Saturday Morning: Recent Episodes
RNZ
A magazine programme hosted by Kim Hill, with long-form, in-depth feature interviews on current affairs, science, modern life, history, the arts and more.
Paekakariki-based award-winning animator, illustrator and graphic artist Ned Wenlock's first graphic novel Tsunami is a cautionary tale about Peter, a self-righteous12-year-old boy, and his fraught last six weeks at primary school. It's a coming-of-age story, and an examination of teenage alienation and the unpredictable consequences of our actions. Everything feels overwhelming to Peter - like a tsunami is coming and he isn't sure he can stop it. Wenlock won 2016 New Zealand International Film Festival, Show Me Shorts Best Film Award & DEGNZ Best Director Award.
The tendency to use pop-psychology "therapy-speak" phrases like "triggered" and "toxic" is unhelpful, according to Dr Jonathan Shedler, psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco Dr Shedler says we humans have a tendency to distance ourselves from difficult aspects of emotional life, and one way we do this very well is through words. Jonathan is author, consultant, researcher, and clinical educator best known for his article The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, which won worldwide acclaim for firmly establishing psychoanalytic therapy as an evidence-based treatment.
Pets are part of the family. It's devastating when they are stolen or go missing. Anne-Marie Curry founded and runs Sydney-based pet detective service Arthur & Co in 2017. It's the only one of its kind in Australia. Business is booming, and she boasts an 80% success rate.
Today Anna talks to Jesse about Jared Davidson's book, Blood and Dirt: Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand.
Mount Erebus is an ultra mountain and the planet's southernmost volcano. Sheathed in ice, with hundreds of ice caves and a lava lake, its name is synonymous with the tragic 1979 air accident. Polar and mountain photographer Colin Monteath's new book Erebus The Ice Dragon; A portrait of an Antarctic volcano blends history, science, art and adventure set alongside stunning amages. Colin has worked in Antarctica for 32 seasons, and was involved in the recovery operation after the air crash on Ross Island.
Curious about the complex and seemingly taboo subject of porn, British writer Polly Barton spent a year asking her acquaintances for their honest feelings about it. "Porn is a topic that brings together so many difficult feelings and quite complicated and thorny ethical dilemmas that the response can really be to turn away from it," she tells Kim Hill.
Scientist and writer Danyl McLauchlan joins Kim to tackle life's big questions, ideas and thinkers. This week, Nicolo Machiavelli, the founder of modern political theory, who argued that politics wasn't about deciding who should rule, but about realising that many of the people who want to rule are ruthless and devious, so the best political systems are adversarial systems that set them against each other and subject them to scrutiny. Danyl is the author of two novels and Tranquillity and Ruin, an essay collection.
New York-based Paula Scher is one of the world's most influential graphic designers. A partner at Pentagram design studio since 1991, she began her career as an art director in the 1970s and 80s, when she earned a reputation for her eclectic approach to typography. For over four decades, she has developed the visual language of iconic brands and institutions such as Citibank, Microsoft, the Museum of Modern Art, Tiffany & Co, Public Theater, the Metropolitan Opera, and the High Line. Scher is coming to Auckland next month for the AGI Open, a two-day design festival hosted by the Alliance Graphique Internationale.
A report co-authored by a UN judge has added to growing international calls for reparations to be paid by perpetrators of transatlantic slavery. The Brattle Group Report calculates 31 former slaveholding states including Britain, the US, France and Spain owe US$107.8 trillion, with the UK alone owing more than £18 trillion for its involvement in slavery in fourteen countries. Professor Trevor Burnard is Director of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull in the UK. He has written of the need for the British royal family to acknowledge its financial and moral responsibility for Britain's role in slavery.
The octopus is a highly intelligent and deeply mysterious creature. It changes colour as quickly as it can move, and it thinks with its tentacles. Marine biologist David Scheel has had a life-long fascination with them. He's discovered new species and has learned to understand how they communicate with signals. Dr Scheel's new book Many Things Under a Rock: the Mysteries of Octopuses reveals complex emotional beings that can teach us about ourselves.
How do you transform a rundown inner-city area into an attractive and thriving new town? Awarded a CBE for Services to Sustainable Development, Roger Madelin is credited with regenerating London's grotty King's Cross into a thriving carbon neutral residential and commercial precinct. Joint Head of Canada Water at British Land, Madelin's currently leading the development of a 53-acre site on the Thames just minutes from Central London by tube, which will become the UK's newest town. He has previously led major development projects in Manchester, Birmingham, and the City of London.
A travel guide like no other, combining poetry, photos and history, Walking with Rocks - Dreaming with Rivers - My Year in the Waikato is the result of Richard von Sturmer's year as writer in residence at the University of Waikato in 2020.
Airana Ngarewa left school to become a cage fighter. He hated English. Now a teacher, he's being described as a major new literary talent. His first novel is The Bone Tree. Born and raised in Patea, his aunts are Spotswood College principal Nicola Ngarewa, and Te Pati Maori co-leader MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. His grandparents started the Patea Maori Club. Airana will be appearing at WORD Christchurch on Aug 26 and 27.
Rivers have been given room to flood safely in the Netherlands for two decades, mitigating against flooding during severe weather events. Forest and Bird freshwater advocate Tom Kay is touring the country, giving Making Room for Rivers presentations to communities and local government groups keen to hear how accommodating a river prone to flood (rather than hem it in with engineering) can help manage flood risk for communities, and preserve ecosystems.
In her new book Fat Talk: Coming of Age in Diet Culture, US journalist, author and podcaster Virginia Sole-Smith looks at how the war on childhood obesity has caused children of all ages to absorb an onslaught of body shame from peers, diet culture, and their own parents.
