Podcast appearances and mentions of Ruth Richardson

Let me make a prediction for you on this pay equity drama that's been playing out for the last 24 hours - the Government is going to pay for this in a big way. I reckon that this could become one of the defining moments of this Government when we look back on it in years to come. Kind of like the 'Mother of All Budgets' came to define Ruth Richardson and Bolger's Government and the way the cup of tea came to define David Lange's Government - I think this is a moment for this Government. Not because it's the wrong thing for this Government to do, but because of the underhanded and sneaky and cowardly way that they have done it. Now, I personally think that the pay equity system did need an overhaul. I mean, I think it is ridiculous to have librarians, as I said yesterday, compare themselves to engineers to justify similar pay. You can see those jobs are not even the same, right? But I do not think that it should have been rushed through with the shock and awe that it has been. ACT, in particular, has spent so much time in the past criticizing the previous Labour government for using parliamentary urgency to get around normal processes and keep people out of deliberations. And yet, here they are doing exactly the same thing because it suits them. And this is significant. It should have been flagged with people because it affects so many people - and yet, there was no indication whatsoever until yesterday that this was going to happen. Where was it on the list of the Prime Minister's action plans for the first quarter, or even the 2nd quarter or any quarter? It's just popped up absolutely out of nowhere and it's taken everybody by surprise. And what's more, they need to stop pretending in Government that this isn't being done in a hurry to have an impact on the Budget. This is being done in a hurry to save money for the Budget. We know that - because David Seymour said so yesterday. So everyone, and especially the National Party, needs to pretend that this is being done for some sort of principle, when actually what it's being done for is to save billions and billions and billions of dollars. The primary problem here, I think, is cowardice. It feels like these guys are rushing this through as quickly as possible with as little notice as possible, so they do not have to own their own decision. They should own it. It's not a bad decision, but they're making it feel like a bad decision. And I'll tell you what, oppositions can sense weakness - and they know that these guys are weak on this and they're going to strike on it, which is why I think this Government is itself making this a defining moment. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I love the way David Seymour is describing the size of cabinet and the number of government departments. He says the whole lot are "a big, complicated bureaucratic beast". And he is spot on. Here are the numbers that say it all: we have 82 portfolios, 28 ministers, and 41 separate government departments and agencies. If that doesn't sound like a complicated beast, I don't what does. So no argument from me. No argument also from Oliver Hartwich, who is Executive Director at the NZ Initiative think tank. He says part of the problem is that we have created all of these different outfits that, pretty much, look after similar things. Now Oliver Hartwich thinks we could get away with having as few as 15 cabinet ministers instead of the 28 we have at the moment. But he reckons maybe 20 is more realistic. Although, he also told Mike Hosking that he heard Ruth Richardson say recently that she thinks we should have no more than 12 cabinet ministers. Now, granted, I've never been a cabinet minister so I don't have any inside expert knowledge, but I'm going to give it a go anyway. And I reckon we could go really hardcore and have a prime minister with two deputy prime ministers reporting to them. Those two deputies would have all the other ministers reporting to them. And I would streamline the total number of ministers, generally within the areas of law and order, finance, defence and security, health and social services, education, and the arts. That's just a rough example of my streamlined cabinet. But Seymour's not just having a go at the number of cabinet ministers, he's also got the number of government departments and agencies in his line of sight, and I know a thing or two about them. Because in previous lives I've worked at a few, and they are monsters. David Seymour is describing them as "bureaucratic beasts". I'd describe government departments and agencies as “beastly spaghetti junctions”. And that's just what it's like inside these departments, let alone what happens between them. Because, despite politicians talking about these departments being “all of government”, they're not. That's this theoretical idea that all government departments get on swimmingly, and talk to each other about everything, and they're all best mates, and because of that us taxpayers get the best bang for our buck. But it's not like that at all. They work in silos. They compete with each other for funding. They don't talk to each other. One great thing the government has done to try and sort out this shambles is in the area of weather forecasting. NIWA and MetService aren't government departments exactly, but they are state-owned enterprises, and Simeon Brown announced a few weeks back that they're going to be merged. Which makes perfect sense. And that's what we need to see more of. Examples: do we need a Ministry of Education and an Education Review Office? I don't think so. Do we need a Ministry of Justice and a Department of Corrections? Possibly not. Do we need a Department of Conservation and a Ministry for the Environment? See what I mean? So I'm right with David Seymour, and I think we would all be winners with less cabinet ministers and less government departments and agencies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get ready for what we now know will be a winter of discontent after the announcement by Nicola Willis that she is slashing government spending. Which shows us once and for all, that the income tax cuts were a dreadful mistake. Because it's not just ideology driving these budget cuts - it's need. The Government has much less money coming in the door through taxation - which means it's got much less to spend. And, maybe conveniently, the Finance Minister's announcement yesterday came 48 hours before 5,000+ senior doctors go on strike wanting more pay. But if the Minister was watching the news last night, she would have seen people asked in the street what they thought she should focus her spending on in next month's budget. And it was clear, hands down, that most people thought it was health. And I'm the same. If there's one thing that affects us all in some way, shape or form - it's the state of the health system. I think the Government needs to take holistic view of the world when it comes to health and not just pour money into hospitals. But I think health spending or increased health spending needs to go into things from treating people who are really crook, people who need treatment to live productive and happy lives, but also things that help prevent people from getting unwell in the first place. The bigger issue for the Government though, aside from the state of the books, is maintaining public confidence. Winter is always the hardest time for us to keep our chin up and the Government will be aware of that. And no amount of cheerleading or writing-off its political opponents as moaners with no ambition is going to cut it anymore. Nor is some of the patronising talk we're hearing from the Finance Minister, who is at-risk of becoming as patronising as Jacinda Ardern was by the end of her tenure. We don't need to be told about household budgets and credit cards being declined to understand that the country is in the shtook. Just like we don't need patronising talk about Toyota Corolla ferries instead of Ferrari ferries. Even if you think Nicola Willis is the best thing since Ruth Richardson, you must be getting tired of some of the talk. The other thing that gets me is that a lot of people bang on about us needing governments with business experience. You know, successful people who know how to run a budget. But it always seems to me that when these so-called successful people do get into government, they do the complete opposite of what people expect them to do. For example: when you run a successful business, yes, you do keep an eye on costs. But there's another thing you do as well when you run a business: you try to get as much revenue in the door, as possible. But this government has done the complete opposite of that with its tax cuts. No one's better off. And the Government has way less money to spend. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Desde épocas inmemorables el dinero ha ido transformándose, determinando el resultado de guerras e influyendo en los grandes avances de la humanidad. Sin embargo, el doctor en Economía Daniel Fernández advierte que “nos hemos acostumbrado a que el dinero siempre pierda valor”. En la historia de la humanidad “no es lo más normal”, asegura, pues solamente ha ocurrido en épocas de guerra y bajo regímenes tiránicos.  Fernández, profesor de Economía en la Universidad de las Hespérides y director del Centro de Investigación Ruth Richardson de Análisis de Políticas Públicas, responsabiliza a los gobernantes actuales de provocar inflación. Un mecanismo contra el que ya advirtió en el siglo XVIII Goethe en su obra Fausto, en la que avisa que la emisión irresponsable de dinero es un “engaño diabólico”, pues produce prosperidad inmediata, que más tarde se convierte en llanto. Por todo ello, el especialista en teoría monetaria y del capital sostiene que vivimos en una época de “represión financiera blanda” desde el estallido de la Primera Guerra Mundial en 1914, con el fin de la primera globalización financiera y el patrón oro clásico.  Para entender hacia dónde vamos, Fernández revisa el pasado en su primer libro Dinero. Un viaje desde Mesopotamia hasta el bitcoin, criptomoneda que el economista ve “como una forma de rebelión”

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Peter sat down with Ruth Richardson, Minister of Finance during the National-Bolger Government, and catalyst of major economic reforms during the 90s.One of New Zealand's most respected Ministers of Finance, Ruth remains a deep thinker on the country's dangerous fiscal position and how we can extract ourselves from it.With this year's Budget only a few weeks away, she sets a path back to fiscal sustainability and tackles universal superannuation, the health system and the corporate tax rate.You can listen to the episode on our website, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and other good podcast apps. Support the show

In this episode we chat with Ruth Richardson, a seasoned hospice palliative care nurse educator who has dedicated her career to empowering patients, families, and healthcare providers through her compassionate and holistic approach. She shares her strategies for breaking down misconceptions about palliative care, equipping patients to advocate for themselves, and creating community-based learning experiences that foster resilience and connection. We also discuss her work educating the public, supporting grieving communities, and inspiring the next generation of nurses! To learn more about Ruth's work visit: https://champlainpalliative.ca/about-us/ Our theme song is Maypole by Ketsa and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Visit our website to learn more about our work, check out the Map Project, or to see our resources. https://www.waitingroomrevolution.com/

