
Coming Home in the Dark, which was a fantastic creepy thriller.
He has another film that's about to open here shortly.
But while we're waiting for the Rule of Jenny Pen

(55:11):
which is here in a couple of weeks, there's been
a big casting announcement for his third film, which is
about to go into production. It was as previously reported,
The Whisperman is Ashcroft's thriller for Netflix, starring Robert de Niro. So,
if you're sitting down with a napkin to make your
list of actors you want to be in your film,

(55:33):
who would you pinch yourself over? That's probably the first
name on the list, right, So that casting news came
out a couple of weeks ago. The Whisperman is based
on a novel by Alex Cross. It's about a widowed
crime writer who, after his son has abducted, looks to
his estranged father, retired police detective for help, only to
discover a connection with the decades old case. But the

(55:56):
casting announced overnight via Hollywood website deadline dot com Deadlines
reporting that the stars of two of TV's biggest series
right now are also joining the cast, Michelle Monaghan of
The White Lotus and Adam Scott of Severance. Oh my, so,
Ashcroft's released one film to audiences here and Alta, and

(56:19):
now he's going up to make his third film with
Roberts Andara, Adam Scott and Michelle mon.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
That is really impressive. The Rule of Genny Pen which
is releasing in the next week or two.

Speaker 11 (56:28):
Yeah, that's out.

Speaker 18 (56:28):
That's got a formal release date of March twenty. There
are sneak screenings around. I noticed that there are a
few screenings this weekend around the country and during the
week as well. This is another really creepy thriller. I
think we'll maybe going to that in a bit more
detail next week.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
Well, I was just going to say it stars Jeffrey
Rush and John Let's go two other really big names.
I think he thought to himself you know. I mean,
he really wanted to work with those two actors. We've
going to have Jeffrey Rush actually on the show in
the next week or two as well to talk about this.
But I think he thought, Wow, I've landed these two actors,
you know that I really really wanted to work with.
I've got the perfect people for these roles. And then

(57:02):
to hear that about his third film is remarkable.

Speaker 18 (57:05):
Yeah, it's a real strike while the iron's hot kind
of casting, right, like Severance. Severance has just been confirmed
as Apple TV Plus's highest viewed ever show, the second
season of Severance, which is airing now. The White Loaders
also obviously HBO's flagships.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
I love he's going big. I love he's going. This
is what I want.

Speaker 18 (57:25):
Yeah, absolutely so this is This is Ashcroft directing for
the Russo Brothers, the other producers on this film. So
they've got a very extensive Netflix deal. I guess if
it's a name that's unfamiliar to people, they're the directors
for hire that made a bunch of big Marvel movies

(57:45):
and have gone on to start carving out their own
streaming niche as well.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Awesome news and other awesome news is The Righteous Gemstones
is returning for one final season on Neon.

Speaker 18 (57:59):
Yeah, this is really exciting. I love the show so much,
so why you put me onto this? And I think
it's really easy to go to think as I did,
that a show that kind of lampoons televangelists would be
too obvious and too shooting fish in a barrel and
it's it's just too easy a target. But the writer's
Gymstones has consistently overreached and become a show where I've

(58:23):
spent three seasons so far going how are they allowed
to make this?

Speaker 8 (58:27):
Why does it?

Speaker 18 (58:28):
It doesn't make Does this make economic sense? Does this
make taste good? Taste sense? Still not sure, but season
four opens with the spectacular first episode that you'll be
able to see for yourselves tomorrow. We're precluded from saying
too much about it other than that you're in for
one heck of a surprise with the first episode of

(58:48):
season four.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Look, if you haven't jumped on board, I can remember
when you first recommended it to me. You said, look,
give it a couple of epps, you know, stick it out,
and you that was really good advice, because as that
first season went on and on, it just got better
and better and better.

Speaker 17 (59:02):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (59:02):
It's like you've got You've got a grasp on the
better grasp on the characters, you understood the humor about anything,
you got into it.

Speaker 18 (59:09):
Well, I think Danny McBride, who's very much the it's
his show. He's the star, he's the he's the writer,
he directs a bunch of episodes. His sensibility is riddled
right through this. So if you're if you're a fan
of Eastbound and Down, et.

Speaker 8 (59:20):
Cetera, you'll you'll you'll love this.

Speaker 18 (59:22):
But yes, it's it's honed on on some very specific
things about its characters, and as I just learned from
watching some clips of Jimmy Kimmel the other evening, this
season has had to deploy how do I put this
on a Sunday morning? A few private anatomy doubles?

Speaker 2 (59:40):
OKAYK, I think I think we get the picture.

Speaker 18 (59:43):
And what I learned about private anatomy doubles, if I
may share, one wanted bit is that allegedly they don't
get to see the private anatomy before it arrives on set,
presumably because people don't want pictures of their private anatomy.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
Being so you've just got to hope you hire the.

Speaker 18 (59:58):
Private anatomy guy and get you kind of get what
you get and.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
You don't get upset.

Speaker 8 (01:00:05):
I love it's.

Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
Oh look all good news today, really great news about James.

Speaker 8 (01:00:09):
A good book.

Speaker 2 (01:00:10):
Videos, O good videos.

Speaker 8 (01:00:12):
We'll take that.

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
On a Sunday morning. I'm very excited to hear what
James Ashcroft's up to. And of course The Righteous Gemstones
is season four kicking off on neon tomorrow. Thank you
so much, and don't forget the coming up after eleven.
I'm joined by Patricia Kelly today to talk about her
remarkable husband, the actor, dancer, director and choreographer Gene Kelly.
It is twenty eight to eleven.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
It's the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin on News Talks
at B.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
It is time for our science study of the weekend.
I'm joined by doctor Michelde concern. Good morning, good morning.
Can you wiggle your ears?

Speaker 8 (01:00:48):
Yes?

Speaker 20 (01:00:48):
I can? Can you?

Speaker 21 (01:00:52):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
I headphones on? I haven't. I'm trying to work out.

Speaker 8 (01:00:55):
I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:00:56):
I can do funny things with my eyebrows, but I'm
not sure I'm a good ear.

Speaker 20 (01:00:59):
Oh look look at yours guy only fifteen percent of
the population can wiggle. That is a you tend to
net no.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
Right, I don't know. I don't know what I'm trying
to do. Make I think I'm trying to move my
jaw or something.

Speaker 20 (01:01:13):
So fifteen percent of the population can. I can, And
I know I know I can because I've always been
on to do it, and it's one of those things
I did in the playground as a kid. And you
realize the number of kids that could do it was
a few of them. Why are we doing this new
study out in Frontiers in neuroscience, are trying to figure
out where this comes from, and why can some of
the populations still do this, and is it helpful? So

(01:01:33):
you may know that if if a pet, a cat
or a dog, for example, when it hears a certain sound,
it move physically moves its ears to try and pick
up that sound better. We can't physically move our ears
in a way that a dog or a cat can,
but actually our ear muscles still try to make unconscious
movements because we used to be able to move our ears,

(01:01:53):
like twenty five million years ago, we could actually physically
move them similar to a cat or a dog, And
so what they did to go, well, is this is
this our ears, our ears, our old ears still trying
to work twenty five million years later. To test this,
they took twenty volunteers. They applied a whole bunch of
electrodes on parts of the head where the ear muscles
moved the ears, and they recorded the electrical activity produced