The aftermath of the 2003 Iraq invasion is told by former New Zealand SAS soldier Barrie Rice in his book We Were Blackwater - Life, death and madness in the killing fields of Iraq.
Among his varied interests, leading Victorian literature scholar and prison educator Professor John Plotz revisits forgotten novels, giving them a second life, and explores the redeeming value of books for former prisoners. Professor of Humanities at Brandeis University, Plotz is the editor of the B-Sides series on Public Books. His first book Portable Property examines the objects Victorian Britons took with them when they traveled abroad, to persuade them their national identity was intact. Professor Plotz is giving this year's University of Otago Dalziel lecture on August 25 in Dunedin, related to his current work about science fiction and satire; how it makes you think by making you laugh.
Some of New Zealand's most important roads, buildings, botanic gardens and great walks were constructed by forced labour, in an era where idleness and waste was deemed more criminal then crime. Historian Jared Davidson's new book Blood and Dirt - Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand reveals the extent to which convicts were used to bolster a labour shortage gap in the latter half of the 19th Century. Davidson's other books include Dead Letters: Censorship and Subversion in New Zealand 1914-1920, Sewing Freedom, and The History of a Riot.
Art writer and author Megan Dunn is taking us to church. A surprising amount of art can be found on the walls and windows of Aotearoa's places of worship. Milan Mrkusich, Doreen Blumhardt, Nigel Brown and Shane Cotton are just some of the creatives whose work adorns churches. Megan's art pilgrimage takes us from Saint Joseph's in Grey Lynn, to Parnell's Trinity Cathedral, St Faiths Anglican Church in Rotorua, and an exhibition about Wellington's recently demolished First Church of Christ Scientist.
Gabriel Krauze's extra curricular activities were a little different from the average English literature student. While completing his degree at London's Queen Mary College, he was involved in gangs, drugs, stabbing and robbery. This double life is captured in his gritty debut autobiographical novel Who They Was, which was long listed for the 2020 Booker Prize. Gabriel Krauze is appearing at WORD Christchurch in late August.
Physicist Dr Ratu Mataira is on a mission to harness the power of the sun. The 31 year old leads OpenStar Technologies, a Wellington based start-up building a 'levitated dipole' fusion reactor prototype. Fusion is the process that happens inside the sun and other stars, when hydrogen atoms "fuse" to make helium, releasing tremendous amounts of energy. Recreating the process here on earth is viewed as the "holy grail" of energy, with the potential to create vast amounts of emissions-free electricity.
All That I Am and Stasiland author Anna Funder's new book Wifedom rewrites the life of her literary hero George Orwell to put a main character back in the story. Blending forensic research, fiction, life writing and criticism, Funder reveals the importance of his wife Eileen O'Shaughnessy. Eileen's financial and practical support allowed him to write, and her own literary talent shaped his work, including Animal Farm. Written over six years, the idea for Wifedom came after the discovery of six letters in 2015 from O'Shaughnessy to a friend, their contents contrary to all the biographies written on Orwell.
Beyond our romanticized vision of space exploration is a day-to-day life of physical and social isolation and confinement in an unnatural environment of microgravity and artificial light. New documentary Space: The Longest Goodbye follows NASA psychologist Dr. Al Holland, tasked with studying and mitigating the threat loneliness poses to missons. It's a particularly urgent task as NASA intends to send astronauts to Mars in the next decade - a voyage that will entail a three-year separation, with no real-time communication with Earth. One of the subjects of the film is Dr. Cady Coleman, a former NASA astronaut who has spent more than 180 days on the International Space Station, separated from her husband and two sons. Space: The Longest Goodbye screens in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin as part of Whanau Marama: New Zealand International Film Festival.
Aged-care doctor Dr Roderick Mulgan has a long-held interest in preventative medicine, with a research focus on inflammation, longevity, immunity and the role of functional foods. His new book, Build Your Immunity For Life, examines the role of lifestyle and diet in boosting immunity and protecting against infection. He is also the author of The Internal Flame: New Insights into Silent Inflammation, and Eat Yourself Healthy.
Former U.S. federal judge Nancy Gertner was appointed to the bench of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts by President Bill Clinton in 1994, retiring in 2011 to teach at Harvard Law School, and is working on a book featuring interviews with people she imprisoned. Gertner is in New Zealand for the Criminal Bar Association conference, discussing, among other things, Donald Trump's chances of being re-elected, should he be convicted.
Face with Tears of Joy, Skull, Melting Face, Eyes. Emoji have been called the first language born of the digital world, with over 3,000 "picture characters" available to add emotional nuance to written communication. They first appeared on Japanese mobile phones at the turn of the millennium and are now an everyday part of the way we communicate. Jeremy Burge has been called the "Samuel Johnson of emoji". Ten years ago he founded Emojipedia, an online reference site of emoji characters and their meaning. He was also a member of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, which is responsible for reviewing requests for new emoji. He currently writes a Mobile Tech Journal and has a popular TikTok channel about living on a narrow boat.
London filmmaker, marathon runner and investigative journalist Gez Medinger was infected with COVID 19 in the first months of the pandemic and has suffered post-viral symptoms since. His YouTube channel, originally about running, old cars and bikes, has now become a valuable resource for long COVID patients, with over a hundred videos exploring the latest long COVID research. In an unusual patient-doctor collaboration Medinger co-wrote The Long Covid Handbook with immunologist Professor Danny Altmann.