If New Zealand was a company staring down the barrel of running at a loss for at least the next five years and finding itself needing to borrow $20 billion more than it thought it did just six months ago, it would be lights out, wouldn't it? And no amount of creative accounting could change that picture. Essentially, that's the state we find ourselves in after yesterday's fiscal update from the Government. With pretty much the only good news coming out of it being in the housing market, and an expectation that it is going to come back to life the year after next. Unfortunately, I think Dunedin can kiss goodbye to winning the fight over cutbacks to the new hospital. I think all the noise about the IT cutbacks at Health NZ will fall on deaf ears in the Beehive too. But I also think that the Government is doing the right thing holding its nerve and I think doing a Ruth Richardson and going harder and faster on the spending cuts would be a disaster. I was listening to independent tax expert Geoff Nightingale on Newstalk ZB this morning and one of the things he mentioned was how much of a role welfare costs are playing in the Government's overall financial position. Which is why I mention Ruth Richardson. It was 1991 and Ruth Richardson was Minister of Finance and delivered what is forever known as the “Mother of all Budgets”. Because it was brutal - especially for beneficiaries and families. Unemployed people had their dole cut by $14 a week. Anyone on the sickness benefit ended up $25 worse off each week - in fact it was nearly halved, going from $52-a-week to $27-a-week. Universal payments for family benefits were completely abolished. She also brought-in more user-pays in health and education. Remember that was something Labour's Roger Douglas stated in the 80s but Ruth Richardson took it further. And, 30 years later, Labour's Grant Robertson delivered a budget that he said was increasing benefit payments to “right the wrongs” of Ruth Richardson's 1991 budget. Nevertheless, the Finance Minister is saying today that, despite the way things are, we're not going to see the Government going harder and faster on the spending cuts because it has already made spending commitments to the public. But she says re-prioritising spending will happen. So it seems that Nicola Willis isn't going to channel her inner Ruth Richardson and deliver the Mother of all Budgets Volume 2. Which I think is wise. Not that I'm saying that the Government isn't to blame for any of the shambles unveiled in yesterday's update. As you'd expect, it's pointing the finger at Labour - accusing it of economic vandalism, and how this just shows how much of a fix-it job it has on its hands. And don't get me started on the creative accounting we saw yesterday, which Treasury was against the Government doing in the first place, and which some economists think is a justifiable thing to do but still kind of cheeky. I'm not going to get bogged down in numbers, but I can't resist pointing out that part of the problem is the Government's revenue from taxation being down. Over four years it's going to earn $13 billion less. The cost of this year's income tax changes is going to be $14.5 billion over five years. Just saying. But the tax cuts horse has bolted and there's no going back from there. The other reason for the tax take being down is that businesses aren't earning so much - which, of course, means they're paying less tax too. And that's going to be a key thing for the Government —and Nicola Willis said so this morning— it needs to do what it can to stimulate economic growth. It will say that that's what things like the fast track legislation will do, all of that stuff. But it can't fix things with legislation alone, the Government needs to keep investing. Which is why it would be a terrible mistake for it to go all knee-jerk on it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This weekend Sunday Star-Times published a think piece on why Christopher Luxon is not popular. And he's not. Monday's polls showed that Christopher Luxon and his National Party is not as popular as maybe they should be. Interviewing university professors and their typewriters, the article came up with answers like no-one likes anyone who demands to be called Christopher and one professor even speculated on New Zealand's attitude toward baldness. Apparently we don't like them, which will be news to Monty Betham. It came in response to the latest poll which showed Chris Hipkins and Labour keeping up with Christopher Luxon and National, despite Labour changing nothing. While the Sunday Star-Times plucked at straws, I'd like to say it's the economy, stupid. These are tough times and we always blame the sitting Government, no matter what they inherited. But I would like to say that Mr Luxon has not made it easy for himself. When he inherited our damaged economy the Reserve Bank was already acting on inflation through interest rate hikes. The National led coalition then kept on with their cost of living crisis solution which was tax cuts and government spending crackdowns and lay offs. So the country had a two pronged attack with none of the solutions making life better in the short term. In fact it's made everything worse. So all the people who are collateral damage believe the government are monsters. All the people not affected who can see how the austerity overkill will be good for the economy and the country in the medium and long term, will be thinking Mr Luxon and his team are heroes. The Government will be hoping that by the time the only poll that count comes around in 2026, more voters will view them as heroes and not monsters. The last time we tried that was in the 90s as Don Brash raised interest rates at the Reserve Bank while Ruth Richardson gave us the Mother of all Budgets. She lasted less than 3 years after that and is not remembered fondly despite the good the austerity did. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance minister Nicola Willis is on a mission to crunch the size of government debt from well over 33% of GDP to under 30% within a few years, as well as fire up growth in an economy experiencing its worst-ever recession per capita. Doing one would be hard, but both at the same time seems a mission impossible for a politician wanting to win a second term. Bernard asks her how the government will both keep its promises and engineer even bigger spending cuts in per capita terms than those delivered by Ruth Richardson in the early 1990s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruth Richardson is President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. She became the first Black woman to lead the five-state affiliate in October 2022. She is a lawyer, health equity champion, and a trailblazer. Ruth brings her unique perspective as the first Black woman to lead the five-state affiliate and as a former Minnesota House Representative, to illuminate the intersections of voter rights, reproductive justice, and the essential nature of civic engagement. www.conversationswithchanda.com IG @chandasbaker & @conversationswithchanda Twitter/X: @chandasbaker https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Pattrick Smellie, who has been a regular contributor to this show, is back from his long European sabbatical - and he reckons we need to cheer up in New Zealand.He's written a piece for BusinessDesk saying that the headlines he's seeing here at home suggest we're as miserable as we were back in the early 1990s during Ruth Richardson's recession. And he points out that all 9 countries he visited actually had the same problems - race relations, violent crime, failing infrastructure, countless crises, countries going backwards, but they were dealing with it without the same sense of fatalistic despair that we have over it.Now I've thought about this a lot overnight, and I agree that we're extremely gloomy. And I would be the first to tell us to give ourselves an uppercut if I thought we were being unreasonably miserable, but I think we're justified in feeling like we do.Because- and I can't speak for other countries - we have gone through a massive shift in the last few years. We went from being the rockstar economy, prosperous and riding the wave of Chinese demand to three recessions in two years.  Name me another country that we compare ourselves to that has had three recessions in two years. That's a tough thing to go through.Pattrick himself admits it's bad. He points out that we've slipped in a comprehensive UN measure of everything from life expectancy and education to economics. We've dropped 7 places in one year, that's how fast things have gone backwards for us.We've gone from being the safe place you want to raise your kids in to having 11 to 12 homicides in the North Island in just over a month - including a body found burnt out in a car somewhere today.I think what's made us gloomy is the size of the shift. Others may also be experiencing what we are, but I suspect not with the swing from one extreme to the other that we have - which makes the bad feel so much more bad because it was so good. So yeah, we're gloomy. And yeah, like Pattrick, I'm looking forward to us coming out of this. But I don't think we're being dramatic in how we feel, I think it's justified. And I think it's good, because it means we don't accept it - and we're motivated to change it.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pattrick Smellie, who has been a regular contributor to this show, is back from his long European sabbatical - and he reckons we need to cheer up in New Zealand.He's written a piece for BusinessDesk saying that the headlines he's seeing here at home suggest we're as miserable as we were back in the early 1990s during Ruth Richardson's recession. And he points out that all 9 countries he visited actually had the same problems - race relations, violent crime, failing infrastructure, countless crises, countries going backwards, but they were dealing with it without the same sense of fatalistic despair that we have over it.Now I've thought about this a lot overnight, and I agree that we're extremely gloomy. And I would be the first to tell us to give ourselves an uppercut if I thought we were being unreasonably miserable, but I think we're justified in feeling like we do.Because- and I can't speak for other countries - we have gone through a massive shift in the last few years. We went from being the rockstar economy, prosperous and riding the wave of Chinese demand to three recessions in two years.  Name me another country that we compare ourselves to that has had three recessions in two years. That's a tough thing to go through.Pattrick himself admits it's bad. He points out that we've slipped in a comprehensive UN measure of everything from life expectancy and education to economics. We've dropped 7 places in one year, that's how fast things have gone backwards for us.We've gone from being the safe place you want to raise your kids in to having 11 to 12 homicides in the North Island in just over a month - including a body found burnt out in a car somewhere today.I think what's made us gloomy is the size of the shift. Others may also be experiencing what we are, but I suspect not with the swing from one extreme to the other that we have - which makes the bad feel so much more bad because it was so good. So yeah, we're gloomy. And yeah, like Pattrick, I'm looking forward to us coming out of this. But I don't think we're being dramatic in how we feel, I think it's justified. And I think it's good, because it means we don't accept it - and we're motivated to change it.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is fair to say the country is not in a good place right now. Job cuts dominate the headlines. A double-dip recession came true. Inflation is robbing us of our purchasing power. Last week an IPSOS poll found that 60 percent of us think that New Zealand is in decline and 65 percent believe that the economy is rigged to benefit the rich and the powerful. And when people bemoan our situation and wonder how we got here a common response is to blame the Labour Government and the Reserve Bank. A common refrain is Robertson blew all the money so we can't afford to do anything now, even something as important as paying our police more so they don't quit or leave the country. You also hear that Labour caused a debt so large our children and their children will be paying for it for decades to come. So I pricked up my ears last week when Mike Hosking talked to ASB economist Nick Tuffley about inflation and the economy in general. Mike asked him how bad was our economy and he said pretty bad but still nowhere near what happened after the GFC. To remind you, the GFC ended early in 2009 and John Key's government was in charge. To remedy the situation we borrowed, we opened up immigration and we went through austerity to a far greater degree than we're doing now. And it worked. Need I remind you that within 5 years we were described as having a rock-star economy. This is not to diminish the situation that we're in right now but it is to put a perspective on things. But Nick was also asked why inflation and bad economic tidings were still happening here when other economies like the States, the UK and Australia are bouncing back. Economies with far greater debt and spending. Tuffley essentially blamed our static productivity. He says considering we imported nearly 3 percent more population over the past 2 years our GDP should have raised, but it didn't. We seem incapable of making more money per person year on year. And it's a problem that we've had ever since Ruth Richardson's Mother of all Budgets early in the 90s. And it's a problem that exists no matter the colour of the government. It's something we need to look to ourselves for not something we can blame on the government. And it relates to the comments that Christopher Luxon made overseas that angered some when he boasted that New Zealand is now open for business. We've always been open for business. The real question is how much business are we open for?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nicolle Wallace is joined by Neal Katyal, Pete Strzok, Lisa Rubin, Ruth Richardson, Mara Gay, Rep. Jason Crow, Sarah Longwell, Miles Taylor, Michael Steele, Daniel Ziblatt, and Steven Levitsky. 