(01:02:17):
when they did these tests. So the tests were really simple.
They put speakers in a room and the speakers played
both an audiobook and a podcast at the same time,
and you were asked to try and listen to one
of those things. So they did an easy test where
the podcast was playing really quietly and the audiobook was
really loud, and they were at different pitches, so it
was very easy to identify which one was which and

(01:02:38):
then sort of close your eyes and home into one
of those. Then they increase the level of difficulty until
the most difficult one was where they played two podcasts
over an audio book from the same speaker, and they
were all at the same volume and all at the
same pitch, and you were just trying to decipher one
of those audio books from all of the other noise,
and it became very difficult. And what they did where

(01:03:00):
they measured their electrodes. Basically, the results they found that
there was electrical activity in two different parts, So the
superior or a color muscles, which are the muscles that
can lift your ears up and out, so if you're
a dog, the ones that go sort of straight up
and straight out, we still have those. Those were really

(01:03:22):
active in that really difficult listening activity. And then when
they moved the speakers to the back of the room
behind you, the electrical activity in our posterior oracle muscles,
which are the ones that in an animal will put
the ear backwards. They actually the electrical activity was really
behind was really high when the speaker was behind you,

(01:03:44):
showing that your ears are still trying to move even
if you can't do it. The muscles attached to your
ears that don't work anymore are still active.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
It wouldn't be beneficial if they did move, we would
pick out.

Speaker 20 (01:03:56):
More because it would then channel that sound to the direction.
So when you are intently trying to listen to something
and it's hard, basically your muscles that typically don't work
anymore to move your ears that used to it twenty
five million years ago are still turning on. And scientists
call this a neural fossil, which is basically an ancient

(01:04:18):
reflex which came from our ancestors who could move their
ears twenty five million years ago. We still have these
neural pathways for ear movement even though we've lost the
ability to move our ears and so subconsciously, when you're
trying to listen to something, you don't know this, but
these muscles are turning on inside your head to try

(01:04:39):
and move your ears, but they physically can't do it
anymore because we've lost that ability to subtly aid our
ability to hear things. So yeah, next time we sort
of turn your head around and trying to listen to something,
just know that inside your head a whole bunch of
muscles are freaking out trying to move your ears but
physically can't do it. And that's what we used to do.

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
And if you can still with your ear, does that
mean that you potentially have superior hearing?

Speaker 6 (01:05:00):
No, make a muscle that you've got.

Speaker 20 (01:05:03):
Okay, anybody I know who can do this can only
move it up and down and that's not really hardful
for anybody.

Speaker 2 (01:05:08):
Well, you have very impressive air wiggling capabilities there, Michelle,
Thank you so.

Speaker 1 (01:05:13):
Much, the Sunday Session Full Show podcast on iHeartRadio powered
by News Talks.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Thank you for your texts. You're most welcome to text
us anytime throughout the morning. On ninety two ninety two,
I have one text here saying, please pass on to
n Enagil that my father in law can move flap
his ears, which sounds incredibly impressive. It is something. Go
to the mirror and have a little trial on it.
When I heard that we were talking about this, I
sit in ron of the mirror and did it for
a while and then realized I was just making very

(01:05:43):
strange faces. Ears don't move. But then I did realize
my ears were an even and evenly plunked on my head.
So there we go, the things you learn anyway. Joining
us now is Mike vander Allison, our resident chief.

Speaker 17 (01:05:56):
Good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
How is life at the black Ball Hilton?

Speaker 17 (01:06:01):
Ah? I haven't We haven't right, I'm still in Nelson.

Speaker 22 (01:06:05):
We're about to drive over to black Ball now, so
I can't wait to get there.

Speaker 2 (01:06:10):
Oh I'm very jealous because you're going to hit the
PAPERO track on Monday morning, Is that right?

Speaker 6 (01:06:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 17 (01:06:15):
First thing Monday morning.

Speaker 22 (01:06:16):
So it's three days, two nights and dock huts and
mountain biking, mountain biking, all of it. But part I'm
looking forward to. Is it it opened? I think it's
been open about a year now. It's and it's called
the Pike twenty nine Memorial Track, So it's about eleven
kilometers down to the Pike River Mine Memorial and then

(01:06:39):
which sounds pretty epic, eleven kilometers of down mountain biking.

Speaker 2 (01:06:43):
Don't you have to turn around and go back up again?

Speaker 17 (01:06:45):
Yeah, that's that's the downside of it.

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
Oh no, I'm really jealous. I did the Paper Track
two years ago, I think, and that wasn't open yet.
But look on once you're up on that ridgeline, and
it's a stunning ride.

Speaker 5 (01:06:58):
I hear, I hear.

Speaker 17 (01:06:59):
So we're yeah, we're head over. We've got all our
gears on our bikes.

Speaker 22 (01:07:04):
We've got to take on our food on our sleeping
and and I thought, you know, food wise, So I'm
in charge of food on the first night, so tomorrow
night it's my job, and then another thriend.

Speaker 17 (01:07:16):
Takes over the next night. So I was like, what
am I going to do it?

Speaker 22 (01:07:19):
It needs to be tasty, it needs to be delusas
high expectations. We're bringing a ship on the paper and
I'm like, well, I ain't going to lug up anything
that waives anything.

Speaker 17 (01:07:28):
So it's got to be dry and it's got to
be fulfilling.

Speaker 2 (01:07:33):
So what have you come up with?

Speaker 17 (01:07:35):
I came up with the results.

Speaker 2 (01:07:36):
What a brilliant Jay's I wish you? I wish you?
No awesome idea.

Speaker 8 (01:07:42):
I had a look.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
They make some amazing freeze drive foods now, but it's
still when you've had a few of them, sort of Yeah.
You put your water and you're going to mix around,
and you kind of oh, here we go. I would
have loved you. Wish to take you next time. You
could psych Oh my gosh, because we did it in
two days. We walk around it and you could sightly
hit and you could have it already for us when we.

Speaker 17 (01:08:03):
Arrived, and I could pour some champagne. It's all ready
for you.

Speaker 2 (01:08:07):
As long as you're carrying that on your bike.

Speaker 17 (01:08:10):
That's a yeah, No, I can't wait, are you darling?

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
Talk us through this dried mushroom rosotto.

Speaker 17 (01:08:17):
So as much in here as dried.

Speaker 22 (01:08:19):
But obviously I didn't want to take dried butter, and
I didn't want to take dried parts and so a little.

Speaker 17 (01:08:24):
Bit as wet. So it's called dried mushroom zoto.

Speaker 22 (01:08:26):
So the idea is that you buy dehydrated mushrooms or
dried mushrooms. So first thing to do is, I've got
three cups of mushrooms. The first thing you need to
do is you actually need to soften up those mushrooms.
So take three cups, pop them into a pot pour
over some vegetable stock.

Speaker 17 (01:08:40):
I've got two leaders of vegetable stock.

Speaker 22 (01:08:42):
That could be water, and what I'm doing is I'm
just taking some of that organic vegetable bullion. So make
up about two leaders, drop your mushrooms, and the rest
calls for an onion, So peel your onion, put your
peelings into the stock with the mushrooms.

Speaker 17 (01:08:55):
And it also calls for four points.