Founded by the late Alan Brunton and Sally Rodwell in the early 1970s, avant-garde New Zealand performance collective Red Mole doggedly pursued a vision to embrace the energetic, romantic and erratic. Their shows which mixed theatre, music, dance, satire, fire-eating, and sometimes huge puppets, were performed wherever they could find an audience, from schools to strip clubs to opera houses. Deborah Hunt is a mask maker, puppeteer and theatre artist who performs and teaches around the world. She was a core member of Red Mole for about 10 years. She features in Annie Goldson's new documentary film Red Mole: A Romance which explores the origins, performances, personalities and fate of Red Mole. it will screen at Whanau Marama: New Zealand International Film Festival in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Shortly after the birth of her first child in 2001 French writer Marie Darrieussecq developed insomnia, and she's not been able to get a good night's sleep since. She's spent some of her many waking hours writing a memoir dedicated to insomnia. Sleepless combines meditations from a list of revered writers (such as Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust) with Marie's research and personal experiences. Darrieussecq is one of the leading voices in contemporary French literature. Her first novel, Pig Tales, was translated into thirty-five languages and she was awarded the Prix Médicis and the Prix des Prix in 2013.
Knock-offs are big business, worth $600 billion a year on the world market: anything from whiskey and bags to footwear and hair care products. In her book Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture Alice Sherwood argues authenticity, the genuine article, is fashionable because it is rare: the market is flooded with counterfeits. Alice Sherwood is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Policy Institute at King's College London.
How do we know when our cats and dogs are in pain? And how does pain affect their behaviour? These are among the topics being explored by Dr Sarah Heath, keynote speaker at next weekend's Kiwi Vet Behaviour Conference. Dr Heath is a UK-based veterinary specialist recognised for helping establish Behavioural Medicine as a discipline. Dr Heath will address the relationship between animal cognition, emotions and behaviour, also how vets can improve the design of their practices to make a visit more pleasant for an animal patient, especially cats.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current (AMOC) is part of a conveyor belt of currents that circulate water around the world, regulating weather and sea level. Professor Peter Ditlevsen from Copenhagen's Niels Bohr Institute is co-author of a study, published this week in Nature Communications which predicts AMOC may dramatically slow down and then turn off, as soon as 2025 and likely by the end of the century. The collapse of this system will have enormous implications, including more extreme winters and sea level rises affecting parts of Europe and the US, and a shifting of the monsoon in the tropics.
People love sharing photos and videos. There are unknowably huge numbers of images on-line. But what if you disappeared from your own photo-album? The rest of the scene still there, but your face is faded out, gone. Your friends and family too. What happens when the bonds created by photos fade away? Wellington based author Thomas Sleigh ponders this in her new novel The Words For Her, where this exact thing happens: people start disappearing from images. Thomasin Sleigh is a writer and editor with a background in art history. Her essays and art criticism have been published by galleries, newspapers, and magazines. She has published two previous novels Ad Lib (2014), and Women in the Field, One and Two (2018), both of which look at the way images reflect and contest challenge wider hierarchies and power structures, particularly how women are depicted and understood through art and film.
It's 100 years since Australian chemist Cyril Callister invented Vegemite as an alternative to Marmite, which had become scarce due to German U-boats sinking the ships bringing the English spread. From humble beginnings to annual sales of more than 22 million jars, the yeast-based spread has become a fixture of culture down under. It's now so iconic the City of Melbourne Council has included the smell of the factory at 1 Vegemite Way in a statement of heritage significance. Jamie Callister explores his grandfather Cyril's life and legacy in Vegemite: The True Story of the Man Who Invented an Australian Icon.
Superyacht stewardess Aesha Scott is a fan favourite on the American reality show Below Deck for her work ethic and relentless positivity. The Tauranga-born TV personality tells Kim Hill that delivering five-star service with TV cameras around 24/7 is easily the hardest thing she's ever done. "It's not all fun and games but I'm determined to keep doing it as long as my sanity will let me."
French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert is known for his intimate and patiently observed documentaries capturing the beauty of everyday humanity. He's most well known for 2002's Etre et Avoir which followed a year in the life of a tiny rural school with just one teacher. His latest film On the Adamant/Sur L'Adamant won the top prize at this year's Berlin International Film Festival. It follows the goings-on aboard L'Adamant, a floating day-centre for people with mental maladies, moored on the banks of the Seine in Paris. On the Adamant is screening at Whanau Marama: New Zealand International Film Festival
Auckland's iconic landmarks Mount Eden, One Tree Hill, and Rangitoto are all evidence of the 360 km2 volcanic field that lies beneath our largest city. The field has erupted at least 53 times in the past 250,000 years, each time in a new location, resulting in many small hills and pits across the Auckland landscape. Volcanologists have been studying the magma source deep beneath the city to get clues to where the next eruption might occur. The chance of an eruption is very small but the consequences for residents would be large. GNS volcanologist Graham Leonard is co leader of the DEVORA programme which has been assessing the risk.
World leading immunologist Professor Danny Altmann has declared the future burden of long COVID to be "so large as to be unfathomable". He has published a scientific review of long COVID in Nature, asserting if 10% of acute infections lead to persistent symptoms, up to 400 million people could be in need of support for long COVID worldwide. While the Australian government has allocated $50m for long COVID research, in New Zealand there has been zero investment for bio-medical long COVID research to understand and treat the condition. Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Immunology and Inflammation at Imperial College London, Professor Altmann has been studying T cells for four decades, and is interested in why people suffer debilitating consequences so long after COVID infection.
As parts of southern Europe and the US swelter in record summer temperatures, Gaia Vince anticipates mass migration to cooler countries, forced by global warming. Her book, Nomad Century: How to survive a climate upheaval describes the displacement of billions of people from the world's hottest latitudes. From The Sudan to the western US, and in cities from the UK to China, drought, heat, wildfires and flooding will make home uninhabitable. It's not all doom and gloom. Vince remains optimistic migration also brings benefits, both to migrants and their new countries, including solving labour shortages.