Over the years, we've heard Qanon believers loudly protest the alleged misappropriation of human remains – whether they're being used to supply “adrenochrome farms” or consumed during satanic cabal dinner parties. As is often the case, the reality is far more disturbing than the conspiracy theory. This week, Allie Mezei joins us to bring us horrific tales from the real ‘tissue trade', a feud between the bodies of the living and the dead that stretches all the way back to the eighteenth century. Unfortunately, the corpse trade is very much alive, even today, and continues to be a depressing reminder of the ruling class's war against the poor. Subscribe for $5 a month to get an extra episode of QAA every week + access to our archive of premium episodes and ongoing series like PERVERTS, Manclan, Trickle Down and The Spectral Voyager: https://www.patreon.com/QAA Written by Allie Mezei https://twitter.com/pinealdecalcify Music by Pontus Berghe and Nick Sena. Editing by Corey Klotz. https://qanonanonymous.com SOURCES: https://www.alreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Dotson-Complaint.pdf https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/01/11/us/alabama-prison-inmates-missing-organs-lawsuit/index.html https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/massachusetts-bill-allowing-prisoners-donate-organs-reduced-time/story?id=96989325 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9996393/ https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2024/01/alabama-still-cant-find-heart-missing-from-prisoners-body.html https://abc3340.com/news/local/family-says-organs-including-brain-missing-from-deceased-inmate-body-in-noticeable-state-of-decomposition-adoc-uab-st-clair-county https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3162231/ https://evolution.berkeley.edu/the-history-of-evolutionary-thought/pre-1800/comparative-anatomy-andreas-vesalius/#:~:text=Right%2C%20Vesalius%20found%20that%20the,not%20seven%20as%20Galen%20claimed. Peter Linebaugh, the Tyburn Riots Against the Surgeons in Albion's Fatal Tree https://www.versobooks.com/products/2212-albion-s-fatal-tree Ruth Richardson, Death, Dissection and the Destitute https://books.google.com/books?id=NEuthk74yG0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/journeytyburn https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24794 https://scholarworks.harding.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1139&context=tenor https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-bodies/ https://nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-news-releases/id/7475/congress-takes-significant-step-to-regulate-body-brokers https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4275?s=1&r=29

By Gareth VaughanThe first-half of 2024 is likely to be tough with rising unemployment and more businesses failing as the economy "bounces along the bottom," says BNZ Head of Research Stephen Toplis. In a new episode of interest.co.nz's Of Interest podcast, Toplis delves into the swathe of domestic economic data from the past week including Gross Domestic Product, migration, Statistics New Zealand's Selected Price Indexes, the Real Estate Institute's latest monthly housing data, the current account deficit, the dovish US Federal Reserve monetary policy review, China and more.It's tough times for businesses and households are under the cosh, Toplis says."Our view has long been that the second-half of 2023 and first-half of 2024 would be the trough in the economic cycle. And I think this [recent data] is confirming evidence of it," says Toplis."We're just bouncing along the bottom. And we'll continue to bounce along the bottom, probably until the central bank starts lowering interest rates. So there's more of this really, probably until the second-half of next year."He notes the economy would look even worse without surging migration, but this is becoming problematic."We knew prior to Covid that we were having difficulty as an economy absorbing more than about 50,000 or 60,000 people in a given year. Now we're trying to absorb double that, and that's resulting in things like pressure on your rents, pressure on your housing market, and a pick up in demand in some places that will be difficult to meet," Toplis says.Thus it's time to "look very closely at tweaking the [migration] settings to moderate those inflows."Meanwhile, with the new coalition government planning to reduce government consumption aggressively, the reduction in the size of government "is going to be a headwind to New Zealand for some time to come.""There are quite strong multiplier effects of that because government consumption is largely people employed. So if you reduce the size of the state sector, particularly its employment, it will have multiplier impacts on spending throughout the economy.""If you think about the last time we had a massive correction in the size of government, that was actually in the early 1990s when Ruth Richardson ran her mother of all budgets as she called it. The sort of decline in government consumption that we're talking about now is of a similar magnitude. Back then it had a very, very big impact on both the unemployment rate and economic activity generally. The broader environment was quite different so it would be remiss to suggest it would be exactly the same impact, but it will be meaningful," Toplis says.In the podcast he also talks about the inflation outlook, including why we "need to be a little bit careful in being overly concerned about non-tradeables" inflation, the housing market, the labour market, the outlook for interest rates, and more. (See more on tradeable versus non-tradeable inflation here)."Volatility remains the order of the day unfortunately, and we still have the worst of this economic recovery to get through."*You can find all episodes of the Of Interest podcast here.

Newshub Nation spoke about where ACT is currently at dropping in the polls with a dejected, low energy David Seymour and also talked about how National first wouldn't rule Winston out, then ruled him in, then spent time and money trying to get people not to vote for him. +++++++++++++++ Come support the work we're doing by becoming a Patron of ⁠⁠#BHN⁠⁠ www.patreon.com/BigHairyNews⁠ Merch available at www.BHNShop.nz Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/BigHairyNews Follow us on Twitter. @patbrittenden @Chewie_NZ

Several acts passed into law this session focused on reproductive health. The PRO Act established a fundamental right to abortion access and reproductive care, including maternity care, family planning and contraception, among others. The Trans Refuge and Reproductive Freedom Acts makes Minnesota a safe haven for out-of-state people seeking abortions and gender-affirming care for minors, among others. Former House Representative and current CEO of Planned Parenthood, Ruth Richardson, joins the crew to talk through these acts and how they effect communities of color, especially the health disparities when it comes to access, women's decisions on their bodies and the birthing death disparities seen in the African American and Indigenous communities. Guest: Ruth Richardson, Planned Parenthood

***This segment is part of a special this week on the crisis of missing and murdered Black women and girls*** Minnesota has created the first of-its-kind Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. We'll speak with Representative Ruth Richardson, is the Minnesota State Representative who authored the initial bill to create the state's “Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls”. We're also joined by Lakeisha Lee, an advocate in Minnesota for missing and murdered Black women and girls – a role she has taken seriously since her own sister went missing, and was found murdered, just over a decade ago. —- Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post Minnesota's Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls w/ Rep Ruth Richardson and Lakeisha Lee appeared first on KPFA.

You read that right, the architect of neoliberalism on the show tonight with the best Public Economist in NZ and that awful Damien Grant who said such mean things about Chippy in the weekend! Folks, it's going to be a big show. Issue 1 – Has Orr capitulated to the market and shown the limits of Monetarism?  Issue 2 – Latest TVNZ Poll – should National just give up now? Issue 3 – Labour Party Conference – Chippy with a side of chips – carb overload or pass the tomato sauce? and Issue 4 – The latest Allan Hall revelations – are we locking up innocent people in NZ prisons? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The former Finance Minister behind the 'Mother of all Budgets' doesn't hold high hopes for this year's one. Chris Hipkins has already ruled out major tax changes and a levy to fund the Cyclone Gabrielle recovery, promising the upcoming Budget will be a 'no-frills' solution to tough economic times. Former Finance Minister Ruth Richardson predicts that this year's Budget will be a dimmed-down version of more of the same. "I think it'll be no solutions to what ails the economy. Which is- we lack earnings. We don't lack taxes, we lack earnings. The second thing that ails this economy is that we've got very dumb expenditure by the Government." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former National Party finance minister Ruth Richardson is best remembered for 1991's 'Mother of all Budgets', but she also helped push through the Fiscal Responsibility Act while in Opposition. She joins Thomas this week to share her memories of fiscal and monetary policy from her time in Parliament and as Minister, her thoughts on current policy today, and on the IRD's study released this week into who pays how much tax in New Zealand. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inside The Luminous Mind in Roseville, you'll find Middle Eastern hospitality — free tea and coffee at the table in the waiting area.For owner and psychologist Layla Asamarai, comfort starts at the door.“In order to appreciate the decolonization of psychotherapy, one has to realize that psychotherapy is a colonized practice, as it is employed today in the world,” said Asamarai.Decolonizing mental health services — it's a big part of the reason why Asamarai opened her practice in 2019. Asamarai says it's necessary to recognize the limitations of western psychology, which primarily focuses on the individual and nuclear family of origin. She says at The Luminous Mind, clients are identified as the expert in themselves and their experiences.The Luminous Mind utilizes psychological diagnoses with understanding that many of the diagnoses were based on a majority western and white client population. Asamarai wants to change that.“The ways in which people are expected to show up, what they're expected to talk about, concepts of boundaries, concepts of relational attachment, what's normal, what's not, these are not test tube values, these are western values,” she said.The clinic employs psychologists from various religious and cultural backgrounds with the goal of not only anticipating treating people from different cultures, but inviting those differences in. Providers are transparent about their own intersecting identities, privileges, and lived experiences.“We ask our clients about their traditions, about their ethnicities, their backgrounds, what matters to them, their values, what's important to them,” said Asamarai. “And so it's a model in which we're, we're looking for and noticing all that makes our client who they are.”This is the culturally-responsive part of the work — with the purpose of reminding patients of color there's no need to justify or explain their stories, because the psychologist listening likely understands from similar experiences.Some experts say the field of mental health care needs to diversify.Carolyn Berger is a program coordinator and associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota.“Psychology has been rooted in western practices,” said Berger. “Psychology and counseling in general was developed by white people, for white people.”That's why Berger says much of this work starts at school. Getting more students of color into programs leads to more representation in the workforce. But Berger says there are barriers when it comes to getting students of color into masters or doctorate-level counseling programs.“Our graduation rates are very high,” said Berger. “But I will say that the students who, in the last two, three years, students who are having to take a leave of absence, or students, you know, mainly due to financial barriers, it's definitely predominantly students of color.”Berger says along with efforts to address lack of funding and to fight for state and national grants, there are classes in the U's program focused on counseling diverse populations, and faculty are encouraged to train on culturally-responsive practices.She says they've gone through the curriculum to integrate more culturally-responsive reference material and make sure it's inclusive.“Because in the past, we noticed, that was a big issue where students of color were saying they felt like the training was geared towards white students as well,” she said.Overall, the country has seen an increase in psychologists of color. According to the American Psychological Association, between 2000 and 2019, the number of psychologists of color more than doubled from 7,140 to close to 19,000.The latest data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows that 73 percent of psychiatrists and 88 percent of mental health clinicians in the state are white and less than two percent of psychiatrists in Minnesota are Black.The state created a culturally-informed mental health task force, which makes recommendations in several areas, including cultural competency training and recruiting diverse mental health professionals.The task force ends in January 2025.Local lawmakers are working to secure more funding for culturally-responsive care.State Rep. Ruth Richardson is working to pass a bill that would ensure more culturally-informed services are available in the state. The bill would provide $1.5 million of funding to the African American Child Wellness Institute — a mental health organization focused on working with families in communities of color.“You know, oftentimes when we talk about the importance of representation and diversity within the mental health field, it's not just diversity for diversity's sake, but it's a recognition that across the health care field, and across the spectrum of practices, that representation is actually life saving,” Richardson said.At The Luminous Mind, Asamarai says the mission is more than making sure those needs are being met — but that the providers aren't being tokenized in the process.“Actually mentoring and providing correct supervision, training with integrity, supervision with integrity, so that our providers, whether they stay here, or they go to serve somewhere else, they're providers that are being honored and feel good about the work that they're doing.”Minnesota's changing population is driving an increased demand for culturally-responsive mental health care. The more than 100 people on the waiting list at The Luminous Mind are a testament to that need.