Speaker 22 (01:08:56):
Of garlic, So peel the garlic and put their peelings
into the stock because it's all flavor. Bring that up
to the ball, turn it down, sim it for a
couple of minutes, and then turn it off. And you
want to kind of if you can leave that, leave
those mushrooms sitting in that warm stock for it. If
you can an hour, because you want those dried mushrooms
to really soften up and become tendered. So while that's

(01:09:18):
setting or sitting, you can prep the rest of the vegi.
So take that onion into small dice, take the garlic,
crush it, peel it. Heat up a pan like a
large pan, add in two tablespents of vegetaball. Start to
saute off your onions and add in your garlic, just
over a low heat, and then add and I've got
I've got two cups of a boreo rice that's going
to feed the three of us well and truly, so

(01:09:40):
three cups or two cups of a boreo rice, saute
and that off.

Speaker 17 (01:09:44):
At this point, this is where everyone goes wrong.

Speaker 22 (01:09:45):
They go, right, we'll sautee off the rice and then
we add in the wine straight away. What you want
to do is you actually want to sautee the rice
for a period of time until you start to get
a little bit of a nutty crack on the outside
of the rice, and that holds that grain of the
rice through the whole cooking process of the risotto, and
at the end you don't have a mushy, broken up
piece of rice risotto.

Speaker 17 (01:10:05):
So saute that it just starts to color up.

Speaker 22 (01:10:07):
Then add in half a cup of water, take the
heat out of the pan, and then just start smashing
the vegetable stock. So it's about three part stock to
one part rice, so you know you can start off
heavy and just add in maybe three cups of vegetable
stock and then just start to slow the process down.
And what you're looking for at the end is for
that rice grain to be al dente. So you look
into that little rice grain and in the center you're

(01:10:29):
going to see a little dot of white that's going
to be the chalkiness. That's going to be what we
call our dentate or firm to the tooth. Once you
reach that stage, pull your rice off, turn the heat off,
and then ice smash. And I've got one hundred and
fifty grands of cube but butter and two cups of
grated palms. And I've actually just brought the grated palms
into the bag because it was.

Speaker 17 (01:10:48):
The lightest one I can fly. So add that live
it a salt liver in a pepper, serve it up
straight away.

Speaker 2 (01:10:54):
You're going to have a san Hey, what's the weather
looking like.

Speaker 22 (01:10:58):
It's looking good. Tuesday afternoon bearing a little bit of rain.
But yeah, tomorrow's looking stunning. Tomorrow's a hard day because
tomorrow's all up.

Speaker 5 (01:11:06):
Yeah it is.

Speaker 2 (01:11:07):
Oh, look, it's going to be amazing. Are you saying
at Punakaiki at the end? I just think Paki is
such a funning spot.

Speaker 17 (01:11:13):
Yes, we are. And then we come back to now
some fly out Thursday.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
Oh, have an amazing week. Look forward to hearing all
about it next week. Thank you so much, Mike. If
you two are keen for his dried mushroom rosotto, you'll
find that recipe good from scratch dot co dot inz,
or you'll be able to find it at Newstalk zb
dot co dot inz. Forward slash Sunday. It is thirteen
to eleven.

Speaker 1 (01:11:34):
Sunday with Style the Sunday Session with Francesca Runkin and
Winkles for the best election of Great Reads News Talks Heavy.

Speaker 2 (01:11:45):
Joining us now is Aeron o'haratch talk wellness, Good morning,
good morning, interesting topic today you're going to talk about
healthy takeaways, all takeaways that claim to be healthy. And
I'm curious to know where we're going to land here.

Speaker 5 (01:11:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:11:59):
The other day in the office, we're all chatting at
the end of our Friday and we were looking at
the Uber Eats app and I was like, oh, look
a healthy category. Let's see what's in the healthy category.
And I was blowing away what's in the healthy category
of questioning whether it was actually a healthy option or not.
It's really interesting what you'll find in there. From things

(01:12:20):
like Nando's. I'm like, I wonder what you'd order it
Nando's that would be classified as healthy because it doesn't
actually specify on that category. It just has the food option,
but not actually what things you should be ordering if
you're trying to get healthy. Subway also questionable healthy. You
could try and do your subway healthy if you kind
of minus the massive, big whitebread roll and obviously don't

(01:12:43):
order a foot long. Also things like kebabs, which can
be healthy depends if you get rid of all the sources.

Speaker 1 (01:12:50):
Out of there.

Speaker 2 (01:12:52):
Yeah, just kind of makes it. Yeah, we get a
good kebab up the road, and I think that I
do think that's our healthy option if we get taken
with it.

Speaker 3 (01:12:59):
Depends on which sources you choose and how much sources
in it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:03):
Also, things like Bubble Tea.

Speaker 3 (01:13:04):
I'm like, questionable health, Bubble tea a lot of sugar
and bubble tea and usually milk sugar black tea questionably healthy.

Speaker 2 (01:13:13):
Even Tank.

Speaker 6 (01:13:14):
I'm like, I love Tank.

Speaker 3 (01:13:15):
But also you have to be very choosy what you
choose from the Tank menu. Because a smoothie that's full
of frozen yogurt, you know, you could think, oh, I'm
having a smoothie, it's so healthy for me. Has got
some fruits and fiber good things there, frozen yogurt questionably
high sugar. Also depends what else you choose there, but
they do have some good healthy options there.

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
You've got to be selective.

Speaker 3 (01:13:37):
And that's the thing when it comes to these healthy
options with takeaways, it's not allder anything. It's also you've
still got to look through it and be like, Okay,
how can I make this a good option? And I
think when it comes to takeaways, you really want to
also look at are you having takeaways because you're wanting
a convenience factor or you having takeaways because you really
want to indulge in something delicious that you wouldn't usually

(01:13:58):
make her home. And I think you can look at
it as two ways. And I think if you're going
with the you know, indulging in something that you wouldn't
usually make. You really want to enjoy something that's quite
you know, maybe high in calories, high in fats, and
maybe something a little bit extra. It would be in
the treek category that you wouldn't have very often. When
it is for something for convenience, then you really want

(01:14:19):
to know how to work these healthy options when you're
trying to order something.

Speaker 2 (01:14:22):
Healthy, because you might be doing that more often.

Speaker 3 (01:14:25):
Yeah, if you're doing it more often. So if you're
doing it several times a week and you're wanting the
convenience of ordering Uber eights or picking something up local,
always looking for things like lean protein sources in your
takeaway options, or whether it's choosing chicken fresh or tofo
instead of your sort of your fried battered kind of meats.
Also not so much the process meats, which we actually
talked about last week. So if you're choosing, you know,

(01:14:47):
no ham salami, kind of picking the less process options,
or so maybe bumping up the vegetables. Focus on the vegetables,
whether you're choosing a salad rather than you know, a
big sandwich with lots of bread, choosing whole grains over
more eur refined flowers, so swapping out maybe for a
sourdough bread over your white bread, limiting all your fried options.

(01:15:08):
So if it's ordering a burger, you might be like, cool,
I'm gonna get my burger, but I'm also gonna skip
the frice, trying to make it just that little bit
better for you, a little bit less high calorie. Also
just really watching all those fried foods because that's where
you're getting all your extra calories. High trans fats also
lots of salt, taste delicious, but also not always the

(01:15:30):
best option if you're doing lots of regular, convenient takeaway
meals and being really aware of the portion size, because
quite often when we order food, we think, okay, it's
in a portion control, but actually it's quite a lot
more sometimes than what we would naturally put on our
dinner plates. So maybe it might be getting the takeaway

(01:15:51):
home and instead of trying to eat out of the
container and eating the entire thing, be like, cool, We're
going to plate it up and maybe even dividing, you know,
one takeaway meal between two, which I can actually make
the price down half the price too, but actually just
eating what you need rather than having to eat the
whole meal, which we tend to do.

