RNZ: Saturday Morning

Tim Thorpe of Upper Hutt has been tweeting daily extracts from his great uncle's diary – 100 years to the day since he started serving in WW1.

Journalist Carey Gillam is working to open up the US food production industry. She talks with Kim Hill about regulatory wind-back and potential gagging orders against scientists.

Mark Cubey, Kate De Goldi and Laura Kroetsch talk about the year's best books and preview their summer choices.

Award-winning, former feature writer at the New Zealand Herald and a longtime music writer and critic. He currently lectures in the School of Music at the University of Auckland and gives his picks for the summer's listening.

Painter, poet, curator and writer on the year in poetry - introducing several favourites, including Paekakariki poet Rob Hack.

It's been a huge year for Hera Lindsay Bird whose debut collection of poetry has brought her to the attention of the world.

Dava Sobel tells Kim Hill about the ‘Harvard Computers’, the women who helped usher in modern astrophysics.  

NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew has had quite the year. He spoke to Kim Hill about culture change and the challenges facing New Zealand rugby after an incident-rich year.

Kim Hill reads messages from listeners to the Saturday Morning programme of 16 December 2016.

Kate Camp has published five collections of poems, most recently Snow White's Coffin (VUP), and will discuss Cheri by Colette.

Former Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills now holds governance roles on 12 organisations, including two National Science Challenges the QEII National Trust, Ravensdown and Apiculture NZ. He is also a Hawke's Bay sheep and cattle farmer and owner of an internationally-recognised garden at the family property, Trelinnoe.

Nick Bollinger is a writer, musician, record producer and host of RNZ’s The Sampler. His new memoir Goneville is both a coming of age story and an insiders take on the 1970s New Zealand music scene.

Writer, actor and filmmaker Eli Kent won the 2008 Peter Harcourt Award for Outstanding New Playwright of the Year at just 19. He went on to write several award-winning works and his play All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever received critical acclaim at London's Vault Festival. Peer Gynt [Recycled], based on Henrik Ibsen's original five-act play-in-verse, first published in 1867, has its world premiere at the Auckland Arts Festival in March.

Cassandra Extavour is a Harvard University professor, who is in New Zealand to sing 'Handel's Messiah' with the Auckland Chorale.

Charles (Chuck) Lane is an opinion writer for The Washington Post and a regular guest on Fox News Channel.