Many schools, businesses and government offices are closed Monday, but it's business as usual at the Minnesota legislature. One bill up for debate would create an office for missing and murdered Black women and girls. Black women in Minnesota are nearly three times more likely to be murdered than their white peers and those cases go unsolved far longer than cases for white victims. The chief author of the bill, Rep. Ruth Richardson, talked with host Cathy Wurzer.

I have come back rested and recharged and really looking forward to the year ahead. Especially given the PM's bombshell announcement last week. Any working parent of a young child would know exactly how Jacinda Ardern felt. This is a huge job, and while other prime ministers have faced challenges, Jacinda Ardern faced more than most. I think to pick herself up, to put herself out there for a year of brutal campaigning, trying to sell unpopular policies, trying to justify Labour's body of work, when really they don't have much in the way of proof to show that their ideologically driven programs have had any sort of success. I mean, perhaps there are rabbits to pull out of the hats this year, we can wait and see if they can offer proof that some of these programs are working, fine - we can judge them then, but to date there's been nothing.  You've got inflation biting. You've got a large group of New Zealander's girding their collective loins waiting for their mortgage payments to roll over and likely double at some point this year. It was always going to be a tough, tough year and a tough election campaign. And if she's had enough of that, who can blame her?   People are making much of the misogyny she endured, and she did. The role of Prime Minister has always polarized New Zealand voters. There are a lightning rod. There have been death threats and vile rumours and vicious comments before Rob Muldoon. David Longley, Ruth Richardson, Helen Clarke, Paula Bennett. They have all faced vile abuse from the ignorant, the ill-informed and the haters. But the abuse heaped upon the soon to be former PM and her family, absolutely ramped up, especially in the aftermath of Covid. Hopefully, the appointment of Chris Hipkins will take some heat out of the political debate.  So Chippy yes, very likeable. Very reasonable. But remember, he's been responsible for portfolios that have failed and are failing. Education fail. He's been spokesman, he's been minister since 2013. Truancy's never been worse. Standards have steadily declined. The Polytech amalgamation looks to be a disaster and it could go on. The Covid response. He presided over a couple of PR disasters with the gangster's moles who actually weren't and the release of personal information around Charlotte. Bellis, the journalist. So you know he looks great, nothing to see here, but in fact his portfolios are hardly blue ribbon portfolios. There's also the fact that he was the only logical choice and what does that say about a caucus that's never had more members?  What does that say about a party that you only have one logical choice? And I did think it was a bit rich when Chris Hipkins said ‘oh yes, we're going to elect a leader… we're not going to see this sort of shenanigans that National went through to find a leader'. Short memory my friend. Remember leading the ‘Anything but Cunliffe campaign, hmm. Remember that? It was only 5 short years ago that you were saved as a party by Jacinda Ardern, and now she's probably saved you again by stepping down. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hennepin County Sheriff-elect Dawanna Witt tells us about her emotions ahead of being sworn in to the position this week. MN State Rep. Ruth Richardson talks about her new role as CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States.

In this year's final episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams hosts fellow Taxpayers' Union board members Hon Ruth Richardson and Executive Director, Jordan Williams, to review the highs and lows of 2022.Peter sits down with Ruth and Jordan to discuss everything from the economy to education to Winston Peters.As a former Minister of Finance, Ruth is well placed to provide analysis of the political year, the state of the economy and the Reserve Bank.Jordan provides an insight of the year inside the Taxpayers' Union and gives his take on what the big issues will be in 2023.To support Taxpayer Talk, click hereIf you have any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to email peter@taxpayers.org.nz Support the show

In this video, we explore the legend of the Ogopogo, the huge horned water serpent said to haunt the waters of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada.   Co-Producer: Dan Chomistek https://ChomistekFilms.com/   Cover art by Hannah Parker https://www.HannahParkerArts.com/   With footage by Extemporalist https://pixabay.com/users/extemporalist-2482730/   If you enjoyed this video and would like to help support this channel, please check out my books: https://mysteriesofcanada.com/bookshop/   INTRODUCTION 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:01:14 - Legend of the Ogopogo   NATIVE PERCEPTION 0:06:18 - The Ogopogo in Native Tradition 0:08:25 - Local Legend 0:11:48 - Chief Timbasket's Folly 0:16:12 - Water Mysteries 0:21:09 - Okanagan Pictographs 0:28:19 - Connection Between Okanagan Lake and the Columbia River 0:32:00 - Fox, Coyote, and the Whale Monster 0:37:26 - How the Spider-Woman Was Rescued From the Fish-Man 0:42:21 - The Carving   HISTORICAL CONTEXT 0:43:53 - The Pacific Fur Company 0:48:13 - The Okanagan Trail 0:54:17 - The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush 0:57:46 - Settlement of the Okanagan Valley   EARLY SETTLER ACCOUNTS 1:00:29 - John and Susan Allison 1:03:07 - Susan Allison's Introduction to the Ogopogo 1:07:00 - Allison's Ranch on the Similkameen River 1:10:31 - Rattlesnake Island 1:15:14 - Johnny McDougall's Encounter 1:17:55 - Susan Allison's Sighting   EARLY 20TH CENTURY SIGHTINGS 1:21:36 - Captain Thomas Short's Sighting 1:25:28 - Frank Stevens' Sighting 1:27:00 - Ruth Richardson's Sighting 1:28:53 - The CPR Sternwheelers 1:31:37 - The Sightings of 1925 1:34:43 - John Logie's Sighting 1:38:57 - How the Ogopogo Got Its Name 1:42:20 - Parallels with the Loch Ness Monster   DESCRIPTION 1:44:38 - Witness Descriptions of the Ogopogo 1:45:10 - Distribution 1:46:08 - Activity and Behavior 1:47:27 - Physical Appearance 1:57:37 - The Horned Water Serpent of Pan-American Tradition   THEORIES 2:00:31 - The Plesiosaur Theory 2:03:08 - The Whale Theory 2:09:12 - Optical Illusion 2:12:05 - The Sturgeon Theory 2:16:05 - The Oarfish Theory 2:17:41 – ‘The Amphibian Theory

A fierce reformer for liberalism, Ruth Richardson is asked whether the ship of reforming liberalism has sailed in the light of the many setbacks it has experienced in the last decades. They discuss how the restoration liberalism to its dynamic rightful place will depend on three things, the ideas of freedom, the institutions that buttress that freedom, and the individuals who champion that freedom—all of which have been missing of late.

A fierce reformer for liberalism, Ruth Richardson is asked whether the ship of reforming liberalism has sailed in the light of the many setbacks it has experienced in the last decades. They discuss how the restoration liberalism to its dynamic rightful place will depend on three things, the ideas of freedom, the institutions that buttress that freedom, and the individuals who champion that freedom—all of which have been missing of late.

The regional Planned Parenthood has new leadership. CEO Ruth Richardson is also a Minnesota state legislator. She says it's time to rethink how we talk about abortion. We ask her about the future of abortion access in South Dakota. In a state where abortion is illegal, what kind of bills might South Dakota lawmakers agree on?

Planned Parenthood has named a DFL state representative from Mendota Heights to be its new CEO. Planned Parenthood North Central States has announced Ruth Richardson will be its new CEO, effective this fall. She succeeds Sarah Stoesz, who announced last year that she would be stepping down after serving for 21 years as the head of the health care and abortion services provider. The organization now includes 30 clinics in Minnesota, as well as Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Richardson is a two-term state representative of District 52B and is on the ballot for re-election in November. Richardson told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer she intends to seek re-election. “By design, Minnesota has a citizen's legislature,” Richardson said. “There are many folks that are within the legislature who have other jobs. We have business owners, we have educators, we have farmers, you know, insurance professionals, real estate professionals.” If she wins, Richardson would not oversee what Planned Parenthood called “political work” or “lobbying” as long she was in the Legislature. She said she would respect rules in the legislature to recuse herself from votes where there are conflicts of interest. “There is already a firewall between the nonprofit healthcare side and the political side” of Planned Parenthood, Richardson said. “And that will continue.” Richardson is an attorney from Mendota Heights and will be the first Black woman to lead Planned Parenthood in the region. “Reproductive justice and just the human right to health care is something that was really instilled in me as as a child, hearing the birthing stories of my mom and her sisters growing up in segregated Mississippi,” she said. Click the audio player above to listen to the full episode.  Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here. 

With high inflation, global trade disruptions, and no immigration to drive growth, New Zealand's economic policymakers are facing the toughest choices in a generation. Former Minister of Finance Ruth Richardson joins us to share her views on New Zealand's precarious economic situation – and why the global outlook is so dangerous.