Speaker 2 (01:16:08):
But that's what stops us from getting takeaways. I'd love
the convenience of takeaways, you know, after a long, hard week,
but it's so expensive and if you're getting it for
a family of four, can you sort of look at
it and go, wow, we just paid that for that. That's
my thing, and I think that's a common thing with
the scramble an egg and throw some avocado on a plate.

Speaker 9 (01:16:27):
I know.

Speaker 3 (01:16:27):
I think it's that convenience thing, and that's where I
think really been mindful, Like if you are ordering something
like if it is over and you know that indulging
category where you're ordering it because you don't want to
cook and you want to eat something a little bit different,
you get sick of your own cooking, then definitely look
at you know, just enjoy it and then next day
back to your own home cooked, yummy, healthy meals.

Speaker 2 (01:16:49):
Aeron O'Hara, thank you so much. It is a five
to eleven.

Speaker 1 (01:16:53):
The Sunday Session full Show podcast on iHeartRadio, powered by
News Talks at b.

Speaker 2 (01:17:01):
Gene Kelly. A Life in Music is a symphonic cinema
tribute to the life and work of legendary dancer, director
and choreographer Gene Kelly, and the show is hosted it
is coming to Aukland. It is hosted by his wife,
Patricia Kelly, who shares behind the scenes stories about the
making of so many of his classic works. Patricia is
accompanied by the Auckland Phnemonia. They are going to play

(01:17:23):
live to Kelly's dancing on the screen. I think it's
going to be a magical night. Patricia Kelly is with
us next to tell us all about her life with
Gene Kelly. A little bit of Lady Gaga. She's back
with her seventh album. She's returned to her truest pop self.
Back shortly.

Speaker 1 (01:17:54):
Welcome to the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin and Wiggles
for the best selection of great reads.

Speaker 2 (01:18:00):
Us good to have you with us here on the
Sunday Session. I'm Francesco id can with you until midday.
Coming up this hour finis thoughts on whether the Black
Cats can beat India tonight in the ICC Champions Trophy Final.
Megan continues to explore New Orleans and Joan has two

(01:18:23):
beautifully crafted books for us. Before midday the Sunday Session,
Gen Kelly is one of the greatest movie stars in
Hollywood history. A dancer, actor, singer, director, and choreographer, Jen
revolutionized dancing film. In a tribute to Jean and his career,

(01:18:44):
his widow and official biographer, Patricia heads to Auckland this
week with her show Jen Kelly A Life in Music.
The show is hosted by Patricia and combines archive film
footage from Jeene's career alongside the Auckland Pnemonia Orchestra and
Patricia Kelly is with me now. Good morning, Patricia.

Speaker 6 (01:19:01):
Good morning. Thank you so much for having me with you.
It's a real delight to talk to you too.

Speaker 2 (01:19:07):
Tell me what kind of man with Jane Kelly.

Speaker 6 (01:19:12):
Well, I would say that the first two words that
pop into my mind are decent and integrity. Decency and integrity.
He was really a true renaissance man. He spoke French,
he spoke Italian, he spoke Yiddish, he read Latin, he
wrote poetry. He was an economics major. He often devoured

(01:19:36):
a book a day, and he was a true romantic.
I mean, he was the kind of guy who woke
me up in the middle of the night just to
go out on the balcony.

Speaker 2 (01:19:45):
To see the full moon.

Speaker 6 (01:19:46):
So I'm afraid I have to say he was pretty
much the whole picture.

Speaker 2 (01:19:52):
He's so iconic that his dancing and his directing, But
he didn't initially want to be a dancer. Is it
true that he was bullied for his dancing?

Speaker 6 (01:20:00):
Absolutely he was, And no, he thought it was for
sissies because when he would home from dancing class, his
mother dressed him up in little short pants and polish
shoes and windsor ties and things, and the boys would
just wait on the corner to beat him up. So
he hated going to dancing class. But by the time

(01:20:22):
he got into high school, he realized that girls like
a boy who can dance. So he went back to
class on his own and that began. But he never
really envisioned that he would be a dancer. He wanted
to be a hockey player, he wanted to be a
baseball player or anything but dancer, so that came a
little bit later in his life.

Speaker 2 (01:20:42):
It's interesting, is that why he brought such athliticism to
his style of dancing?

Speaker 6 (01:20:48):
Absolutely? And good point, because when he looked around, he said,
I wanted to create a particularly American style of dance.
But there was no model for him. Most of the
dancing that you saw on screen was of the European tradition,
and so he looked around, he said, well, how does
the American male move? And so he turned to the

(01:21:11):
things that he loved, which for the sports and gymnastics, baseball, hockey.
You see that the movement is very broad and wide
open strokes, and he quite literally took the dancing into
the streets and began to choreograph the camera along with
the dance and just changed fundamentally changed the look of

(01:21:35):
dance on film.

Speaker 2 (01:21:36):
And it's interesting, isn't it. It wasn't that he had
he sort of revolutionized the style of dancing, but it
was the way it was captured on film as well.

Speaker 6 (01:21:45):
Absolutely, and that was the real challenge because, as you know,
you're taking a three dimensional art form and you're condensing
that and you lose that third dimension. And so that
he was looking at, how do you make it feel
full bodied and round? And so you see him very
often rollerski getting toward the camera, running toward the camera,

(01:22:09):
leaping very high, and again moving the camera with the dancers.
So you get a sense. I don't think anybody looks
at his movies and they think, oh, gee, he looks
really flat. I think he's basically kind of changed that
whole sense and giving you a sense of a third dimension.

Speaker 2 (01:22:30):
But interestingly, Patricia, he moved the camera to go with
the dancer, but not like we do today. Like the
dance in the choreography was still sort of felt like
the main aspect of it. You didn't have to rely
on the camera and quick hits and doing flash things
with the camera to capture it. He allowed you to

(01:22:50):
watch the performance, didn't He as opposed to using lots
of sort of camera tricks and editing to keep us engaged.

Speaker 6 (01:22:59):
Yes, And he would give you a big hug for
saying that, because one of the things that he really
found objectionable was the beginning of MTV and the quick
cuts and the close ups on your hands and your feet.
And Jean insisted on shooting head to toe, use the

(01:23:19):
full body, and to use long takes so that you
can you really could absorb the dance. And he really
didn't believe. Now you hear that people criticizing and saying, oh,
you have to chop it up to make it interesting,
especially for young people, And that's not my experience.

Speaker 23 (01:23:38):
At all.

Speaker 6 (01:23:39):
I think young people get it and they appreciate the
way that it was shot, and I'm just hoping more
people will begin to understand that and look to what
he was doing. It's not old fashioned. He was he was.
He changed it, but and then then it got all
chopped up. So I think we need to go back

(01:23:59):
to what he was doing and let people really absorb
the movement.

Speaker 2 (01:24:06):
What's it like for you to watch him up on
the big screen every night when you're performing this show.

