Labour Day

 

8:10 Guy Montgomery likes looking at stuff and talking about it  

Billy T and Fred Award-winning comedian Guy Montgomery has at least 50,000,000 fans.

Well, that's according to the title of his 2024 standup tour.

The comic also hosts his own television game show, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee, where a panel of guests compete against each other by spelling words of varying difficulty.  

Guy just announced a new Australian stand-up tour, I’ve Noticed So Many Things, It’d Be Unfair to Keep Them to Myself.

He joins Susana to talk about what it’s like to be a successful comedian.  

 

8:40 Samoa reflects on Royal visit  

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) has just concluded in Samoa amidst the ongoing situation around sunken HMNZS Manawanui.  

Susana speaks with hotelier Joe Annondale, calling the show from Siumu on the south coast of Upolu, to see how locals are responding.  

 

9:08 How Taki Rua became our unofficial national Māori theatre company 

Since its foundation in 1983, Taki Rua Theatre has grown to become Aotearoa’s unofficial national Māori theatre.

A new documentary film, directed by Whetū Fala, contains the personal and political stories which shaped the project. 

Taki Rua Theatre - Breaking Barriers screened at the New Zealand International Film Festival earlier this year and is set for a wider release on 28 November.  

Director Whetū Fala joins Susana to talk through the film’s production and how a once unwanted Wellington theatre space became central to our national performing arts community.  

 

9:35 What can dogs teach us about loving life?  

In his new book, The Happiness of Dogs: Why the Unexamined Life Is Most Worth Living, Welsh author and philosopher Mark Rowlands argues a dog's capacity for joy and meaning can help us better understand ourselves. 

The book weaves in work from the likes of Camus, Sisyphus, Plato and Socrates to examine a dog’s approach to live – with plenty of stories about Rowland's own dog, German Shepherd Shadow, thrown in for good measure.  

Mark Rowlands is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami and is perhaps best known for his best-seller, The Philosopher and the Wolf. The book covers a period in his life when he spent every moment alongside his wolf Brenin who couldn’t be left alone. Mark chats dogs, iguanas and more with Susana. 

 

10:08 Force of Nature: New book celebrates Forest & Bird centenary  

For over century, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand (Forest & Bird) has been at the heart of the nation’s abundant and ground-breaking conservation efforts.  

Now a new richly illustrated book, Force of Nature Te Aumangea o te ao Tūroa, A conservation history of Forest & Bird (1923-2023), celebrates the thousands of New Zealanders to contribute. 

The book highlights the stories of those who got their hands dirty during the conservation movement's early days — including Geoffrey Orbell who tracked down the thought-to-be-extinct takehe, and Arthur Harper, the society’s president for seven years from 1948.  

Susana is joined by Justin Jordon, grandson of Forest & Bird founder Captain Earnest Valentine 'Val' Sanderson, and Caroline Wood, the book's editor. 

 

10:35 Two-time Olympian Tania Tupu on balancing basketball and jewellery making  

Former Tall Fern Tania Tupu represented her country at the 2000 and 2004 summer Olympic Games. 

She is head coach of Wellington-based Tokomanawa Queens and in 2022 led the team to the inaugural Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa championship.  

When she’s not coaching, Tania designs Māori and Pacific-inspired jewellery and runs a gallery and cafe in Titahi Bay, Porirua.  

She is also the General Manager of Te Papa Stores at New Zealand's National Museum. 

Tania has just been inducted into the College Sport Wellington Hall of Fame and joins Susana to discuss life on and off court. 

 

10:45 Wellington artist Daniel Vernon previews new comic book 

Wellington artist Daniel Vernon (YeeHawTheBoys) is back with a new book, Slices of Heaven: Uniquely Kiwi Comics about Aotearoa. Through detailed illustration and quirky narratives, the book depicts many shared experiences New Zealanders will know. Choice! 

Daniel joins Susana to discuss what inspired the collection. 

 

11:08 Academy Award winner James Ivory reflects on Hollywood career 

Director James Ivory has been making feature films for more than 70 years through the Merchant Ivory partnership with producer Ismail Merchant.  

Ivory and Merchant met in New York City in 1961, and their film company Merchant Ivory went on to make numerous classic films, including Howard’s End, A Room with a View and Remains of the Day.  

Merchant died in 2005, and now a documentary explores the duo's working and personal relationships with each other, cast and crew members.  

Merchant Ivory screens as part of the British and Irish Film Festival 2024 which runs until 7 November.  

Susana speaks to James about what it’s like being in front – rather than behind – the camera. 

 

 

11:30 What goes into making an award-winning music video?  

Ryan Bradley and Hattie Adams were part of the team which recently picked up the NZ on Air Best Music Video award at the Show Me Shorts Film Festival.  

The video — for a track called Tōtara by husband-and-wife duo Aro — shows two siblings converge on their childhood home to reflect on what they have lost and still have. 

Ryan and Hattie join Susana from vacation in Fiji to discuss the video. 

 

 

 

11.45 RNZ Concert: Settling the Score  

Which piece of classical music will triumph in RNZ Concert's Settling The Score countdown this year?  

RNZ Concert presenter Carey McDonald joins Susana in our Auckland studio to preview the rest of the Top 30 Countdown which gets underway at midday. 

The winning musical piece will be revealed at around 8pm over on RNZ Concert.