The great tragedy, or sadness, for me out of the Nanaia Mahuta revelation is that we are being let down so badly by hopeless people.Forget politics and your personal view of the world, surely what you want in the leadership of your country is enquiring minds, experience, and institutional knowledge. You want people, who even though you may not agree with, at least you can see what they are trying to do and why.One of the great privileges of this job has been to meet everyone who has run this place for the past 40 years, basically from David Lange on.Lange was brilliant. He was bright, well-read, and articulate. Different world view from me, certainly, as it turned out from Sir Roger Douglas, but came to the job with some credentials. Sir Roger himself had a plan, had a vision, and saved this country from economic calamity by floating the dollar and cutting the subsidies.Ruth Richardson. Yes, a purist. But she could back the arguments up with fact, knew what she wanted to do, and had the intellectual heft to make it happen.Helen Clark. Say whatever you like about her, but you can't possibly argue she isn't connected, isn't well read, and understands vast swathes of the world and how it works.Sir John Key. Self-made, been out in the world, understood the markets, money, and therefore the economy like few others.And so they go.Fast forward to Mahuta, who can't even pick up a phone. She was an appointment you knew from day one was odd. You wondered, "How the hell did that happen?" And now, we have evidence of the greatest crime of all, whether in politics or not, the lack of an inquiring mind.The best excuse they can come up with is that's not the way it's done.What crap.What insulting, condescending, and embarrassing crap. When you are in charge, it's done the way you want it done.People who can't be bothered do my head in. I detest laziness. The higher up the pole you are, the more you can do, and that's a privilege. What a thrill to be able to make a difference, to change a course, to be hungry, to grasp the detail, to immerse yourself into something you can affect and improve.And yet look at them.Clare Curran, hopeless and gone. David Clark was sacked for being an idiot. Kris Faafoi is asleep at the wheel and desperate to get out. Phil Twyford is an abject failure. Poto Williams is a disgrace hiding behind a lack of interest and Mahuta-type excuses about operational matters. Mahuta herself is too lazy and disinterested to even pick up a phone.For those of us who long for better, this is a shabby and incompetent let down. Being useless is one thing, but being lazy and useless is the ultimate crime.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy budget week! The finance minister unveils his Budget on Thursday, and in the lead up we’ll be talking to a range of experts to get their take on what Grant Robertson should and shouldn’t prioritise. With me now is the mother of the Mother of all Budgets - former finance minister Ruth Richardson.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, here it comes. A budget and an election. The season of politicians treating us like idiots and believing they can bribe us into their camp. Labour has released details of police and crime funding that will be announced formally in the budget on May 19. It's a 562-million-dollar package which always sounds impressive. But as always, it's spread over 4 years. In fact, when you look at the numbers and think of the current rate of inflation and cost escalation the whole thing is barely treading water. The headlines are about helping businesses through this ram raid epidemic. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no detail of this help because it doesn't exist yet. How stupid do they think we are. It's an example of a political party trying to shoehorn its existing policy into the news cycle of the day. It's just the same as National swearing black and blue that its intentions to cut tax are to help people through an increase in cost of living while knowing full well that a tax cut is even more inflationary than the same amount of government spending. People spend tax cuts on smaller consumables and not on building new hospitals. When asked if New Zealanders know how to spend their money better than governments do, you can say yes. On themselves but not on community initiatives like new roads or public transport or police forces. Meanwhile, ACT releases its alternative budget which features a 5.3 billion dollar cut in Government spending. They swear black and blue that health, education and policing would not be touched, but the list of cuts is impressive. Say goodbye to the Forestry Programme, Research and Development Tax credits, film subsidies, both international and domestic, pest control, pine control – all shovel ready projects – all funding for Callaghan Innovation. And if you're connected to any spending for Māori or women or Pasifika then say goodbye to the gravy train. Then to cap it off they want to raise the super to 67 by 2025. Which is just 3 years away. The super will rise every 2 months for 2 years. This is an austerity budget in all sense of the words and you'd have to wonder who would vote for it. Has nobody in ACT got a memory that goes back to Ruth Richardson's Mother of All Budgets back in the 90s and the pain that put New Zealanders through? It would be impossible to implement. It's virtue signalling. So, 3 parties and 3 waffly bits of policy which all miss their mark. 

I didn't want to talk about inflation today but it's unavoidable as it rose to its highest level in 30 years. The annual inflation rate is now 6.9 percent after the consumer price index rose 1.8 percent in the three months ending in March. The problem for the government's narrative that it's caused by global factors is that inflation has been driven by fuel, food, and housing costs. With the exception of fuel, this is what's known as non-tradable inflation. The rising price of goods and services we produce and consume domestically. In fact, housing was the largest contributor to annual inflation figures. Inflation from homeownership is up 18 percent for the year, and 3.5 percent for the quarter. While the total increase from housing and household utilities was 8.6 percent for the year. So, we can sheet this home to our incoherent housing policy over the past 30 years. As we stumbled into the pandemic, we were given wage subsidies by the Government and interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank. But as Paul Bloxham, HSBC's chief economist in Sydney told me earlier this week, the unique part of New Zealand's problem was that it defeated Alpha Covid unlike most of the rest of the world. So locked in our hermit kingdom we came back to work, did far better than anyone ever expected and with all the cheap money swilling around inflated all our asset classes. We bought houses and did renovations and bought cars and domestic holidays. It's, well what's the word, unprecedented. With 20/20 hindsight there's a strong argument that the Reserve bank should have been raising interest rates a year ago.  But we didn't. So, here we are. And to be fair there's very little we can do. We can't freeze wages and prices. That's what Muldoon tried and it was a disaster. We could go for austerity like Ruth Richardson did and risk a very hard landing and recession and double-digit unemployment. The trick is to keep going, spending a little less and tightening our belts and riding it out. 

Rep. Ruth Richardson joins Jordana to talk about this groundbreaking task force.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Minnesota Rep. Ruth Richardson joins Cory to discuss the new task force formed to examine the high rates of violence against black women and girls and find solutions to the crisis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Cuomo is in some more trouble relating to the amount of help he gave his brother Andrew while he was still governor of New York. What was the biggest trouble you go in with your own siblings? Who was the favorite child? Cory gets into all of those questions before Rep. Ruth Richardson joins to discuss the work she's done setting up a task force to examine high rates of violence against African-American women and girls. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

COP26 starts this Sunday and the world's attention is focused on climate. Food systems are an integral component and we need to recognise their hidden costs and positive benefits. Traditional accounting often fails to account properly for negative externalities, such as habitat destruction, soil erosion and water contamination, or positives such as carbon sequestration, insect pollination and resilience to natural disasters. True-value accounting and true-cost accounting paint a much more holistic, comprehensive view which, in turn, helps inform food pricing, policy documents and balance sheets. If we are serious about sustainability, we need to account for the whole picture. Pavan and Ruth provide insight, call for action and shed light on the invaluable work of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), GIST Impact and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. The evidence is robust and the arguments are clearly laid out in this podcast episode. Ruth delves into their recently-published “True Value” report, which was launched just days ago by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and identifies ‘beacons of hope' to understand the breadth and depth of food systems' positive impact. We also learn from Pavan and Ruth of a 6-year old project in Andhra Pradesh, India, focused on natural farming, where more than 700,000 farmers (mainly women), have committed to a natural farming model, which has led to higher yields, lower water usage, lower on-farm and off-farm disease and positively impacted climate, soil benefits and various other components. As we approach COP26, Ruth notes that we need countries to step up and recognise the importance of food systems to the climate agenda, in order to make the connections between food, climate, nature, equality etc — there is currently a disconnect. Pavan notes that many SDGs are influenced by food systems. It's not just SDG2 and sustainable food but also SDG3 (health), and SDG1 (poverty), SDG5 (gender equity), SDG4 (education), SDG6 (water) and SDG13 (climate) etc.  If we don't see the whole picture and properly account for the hidden negatives and positives, we are simply not going to get to the solutions that are so desperately needed. Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Please subscribe and leave a review and rating if you enjoy the show. Visit Lidji.org for information on nearly 150 other interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.  

On September 23, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization is hosting the first UN Food Systems Summit, with a goal of “setting the stage for global food systems transformation.” In this episode, Ruth Richardson, the executive director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, talks to host Lisa Held about the significance of the Summit, some of the controversies surrounding it, and what she thinks global food systems transformation should look like—from a shift toward agro-ecological practices in farming to calculating the true costs of food.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Farm Report by becoming a member!The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

In the 1990s and 2000s, investors were largely able to ignore the "macro" picture, as geopolitical stability and benign inflation provided a supportive backdrop for portfolio returns. Even the Global Financial Crisis failed to end the party, as policymakers stepped in to cushion the blow. But in recent years, macro forces have reawakened. The world has returned to a heightened state of tension between two economic and military superpowers, technology is disrupting business and society at an ever-increasing pace, and “big government” is back, committed to creating a more secure, green and inclusive economic system, ending the Covid-19 pandemic, and unwinding the extraordinary global stimulus response to Covid-19 to allay inflation fears. Macro matters more than ever for portfolios to succeed in meeting client goals in the years ahead. - Pippa Malmgren, Alva Devoy, Magatte Wade, and Ruth Richardson. Earn 1.00 CE/CPD hrs on Portfolio Construction Forum

Tiffany BuiAfter years of trying to raise attention for missing and murdered Indigenous women, advocates have scored a key win. This past legislative session, Minnesota lawmakers allocated $500,000 for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, which will focus not just on women and girls, but men, boys and the Two Spirit community.The move comes after the state's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women task force released its report in December 2020, which named the creation of the office as the top priority. For Senator Mary Kunesh, it was important to ensure their findings wouldn't “sit on a shelf and gather dust.” “If there is legislation that needs to be done in order to address any of these issues … we can do it easier and quicker through the task force or through the permanent office,” Kunesh said. “And so it's all about accountability, and the ability to do the work that needs to be done.”Simply understanding the true scope of the problem is among the office's bevy of priorities. Data collection on missing Indigenous people is often scattered or incomplete, and may incorrectly identify a Native person's race, according to the task force report. Government efforts to comprehensively track missing and murdered Indigenous people have historically been sparse. Instead, researchers must piece together information about missing persons from a variety of state and national databases. To address this issue, Kunesh said the new office will create a data dashboard that draws from multiple sources. With a more complete overview, the office could track what impact new programs and systemic changes have on missing persons statistics, she said. The office will also investigate cold cases and explore ways to prevent disappearances and murders in the Indigenous community. According to the report, Indigenous women and girls make up about 1% of Minnesota's population but represented 8% of women and girls who were murdered between 2010 and 2018.The report identifies colonization, historical trauma, racism and the sexual objectification of Indiegnous women and girls as the root cause of the issue. This leads to factors that put Inidenous women and girls at higher risk, such as poverty, a lack of affordable housing, prostituiton and trafficking. When Indigenous people go missing, their families face numerous systemic barriers to getting attention on the case, such as miscommunication between various government authorities and inadequate police response. “There's hardly a Native folk that doesn't have a story to tell of a loved one or a friend that went missing or was murdered and there just was not closure or healing for the individuals, for the families and for the community,” Kunesh said. She said Black community members face a similar injustice in Minnesota. A Centers for Disease Control study reported that the homicide rate was about four per 100,000 for both Black and American Indian women. The overall rate for all women was two per 100,000.In response, Rep. Ruth Richardson and Kunesh secured $150,000 for a second task force, one focused on Missing and Murdered African American Women.“The MMIW Task Force had the outcome that I was hoping for, in a rippling effect for other studies and other task forces that we can create in order to address more of these violences against our whole community,” Kunesh said.

Counter Stories is a production of the other media group (omg) and Ampers, Diverse Radio for Minnesota's Communities, with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.In our second installment, Rep. Ruth Richardson returns to highlight some of the initiatives she led and continues to lead at the Minnesota House of Representatives this past season.