Speaker 6 (01:24:12):
It's interesting because I sit on the screen and we
have done the technicians have done such a beautiful job
in scrubbing the orchestra sound off of the film clips
in those days, instead of having separate tracks, it's all
melded together. And so my guys have the extractionists have

(01:24:34):
very surgically gone in and removed the orchestra. But you
hear Jeanne's voice, and you hear his taps and the
other movement of his feet. It's just crystal clear, and
it's almost it's an eerie feeling in a sense, in
a positive way. I sit there and sometimes I find
myself turning around very quickly because it sounds like he's

(01:24:58):
right there and a lot of people. I greet people
after every show and they line up for sometimes an hour,
hour and a half. And other people have said that
to me too, that they felt that he was right
there performing and it's just such a He's such a
magnificent presence up on that screen, and to be able

(01:25:18):
to hear his voice so clearly, as though as though
he's really singing from the stage is remarkable.

Speaker 2 (01:25:26):
His impact still lingers today on the film and the
dance world. His work really has left on I believe
that Ryan Gosling studied Gene and spoke to you when
he was preparing for Lana Land.

Speaker 6 (01:25:38):
He did. Ryan and Emma Stone and Damien Chazelle and
the choreographer Andy Moore came to the house to see
the archives, and they were really good about They listened
to how Jane used the camera and how he shaped
the dance. And so I get a note from someone

(01:26:01):
somewhere in the world, I would say at least every day,
and sometimes tople notes per day from someone saying he's
the reason I'm a dancer, I'm a choreographer, I'm a
camera operator, I'm a magician, a musician. He really he's

(01:26:21):
touched such a breadth of people and continues, and even
though he's been gone for twenty nine years, I think
because what he created was so far ahead of its time,
it still resonates and nobody really kicked him out of place.

Speaker 2 (01:26:36):
He's still the go to guy.

Speaker 6 (01:26:38):
And he's cool. Gordon, He's cool. I'm biased, I know,
but really hot, you know. And so and it's fun
for me because I'm on stage. The orchestra plays live
to the film clips of Jane and then I'm on
stage and weaving the stories that he shared with me.
I had the privilege of recording him nearly every day

(01:27:02):
for over ten years. And so those are the stories
that the audience here as they're listening to the clips
and listening to the orchestra and watching these brilliant clips.

Speaker 2 (01:27:15):
Patricia speaking of this archive, and you know, you're his
official Bibafa and when he passed, you inherited an extensive
archive of his belongings and recordings and all sorts of things.
I believe I've read there's eighty five filing cabinets there.
And of course you were evacuated during the LA wildfires
early this year. What was it like leaving your home

(01:27:35):
and all that archive material behind, having no idea whether
you could be back or not.

Speaker 6 (01:27:41):
Well, and to clarify it, I was prepared to evacuate.
We were waiting and watching. I had packed up the
car because the fires were beginning to one popped up nearby.
We didn't expect it at all, So I you know,
what do you take? What do you put in your car?

(01:28:02):
Of course my animals, I had them ready. But I'm
looking Jean's loafers from American in Paris, looking at the
hat from the hatney. Dear old father wore his hanitated
script from Singing the Rain. I mean, it's really you
begin And then I thought, well, what about the Valentines

(01:28:22):
that he wrote to me and left for me, and
the little notes he left for me every day around
the house. And so I'm very fortunate that I did
not have to ultimately leave, and that everything is safe.
So I need to just basically live inside a huge
safe I think, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:28:43):
Patricia, we know and love Gen Kelly for his acting
and his dancing and his singing and the joy he's
brought us there and how he's revolutionized that. But he
also worked as a director. He directed Hello Dolly, you
know he directed classics, but we don't often talk about
the directing side of his career as much as we

(01:29:03):
do the dancing.

Speaker 6 (01:29:04):
Do we no, And that's one of the reasons he
did say to me, he said, I'd like to be
remembered for being behind the camera as a director and choreographer,
and he really is often sadly lopped off of those lists.
So one of the things that I really try to
do is make sure that people understand that, because I

(01:29:25):
think they get so engrossed and seeing him up on
the screen they forget he actually created what you're seeing,
and how dynamic and how revolutionary his directing and choreography were.
So I think you'll hear me talk about that a lot,
And that's really part of the reason for doing these

(01:29:45):
shows is to not only just keep him out there,
but also to realign how people understand his contribution and
they see it. Somebody wrote today on one of my
posts they said, oh, he was a triple threat, and
I said, well, actually he was a septuple threat at
the very best, and maybe octuple. So and you mentioned

(01:30:09):
Hello Dolly directing Hello Dolly, and I have a little
hint that I believe a person who starred in that
film by the name of Michael Crawford might just be
showing up at the show in Auckland since he lives
in New Zealand. So I'm my fingers are cross because
he's a dear friend and Jen really cheered for him

(01:30:33):
when he became Phantom of the Opera and I'm looking
forward to his popping in. I haven't seen him for
several years, even though we're in touch.

Speaker 2 (01:30:42):
So oh, Patricia, lovely to talk to you. Thank you
so much for your time. Gene Kelly. A Life of
Music is on next Saturday as part of the Auckland
Arts Festival. For more information head to AAF dot co
dot z. It is nineteen past eleven.

Speaker 1 (01:30:59):
Believe it's simple. It's Sunday, the Sunday Session with Francesca
Rutgert and Wiggles for the best selection of grave reelings,
News talks 'd be.

Speaker 2 (01:31:10):
And it is time for our Sunday session. Panela joining me,
Roman travers Us and the studio News Talks be host.

Speaker 8 (01:31:16):
Good morning, Oh, good morning to you, and.

Speaker 2 (01:31:18):
We have TV producer, journalist and commentator Irene Gardener. Good morning, Irene,
good morning. Good to have you both with us. Hey, look,
this morning we had a bit of a chat about
superannuation and it's something that we talk about all the time.
How can we with an aging population afford it better?
What is the best way to potentially, you know, handle
the pressure which is coming on it? And I suppose

(01:31:41):
the solution which has thrown out most often is that
we should rage the age of eligibility. But what if
there were different options? What if you got to sixty
five and you were still working earning a good income,
would you be happy to not uptake your pension or
would you be happy to receive a small non taxable

(01:32:04):
ground and then have the rest of your income tax
at a high rate. Like, there's other ways that we
could do this romance. I mean, would you if you
were still working and earning at sixty five, would you
be taking the pension or would you be happy to
say I don't need it? Just to be clarate that
to somebody else, did.

Speaker 8 (01:32:20):
You say aging or Asian population aging?

Speaker 5 (01:32:22):
Oh?

Speaker 8 (01:32:23):
Sorry, sorry, yeah, no, that's right. So the old age
pension was brought in an eighteen ninety eight and it
wasn't ubiquitous for everybody eighteen ninety eight. For those who
it was subversal. No, No, it wasn't. You had to
be sixty five, you had to meet special requirements criteria.
It was more like a welfare thing. Now it's kind
of like, ah, I deserve it. I've worked my whole life.
I'm Bob Jones, I've got twenty million. I think we're

(01:32:45):
becoming quite selfish. There's lists of that selfless attitude, and
who doesn't want more money?

Speaker 5 (01:32:51):
Right?

Speaker 2 (01:32:51):
I don't think we are. I think we've grown up
with it irene as being something that we all get
at sixty five. I think generation after generation has expected that,
and I think that sense en titlement's grown over a
period of time. To be honest with you, would you agree,
I think that's right.

Speaker 19 (01:33:08):
I mean, I kind of see where Remind's coming from,
because it's there is a funny like I know, the
minute you hit this topic on talkback, it just goes
crazy because people do sort of feel a slight thing
of but I paid tax all my life. My time
has now come, and it's not fair if I'm penalized
because I did better with my money than someone else did.

