Saturday Morning

This week devastating flash flooding hit the Nepal-China border, resulting in hundreds missing and many feared dead. This year alone we've already recorded a number of tragic disasters across the planet - heat waves and cyclones, floods and droughts. Some of them could tie to increasingly turbulent weather patterns as the climate changes. But how do we make sense of the link between seismic activity, ocean currents and rising temperatures. Earth Sciences New Zealand principal scientist Graham Leonard joins us to explain what happened in Nepal and shed a bit of light on broader global connectivity.

As co-founder of the CeleBRation Choir at the University of Auckland's Centre for Brain Research back in 2009, music therapist Alison Talmage knows the benefits of a good sing-a-long. She's written a handbook to help other people launch similar initiatives in their communities, so people dealing with serious brain conditions like dementia, strokes and Parkinson's Disease can get together in choirs. It's an initiative that's seen big benefits overseas, as the physical and social effects of singing in groups can help ease the symptoms of neurological conditions. But unlike similar choirs in other countries, Talmage leads a group of singers across a broad swathe of ages and different circumstances.

Many of us yearn to have more balance in our lives, to tune in and be guided by our energy levels. For Dr Jessica Gerbic it's been her career's work as a clinical psychologist she's helped hundreds of people tune in to their mauri - how it ebbs and flows and she's identified 12 stages of mauri she uses to guide her patients through to better, more balanced, brighter lives.

Max Wolf Friedlich is being celebrated for writing the play Job, a testy two-hander which knits together the world of therapy and big tech to create a tense stand-off between actors Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon. But while the play, which recently opened on Broadway, is seeing Wolf Friedlich's name in lights - actor Robert Pattinson has signed on to produce his next stage project - he's attained the spotlight before. The difference is that last time his name wasn't at the forefront. Wolf Friedlich was 'story lead' for Lil Miquela, a constructed online celebrity who took the world by storm back in the late 2010s. Job will be on at Auckland's Q Theatre in September, and you can get your tickets here.

The story of the sinking of the RMS Titanic has transfixed people for over a century now. But with the exhibit Titanic: The Human Story opening this week in Auckland's famous Smith & Caughey's Building, historians are presenting a new angle to this story that plays so large in the public imagination by putting the direct testimony of passengers and crew at the forefront. Leading Titanic expert Claes-Göran Wetterholm was one of the minds behind the new exhibit, and he joins us to reveal what's still being uncovered about this historical tragedy. Get your tickets to the exhibit here.