1Country Life for Friday 23 August 2024 This week the Country Life team introduces us to New Zealand's agricultural trade envoy, Hamish Marr. Cosmo visits his family's arable farm near Methven... and demand for tropical fruit trees like longan, jackfruit and bananas is keeping a Northland horticulture teacher busy on his lifestyle block overlooking Doubtless Bay. [Radio New Zealand, Friday 23 August 2024, 19:08]

2Saturday Morning for Saturday 24 August 2024 Colin Peacock is hosting this week's show. 8:10 Eggs, Evolution, and Life on Earth Without an egg, we and all other creatures wouldn't exist. More often than not the focus has been firmly on the outcome of the egg - what it produces - but zoological correspondent and author Jules Howard has turned the tables. In his book Infinite Life: A Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution and Life on Earth Jules tells the exceptional story of the egg. 8:45 Mpox 101 with Dr Chris Smith A severe outbreak of a new variant of mpox with a death rate of 10% triggered the WHO to declare a global health emergency last week. Formerly known as monkeypox and closely related to smallpox, the virus has killed over 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the outbreak is centred. Cases of the new varient are now being reported outside of Afica but widespread transmission is considered unlikely by epidemiologists. To give us the low down on mpox we're being joined by Cambridge University clinical virologist and naked scientist Dr Chris Smith - who was our go-to guy as the Covid pandemic unfolded. 9:05 Can music policy transform cities? Does music have the power to make a cities economy, tourism, and quality of life better? Shain Shapiro is a leading music and cultural policy thinker. In his book This Must Be The Place he examines the impact music can have on how cities are developed, built, managed and governed. Shain is the founder and chairman of economics consultancy Sound Diplomacy. Shain's currently in New Zealand for his book tour. 9:40 Surviving and thriving after a break up Journalist Sarah Catherall has written the book she wishes she had when her own long-term relationship imploded. In How to Break Up Well Sarah shares her own story, and seeks advice and guidance from divorce coaches, lawyers and reationship psychologists. She joins Colin to talk about how you can grow in strength and confidence after a break-up. 10:05 Playwright Dennis Kelly Award-winning British playwright Dennis Kelly says he's drawn to including the best and worst of human behaviour in his work. Dennis has written more than 20 plays, numerous TV series including the conspiracy thriller Utopia and the sitcom Pulling, and he co-wrote the book for Matilda the Musical. His play Girls and Boys is being performed by the Auckland Theatre Company and opens next month. He talks with Colin Peacock about creating a work that's funny but also shocking and confronting. 10:30 Olympics photographer David Levene More than 1500 photographers covered the Olympic games. One of them was award-winning photographer David Levene, whose images appeared in the Guardian. David says he was surprised to find the weightlifting incredibly hard to shoot but was in his element beside the pool. He chats with Colin about what it takes to get that magic shot. 10:45 Danyl McLauchlan: Why internet searches are serving up "AI slop" Many of us are concerned about the harm that might result from AI being too smart, but Danyl McLauchlan thinks it's worth considering the damage caused by AI being not smart enough. From gibberish articles to recipes for pizza that include glue as a key ingredient, low-quality mass-produced AI content is filling up our social media feeds and polluting our internet searches. Danyl McLauchlan joins Colin to examine the impact of this "AI slop". 11:05 Playing Favourites with Jan Hellriegel West Auckland singer-songwriter Jan Hellriegel has lined up a string of shows around the country for her new tour 'If Not Now, When?', heralded as a mix of piano tunes, comedy, and stories. Kicking off late September, the tour will see Jan unveiling her new project which follows on the heels of her 2019 multimedia venture Sportsman of The Year. Jan's love affair with music started as a youngster when she learned classical piano. From there she took vocal coaching from Dame Sister Mary Leo, whose protégés included Kiri Te Kanawa. Jan has always forged her own sonic path, and has her own unique approach to music that didn't always fit with the view of her label. In anticipation of Jan's upcoming tour she joins Colin to share some yarns and play some favourites. Books featured on the show — This Must Be The Place By Shain Shapiro Published by Repeater Infinite Life: A Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution and Life on Earth By Jules Howard Published by Elliott & Thompson How to Break Up Well By Sarah Catherall Published by Bateman Music played in this show — Song: Farmhouse Artist: Phish Time played: 9.10 Song: This Must Be The Place Artist: Talking Heads Time played: 9.38 Playing Favourites with Jan Hellriegel Song: A Thousand Years Artist: Christina Perri Time played: 11.11 Song: Don't Let me Be Misunderstood Artist: Santa Esmeralda Time played: 11.20 Song: Pyromaniac Artist: The Verlaines Time played: 11.32 Song: Now and Then Artist: The Beatles Time played: 11.41 Song: 'So Happy' from Sportsman of The Year Artist: Jan Hellriegel Time played: 11.52 Song: Ace of Spades Artist: Motörhead Time played: 11.58 [Radio New Zealand, Tuesday 03 September 2024, 23:57]