(01:33:31):
But I think we have to sort of move off
that mentality and look at it a bit more in
terms of what is actually sustainable for the country that
we live in. I'm very torn as to what I mean.
Something is going to have to be done because it
is going to become unsustainable. I think, I mean, yes,
we could just raise the age. That might be the
simplest thing, but then you're going to have to have

(01:33:53):
a lot of exceptions to that for people who've done
physical labor at their bodies, you know, different ethnicities, different
life expectancy, et cetera. So maybe that's not the best way.
So then you get into well do you just means
test it? But I think this new thing that's being suggested,
is it Susan Susan sant John if I got the

(01:34:13):
records where it's not quite a means test, it's it's
you get a tax free, but if you're paying, if
you're earning a certain amount of money, it takes your
text to a certain point, then you get taxed highly.
And if you're not earning terribly much, you probably won't
hit that and it's probably worth keeping the pension. Sounds
quite good in theory, but also sounds slightly complicated. But

(01:34:35):
I do think it's probably something that's worth a bit
more exploration because we are going to have to find
some sort of a solution.

Speaker 2 (01:34:42):
Because remember, the age thing is tricky. I think Irene
is right. Everybody's had different kinds of jobs, worked in
different ways.

Speaker 5 (01:34:51):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:34:52):
I don't want to tell someone who's had a manual
job for you know, you know, fifty years or forty
years or something. You know, when your body is a
bit you know, rooted, that you've got to keep working
till sixty seven. Yes, I'm kind of I don't necessarily
think we need to move the age. If I was
at sixty five and I was still earning, and I
didn't need the pension, I probably wouldn't take it.

Speaker 8 (01:35:15):
Yeah, well, see till Irene's point.

Speaker 19 (01:35:17):
Would you not take it? Or would you give it
to someone of your choosing?

Speaker 24 (01:35:21):
Ah?

Speaker 19 (01:35:21):
Well, would you trust yourself to use it better than
the government?

Speaker 21 (01:35:27):
Well?

Speaker 8 (01:35:27):
Iron your point, very good point. Your point is a
moot point, isn't it. We could be talking about what
is wealth forever? What qualifies as wealth. Everyone's perception of
wealth is, oh my god, things are so hard. I
had to sell one of the helicopters. That's not a
definition of poverty, is it?

Speaker 24 (01:35:40):
Now?

Speaker 8 (01:35:41):
No government that I know has been brave enough to
make a change in this because A it makes way
too much sense. B they don't want to lose votes.
So therefore it's kicked down the road time and time again,
election after election.

Speaker 2 (01:35:53):
And how do you make it, how do you make
the judgment as to who's going to cop it if
you ain't going to put it up to sixty seven,
who is in ten years and twenty years and thirty years,
which you know which generation is going to go into
copper And they're not going to.

Speaker 8 (01:36:05):
Like it exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:36:06):
It's a really tricky one, all right.

Speaker 19 (01:36:08):
But they're not going to like it if it runs
out completely. So we're going to have to do something.

Speaker 2 (01:36:12):
Well, the decision may be made for us Adrian or
the Reserve Bank governor. He resigned suddenly on Wednesday. He
hasn't addressed the media and reasons for his departure have
have not been spelled out. And look, he is our
most senior civil servant. I think he The professional thing
to do is to offer the border explanation and then

(01:36:33):
the board can decide what they want to share. So
I don't think this resignation's maybe been handled in the
most professional way. It could have been Romanber. A little
part of me goes. I love the fact that we're
not getting all those lines like, oh, he's leaving for
family reasons, he's leaving for personal reasons, he's leaving for
it's creative differences, these kind of vague sort of words

(01:36:57):
that we throw around a resignation, which imply that something's happened,
they're not happy. I like the fact he's clearly just gone.
I'm done. I'm fed up. I've done this job through
pretty tough and I don't like the way things are going.
I don't like the way things potentially could come out
of here and boom, drop the mic and walked on out.
I kind of like it. I don't do we Yeah, sure,
he maybe needs to explain a little bit more to

(01:37:19):
his bored but I think it's pretty self explanatory.

Speaker 8 (01:37:21):
Do you know what I do? And I don't really care,
to be fair, I don't really care. It's out of
my wheelhouse. Someone else will get the job. But I
admire the fact that he's done what he thought was best.
What I hate about the news in New Zealand and
the world is that we seem to think we need
to know everything about everybody's bowel movements about how they bank,
about who they're dating or not dating, whether they're non binary, homosexual,

(01:37:43):
or whatever. And I think, you know, ultimately he's got
his reasons. I don't care.

Speaker 19 (01:37:48):
Good luck to him, a right, I don't think he
does owe us an explanation. I think in the end,
it's his business. I mean, I suspect at some point
in the future he will talk about it, but he
probably wants the dust to settle a little. I mean,
it's pretty pretty evident that you know, his policies have

(01:38:12):
not been perhaps universally loved by current government, and that
they probably want to go on a slightly different direction.
So yeah, good on him, go and have a good life.
You know, he's worked incredibly hard. It's one of those
jobs where you just cannot please all the people all
the time. I mean, I could not tell you whether

(01:38:33):
he's done a good job or a bad one, because
if I read ten different economists, half of them will
say he did and half of them will say he didn't.

Speaker 8 (01:38:39):
So hey, yeah, wouldn't you like to see more control
over our banks than overly concerning ourselves with who's the
Reserve bank? Government? How about a bit more control and
some more questions being asked about their ridiculous profits.

Speaker 2 (01:38:55):
Anyone, different topic, different topic. Yes, I would like to
finish this panel by talking about Tina, the New Zealand film,
the gorge film. It has topped the box office this week.
It has earned over one million in its opening weekend.

(01:39:16):
It ranks as the third biggest opening week for a
New Zealand film, behind Hunt for the Wilder People and
sy Twos. We'd Unfinished Business, Irene the second one, which
is really hugely exciting. I'm going to ask you first,
Roman because I think I know what Irene's going to say.

(01:39:36):
Have you seen it?

Speaker 4 (01:39:37):
No?

Speaker 8 (01:39:38):
I haven't, but on in my day last night people
were just raving about it.

Speaker 2 (01:39:42):
It's absolutely gorgeous. I've I laughed out loud and I
cried a huge amount as well. It's just beautiful. Irene,
have you seen it?

Speaker 19 (01:39:51):
I actually haven't been muskingfest but.

Speaker 1 (01:39:55):
Going.

Speaker 19 (01:39:56):
I'll probably going this week and I'm so thrilled because
it is so tough to get cinema goers in the cinema,
you know, to get people to go and see a
film in the cinema rather than just waiting for it
to be online. It's so tough post pandemic, particularly tough
for local and so to have a hit at this time,
it's really wonderful news. And it is intriguing how so

(01:40:20):
often our films in New Zealand have either Marii or
Pacifica themes and content. You know, it just obviously really
resonates here. So yeah, I'm just thrilled for all the
people behind it and for the film question. It's really
great news.

Speaker 2 (01:40:34):
You should go and see this film because it's a
great film. But Brohman, do you make a point of
seeing Kiwi films?

Speaker 8 (01:40:38):
I love seeing Kiwi films because that whole adage of
seeing more of New Zealand on is so true. We
love seeing ourselves on the screen and I'm thrilled that
it's doing well. I get a bit sick of the
Hollywood format of movies. I love them all, I do.
I love them. I love them, but I love to
see New Zealand films. I feel though to go to
the movies. To Irene's point, you almost need to be

(01:40:59):
the Reserve Bank governor to afford to go right. It's
not a cheap exercise, but it's so much better than
sitting on your couch and your underpants watching Netflix.

