RNZ: Ideas

Ideas talks to Marion Shoard, author of This Land is Your Land and The Right to Roam, about public access to land and waterways in Britain and Scandinavia; Mark Neeson of the Walking Access Commission; and high country farmer Sue Aspinall.

Ideas this week talks to Marama Davidson, David Geary and Clayton Thomas-Muller about the Idle No More movement which deals with the rights and identity of First Nations people, starting in Canada with a predominantly female lead.

'Another World is Possible' is the slogan of the World Social Forum an annual gathering of civil society organisations that began in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001. And it's the topic of an essay competition being launched by the Labour History Project this week. Chris Laidlaw talks to historian Mark Derby about the competition and the 1913 'What is Socialism?' essay competition, organised by the labour activist and later Labour Prime Minister Water Nash, that inspired it; Professor Roger Robinson discusses Julius Vogel's Anno Domini 2000 the Utopian Novel that Got the Future Right; and Wellington regional councillor Paul Bruce recalls attending the first World Social Forum gathering in 2001.

In the latest of occasional series where we talk to influential New Zealanders about the individuals, writers and thinkers who have influenced them, we speak to pioneering movie and TV producer John Barnett. There could hardly be a single New Zealander who hasn't enjoyed one of the many Kiwi culture-defining projects he's been involved with. These projects range from Fred Dagg and the National Business Review to Whale Rider and Outrageous Fortune, not to mention the hit Song Slice of Heaven and our longest running soap Shortland Street.

Ideas explores the acceptance and celebration of difference within the various states of mental health, and the affliction of chronic normalcy.

This week Ideas looks at the colonial rule of Indonesia, how the republic treats its citizens in West Papua and in their former province of Timor Leste.

Last month Human Rights Watch issued a report calling for so-called killer robots to be stopped in their tracks and this week Jeremy Rose talks to the report's author, Bonnie Docherty. Wellingtonian Mary Wareham, who has just taken up the position of advocacy director of disarmament at Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, tells Chris Laidlaw about the challenges of convincing governments to give up some of the nastier parts of their arsenals, and Wim Zwijenburg, of the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, talks about efforts to have a moratorium placed on the use of depleted uranium. Produced by Jeremy Rose.

Democracy beyond the ballot box. New technology and its role in the provision of people's say.

Mai Chen, along with her former partner in law Sir Geoffrey Palmer, is widely credited with setting up the country's first US-style public law firm - Chen Palmer. So what drives this most driven of professional lobbyists? Chris Laidlaw talks to Mai Chen about her life and influences.

Next weekend will see dozens of young innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists descend on Wellington for the Festival for the Future. Ideas talks to four of the festival's speakers.

This week Ideas takes a look at Mexico, speaking to expat Jorge Herrera about his country's indigenous cultures. Also, film-maker Luz Savinon and environmental scientist Ruy Anaya de la Rosa talk, from an expat perspective, about the future for youth given the country's current socio-economic environment.

Ideas takes another look at banking, and its ethical basis in particular.

The shockwaves from the global financial crisis of 2008 continue to be felt around the world and the banking profession has rarely be held in such low regard, but there are some financial institutions that have benefited from the crisis. Chris Laidlaw talks to Kristen Christian, the founder of Transfer Your Bank Day which has seen six million Americans switch from mainstream to community-owned banks; and Peter Blom, the CEO of Trodos Bank and the chair of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, talks to Jeremy Rose about the idea of sustainable banking.

Trevor Grice, the founder of the Life Education Trust tells Chris Laidlaw about the people, thinkers and events that have shaped his life. From a malnourished childhood and struggles with alcoholism to visiting both the South and North Poles and the setting up of the Life Education Trust - it's been an incredible journey.

This week Ideas looks at what the future holds for railways.