The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Broadcaster and Podcaster Brodie Kane joins Director at Capital and political commentator Ben Thomas on The Panel.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ava DuVernay is a critically acclaimed, Hollywood film-maker who's not afraid to push the boundaries.  She's behind films such as Oscar nominated Selma, and documentary 13th.  Her latest film has been labelled rebellious and radical - based on the book Caste by Pulitzer Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson, the film is called Origin. Ava joined Francesca to discuss her newest film.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Studies show about a third of people wake throughout the night, with various reasons for sleep disruptions.  Erin O'Hara is a naturopath and joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss ways to get better sleep.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bacon and Egg Pie    Cook time: 40 minutes  Prep time: 10 minutes    1 packet of flaky puff pastry, 5 sheets  10 fresh eggs  150g streaky bacon, cut into 1 cm dice  ½ white onion  1 stick of rosemary (optional)  ½ tsp flaky sea salt and cracked pepper  2 T sesame seeds    Preheat your oven to 180 degrees  Take a heavy 26cm EngelElzen cast-iron or similar pan and lightly spray the inside with cooking spray.  Crack one egg into a small bowl and lightly beat with a fork.  Start by laying one sheet of flaky pastry on side of the pan then another 1/3 of the way around, brushing with eggwash where the pasty touches. Then the third sheet to cover the remaining pan. The whole inside of the pan should now be covered.  Spread the bacon out across the bottom, the crack in the remaining eggs. Sprinkle across the sliced white onion, seasalt and a good crack of pepper.  Lay the remaining 2 sheets of pastry across the top, again using egg wash to bind the 2 sheets. Fold over the outside edge and roll to seal. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and leaves of the rosemary.  Heat the pan on the stove top for 4 minutes before placing into the oven on a lower rack.  Cook for 40 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve the next morning with some spicy tomato jam. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scientists off the coast of south-east Alaska used an underwater speaker to play a recording of a humpback whale greeting call.  A humpback whale broke away from its group and approached the vessel, in which is thought to be the first time humans and whales have communicated with each other in the humpback language.  Nanogirl Dr Michelle Dickinson discussed this and more with Francesca Rudkin.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Newall from flicks.co.nz joined Francesca to chat nominations for the Aotearoa Music Awards, as well as Zendaya's new film Challengers.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last weekend in the aftermath of the Bondi Mall stabbings, we saw a prime example of how badly wrong the internet can go.  For 14 hours, Sydney student Ben Cohen was widely named and wrongly identified as the killer - and it spread like wildfire internationally. By Sunday morning, his name had made its way into the mainstream media - with Australia's 7News misidentifying Ben as the attacker.  Barrister Chris Patterson joined Francesca to discuss how this happened.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1944, Phyllis 'Pippa' Latour parachuted into Nazi occupied Normandy as an undercover agent.  Had she been discovered, she would have been shot instantly - however Pippa made it out. In fact, she was one of the last female special operations agents to get out of France Alive.  After the war, Pippa ended up here in New Zealand, but never told a soul, not even her husband or children, about her mission during the war.  Before she died last year, she told her fill story to Jude Dobson.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has had a busy week in Southeast Asia.  ZB Political Editor Jason Walls discussed with Francesca Rudkin what came out of this trip, as well as further AUKUS Pillar 2 talks.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m not sure the government thought through the timing of this week’s release of guidelines around kids’ illness and school attendance.  Half way through the school holidays, I can assure Associate Education Minister David Seymour that after another week most parents will be happily marching their children off to school, snotty nose or not.  Which isn’t to say we don’t love our children. They’re the most important things in our lives, we’d do anything for them, and we love spending time with them.   But let’s be honest, we prefer it when they’re at school for a number of reasons. It’s where they need to be to get an education. We also want them out of the house. We like routine. The juggle of childcare and looking after sick children for two working parents is a nightmare if you can't work from home. And finally, those who parented through lockdowns understand the academic, social and health impacts on our children when they aren’t in school regularly.   So while the coalition government’s intentions are good and we want kids in school as much as possible, acting like a nanny state and telling us how to parent isn’t the way to do it.  We’ve moved on since Covid’s restrictions and most parents are making sensible decisions about when they should or shouldn’t send their kids to school. A decision that 's best for their own child, and the rest of the classroom. For the most part I think parents do their best to get that balance right.   I understand this is part of the Minister’s plan to lift school attendance rates and make the stats look better with short-term illness or medical reasons the biggest cause of justified absences.   Don’t forget a child only needs to be away from school for a week a term to be categories as not regularly attending. That’s a high bar.    But let’s not focus too much on short term illness. We know children and teens can catch up after a few days off battling a cold. Longer term medical reasons are more of a concern.   Talk to the amazing team at the Northern Health School, who help children carry on with their education when they’re assessed as too medically unwell to attend school. They’ll tell you their students used to be mostly being treated for cancer or recovering from an operation. Now, they’re overwhelmed with children dealing with serious mental health issues.  I can say from experience that the work they do is vital to getting students back into school without having fallen behind academically. They are some of the unsung heroes of our education system.   So instead of patronising parents about colds and snotty noses, I’d like to see the government focus on addressing a much more important issue, how do they better support the educational needs of children dealing with much more serious life challenges that keeps them out of school for longer periods of time. And if they haven't already, I'd suggest they start by having a chat with those making a difference in this area daily.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Friday, Mike McRoberts announced his news presenting journey would come to an end.  The final 6pm NewsHub bulletin on July 5th will also be Mike's last... after a 40 year career in the media, half of which was spent in the prime-time news slot. Mike McRoberts joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss his decision to step away.