Poet Jenny Bornholdt's new book A Garden is a Long Time weaves her words with the life and photographic art of Annemarie Hope-Cross, who died last year. Hope-Cross studied photogenic drawing, wet and dry plate collodion and the daguerreotype technique at the Fox Talbot Museum in the UK, and used these early photographic processes and materials in her work. The combination of these historic techniques with contemporary subjects created images both eerie and radiant. Jenny Bornholdt is the author of several poetry collections including The Rocky Shore (Montana New Zealand Book Award for Poetry, 2009), Selected Poems (2016), and Lost and Somewhere Else (2019). In 2005 she became the fifth Te Mata Estate Poet Laureate, and in 2013 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature.
Bad Behaviour is the debut feature film from actor, writer and director Alice Englert, celebrated New Zealand film-maker Jane Campion's daughter. Bad Behaviour stars Ben Whishaw as the spiritual leader of a retreat attended by 40-something Lucy (Jennifer Connelly) who, while seeking enlightenment meets her nemesis in the form of model and DJ Beverly. Meanwhile, Lucy's stunt-performer daughter, Dylan (played by Alice Englert) is in New Zealand working on set. We very soon learn they have a fraught relationship, just as Lucy did with her own mother. There are supporting roles here from Ana Scotney, Marlon Williams, Xana Tang, Robbie Magasiva, Tom Sainsbury - and a cameo from mum. Having premiered at Sundance Film Festival, Bad Behaviour is showing in the New Zealand International Film Festival.
Barbie's in the pink at the moment. There's a huge buzz surrounding a new comedy-fantasy film about the iconic and multi-vocational doll hitting screens next week. Collecting Barbie dolls has been a decades-long passion for retired St John Ambulance paramedic Patsy Carlyle. Her Helensville home aka The Pink Palace houses over 1,600 boxed Barbie dolls, and more than four hundred freestanding dolls. Patsy and hundreds of her dolls are being celebrated in The Barbie Collector at Wellington Museum from 22nd July - 10th Sept.
Resilience expert Dr Lucy Hone has personal and academic experience with devastating grief. Despite all her training and time working with people dealing with loss, nothing prepared her for the sudden death of her 12 year old daughter Abi in a car crash in 2014. Since then she's focused on providing support for others affected by similarly overwhelming grief. Her TEDx talk '3 Secrets of Resilient People', has been watched over 6 million times, she's authored Resilient Grieving, a practical, research-based guide to grief, and has a coping with loss website.
Journalist Ben Smith tells the story of how digital media organisations became addicted to "going viral" in his new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. He was founding editor-in-chief of recently deceased digital news site BuzzFeed News, which along with HuffPost, Breitbart and Gawker Media represented a new world of online media in the early 2000s. His book tells the inside story of how rivals Jonah Peretti of HuffPost and BuzzFeed. and Nick Denton of Gawker Media started the race for virality blamed for the rise of disinformation. Ben Smith is the Editor in Chief of Semafor, a new global news company and a former media columnist for The New York Times.
A feminist author focussing on the suffering of men? It seems unlikely, but after a career helping women navigate a misogynistic world, the obvious next step for Caitlin Moran was to offer a hand to men. Her new book What about men? examines the good, the bad and the ugly of masculinity in 2023. Moran's memoir How To Be A Woman is one of the bestselling works of popular feminism. She's also written two volumes of collected journalism, Moranthology and Moranifesto, and a novel, How to Build a Girl, which was adapted as a movie.
As France celebrates Bastille Day authorities are on alert for a resurgence of street violence. More than 3,000 people were arrested during recent nationwide protests triggered by a video of police killing black teen Nahel Merzouk. According to European Network Against Racism data, North African Arab or black people are twenty times more likely to be stopped by French police. French Senegalese journalist Rokhaya Diallo says Nahel's killing is part of a long pattern of racist policing that has divided the country.
Last year Bill Bailey walked 100 miles in memory of his late friend Sean Lock, inspired by the hikes the two comics used to take together. Bailey's become evangelical about the benefits of a good walk, as an opportunity for blokes to be a bit more open with each other about difficult subjects. He's less enthusiastic about Twitter, which, as far as he's concerned, is a "vituperative swamp of unpleasantness". The comedian, musician and actor best known for his film and television work on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI, and the award winning Black Books was also host of the first season of NZ hit comedy panel show Patriot Brains. He's returning to Aotearoa in November and December for a fourteen date tour of his new show Thoughtifier.
Nightclubs doubling as fight clubs, dairies with rice bunkers and aunties scheming away in mahjong dens.The first Aotearoa play to be commissioned from a South Asian woman provides a rather different sci-fi take on our future than we're used to. Yet beneath the stage combat, dance-offs and references to anime, Ankita Singh's 'neo-noir action-crime-comedy' Basmati Bitch aims to be a sharp look at contested borders and migrant exploitation Singh is an Auckland-based writer hailing from Chandigarh and Kirikiriroa. She's the founder of Asian theatre producers Oriental Maidens, and has an animated series in development with Taika Waititi's Piki Films. Basmati Bitch is on at Auckland's Q Theatre from 11 July.
Historians usually write about the past, with the benefit of knowing how things turned out, but Harvard academic and best-selling author Serhii Plokhy was so shaken by the Russian invasion of his homeland last year he felt compelled to write about it immediately. The result is his new book The Russo-Ukrainian War which traces the historical origins and evolution of the invasion and contemplates the wider consequences for the present and futures of both countries. He argues that Ukraine's defiance of Russia, and the West's support, presents a profound challenge to Putin's ambitions. Plokhy's other books include Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy, Nuclear Folly, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine and The Last Empire.
