RNZ: Sunday Morning

Nick Cater is a senior editor at The Australian. Born in Britain, he fell in love with the idea of Australia at an early age. He made the decision to migrate while on assignment for the BBC to cover the Australian bicentenary in 1988. Nick talks about his controversial publication 'The Lucky Culture'.

Will the recent welfare reforms even things out and incentivise beneficiaries to put more effort into getting jobs, or will it just add insult to injury for genuine beneficiaries with limited resources?

Ideas talks to three explorers on the search for Utopia – Professor Eric Olin Wright, the president of the American Sociological Society and author of Envisioning Real Utopias; Professor Lyman Tower Sargent, one of the world’s leading scholars of utopian projects and co-author of Living in Utopia: New Zealand’s Intentional Communities; and John Milne, a 17-year veteran of the Ahu Ahu ohu, a state-sponsored commune on the Whanganui River. 

Tibetan filmmaker whose documentary 'Who will be a Gurkha' vividly portrays the trials and tribulations of young Nepalese men volunteering to join this elite British army unit.

An extraordinary court case pitting a journalist against the armed forces; foreign spellings online; a yarn from the archives showing snooping on phone calls is nothing new.

Graham Hoyland talks to Chris Laidlaw about his book recounting his perspective on the demise of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine near the summit of Everest in 1924.

The Family Court is being given a shake-up. The Justice Minister says it is well needed, but Anne Marie May asks if there are any losers.

Wayne Brittenden takes an historic gaze back through some of his inherited cookbooks and finds it's not just the recipes that are reminiscent of another time. Dr Peter Lineham from Massey University's School of History, Philosophy and Classics joins Chris to discuss.

Acting director for the OECD's education directorate, looks at raw data which demonstrates New Zealand's relative success in the global standings of student achievement.

The Labour Party leaders seem a bit unfocussed. Could it be that Labour's historically 'robust' internal democratic processes simply make them appear indecisive?

Ideas today explores the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Prominent South African environmentalist Marlene Laros, and the influential strategist from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, Sir Robert Watson, are in Wellington for The Valuing Nature Conference. Both of these keynote speakers join the programme.

Sexism at Wimbledon; a premature prediction of a political coup; the media's role in rolling an Aussie leader, and; fears and hopes for the future of in-depth journalism in the digital age.

International Crisis Group member and Indonesia resident, Sidney Jones looks at the potential for long term democracy in the world's most populace Moslem nation.

The NZ dollar is still at an historically high level - Patrick O'Meara considers whether this has been a help or hindrance.

The Mana Party and the Maori Party did not fare well in the recent Ikaroa-Rawhiti by-election, coming second and third. Should they seriously consider joining forces?