The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Kiwi comedian and actor Josh Thomson is a regular presence on New Zealand's favourite comedy panel shows - and he's got a new TV project in the works.

He's also earned some international acclaim, including roles in shows like Pixar’s Win or Lose, The Office Australia, Young Rock and Time Bandits.

Good Bones is a dark comedy-mystery, and it's set to drop on ThreeNow and Neon on September 17.

"It's surreal, now, to be at this part of it - where Sky and TV3 are supporting us and trying to get it out there to as many people as we can." 

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Little Wonder by Sophie Chen Keller. Song’s son River is a musical prodigy and at the age of eleven he’s invited to study with a great master - but on the journey they become separated in the chaos of the Beijing railway station on the busiest day of the year. Over the following years, each in their own way tries to find their way back to the other as they both carve out new lives which only take them further apart. This is a really compelling story about a mother’s love, how we use our talents, and the enduring bonds of family.

The Farm by Bruce Ansley. Bruce is a Kiwi writer of real depth and charm, and this is his account of moving from an urban life to a more remote farm on the Banks Peninsula and encountering all the challenges of life in the country, especially when faced by a couple of townies. He writes with great warmth and wit and insight and this is a story to which many Kiwis could relate - either through their own living arrangements, or with a dream of life on the land, and then discovering the realities. 

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There's plenty of risky travel mistakes we can make, but over-packing is an underlooked issue.

People can risk getting back injuries by not being careful when handling their luggage, and new data from physios shows these injuries are becoming more common.

Travel expert and BloggerAtLarge writer Megan Singleton outlined the risks further - and shared her own travel tips.

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This week on the Sunday Panel, journalist and editor Jo McCarroll and Director at 818 Chris Henry joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the week - and more!

Election season is well under way - with the hoardings for various parties going up this weekend. What do we make of the campaign so far? Do the parties need to improve their strategies besides repeating slogans and attack ads?

The latest Moa Point disaster report revealed what Wellington Council could have done to stop things from getting this bad. What do we make of this? Is this a sign we need more accountability in the public sector? 

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On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 6 September, Kiwi comedian and actor Josh Thomson has had a hot run of international roles in recent years. His latest role though is a local show and Josh joins Francesca to talk about that and the demand for him overseas.

Bestselling cookbook authors, Margo Flanagan and Rosa Power aka Two Raw Sisters, join Francesca to talk about their new cookbook and why they promote being intelligently lazy when it comes to cooking.

Francesca questions how much long MPs can stick to party messaging before they start to sound silly.

Australian Clinical Psychologist Monica Schweickle was the first in the world to legally use MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.  She shares with Francesca what she has learned in the three years since the treatment has been available over the ditch.

And on Father's Day we are looking out for the dads, Erin O'Hara talks self care strategies for the men in our lives.

Get the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast every Sunday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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There's still a stigma around men utilising self-care, with many under pressure to dedicate everything to their jobs.

Between climbing the corporate ladder or pushing themselves in their own businesses to help provide for their families, the stress can take a toll on their personal wellbeing.  

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara unpacked the issue further - and outlined some self-care strategies. 

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Citrus roasted chicken with lentils and mint 

Cook time: 60 minutes 

Prep time: 15 minutes 

Serves: 4

6 bone-in chicken thighs 

2 tbsp sunflower oil  

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed  

1/2 cup fresh oregano, destalked and chopped  

2 lemons, zested and juiced  

1/2 tbsp salt  

1 x 400gm whole peeled tomatoes, crushed  

1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted  

1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted  

5 cardamon pods,  

3 cloves garlic, peeled  

1 tsp dried oregano  

1/2 tsp paprika powder  

2 cups chicken stock  

1 small onion, peeled and sliced  

2 cups le puy lentils, cooked 

2 cups pumpkins, peeled and cut into 2cm wedges  

Fresh coriander and mint

Start by marinating the chicken thighs. Mix all the marinate ingredients together and coat the chicken, place into a bowl and set aside.  

Turn the oven onto 180*c. Toss the pumpkin in a little oil and season, spread out onto a oven tray and roast until slightly colored and tender, approx 25 minutes.  