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters project Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks. This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions. We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.   EPISODE SIX: Food for all Corners of the Planet Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast Co-host: Ruth Richardson, Executive Director for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Chair of Food Systems Champions Network Guest: Helianti Hilman, Founder and Executive Chairperson at Javara, and a Food Systems Champion _______ 'Laying Down Tracks' ep.6: Hope and true collaboration will help drive food system change and stabilize our planet. “Different people have different ways of thinking of food systems and that's why I am such an advocate on building these systems on values and principles. This is what is going to lead us to a much more hopeful future,” says the Co-host and Executive Director for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Chair of Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson. This latest episode is all about diverse interests coming together to produce food for all corners of the planet. Food system transformation requires a true multi-stakeholder initiative to really make it work. Joining in this conversation as guest is the Founder and Executive Chairperson at Javara, and a Food Systems Champion, Helianti Hilman who talks about the importance of building the whole supply chain on true collaboration, diversity, inclusion, and respectful relationships with farmers and producers to create true system change. Listen to this conversation with Ruth, Helianti and host Aaron Niederhelman as they discuss how food systems connect us all and must be built on values to lead us all to a much more hopeful future, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit. https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/laying-down-tracks www.SourcingMatters.show  

In the seventh panel of a monthly series featuring 25+ members of the UN Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson and Danielle Nierenberg sit down with three UN Food Systems Champions to talk about creating positive food environments that support enriching and diversified diets. Join us to listen to our guests: Mike Khunga (Civil Society Organization Nutrition Alliance), Rick White (Canadian Canola Growers Association), and Dorit Adler (Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition). While you're listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” wherever you consume your podcasts.

In the fourth panel of a monthly series featuring 25+ members of the UN Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson and Danielle Nierenberg sit down with three UN Food Systems Champions to talk about creating enabling environments for agroecology and regenerative approaches where investments can flourish and benefit all. Join us to listen to our guests: Lana Weidgenant (Zero Hour), Helena Leurent (Consumers International), Denisa Livingston (Diné Community Advocacy Alliance/Slow Food International Council), Vijay Kumar (Rythu Sadhikara Samstha), Emile Frison (CIAT/IPES-Food) While you’re listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” wherever you consume your podcasts.

In the fifth panel of a monthly series featuring 25+ members of the UN Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson and Danielle Nierenberg sit down with four UN Food Systems Champions to discuss funding a safer food system. Join us to listen to our guests: Andrew Mushita (Community Technology Development Trust), Bettina Prato (International Fund for Agricultural Development), Ndidi Nwuneli (LEAP Africa), and Geeta Sethi (The World Bank) While you’re listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” wherever you consume your podcasts.

In the fourth panel of a monthly series featuring 25+ members of the UN Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson and Danielle Nierenberg sit down with three UN Food Systems Champions to talk about developing sustainable fiscal policy for the food system. Join us to listen to our guests: Gabriela Cuevas Barron (UHC2030/ Member of Mexican Congress), Kumar Vijay (Rythu Sadhikara Samstha), and Lasse Bruun (50by40). While you’re listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” wherever you consume your podcasts.

Ruth Richardson is Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations working together and with others to transform global food systems now and for future generations.  https://eftp.co/global-alliance

In the third panel of a monthly panel series featuring 25+ members of the UN Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson and Danielle Nierenberg sit down with four UN Food System Summit Champions to talk about hidden costs of food systems. Join us to listen to our guests: João Campari (World Wildlife Forum); Dr. Naoko Ishii (Center for Global Commons, the University of Tokyo), Michael Taylor (International Land Coalition), and Sandrine Dixson- Declève (Club of Rome). While you’re listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” wherever you consume your podcasts.

In the second panel of a monthly panel series featuring 25+ members of the UN Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson and Danielle Nierenberg sit down with four UN Food System Summit Champions to talk about research in food and agriculture for the public good. Join us to listen to our guests: Jemimah Njuki (IFPRI, Kenya), Dr. Kanayo Nwanze (CGIAR, Nigeria), Claudia Martínez Zuleta, (FOLU and E3, Colombia) and Prof. João Bosco Monte (Brazil Africa Institute, Brazil). While you’re listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” wherever you consume your podcasts.

A discussion with Dr Nina Muirhead about the free Continuing Professional Development (CPD) module she has developed for GPs and other health professionals about the diagnosis, treatment and management of M.E. or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).Ruth Richardson, from the charity Action for M.E. talks to Dr Muirhead as well as a GP who has accessed the CPD and Anna and Craig who live with M.E. Each person tells how they feel the module would improve the experience and outcomes for both the professional and the patient.you can access this free module here: https://www.studyprn.com/p/chronic-fatigue-syndrome

Food Tank has partnered with the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the Global Alliance on the Future of Food to interview 25+ United Nations Food Systems Champions. Today is the first of seven discussions in the lead up to the UN Food Systems Summit and the first theme is “Addressing Power Imbalances Through Shared Power and Inclusivity.” Food Tank brings together incredible leaders from four continents for this discussion including Ajay Vir Jakhar of Bharat Krishak Samaj); Michelle Nunn, CEO of CARE USA; Jessica Vega Ortega of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus); Mamadou Goita of the Institute for Research and Promotion of Alternatives in Development and special guest Christine Ciccone of The International Fund for Agricultural Development.  Dani is moderating alongside Ruth Richardson of the Global Alliance on the Future of Food who is also the Chairwoman of the UN Food Systems Summit Champions Network. We’ve done our best to identify who is speaking throughout. The next discussion with five more UN Food Systems Champions will be on live on February 25 at 9AM EST themed “Public Research for the Public Good.” You can register at FoodTank.com/Events. If you find value in this work, please consider becoming a Food Tank member at FoodTank.com/Join.

Ruth Richardson is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the CEO of Wayside Recover Center, which specializes in chemical dependency and mental health treatment for women and their families. As a member of the POCI (People of Color and Indigenous) Caucus in the Minnesota House, Rep. Richardson was one of the legislators who sought to specifically name Racism as a Public Health Crisis, chief authoring the House Resolution that passed this summer. In this episode, Hayley learns more about Wayside's many programs and the process of passing the long overdue resolution in the House. Let us know if you want to join our Ruth Richardson fan club.

Listen to The Hon. Ruth Richardson share the intriguing and focused story of her career. Ruth Richardson rose to international prominence in her role as a reformist minister of Finance in New Zealand in the 1990s - the first and so far only woman to hold this role. Following her political career, Ruth has worked extensively in New Zealand and internationally as a Public Policy Consultant and Board Director. She currently holds a number of Directorships including NZ Merino, Synlait Milk and Bank of China (NZ) and has previously served on numerous Boards including Jade Software, the Reserve Bank, Oyster Bay and Wrightson. In this interview she shares the story of her career, including: Declaring at age 15 that she wanted to be a politician and then strategically pursuing this career path As a change agent and reformist, why she's focused on being respected, not being liked How important family is to her, with a new granddaughter born the morning of the interview!

Well it’s been a week where some voices from the past have been offering their comforting and discomforting voices. So what did we get? And are there any tricks we’re missing.John Key has spoken a couple of times and there was some comfort to be found in his predictions.  He, like all of us, knows the rest of the year is going to be extremely tough financially for all businesses and some in particular.But he believes we’ll start recovering faster than some people have said.  He thinks the regions will be hard hit. That Auckland will continue to grow slowly because of it’s economy of scale. He believes unemployment will reach double figures but not the 25 per cents that some predicts He believes property prices will slump but crawl back relatively well.He said that businesses will take advantage of the crisis to trim fat from their employees, which is brutal but accurate.  Never waste a crisis.  He also thinks commercial property will flounder as staff numbers drop and more of us continue to work from homeHis biggest concern was access to finance particularly to developers.  And this is the big one. You need cash to oil the wheels of business and if it’s not coming in the front door then you have to borrow it from somewhere.But his only concrete advice about what to do right now was to wake up each day and figure out another business that could go to work.  In other words Level 2 the country or at least some sectors that could trade safely.Today the pleasant baritone of former Finance Minister Stephen Joyce graced the airwaves.He was asked what is the government missing.  He too, like most of National politicians thinks we should go to Level 2.Stephen praised the quick implementation of the wage subsidy, but that needs to be extended now because of the simple reason that firms that are not going to make it need to give thie employees 4 weeks notice.  Which is a good point point.  The 12 week wage subsidy started on March 17 so we’re in the 7th week and there are 5 to go. We really need to know this week and before May 11 or the Budget which is on May 14. 2 weeks from now.He said the government has done a good job stimulating the manufacturing, forestry and  construction  sectors and he said that farming is still doing well.  But he says the government needs to focus more on retail, hospitality, personal services, tourism, accommodation and international education sectors who are hurting more every day.  He says the government is showing a bias towards the traditional trades and the traditional exports which is no bad thing but it’s not enough.This is where we come to the uncomfortable truth. Most of the sectors he mentioned are not suffering because of the lockdown and when the lockdown ends they will not be in the clear.  They’ve been smashed by the border shutdown killing overseas visitors.  Tourism and  accommodation are hardest hit and the hospitality that catered to travellers.  You can’t have much of an international education sector if international students can’t enter the country.No one is asking for the border controls to be eased and no-one will.So what is the answer to that.  Well Stephen didn’t say. Earlier in the week Mark Mitchell couldn’t tell us what his party would do to save the laundry dependent on washing motel’s linen.  That’s because no-one knows what to do about that.  Including the opposition So far the only policy National seems to be pushing is a change in levels which will do little to fix the endangered sectorsIt appears as though the government is picking winners.  The way Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson did in dark days gone past.  It appears that the harsh truth is that some sectors will not be saved.  But nobody, particularly a politician, is prepared to say that out loud.So from this week of wisdom from the titans of the past, the concrete proposals are these.Extend the wage subsidy now and drop the levels. Perhaps sector by sector.But it all seems too little and it’s...

Rep. Ruth Richardson from Mendota Heights talks about the insulin debate and her hope to make legislation to limit the cost of the life saving drug.

Co-hosts Jamie Long and Liz Olson interview Reps. Dave Pinto and Ruth Richardson about gun violence prevention legislation (House Files 8 and 9).