Scientist and writer Danyl McLauchlan joins Kim to tackle life's big questions, ideas and thinkers. This week, he's examining the role dystopian novels play in politics. The conservative fundamentalist nightmare of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale has become a go-to analogy for liberals when criticising the right. Just recently Labour's Megan Woods accused National (via a tweeted GIF) of wanting to turn New Zealand into Gilead if they excluded contraceptives from their prescription subsidy scheme. It's not the only book to be co-opted as a political weapon. Orwell's 1984 and P D James' Children of Men have been used in similar ways by politicians of varying colours.
Aged just seven, Suzanne Heywood set sail with her family on a three-year voyage around the world. Three years turned into a decade, with little formal schooling and many tensions between Heywood and her parents. It all ended in Aotearoa, with a teenage Heywood looking after her younger brother and her Dad's business. This unusual childhood is the subject of her new memoir Wavewalker: Breaking Free Now a successful businesswoman, Heywood's last book was the bestselling What Does Jeremy Think? an account of the life of her late husband Jeremy Heywood, British cabinet secretary and confidant of four prime ministers.
There's a saying in the Cook Islands that anything decided by the government was hashed out at Trader Jacks. The legendary bar and eatery, opened in 1986 by Jack Cooper, is known to virtually every Kiwi who visits Rarotonga. Jack died a year ago but his life and the bar's many wild and wonderful times are celebrated in 40 Years Behind Bars: A Publican in Paradise. a book completed with the help of Golden Bay based journalist Gerard Hindmarsh.
In a so-called "orca uprising" killer whales have been attacking boats in Iberian waters, off Spain and Portugal,and are possibly teaching others to do the same. But why, and how will it all end? Dr Justin Gregg is a researcher with the Dolphin Communication Project, adjunct professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and author of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal.
There's been a war raging in education over how to teach reading to kids for many years, and it shows no signs of abating. On one side are those who believe in whole language learning, that is, guessing words through contextual and visual clues. This method underpins 'reading recovery' therapy, which was developed by New Zealander Dame Marie Clay to boost the learning of those who fall behind. On the other side are fans of phonics, who think sounding out words is the way to go. Here in Aotearoa we currently teach a mix of both. Late last year, prompted by reports showing our literacy rates were falling, the Government announced plans to overhaul the teaching of reading. Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer with American Public Media. Her podcast series Sold a Story examines America's experience with whole language learning, which she thinks has failed. Hanford will be in Auckland and Christchurch in late August to speak at a Literacy Symposium.
Known for her books about adolescence, 85-year-old Judy Blume remains beloved by those who grew up with her books. Her work is being introduced to a new generation, with a film adaptation of her breakthrough 1970 novel Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret which premieres at the New Zealand International Film Festival in July.
Since the 2020 lockdown the way we view each other from afar has changed dramatically thanks to technology. FacingTime: Portraits of Geoff by Euan Macleod at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery is a series of 346 portrait paintings recording Macleod and Geoff Dixon's daily catch-ups on FaceTime.
Featuring a chip-lipped duck, a structurally unsound tip truck, and the iconic train cake on the cover, a book of 108 themed cakes has been sparking sugary fantasies for three generations of kids. In the 1980's the cakes were as vital to Kiwi kid's birthday parties as fairy bread and pass the parcel. First published in 1980, the Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book has sold over a million copies, and has large Facebook groups dedicated to making the cakes. For parents attempting to recreate the cakes the experience is often a labour of love and engineering. Former PM Jacinda Ardern shared her struggle making the piano cake and admitted to having to prop it up with a jar of lentils. Long-time AWW food editor and test kitchen head Pamela Clark authored the book.
As te reo becomes widespread, does Maori learning for Maori need to be prioritised? That's one of many pesky questions posed in the first episode of new Spinoff web series 2 Cents 2 Much. Answering them is Tamaki Makaurau kaiako and musician Jordyn Rapana aka Jordyn with a Why. She teaches full immersion at Te Wananga o Aotearoa in Mangere. Jordyn says she only started her own te reo Maori journey six years ago. While she has whakapapa through her dad to Tainui Awhiro in Whaingaroa/ Raglan, she grew up immersed in her Samoan culture on her mum's side. Last year Jordyn with a Why's song 'Brown Melodies' was nominated for Best Waiata/Single at the Waiata Maori Music Awards. She's about to drop a new single for Matariki, and performs as part of TVNZ Matariki extravaganza: Purapura Whetu - Stars of Matariki, live-streamed 14 July.
In their new book The Big Myth, Professor Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway document the rise of "market fundamentalism" over the 20th century, outlining Big Business's push to equate the free market with freedom and instil fear of government intervention. It's been described as a sequel and prequel to their bestselling book Merchants of Doubt which chronicled the origins of denialism of issues including climate-change and tobacco harm. Naomi Oreskes is a professor of the history of science at Harvard.
Earlier this month Australia's most decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith lost his defamation case against three newspapers who reported he had murdered civilians in Afghanistan. While not a criminal trial, the court judged him responsible for the deaths of four Afghans while deployed during 2009-2012. Investigative journalist Nick McKenzie brought the allegations to the public eye and has spent five years working on the story.
Author and art writer Megan Dunn joins Kim to talk about the pros and cons of having prizes for art.
There's strong hope this winter that the ice will be right for the Baxter Cup, New Zealand's oldest sporting trophy. The cup is for outdoor curling, yet bonspiels (curling tournaments) are increasingly threatened by climate change. They're no longer even held in the sport's birthplace of Scotland and the last Baxter Cup was held here in 2017.
