Saturday Morning

7.11 Manuel Beazely on the Pope's funeral

In just over 12 hours time the funeral for Pope Francis will be about to begin at St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

World leaders including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will be there, along with tens of thousands of mourners.

Pope Francis used his position as leader of the Roman Catholic Church to speak out on a range of issues from the war in Gaza to climate change.

Manuel Beazely is the vicar for Māori in the Auckland Diocese and just landed in Rome about 2 hours ago.

He spoke to Mihingarangi Forbes

7.19 Olivia Podmore's parents on the inquest 

This week saw the the final few days of the coronial inquest into the death of olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore.

Six months of harrowing evidence revealed the enormous pressure she was under after unwittingly exposing an affair between a coach and another athlete.

Olivia died in a suspected suicide in 2021, one day after the Tokyo Olympics ended - which she wasn't selected for.

A subsequent investigation into Cycling New Zealand revealed bullying and a lack of accountability.

Olivia's Mum Nienke and her step dad Chris Middleton spoke to Susie Ferguson from their Christchurch home.

7.31 The Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act - whats next?

On long weekends like this many head to their local walking tracks - in Auckland, that's the Waitākere Ranges.

Now on Monday submissions close on an Deed of Acknowledgement between iwi Te Kawerau ā Maki, Auckland Council and the Department of Conservation.

The Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act has been in place since 2008 - so 17 years later the next step, on how to effect the act and actually manage the area is underway.

Edward Asby is the Environment manager for the iwi and he spoke to Susie.

7.45 The link between eye health and dementia

A link between eye health and dementia has been uncovered using data and scans from the Dunedin Longitudinal Study.

Researchers at the University of Otago have discovered changes to the blood vessels at the back of the eye may indicate someone is at greater risk of developing dementia.

Dr Ashleigh Barrett-Young is the co-lead author of the study.

She is a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology, University of Otago/Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka.

Susie asked Ashleigh what researchers have been looking for and what those discoveries mean.

7.54 Sports with Mathew Nash: will Auckland FC make history?

A historic inaugural season for Auckland FC could get even better this weekend....

The A-league newcomers will win the premier's plate and qualify for the finals series if they draw or win against Perth Glory tomorrow... or if Melbourne City draw or lose against Adelaide United tonight... so the odds for this upstart team are very much in their favour!

Mathew Nash is a regular RNZ Sports Contributor mainly covering the beautiful game.

8.10 Controlled mess with celebrated illustrator Sydney Smith

In the world of children's literature, the Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international distinction awarded to authors and illustrators of children's books. 

The award recognises lifelong achievement and is given to someone whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature.

Canadian illustrator Sydney Smith is one of those people. 

He won the award biennial award for his emotive, often wordless books, which express complex, and at times unsettling emotions, explored in a gentle way while respecting the reader's intelligence, regardless of whether that reader is a parent or a kid.

He joins the show to talk about his work.

8.40 The ethics of donating sperm

A 'medical calamity' was declared following the discovery over eighty Dutch sperm donors were found to have fathered at least 25 children each.

The news has brought to light the real genetic and ethical risk factors that arise from sperm donors being too generous — with the risk of incest-related health issues being a very real problem, in small, densely populated countries like the Netherlands.

Josephine Johnston is a bioethicist, lawyer and Associate Professor at the University of Otago where she teaches medical law and medical ethics.

She speaks with Mihi about how sperm-donation safeguards are implemented in NZ.

9.06 Mary Kisler: Dad's post-war trauma 

Art historian Mary Kisler saw the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on her father, who left for war with one personality and returned with another — after being a prisoner of war in Italy and then Germany from late 1941 to 1945.

Mary's search to better understand her father, whom she both loved and feared, lead her to trace his life and war record. She then uncovered the truth behind his harrowing experiences and the stigma that came with being a POW. 

Mary's memoir Dark Dad: War and trauma - a daughter's tale is a powerful, redemptive story and one of forgiveness.

9.35 The Tibbles: celebrating a hero

The Tibble family are in Faenza, Italy commemorating their ancestor Te Rauwhiro Tibble, who received a Military Cross for bravery with his platoon of men from Rongowhakaata and Te Aitanga a Mahaki.  He took a single shot to his body to stop a tiger tank and get his men to safety across the river. Thirteen members of his family over five generations are there for Anzac Day, including Paora Tibble, who speaks with Mihi.

9.45 Noel Hyde:  the native barn owl

The barn owl is New Zealand's newest native raptor, but what impact do they have on our native species? Rotorua's Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre is undertaking research to better understand the barn owls' role in our environment. 

Noel Hyde is one of New Zealand's most well-respected wildlife taxidermists. In 2018, he was awarded Member of the New Zealand Order of merit (MNZM) for services to wildlife conservation and research taxidermy.

Noel speaks with Susie. 

10.06 Space weather: Graham Leonard

There's one type of weather you don't do small talk about.  Space weather.  It's caused by activity on the Sun's surface and can impact our national infrastructure, technology, and communications systems.

Volcanologist and GNS principal scientist Graham Leonard joins Susie and Mihi to explain.  

10.30 Comedian Anisa Nandaula

What’s it like being a black woman in Australia? Ugandan-born Queenslander and standup comedian Anisa Nandaula knows all too well. 

Her current show You Can’t Say That explores the challenges she’s faced in a new country and how, on arrival, she expected a multicultural society – but instead found herself face-to-face with farm animals.

She has been nominated for best newcomer at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and performs three Auckland shows for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival during May. 

Ahead of her Auckland gigs, Anisa Nandaula speaks with Mihi about her approach to comedy and using laughter to tackle life’s challenges.

10.40 Men raising good boys

What influence do male role-models, chiefly fathers, have on boys' perceptions of masculinity?

This is a question asked by Professor Michael Flood, the Co-Program Leader for the Access to Justice programme. His research focuses on gender, sexuality, and interpersonal violence. Throughout his career he's made significant contributions to scholarly and community understanding of men's and boys' involvements in preventing violence against women.

He was the man behind The Man Box — a national survey of Australian men aged 18 to 30, the first of its kind, providing valuable data about young men's experiences and perceptions of gender.

Professor Michael Flood speaks with Susie.

11.06 Playing favourites with Tina Cross

Celebrating 50 years in the entertainment industry - Tina Cross sounds as good as ever. She cemented her place as an iconic New Zealand singer winning at the Pacific Song Contest in 1979 with Nothing But Dreams.

Tina then went on to conquer the charts on both sides of the Tasman and even sang the Shortland Street theme song.

Tina was the lead vocalist of synthpop band, Koo De Tah, and one third of the of the harmony supergroup, The Lady Killers.

Awarded an ONZM for her services to the music, throughout her career Tina has been an avid supporter of charitable organisations.  She joins Mihi to discuss the importance of a good boogie.