Take a heavy cast iron pan and heat over a medium high heat, place in the chickens skin side down. Turn when coloured. Then top with the tomatoes, onion, seeds, garlic, herbs and spices. Sprinkle over some salt and finally the chicken stock.  

Place over a piece of baking paper and tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove tinfoil and paper and cook for a further 30 minutes.  

Remove the chicken from the stock and skim off any excess fat, return the juices to a pot and reduce by 1/2.  

Add in the lentils and pumpkin, then spoon over the top of the chicken.  

Top with fresh coriander and mint leaves.

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David Byrne of the Talking Heads has written a song for a 'scathing' new Elon Musk documentary - reportedly comprised of the billionaire's quotes.

The new feature-length documentary, made by Alex Gibney, is out this October, and it's described as 'definitive and unvarnished examination' of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

Musk has been quick to criticise, labelling the documentary a 'hit piece'.

Entertainment correspondent Steve Newall explained further.

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A 'broken heart' can look just like a heart attack, and now a new blood test may tell the difference.

A broken heart isn't just an expression. Extreme emotional or physical stress can sometimes cause a genuine heart condition that looks remarkably like a heart attack. 

It's called Takotsubo syndrome, or 'broken heart syndrome', and it overwhelmingly affects women after menopause. 

Someone experiencing it may suddenly develop severe chest pain, an abnormal ECG and blood tests showing signs of heart injury. Even the heart's pumping ability can be affected. 

The problem is that these are also classic signs of a heart attack. 

The important difference is what's happening inside the heart. A typical heart attack involves a problem with blood flow through a coronary artery. With broken heart syndrome, part of the heart muscle temporarily stops contracting normally. 

Why knowing the difference matters:

Doctors can't simply look at a woman with chest pain and decide that stress caused it, and missing a genuine heart attack could be deadly. 

So currently, many patients with suspected Takotsubo undergo coronary angiography, an invasive procedure in which a catheter is passed through an artery, usually from the wrist or groin, and dye is used to look for blockages in the coronary arteries. 

It's often only after doctors find no culprit blockage that Takotsubo becomes clear. 

That matters particularly for older women as 86-91 percent of the Takotsubo patients were women over 50. 

The researchers behind this new study identified the lack of a reliable early non-invasive tests and published their study in the European Heart Journal.

They studied 3,615 patients who had either acute coronary syndrome or Takotsubo syndrome taking blood samples when patients arrived at hospital. They measured a range of substances in the blood associated with heart-muscle stress, inflammation, cholesterol, blood-vessel damage and the body's stress response. 

They then used machine learning to identify which combination was best at distinguishing Takotsubo from a conventional heart attack. 

The result was a five-part scoring system called BioTAK which combines biological sex with four blood measurements. 

One marker called sLOX-1, associated with blood-vessel changes and plaque disruption, was much higher in acute coronary syndrome. Another called PAM, involved in sympathetic nervous-system activity and anxiety regulation, was higher in Takotsubo. 

While the two conditions that can look almost identical from the outside the study showed they leave very different chemical fingerprints in the blood. 

The researchers then tested BioTAK on another 1,792 patients and found that it was able to accurately place almost 90% of patients into either a high- or low-probability group for Takotsubo before they underwent invasive angiography. 

BioTak could eventually give doctors another piece of information much earlier in the process, potentially helping some women with Takotsubo avoid an invasive procedure they didn't ultimately need. 

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Waikato distillery The Pōkeno Whisky Company has been selected for an international study into how different climates shape the maturation, chemistry and taste of whisky.

The study, titled Climate-Driven Maturation Signatures in Global Whisky: A Comparative Multi-Continental Chemical and Sensory Study, examines whiskies from The 8 Continent Series - including one matured in Antarctica. 

Pōkeno Whisky co-founder Matt Johns says the company uses New Zealand-grown ingredients - and the conditions where the barley grows are unique. 

"We get a very sweet raw material, compared to other countries. And we've got the pure spring water, our water is very rich in iron manganese - that's really going to help the fruitiness of a whisky." 

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