Speaker 2 (01:41:07):
Look, let me just say, as somebody who goes to
the movies at all sorts of weird times of the
day and on different days, you can get some cheaper
tickets if you go. You know, if you've got one.

Speaker 6 (01:41:15):
Of these esday morning choose.

Speaker 2 (01:41:17):
Yeah, Roman, you're one of these people that work like me,
odd ours, weird hours. You know you can go along anyway.
I think it's fantastic. Go and see the film, and
thank you so much, Irean Gunner and Romantic. Thank you
twenty six to twelve of you. With News Talks a B.

Speaker 1 (01:41:36):
It's the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin on News Talks
at B.

Speaker 2 (01:41:41):
Jason Pine is coming up at midday with weekend Sport,
and he joins me.

Speaker 8 (01:41:45):
Now, good morning, good morning.

Speaker 2 (01:41:47):
I think it might be a bit of a blurry
start to Monday for some Black Cat fans.

Speaker 25 (01:41:51):
I think you might be right ten o'clock start tonight. Yeah,
that's yeah, that's problematic for those who like to prioritize
their sleep. But look, it's not every day that we're
in a an ICC final, So look, I think you
just lock up on the coffee. The re ball, whatever
it is that keeps you awake and you just box
on through sluber pitch.

Speaker 2 (01:42:11):
I believe in Dubai.

Speaker 25 (01:42:12):
Indeed, yeah, that was a road the other day in
Lahore when New Zealand' scored three sixty. I think Pascore
batting first is probably more like two fifty two sixty.
It's going to be, you know, pretty spin friendly. India
likely to play four spinners. Could well be that New
Zealand use four spinners with Santana Braceball, Phillips and Ravendra

(01:42:32):
all possibilities. Matt Henry is the big doubt here, Francesca.
I'm sure you've heard he's under an injury cloud with
a shoulder injury. That would be a big blow if
he was to be ruled out. But yeah, oh I
think we can. I mean one off game white ball cricket.
You know we've beaten India before in matches in white
ball tournaments, the semi final of the twenty nineteen Cricket

(01:42:54):
World Cup, to make that final against England that year.
They are undoubtedly the favorites, there's no question about it,
and they are very good team. Having that to travel
at all either, they've just stayed in Dubai for the
last three or four weeks as other teams have traveled
around Pakistan and to Dubai and back out again. But
absolutely we can do it.

Speaker 2 (01:43:10):
Yes, just that the black Caps. Honestly, it's such a
roller coastered with them, isn't it. Yeah, one minute we're
on top of the world, and the next minut we're like,
team's not doing you know, team's not great. And the
next minute, way, we're back in a final.

Speaker 8 (01:43:21):
It's I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:43:22):
I love the unpredictability you've just described.

Speaker 25 (01:43:26):
You've described sports fandom, you have describe fandom in all sport. Absolutely.
Gary Stead the coaches on with us after two o'clock,
so I'll put it to him. Should we be should
we be confident about beating India tonight?

Speaker 2 (01:43:37):
Okay? Do we know anything more about Boden Barrett's hand injury.

Speaker 25 (01:43:41):
Only that he's out for a significant period whatever that means.
I don't know whether significant is weeks or months. It's
a hand fracture, which is never great. I guess the
thing with hands, though, is he can stay aerobically fit,
so it's not one of those where like a knee
or an ankle or something like that when you have
to stay with your feet. He can presumably still do
aerobic staff and it's just a matter of how fast
a hand can heal. But then again, fractures are a niggly,

(01:44:04):
aren't they. You just you just don't know, and you
you must have a degree of trepidation when you go
back out there that you know that just to sort
of favor that hand. Look, the Blues are an interesting
little period, as are a lot of the teams. I mean,
the Chiefs lost to the drawer yesterday, the Hurricanes lost
the mine in PACIFICA the Super Rugby, the Super Rugby
table is so tight. In fact, if the Crusaders win

(01:44:25):
by a significant amount this afternoon, they'll go from eleventh
to third. That is how tight this table is. It's incredible,
it is.

Speaker 2 (01:44:34):
It is crazy. And I even read an article in
the Sydney Morning Held that the Australians are even saying,
you gotta watch Super Rugby Pacific. It's it's back and
it's good. You know we're convincing them then, yes, for
the Australians. Indeed, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is confident that
the city can host the next America's Cup. I don't

(01:44:54):
know if you've been talking about this a little bit
on your show, what's your feedback from your audience? Do
we really need to give this another go?

Speaker 25 (01:45:04):
Well we're gonna get the opportunity after midday because Minister
of Sport and Recreation Mark Mitchell is our guest straight
after midday. Do Central government want to do it? I
know Wayne Brown wants to do it. He wants a
bed tax though, no brainer for me, Francesca, just get
it done, get it back. I know a lot of
people will have a different view, but for me, you
just make it happen in any way that you can.
So yeah, Mark Mitchell after midday and then a chance

(01:45:24):
for our audience to give us the review. So you
might want to keep the righting you wanted to drive home.

Speaker 2 (01:45:28):
I shall stick around as they say anything else. Jason
on the show's to day.

Speaker 25 (01:45:33):
Well, obviously super rugby Mark Mitchell, Gary Stead and oh
well we might drop into a bit of sale GP
as well.

Speaker 5 (01:45:39):
Blach.

Speaker 2 (01:45:39):
You's going to join us a bit later on Fantastic.
Thank you so much, Jason. Jason Pine back with us
at midday with Weekend Sport. It is twenty to twelve.

Speaker 1 (01:45:48):
The Sunday session full show podcast on iHeartRadio, powered by
News talksb Travel with Wendy Woo tours Where the World
is Yours book.

Speaker 2 (01:45:58):
Now and joining us now from America is our travel correspondent,
Meghan Singleton. Good morning, Megan.

Speaker 21 (01:46:06):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (01:46:08):
I am just currently looking at some photos of you
preparing yourself to ride a float in the New Orleans
Mardi Gras, and all I will say is, you've got
to want to. You gotta love dressing up if you're
going to if you're going to be a star on
a float in the year grade, how was it tell
us all about it?

Speaker 21 (01:46:28):
Okay, so only because you said last week you needed
to hear all about it. We're doing a second week
on New Orleans Marti Gras. So on Tuesday I got
to ride with the Orpheus crew on Actually here it
was Monday, so Lunday, Monday, Tuesday is Mardi Gras Day,
Fat Tuesday. Wednesday is ash Wednesday. That is the beginning
of Lent. So on Monday we are all about the

(01:46:50):
carnival and we had to don our polyester suits. As
you will be able to see that. I have put
it on the blog over what they said, just wear
yoga pants and a T shirt and you know, trainers
or whatever, because you need to be able to move
and stretch. And oh my word, the phone you'll see
of me looking so happy. Little did I know that

(01:47:10):
my shoulders, my back, it was We were an agony
for two days afterwards. But you can see the fancy dresses.
There are twenty something floats that we all met in
the morning. We got our outfits on. We finally got
rolling at about six pm through the Garden district, not

(01:47:31):
in the French Quarter, so that's not where these rolling
parades go. But I have put pictures up of me
throwing beads from the balcony on Bourbon Street to people below.
It's another whole New Orleans scene. Yeah, which you get
at Mardy Grab, but you do actually get those beads
on Bourbon Street and other times as well. But Francesca,

(01:47:51):
look at the taent. Look how much stuff we have
to throw to people. I'm talking thousands and thousands of
beaded necklaces. We had cups, we had socks and caps
and soft tor and I'm standing on the top row
of a double story float. I have to tippy toe

(01:48:12):
all night just to see over the the crops and
the paraphernalia that's on the side of the float. My calves,
I thought, why they so sore? For two days.