Well, the beltway is in full flight now, dramatically interviewing their typewriters, seeing two plus two and coming up with five.Last night Tova O’Brien was breathlessly reporting a power battle between Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern. A slug em out battle of the Titans with the future of the coalition hanging in the balance.This came after two of the country’s biggest unions, FIRST Union and the Council of Trade Unions (CTU), came out and said they fear the Government's employment law reforms could be hijacked by Winston Peters.The unionists went on to say they are a bit worried about the dominance on a number of issues that is coming from New Zealand First. Yes said the pundits, look at how Winston scuppered the reform of the three strikes rule. We now have co-leaders of the coalition and Jacinda has lost controlNow you could say that but it’s a bit over-excitable, over-egged and overhyped. We won’t really know the influence of NZ First until the legislation is tabled. That’s why Winston says it’s a work in progress. Until then it’s only speculation and conjecture and beltway babbling.It strikes me that despite it being our electoral system for 22 years, so many people, including commentators don’t seem to get MMP. They seem to believe that if a Prime Minister and his or her party can’t steam roller their policies into legislation then we have a power vacuum and stand on a precipice of disaster and chaos.The truth is that since 1996 no ruling party of New Zealand has ever had total control of legislation because they’ve never had the numbers to get stuff through.  They’ve had to mitigate and compromise. It’s why National never reformed the RMA or got rid of Working For Families. It’s why they did bring in policies they weren’t fond of like the Maori party’s Whanau Ora.Now, this gets under the haters of MMPs skin. Under First Past the Post this wasn’t a problem they say. But Government’s got a blank cheque to do what they wanted. Not really a good thing. It was a kind of totalitarian where extremists and ideologues could do what they want. Labour and Rogernomics and National with Ruth Richardson’s Mother of All Budgets. Now I have no problem with MMP. It’s because we have only one house of representatives. In the UK, Australia and America there are up to three houses or branches of government providing checks and balances and ironing out the worst excesses. Here though, get a straight majority, do what you want. I laugh when people say MMP is undemocratic because it’s far more indicative of people as a whole rather than a ruling elite.So the unions should calm down. You’re not going to get everything you want and that’s good because not everyone wants everything you want.What I will say about leadership is that Jacinda Ardern needs more of her colleagues to start pulling their weight. At their best National was a two headed beast with Key, English and Joyce. NZ First is very much the Winston and Shane show. But Jacinda seems to be facing all these challenges alone.

Megan Rosenbloom is Associate Director for Instruction Services at the Norris Medical Library of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the co-founder and director of Death Salon, the event arm of The Order of the Good Death. Rosenbloom is writing a book called Dark Archives, anticipated to be published in 2019, which describes the history and discusses the ethics involved in "anthropodermic bibliopegy," books alleged to have been bound in human skin. Megan recommends the book Death, Dissection, and the Destitute by Ruth Richardson for more information on the Anatomy Acts. Here is a brief explanation: Throughout history, the use of cadavers has been hugely important to medical innovation and advancement. The demand for cadavers often vastly outweighed the available supply. Religious, moral and legal concerns often bred a reluctance to address the issue. With a relatively small supply of legally-obtained cadavers, some enterprising individuals turn to grave-robbing to cash in on the high demand. In few extreme cases, certain individuals even resorted to outright murder to generate a cadaver supply. The imbalance between demand and supply eventually forced lawmakers to act. The Murder Act of 1752 passed by Parliament in the United Kingdom allowed doctors and medical schools in need of cadavers to use the bodies of executed convicted murderers. As executions declined in number and demand for cadavers continued to increase, this solution proved insufficient. Growing public awareness and aversion to the corpse trade ushered in a climate of acceptance toward the Anatomy Act of 1832 in England. This Act gave doctors, medical students and the like more access to the cadavers of those who died in the care of the state. The 1832 Anatomy Act in particular had a strong influence on state legislatures in the United States. Even though grave robbing was illegal in colonial America, the practice grew with demand as it did in Europe. In 1788, riots broke out in Manhattan when someone discovered mutilated remains in the medical school at Columbia University. New York’s legislature responded by outlawing grave robbing and ordering that remains of executed criminals may be dissected. For an example of a U.S. statute, see Ohio Rev. Code § 1713.34: “Superintendents of city hospitals, directors or superintendents of city infirmaries, county homes, or other charitable institutions, directors or superintendents of workhouses, founded and supported in whole or in part at public expense, superintendents or managing officers of state benevolent institutions, boards of township trustees, sheriffs, or coroners, in possession of bodies not claimed or identified, or which must be buried at the expense of the state, county, or township, before burial, shall notify the professor of anatomy in a college which by its charter is empowered to teach anatomy, or the secretary of the board of embalmers and funeral directors of this state, of the fact that such bodies are being so held. If after a period of thirty-six hours the body has not been accepted by friends or relatives for burial at their expense, such superintendent, director, or other officer, on the written application of such professor, or the secretary of the board of embalmers and funeral directors, shall deliver to such professor or secretary, for the purpose of medical or surgical study or dissection or for the study of embalming, the body of any such person who died in any of such institutions from any disease which is not infectious. The expense of the delivery of the body shall be borne by the parties in whose keeping the body was placed.” Ohio Rev. Code § 1713.38: “The bodies of strangers or travelers, who die in any of the institutions named in section 1713.34 of the Revised Code, shall not be delivered for the purpose of dissection unless the stranger or traveler belongs to that class commonly known as tramps. Bodies delivered as provided in such section shall be used for medical, surgical, and anatomical study only, and within this state.” Ohio Rev. Code § 1713.41: “No superintendent of a city hospital, city infirmary, county home, workhouse, hospital for the mentally ill, or other charitable institution founded and supported in whole or in part at public expense, coroner, infirmary director, sheriff, or township trustee, shall fail to deliver a body of a deceased person when applied for, in conformity to law, or charge, receive, or accept money or other valuable consideration for the delivery.”

This week Stuff political reporter Stacey Kirk joins Katie Bradford to discuss apparent new best buds, Jacinda Ardern and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull. The fall-out from National’s leadership race begins as Steven Joyce shuffles off & Amy Adams shuffles into the finance portfolio. We flashback to the appointment of New Zealand’s first female finance spokesperson 30 years ago by the name of Ruth Richardson, and we go freedom camping with the Govt’s new working group. Produced by Adam Simpson Engineered by Brian Holloway Research by Rochelle Duncan A TVNZ Production