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston. Set amidst the foot and mouth scare in Cumbria in 2001, this is the story of two men, William and Steve, who have neighbouring sheep farms and are forced to destroy all their stock. They attempt to hide the remnants of one of their flocks from the authorities, and then when William falls in with a criminal shyster, Steve is roped into their plans to travel south to rustle a pedigree flock from a faraway farm to give them something to go on with. William’s new friend brings chaos and destruction close to home. Whilst this is set against a somewhat brutal background. the author’s craft lifts it to another level entirely.  A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci. In southern Virginia in 1968, a black man and his wife are charged with the murder of an elderly white couple. Jack Lee takes on their case and is joined by a young black lawyer who’s a crusader for justice and civil rights. Everything is stacked against them and the relentless march towards Death Row for their defendants looks inevitable. This took David Baldacci ten years to write and is his most deeply personal story yet – and even for those of us who have read a lot of legal thrillers set in similar circumstances, the degree to which racism was entrenched in the State at that time is truly shocking and makes for a highly charged novel.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're about to embark on a first cruise or you're carrying out a post-Covid bucket list adventure, there's plenty you should be aware of before you set sail. BloggerAtLarge's Megan Singleton recommends returning to the ship on time during planned excursions, and taking advantage of the dining room- among more travel tips. Read more of Megan's advice for what not to do on cruises here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Sunday Panel, Coast's Lorna Riley and senior PR consultant at One Plus One Communications, Damien Venuto, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the week- and more!  There's growing concern locally produced Kiwi content could be facing more difficulties. On top of the Newshub and TVNZ cuts, there's fears TV shows like Shortland Street could be scrapped. Should we do more to save Kiwi content?  World Athletics recently confirmed it plans to offer gold medallists a cash prize in the upcoming Paris Olympics. Is this the right decision? Rage rooms- would you pay to go somewhere to work out your anger? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dietary fibre supplements are enjoying a resurgence in the world of wellness. Research shows fibre has plenty of benefits- it helps with regulating bowel movements and gut health, weight management and blood sugar regulation. Naturopath and wellness expert explains the benefits of fibre, and other ways we can get it besides supplements. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beer battered fish with creamy tartare sauce Cook time: 5 minutes Prep time: 20 minutes Serves: 6 4 sides white fish like, gurnard, snapper, or similar 2 bottles beer 1 cup flour salt oil for frying Creamy Tartare 2 egg yolks 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar 1 tsp Dijon mustard 300ml grapeseed oil 3 Tbsp crème fraiche 2 Tbsp chopped capers 2 Tbsp chopped gherkins 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley juice and zest of 1 lemon salt freshly ground black pepper Start by making the the tartare. Place egg yolks, vinegar and mustard in a food processor and blitz to combine. With the motor running, gradually add the oil until the mayonnaise is thick and smooth. Now add all of the other ingredients and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the beer into a bowl and sift over the flour and whisk in until a smooth thin batter forms. Season with salt. Heat enough oil in a pot to 180*c, you can test a small drop of batter to check temperature. It should float to the surface and not colour up too quickly. One by one run the fish through the batter and then slowly lower into the hot oil. Moving the fish round until fully submerged. This will stop the fish from quickly dropping to the bottom of the pot and sticking. Once golden keep hot in an oven until all the fish is finished. Serve alongside the tartare and some greens. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you are feeling angry, you might be tempted to vent, but science has a much better, evidence based solution for you. Research published this week in the journal Scientific Reports involved scientists asking 100 volunteers to write an opinion piece about important social issues such as whether smoking in public should be banned. They were told that their writing would be evaluated and feedback would be provided to them. The volunteers spent time writing their pieces, and no matter how good they were, every volunteer received insulting and negative feedback about their work and were scored low on intelligence, interest, friendliness, logic and rationality. They also received insulting feedback that included statements like 'I cannot believe that an educated person would think like this'. Immediately after receiving the insulting feedback, all of the volunteers showed an increase in their subjective rating of anger. The volunteers were then given a piece of paper and asked to write down their immediate thoughts and feelings about the situation. One group was asked to either throw away the piece of paper or to place it in a paper shredder and watch it be shredded. A second group was told to keep the paper either in a clear plastic box or a clear folder on their desk. The results showed that the volunteers who kept their paper thoughts stayed angry, however the volunteers who threw away or who shredded their written thoughts returned to their initial calm state very quickly. The researchers themselves were surprised at how effective destroying or disposing the paper was in immediately reducing feelings of anger, and seem to have found a cheap and easy way to help people to feel calm. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three's new local psychological thriller series is set to follow two best friends- and a surrogacy pact that falls through. Set in a post-quake Kaikōura, the series explores the town's recovery following the disaster, as the friendship between the leads turns toxic. Series creator Sarah-Kate Lynch and lead actress Morgana O’Reilly say the earthquake provided a solid backdrop for the series, as it impacted people differently. "For some people, the earthquake wasn't the end of anything, it was the beginning of things. If you were working on the roads, for example, your business might have done better. But if you had a little motel, you might have done worse." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of cinema's biggest names are expected to go head to head at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Paul Schrader, David Cronenberg and Francis Ford Coppola have films ready to go for the May event, with the latter's $120 million Megalopolis attracting plenty of pre-festival buzz. Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall explains what film fans can look forward to ahead of the festival. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has been busy over the last few days. Peters even got to catch the eclipse in New York, on the last leg of his diplomatic journey through the Middle East, Europe and the United States. ZB political editor Jason Walls says Peters has also pushed New Zealand a step closer to joining up with the AUKUS agreement. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.