Speaker 2 (01:48:22):
Afterwards, it's been on tiptoe.

Speaker 21 (01:48:23):
It is just a most unbelievable experience. At one point,
like you have to as an audience member, You've got
to keep your eyes about you because things come flying
off in all directions. I threw a cup blessed cup
at someone I thought they were watching. They were not watching,
not do glass of wine straight out of her hand,
and I laughed so hard I had to crouch down

(01:48:44):
so she couldn't see me. But you just you can
get the feel of that, can't you. And those photos
which I only just literally uploaded the last few minutes,
So it's a bit of fun, I tell you.

Speaker 2 (01:48:53):
Oh what. And I like the way that you were
tied on as well, they tied they tied you on.
Just safety first, safety first. Look, I mean, there is
an awful you're right taking a look at the float
filled with all these strings of beads and all the stuff.
There's a lot of this stuff isn't their mega.

Speaker 21 (01:49:12):
And I'm giving you some street photos because a lot
of that stuff ends on the ground and a lot
of plastic and a lot there. They say, we've got
a recycling program. Yeah, I kind of need to see
a little bit more about that. There's no way from
what I saw with the street cleanup. Look at that street.
Look at that picture that's filled with plastic rubbish. That

(01:49:35):
is just the end of one of the parades on
one of the days, and that is every single day.
Oh my lord, we and your plastic makes the hairs
on the back of our next stand up. Us kiwis right.
They have never seen so much plastic in my life.

Speaker 2 (01:49:50):
Oh look, thank you so much for taking us through that.
Megan head to blog it at large dot com if
you want to take a look at what Meghan is
talking about and see her experience of being on the
float at the Madigram. Will catch up next week. It
is thirteen to twelve.

Speaker 1 (01:50:04):
Books with Wiggles for the best selection of Grape Reads.

Speaker 2 (01:50:08):
It is time to talk books and I'm joined by
Joey McKenzie. Good morning, Hello, What have you got.

Speaker 15 (01:50:13):
For us today? The first one's quite exciting. It's called
Dream Count by Chimamanda nausey Aditya, who is a wonderful writer.
The first two books she wrote were called purple hibiscus,
and then half of a yellow Son and half of
a yellow Son was set in Biafra and I read
it and in my head the whole time as I

(01:50:34):
read it was my mother saying to me, if you
don't eat your dinner tonight, those poor kids in Biafra
could have had it. And it took me really back
in time and back in history. Well, this new one
is current. It's modern day. It's the story of four
women who are all Nigerian. So the story spans from
Africa across to America where a couple of them are living,

(01:50:55):
and it's set in the time of lockdown, which please
don't let that put anybody off. What lockdown does as
a background is it gives them lots of time for
introspection and reflection. And this is about the relationships between
these four women as they talk about their hopes and
their loves and their regrets and their disappointments, and they're
really good friends. And reading it, I felt with my

(01:51:16):
own group of friends. They were the kind of conversations
that you would have and you weren't always, you know,
just outright sympathetic to your friends. Sometimes you get irritated
or sometimes you're judgmental or you don't agree with them,
And so you've got this narrative going on between these
four women as they're talking about what's going on in
their lives. But one of the things that really struck

(01:51:36):
me about the book was one of the characters is
a woman called Carrier Too, and she is a housemaid
in a New York hotel and a VIP guest comes
along and one day assaults her. Now, that part of
the book is set on the real life story if
you remember of Dominique strauss Kahan who was the head

(01:51:56):
of the International Monetary Fund and behave very bad in
the New York hotel and subsequently lost his job. And
she's taken that story to portray what life can be
like for these people who are trying to do the
very best for their children and make their way through
their lives and it just isn't made easy for them.
And I think she's done a wonderful job of portraying that.

Speaker 2 (01:52:18):
She writes so beautifully. Is this the first time that
she's written in a modern time?

Speaker 15 (01:52:23):
No Americana was her third book, which was the last one,
and that was also set in contemporary America, Africa. But yes,
she is wonderful. We've waited ten years for this and
it's well worth the way.

Speaker 2 (01:52:34):
I was going to say, I've got two to catch
up on them. Tell me about the book released by
Debra Oswald.

Speaker 15 (01:52:41):
It's called One hundred Years of Betty and it is
the fictional story of a woman who's about to turn
one hundred and she's looking back over her life and
takes you through the course of her life and all
of the things that have happened. And when she started
out she was English and she went out to Australia
as an immigrant, very naive, knew very little about the world.

(01:53:03):
And I think for most of us as we age,
when we look back at what's happened to us in
our lives, so much of it was unexpected and we
never imagined these things would happen to us, with these
possibilities and opportunities would come up, and they do, of
course for her, as they do for everybody. But she
takes you back through what it's been like. She had
a deeply unhappy marriage, she has a son that she

(01:53:25):
feels that she failed for various reasons. But it's set
against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, of the rise
of women's liberation, about the AIDS crisis. It's got some
really interesting history backstory in there along with her story,
and it's just warm and charming and one of those
books that you can just immerse yourself in.

Speaker 2 (01:53:45):
I loved it, fantastic. One hundred Years of Betty by
Deborah Oswald was the last book that Joan mentioned. The
first book was dream Count by Chima Mundu. Gausey are today.
Thank you so much, John, We'll talk next week.

Speaker 1 (01:53:59):
See you then the Sunday Session full show podcast on
my Heart Radio powered by News Talks AB.

Speaker 2 (01:54:07):
Thank you so much for your company today. Love you
to have you with us. Jason Pine will be up
next at midday with Weekend Sport. Next week on the
Sunday Session, Jeffrey Rush is going to join me. He's
starred in films such as The King's Speech and Pirates
of the Caribbean and Elizabeth and Shine, all sorts of

(01:54:29):
amazing films. He has a new film out next week,
The Rule of Jenny Penn, so we're going to be
having a chat and also the Veils are back in
the country. Lead singer Fan Andrews is going to join
me for a chat and a song as well. Thank
you too so much to the team for producing the show. Today,
We're going to leave you with a little bit of
the veils. Catch you next week. Have a great afternoon.

Speaker 9 (01:54:51):
The Lad.

Speaker 8 (01:54:57):
We met the Laird.

Speaker 26 (01:55:04):
Woll through oh Lies, abide and pain, sink, gold, thread, Shine, bride, game,
thundrangein highlill, doulpness, moothving.

Speaker 8 (01:55:31):
For the cave, lead me to the Lad, to.

Speaker 23 (01:55:39):
Anywhere instead across the water, the river of the day,
lead me to the Lad.

Speaker 24 (01:55:52):
I can't existantly out across the water, the valley of
which you had, the lad, which you were glad, which

(01:56:16):
you which you glad?

Speaker 9 (01:56:34):
Mm hmmm.

Speaker 1 (01:56:45):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to Use talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

Therapy Gecko

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Full Show Podcast: 09 March 2025

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

Therapy Gecko

All Episodes

Full Show Podcast: 09 March 2025

Dateline NBC