It’s 'Our Place’, to do our thing. Kiwis can put quality-made programmes up on the site. He says it asks of Kiwis “What are you going to DO with this new resource? You can MAKE things with this. You don’t have to ask permission” . At 6.24, Bryan explains the problem with our current NZ media: a producer has to go through the gateways of the commercial television channels who really are trying to assess your programme on the one question of : “How big an audience can you bring to the commercial gaps?”. It has always been thus. And if you’re good at that, then they will buy your next programme. It’s not about how good a programme is, it’s about what kind of audience? and how big will it be? to cater to the advertisers in the commercial gaps - and it all comes down to producing money instead of quality. At 7.16, Bryan says the main channels are going to self-edit. They re not going to take a programme that is not going to fit well with their sponsors. The other side of it is we tend to think of government- funded broadcasters as being more independent, but that is not true either, because they are not going ‘to bite the hand that feeds them’ and stand up to their government money-source. If mainstream media gets money from a business, then that piper calls the tune. At 7.46, Bryan explains that the idea for this came up about 3 years ago when he walked out of TVNZ one day having had it explained to him that his programme on health was probably going to get lots of ratings but “Really we’re not necessarily into the business of doing programmes in the public good. They have to be commercial because we might sell ourselves off one day” . Bryan walked out of that building and thought: “ Well, if these guys aren’t going to do NZ public television, maybe I can.”. Bryan registered a company called ‘NZ Public Television Ltd”, and he talked to friends: “ If you were starting television today, you wouldn’t do it in the way that the BBC told us how to do it all those years ago - no big dishes, sky satellites, large building. How would we do it today ?” At 8.43, he says the answer is clear: we’d use the World Wide Web. And how would we put our programmes up? When Bryan talked to servers , they had gleeful visions of making lots of money out of this being a version of Netflix. But Bryan instead saw it as a bus station. You, the viewer, come to NZPTV to be pointed in the right direction of a programme that someone else is hosting on Vimeo or YouTube or other sites. So NZPTV is a curator of quality programmes with NZ content. And at 9.13 he says the producers and their websites - the people who own the copyright to their own work- will be acknowledged . At the same time, NZPTV will also make its own programmes and put those up on NZPTV Vimeo and direct viewers to that content also. So Vimeo might be the host of a programme but NZPTV will direct traffic there. At its core, the aim is to work out how to make cost-effective television and then also make it a People’s Channel which says - Look , you might see Bryan Bruce or others doing an introduction but it’s not his channel, it’s OUR channel. NZPTV will also help producers. Bryan says he has been to see NZ on Air and asked how many eyeballs a week does NZPTV need for independent producers to be able to be funded to make and put their programme up on this new platform. “ They couldn’t tell me” he says. At 10.07, he says “ This is a new world for them !” NZ on Air don’t know what the numbers might be so NZPTV will educate them on what the numbers CAN be. At 11.30, Bryan talks of his own motivations in programme making: “ What I try to do in a programme is say “ Here’s a problem. How did we get to this? Let’s unpack it a bit and look at some solutions”. That’s where hope arises - rather than leave people in a dark place with overwhelming negative story-telling “ When he made ‘The Investigator’, each case involved some element of The Law that needed further examination - for example- David Tamihere was identified while wearing handcuffs outside the courtroom . Was this a correct identification? And what are the rules for identifying someone? The Defence said this was unfair. The Court allowed it- so now there are new rules that apply to each of us. At 13.20 Bryan says when making a programme it’s important that you’re not just doing ti because ‘crime rates’. Why are you upsetting people and going through all of this misery again for the families that were involved for no good reason? At 13.39 Bryan says he encourages producers to ask ‘Why am I making this? What is the outcome I want to have from it?”. At 14.41 he says the question we all need to ask is “ Who owns the media now? Who owns the way that our attitudes and our opinions and our thoughts about life are formed?” . The Big Questions to ask are “ Who -How-What -Where- Why”. He says those questions are often not being asked in journalism today. “ It worries me. I watch reporters ask very simple questions - even , are you having a nice day ?”. At 16.14 he says he sees Free Media and True Democracy as connected . At the start of the last century, the total number of people you could address verbally was on a street corner through megaphone. But the end of the 20th Century, you could address the whole world through the various media and now with the internet, you can reach places that don’t even have broadcast facilities but have telephone lines. At 17.01, he says “ If you can control the means of talking to people, whether for your private ends or for the government’s ends, that’s a lot of power. That’s actually a means of accumulating power. And now what NZPTV does is give the power BACK to the People and says “ YOU are in control of the stories” . At 19.05 he says this is a Wake Up. it’s more than just a channel. “ We’ll grow as much as the People want to do it. My call is out to independent producers. Our gateway is much wider than any of the public or private broadcasters. You can come to us with a programme provided that it is professionally made , something you might see on a commercial channel in terms of its quality of production. For example, if you have made a programme about the TPPA or Water Issues, and you’ve done your homework and kept to the Broadcasting Standards Authority issues of fairness and balance . At 21.04 he explains balance in the context of his programme 'Jesus, the Cold Case' which was criticised because Bryan talked to certain theologians but not others. He says that the ‘balance’ is that, on any given day, a viewer can turn to the Christian channels and hear the opposite view. It’s equally so for NZPTV, which would make sure that, with a controversial programme, then somewhere there is the counter view shown, or NZPTV itself would run the counter view so the viewer could see both sides. At 22.00 he says that it’s not true to say there are NO editing gateways to go through, but they relate more to the legal ones- you cannot defame people , and if it’s an argument for one viewpoint, it must be well though out , or if it’s science-based, it must be peer -reviewed. But at 22.19, he says NZPTV is not going to say to a producer “ It doesn’t quite fit with our sponsors” (because there are no sponsors of the channel)- or “It doesn’t quite fit with our ‘brand’ “ (which is commonly heard in Mainstream Media ). In fact The NZPTV ‘Brand’ is Independence ! “ If it fits with that, we should have it “. At 23.23 Bryan underlines that “ If we don’t hold on to life rafts like this , we’re all going to drown”. At 24.19, he says public education has taught questioning and yet we have a media that tried to manipulate popped who are actually very intelligent . “ I’m always amazed at the wisdom that comes out of people from whom, at face value, you wouldn’t assume that wisdom”. At 24.50, he gives an anecdote from a programme he made called “Stand By Your Man’ about three women whose partners had committed major crimes. “ And she said “ They never fixed his drug and alcohol addiction - and that was his problem” And you’re just about to move from this interviewee, when suddenly they come out with this absolutely insightful gem about what we’re NOT doing for men or women in prison. We’re not addressing the issues that have led to them being IN there!” At 27.55 Bryan outlines that one of the ways that governments gain power over us is: if they don’t collect data on, for example, how much Chinese money is coming in to the country, then they can pretend it isn’t a problem. No one knows! “ Oh”, they say “ it’s all just anecdotal. You’re just bashing the Chinese”. Bryan says "NO! I’m saying: let’s collect the data! You’re giving away visas to very wealthy people - gold visas. If you have ten million you can buy a residency in our country . But what are these people DOING for our country ? And where is that money going ?”. And the answer comes back from the government: “I’m sorry we don’t know because we don’t follow the money trail” . At 29.10, Bryan suggests that one of the roles for NZPTV is to encourage independent producers to pick a topic, investigate it, and bring us the data that the government is not collecting because it’s' inconvenient ‘. “ The last thing that governments want is inconvenient truths”. At 29.58 he says that if you DO your homework and collate the data, then policy changes” . At 30.23 he talks of the effect of his programme ‘Inside Child Poverty” which went out on TV3 the week of the election in 2011. "There was a debate about whether it should have been screened in election week, driven by right wing commentators like Sean Plunkett who said Bryan Bruce should not be funded to make programmes like this! Then a marvellous thing happened. The National Government which had initially said “ This is made up by a left wing journalist”, then started to change its tune and admitted “ Well it might exist but we can’t measure it”. Then the Children’s Commissioner Russell Wills said “ Ok, I’ll get a group off academics together and we WILL measure it” They put out an amazing report. It could not be ignored any more. The word “child poverty’ became part of our vernacular. And by the NEXT election it was an election issue” . So Bryan uses this example to say that this is what we can do as media people: we can investigate, we can collate data, we can inspire people. He credits The Child Poverty Action Group with inspired him to make the programme . He says they had been doing their work for years and he thought “ Well maybe I have few skills in terms of taking complicated things and trying to make them understandable - and that was my role. Something like 580 thousand Kiwis watched that programme and then the Public started asking questions. I had offered the programme to TVNZ and I seem to remember someone saying “ Who’s going to watch a programme with ‘Poverty’ in the title?” ( and 580,000 viewers is up there with All Black fixture numbers in terms of ratings ) “ . At 33.17, Bryan says NZPTV is not competitive- but rather, co-operative. “ We could make a programme that is of great public interest and make it in a dynamic way. We could take the online rights and a mainstream media outlet could take the broadcast rights. That would be an adult way of dealing with different kinds of distribution “ At 34.48, Bryan says it’s no accident that one of the longest running programmes in this country is called ‘Fair Go’. He feels that deep down, most Kiwis believe in a fair go and many of felt terribly betrayed by 1984 and the adoption of Neo Liberalism and being told it was the only way we could go. “ Well it wasn’t. there are about 30 different kinds of capitalism in the world and if you look at what happened in Scandinavia, they took a deep breath and paused - and then they adopted certain elements ONLY. They fenced off policies to do with children, the elderly and housing, and then they said they would allow OTHER policy to be more entrepreneurial . Whereas in New Zealand , the government said “ ALL of that is wrong and this new evangelistic way is right, and there is now only ONE way to do this”. Bryan cites David Lange’s book which shows he later realised this was the worst thing he did. In fact, he may not have fully understood it and “ To be fair, I’m not sure that many of us understood it at the time. I certainly didn’t” says Bryan. “ I did up one house and sold and got a better house. What I didn’t think about was that 20 years down the track, other people’s children would not be able to afford a house because of what I was doing - and many of us were doing. We were just doing the best by our families and we were encouraged to think that that’s what you should do. Even Roger Douglas may have thought he was doing the right thing. I’ve never spoken to him. I’d like to interview him. But the reality is; it WASN”T the right thing. It created a HUGE inequality. When the National Party came in afterwards and created The Mother of All Budgets under Ruth Richardson, then ALL of the childhood diseases that relate to poverty, skyrocketed. And that’s nothing to be proud of. That should have told anybody who had social concern that there is something fundamentally wrong with this economic system that is creating this.” . From 40.30 in, Bryan discusses the structure of NZ Public Television. At 50.09 he says one of the way it will benefit producers who have good product, is that they give that programme to NZPTV for free for 7 days and then it goes to the ‘Pay Per View’ section . But all that money goes directly to the producers, not to NZPTV. (This is also a reminder to viewers to check the weekly offerings on NZPTV as there is a brisk turnaround of programmes). At 53.07 Bryan says the whole idea of New Zealand Public Broadcasting is to return to an early idea of television: namely , using it to communicate with one another , to talk to each other. To find out more, go to nzptv.org.nz or sign up to Bryan Bruce on Facebook.

. The post The Miracle of New Zealand with Sir Roger Douglas & Ruth Richardson appeared first on RealClear Radio Hour.

Frances O'Grady, General Secretary Designate of the TUC, brings 'the intellectual equivalent of a Hollywood weepie' as her choice of a good read. It's the powerful Booker prize-winning novel, 'The Gathering' by Irish novelist, Anne Enright. Meanwhile the medical historian Ruth Richardson chooses TS Eliot's landmark poem written in the shadow of the Second World War, 'Four Quartets'. The presenter Harriett Gilbert nominates a children's classic, 'The Box of Delights' by John Masefield. Producer: Mark Smalley

Insight hosts a public debate on MMP, moderated by Philippa Tolley and Julian Robins. Guests include the former National Prime Minister, Jim Bolger, the former Labour Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Cullen, the former National Finance Minister, Ruth Richardson, and the former Green Party Co-leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons and others who will discuss the MMP referendum. This programme was produced with the help of Victoria University and Te Papa, and recorded before a live audience. 

“What’s so wonderful about Carter’s illustrations [for Gray’s Anatomy] is that they are not abject people, they are not shown as lumps of meat, they’re not shown as undignified, they’re not shown in pain. In fact, many of the illustrations are quite noble… “It’s the first real anatomy book for students to be published since the development of chloroform, anaesthesia in general, and I think these bodies are chloroformed bodies. They are not being treated as though they are social outcasts; they’re being treated as human beings.” My guest on this week’s programme is medical historian, Ruth Richardson. Ruth has written a fascinating history of how the most famous medical textbook of all time came to be written – Gray’s Anatomy, which is still going strong after more than 150 years and 40 editions. She shows that its success was down to not just Henry Gray, who wrote the text, but also to Henry Carter, who provided the illustrations. In the interview we talk about the very different fates of these two men and also …

Melvyn Bragg examines the history of mankind's quest to understand the human body. The Greeks thought we were built like pigs, and when Renaissance man first cut his sacred flesh it was an act of heresey. We trace the noble ambitions of medical science to the murky underworld of Victorian grave robbing, we trace 2000 years of anatomical study. From the great showman Vesalius, enthralling the Renaissance Artists in the operating theatres of Italy to the sad and gruesome pursuits of Burke and Hare, Anatomy is mankind's often frustrated attempt to understand the body of man. What role has science, religion and art played in the quest to understand the male and the female body?With Harold Ellis, Clinical Anatomist, School of Biomedical Sciences, King's College, London; Ruth Richardson, Historian, and author of Death, Dissection and the Destitute, Phoenix Press; Andrew Cunningham, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in the History of Medicine, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University.

Melvyn Bragg examines the history of mankind's quest to understand the human body. The Greeks thought we were built like pigs, and when Renaissance man first cut his sacred flesh it was an act of heresey. We trace the noble ambitions of medical science to the murky underworld of Victorian grave robbing, we trace 2000 years of anatomical study. From the great showman Vesalius, enthralling the Renaissance Artists in the operating theatres of Italy to the sad and gruesome pursuits of Burke and Hare, Anatomy is mankind's often frustrated attempt to understand the body of man. What role has science, religion and art played in the quest to understand the male and the female body?With Harold Ellis, Clinical Anatomist, School of Biomedical Sciences, King's College, London; Ruth Richardson, Historian, and author of Death, Dissection and the Destitute, Phoenix Press; Andrew Cunningham, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in the History of Medicine, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University.