Are humans really the smartest animal? Animal cognition expert Dr Justin Gregg thinks maybe not. In his new book If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal, he examines our exceptional brain power and finds it wanting.
Last month it was reported that children in the UK had been born using mitochondrial donation, eight years after the technique was regulated. The IVF procedure uses genetic material from a mother and father and a tiny amount from a third female donor, with the aim of preventing the inheritance of mitochondrial diseases. These diseases are incurable and can be fatal. The news gives hope to women carrying mitochondrial disease, yet Dr Dagan Wells, Professor of Reproductive Genetics at University of Oxford, says scientists have many questions. Mitochondrial donation has been performed in other countries where its use is not regulated. The first baby created using the technique was born in Mexico in 2016.
Best-selling Latin American author Isabel Allende's new book The Wind Knows My Name reveals the brutal reality and lasting trauma caused by forced immigration and family separation.
Former basketball player and chef Jenny Nguyen became increasingly frustrated by the lack of women's sports playing at the bars she hung out in. So, in 2022 she used her life savings to open the Sports Bra, an inclusive bar and restaurant in Portland, Oregon, that plays only women's sports on its TV screens. It's been a raging success, bringing in one million dollars in revenue in its first eight months.
Matt Baker returns for a chat about some of the latest science news. This week: why a single shot of gene therapy may replace surgical sterilisation for cats.
Mental illness may seem an unlikely subject for a musical, but in the US Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt's Next to Normal has won not only Tony Awards but a Pulitzer Prize. Director of its Christchurch production Hayden Tee (Ngati Kahungunu, Takatapui) considers it one of the great musicals.
This month Kiwa Hammond has been part of an Aotearoa contingent in Germany to retrieve skeletal remains of karapuna, Ta Imi Moriori ancestors of Rekohu (the Chatham Islands) and Maori tipuna from various institutions and museums.
Chronobiologist Professor Emeritus Philippa Gander spends her waking hours researching the optimal conditions for sleep. She's studied horseshoe crabs, hibernating squirrels, jet-lagged pilots and space station astronauts.
When UK based New Zealand writer Margaret Meyer visited a local museum in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk, it sent her on a mission to uncover the story of a group of women accused of being witches, and the men who hunted them.
Proposed in the UK is a trial that would see 30 people paid an unconditional sum of about NZ$3295 a month for two years to see what effect it has on their mental and physical health. An equivalent scheme is already running in Wales.
New treatments for pancreatic cancer are urgently needed. Yet, results from a small study published recently suggest that bespoke messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines that prime a patient's immune system to fight their cancer might be an effective future option.
Beloved British stage and screen actor Dame Penelope Wilton is perhaps best known as Ann, the long-suffering wife of Martin in BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles and Isobel Crawley in Downton Abbey. She's now starring alongside Jim Broadbent in a new film The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, based on Rachel Joyce novel. The titular Fry is a pensioner on a lone walking journey across England, while his wife, played by Dame Penelope, has a journey of her own without leaving their four walls. Dame Penelope has also starred in Netflix hit After Life, Doctor Who and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is in cinemas in New Zealand 8 June.
Do we hear music differently across cultures? What about between the sexes? And does singing to a baby improve their mental health? These are some of the questions The Music Lab's Principal Investigator psychologist Dr Samuel Mehr is looking to answer.
When a major league US baseball team recently picked a fight with a group of queer and trans 'nuns', they struck out. After announcing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence would be honoured with a community heroes award, the LA Dodgers buckled to conservative pressure from Republican politicians and some Catholic groups, revoking the award and an invitation to their Pride Night.
This week the government released a Safer Online Services and Media Platforms "discussion document" proposing to regulate online content the same way other media is regulated.
NZ born civil engineer turned installation artist Mike Hewson thinks that safe playgrounds are dangerous for children.
Renowned scientist Professor Mike Berridge is having his work in cell biology recognised with a doctorate this month. Career highlights have included research he led showing how tumours use mitochondria to grow, and work with blood-forming stem cells.
Author, plant lover and former BBC documentary maker Jonathan Drori joins the show for a chat about some of the latest botanical news.
Edda Mussolini was Benito's favourite daughter and his confidante during 20 years of fascist rule. She acted as envoy to both Germany and Britain, helping steer Italy to join forces with Hitler. UK historian and biographer Caroline Moorehouse's Edda Mussolini: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe is an account of "the unravelling of the Fascist dream".
One of the country's leading wildlife veterinary experts warns a heavy-handed response may be needed to limit damage if a particularly infectious strain of bird flu reaches our shores.
In response to the largest public protests since Tiananmen Square, Chinese government officials have signaled a shift away from 'Zero Covid' and eased some restrictions.
Kelly Francis's dream is that every New Zealander has access to a garden of fresh, healthy food to eat and share. From her base in Mangere she's making a vision of community-led food sovereignty a reality, one mari kai at a time.
Golden Bay freelance journalist and author Gerard Hindmarsh is back with his latest collection of stories, with a focus on Golden Bay's West Coast and Kahurangi National Park.
Hamilton based clinical and research neurologist Dr Matthew Phillips is frustrated by how little he and his colleagues can help patients with degenerative brain disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, as well as cancer. Drug treatments can lessen symptoms but there's no effective preventive or curative regime for conditions currently affecting over 80,000 New Zealanders.
The author of 10 novels, Colm Tóibín's collection of essays A Guest at the Feast begins by taking us back to his childhood. Starting with growing up in Enniscorthy, County Wexford he also tracks the changes in Ireland, its church and state and, intertwined, his own personal life.
English DJ Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) tells Kim Hill why he still loves "spreading tales of abandon and community and hedonism and connection" to dance floors around the world.
It's six months since renowned Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while reporting in the occupied West Bank. Initially, the Israeli military denied involvement but have since admitted there is a "high likelihood" it was an accidental shooting by an Israeli soldier Shireen's niece Lina Abu Akleh believes the attack was intentional, and has become the face of an international campaign to demand accountability.
Astronomers say the very existence of their field of science could be threatened by the huge number of low-flying telecommunications satellite constellations now in the sky - launched by companies such as Space X in the US and OneWeb in Britain.
Last week Russia withdrew 30,000 troops from the Ukrainian port city of Kherson and surrounding region after nine months of occupation. A former New Zealand soldier Jordan O'Brien was part of a unit that liberated three towns.
This week, Samoan New Zealand artist Fatu Feu'u was named an Arts Foundation Icon. The prestigious award honours a living circle of twenty of NZ's most significant artists for their lifetime achievement.
From her base in the town of Ross on the South Island's West Coast, science writer Lynley Hargreaves is in prime position to observe and contemplate changes to the country's glaciers.
On Friday 18 November Nick Bevin was made Te Kahui Whaihanga, a Distinguished Fellow at the New Zealand Institute of Architects annual awards. It recognises not just Bevin's own long award-winning career as an architect, but his substantial work in saving our modern public architectural heritage.
The spectacular and sudden collapse of $32 billion cryptocurrency exchange FTX this month is potentially a pivotal event for the industry - a 'Lehman Brothers' moment.
Ongoing anti-government protests in Iran, sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September, have intensified this week, fuelled by the death of a 9 year old boy, Kian Pirfalak.
Calls for boycotts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup have been growing from football clubs, supporters and players alike. Host nation Qatar has been accused of using this month's event to gloss over its poor human rights record.
A chance meeting with a former resident of Bert Potter's Centrepoint community started journalist Anke Richter on what became a decade-long deep dive into groups that exert high levels of control on members.
Te Wananga Whakairo o Ruawhetu is a new carving school with a focus on aligning the aspirations of hapu and iwi across the country with its programme of learning. The new school, which opened its doors on 18 October, has an initial focus on supporting Ngati Whatua, given its location in central Auckland.
Computer scientist Professor Hassan Ugail's AI photo analysis technology has positively identified an elderly man in Australia as Lord Lucan, a British aristocrat who vanished in 1974 the day after brutally attacking his wife and murdering the family nanny.
Last Thursday's failed attempt to assassinate former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has resulted in mass demonstrations throughout the country. The 70 year old former International cricketer turned politician has accused Major General Faisal Naseer of colluding with current prime minister Shehbaz Sharif to try and kill him.
Planting time! Organic gardener Kath Irvine returns to share gardening tips and to answer your questions. Irvine counts pumpkins, squashes and beans as easy, beneficent summer crops to plant now.
In 1920 Whanganui residents were rocked by the news that their mayor had shot D'Arcy Cresswell, a young gay poet, who had been blackmailing him. Mackay was sentenced to hard labour and later left New Zealand, only to be shot during street unrest in Berlin during the rise of the Nazis.
"Mr Organ is a black hole and I've fallen in," quips journalist and filmmaker David Farrier midway through his latest feature documentary, as he plays a bizarre cat and mouse game with the titular and litigious Michael Organ.
Earlier this week the government announced plans to introduce hate speech legislation. Such legislation has not always proven successful, as Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama shows in his book Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media.
More than 45,000 people, including world leaders and our own climate change minister, are descending on the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt for COP27, the annual UN climate conference, which starts on Sunday night. Rhiannon Mackie is one of them. At just 18 the Hutt Valley High School student is a climate champion who has organised protests across New Zealand, and has been running a campaign to get rid of fossil burning boilers from schools. She's concerned that COP is inaccessible to those most at risk from climate change.
Americans go to the polls next week for their midterm elections. At stake is the balance of power within the House of Representatives and the Senate. But more fundamentally - as the first elections since the January 6 2021 Capitol insurrection - these midterms are being seen as a critical test of the democracy and electoral systems in the US.
Protein scientist and writer Danyl McLauchlan joins Kim to tackle life's big questions, ideas and thinkers. This week - is a computer's neural network conscious?
Sonagachi in Kolkata (Calcutta) is the largest red-light district in Asia, with an estimated 10,000 or more sex workers in residence. It's the setting for Rijula Das' debut novel Small Deaths, a 'modern noir' thriller capturing all shades of a colourful urban area.
What do you do with all those papers and possessions when someone close to you dies? In the case of Gerald O'Brien (1924-2017) - former Labour Party MP for Island Bay and local businessman - nephew and artist Lucien Rizos photographed everything.
"Smashing theatre and literature together" is poet, producer and MC Freya Daly Sadgrove's mantra for Show Ponies, the hit revue that sees Aotearoa poets perform their work like pop stars: outrageous costumes, bright lights, beats and, naturally, backup dancers.
New Zealand's inflation rate is at a 30 year high. Across the globe, central banks are scrambling to control it without tipping their economies, and indeed the world, into recession. New Zealander Darian Woods has made a career in the US explaining complex financial concepts in plain English.
It’s a cliché to describe a life portrayed in film as a rollercoaster. Yet, while we know the highest highs of Dame Valerie Adams' career - five-time Olympian, two-time gold medallist, easily one of our most successful athletes - a documentary following her final Olympic campaign is unflinching and intimate in also revealing the very human lows.
Award-winning music producer Joel Little talks to Kim Hill about songwriting, ambition and the brand-new music-making hub he's created in Auckland.
The knee is the largest and most complex joint in the body and retired orthopaedic surgeon Russell Tregonning is passionate about the evolving science of knee injuries and replacement surgery. In his memoir Blood and Bone: Revelations of an Orthopaedic Surgeon Tregonning reflects on his career, pioneering techniques of keyhole surgery and his own hospitalisation due to the overwhelming demands of the job.
Our regular art correspondent Megan Dunn has an exhibition of her own just opened at Wellington's Adam Art Gallery, revealing another long standing obsession: mermaids.
Sydney-based New Zealander Dr Matt Baker returns for a chat about some of the latest science news. This week: there are reports that ancient Mars may have had an environment capable of harbouring an underground world teeming with microscopic organisms and, what is probably the most abundant enzyme back on Earth: Rubisco.
Flowing from his interest in the Colonial Office of the 1830s and how English law was brought to New Zealand, historian and lawyer Ned Fletcher argues in The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi that the authors of the English version saw 'sovereignty' as consistent with continued Maori self-government.
The dead do tell tales: sometimes they are the only ones who can speak to the living about the costs of civil war, terror and corruption. Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka won the Man Booker Prize on Monday for his second novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.
Lockdown made Auckland comedian Chris Parker an Instagram sensation. He talks to Kim Hill about his recent wedding and new book Here For a Good Time: Organised Thoughts From A Disorganised Mind.
'Relentless Attrition' and 'Infernal Assault' - the names of guitarist Sally Gates's early '00s bands betray her beginnings in the Auckland death metal scene. Since, she has moved to the United States and become a regular in New York's experimental musical scene, playing and composing with guitar with strong stylistic elements from both metal and jazz.
In a remarkable literary feat Catherine Chidgey's seventh novel The Axeman's Carnival is told entirely from the perspective of a magpie on a high country farm. T
When the Chinese Communist Party elite gather in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday 15 October for the 20th Party Congress, all will not be as it seems.
Belgian-American psychotherapist Esther Perel talks to Kim Hill about the modern religion of romance and the "relationship accelerator" that is Covid-19.
After 39 days in office the UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has done a dramatic U-turn on her tax-cut plans in an effort to reassure financial markets. She has also dropped her close ally Kwasi Kwarteng as UK finance minister, replacing him as Chancellor with former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Hannah Gadsby says only in the last year has she "come out the other side" after being catapulted to fame by her 2018 Netflix comedy special Nanette. The Australian comedian is currently in New Zealand performing her latest show Body of Work.
Poet Nick Ascroft considers one of his claims to fame to be "nearly winning the Kathleen Grattan Prize four times, the most anyone has nearly won it". Which might partly explain why his fifth collection of poetry is titled The Stupefying.
After 11 years working as a science and tech journalist, Kris De Decker realised that low-tech is actually the way of the future. He's the creator of Low-Tech Magazine - a solar-powered website hosted from his Barcelona balcony.
The path to sainthood can be long - as long as a 1000 years. For Meri Hohepa Suzanne Aubert, who died in 1926, that path hit a snag earlier this year when the Vatican Medical Council decided a potential miracle attributed to her could be explained by medical science.
On Friday 7 October Jamie McLellan won the John Britten Black Pin at the Designers Institute of NZ's Best Design Awards, the most prestigious award on the New Zealand design calendar. Currently based in San Francisco, McLellan is the first Head of Design for Kiwi fashion brand Allbirds, known for its commitment to sustainability.
The headscarves women are required to wear by the Islamic Republic of Iran are now becoming a symbol of defiance. London-based CBS News correspondent Roxana Saberi was born in the United States to an Iranian father and Japanese mother. After moving to Iran in 2003 to work as a reporter, she was arrested in 2009, accused of espionage and spent 101 days in prison.
New Zealand rugby star Ruby Tui tells Susie Ferguson why she's sharing the rough details of her early life in the new memoir Straight Up.
New Zealand rugby star Ruby Tui tells Susie Ferguson why she's sharing the rough details of her early life in the new memoir Straight Up.
New Zealand rugby star Ruby Tui tells Susie Ferguson why she's sharing the rough details of her early life in the new memoir Straight Up.
Recording the sounds of our planet over four decades, American Jim Metzner is an audio legend. Host and producer of one of the longest running science programmes Pulse of the Planet, Metzner has recorded everywhere from Australian cloud forests to Brazilian favelas.
Recording the sounds of our planet over four decades, American Jim Metzner is an audio legend. Host and producer of one of the longest running science programmes Pulse of the Planet, Metzner has recorded everywhere from Australian cloud forests to Brazilian favelas.
Recording the sounds of our planet over four decades, American Jim Metzner is an audio legend. Host and producer of one of the longest running science programmes Pulse of the Planet, Metzner has recorded everywhere from Australian cloud forests to Brazilian favelas.
In September Emeritus Professor Neville Blampied was awarded the triennial Hunter Award, the NZ Psychological Society's top accolade, acknowledging his outstanding contribution to psychology.
In September Emeritus Professor Neville Blampied was awarded the triennial Hunter Award, the NZ Psychological Society's top accolade, acknowledging his outstanding contribution to psychology.
In September Emeritus Professor Neville Blampied was awarded the triennial Hunter Award, the NZ Psychological Society's top accolade, acknowledging his outstanding contribution to psychology.
This week chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt called out the government on its lack of progress in implementing its Healthy Homes Standards, saying it puts New Zealand in breach of our international law obligations. Back in February 2020 those standards were commended by Leilani Farha, who was visiting at the time in her former role as UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
This week chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt called out the government on its lack of progress in implementing its Healthy Homes Standards, saying it puts New Zealand in breach of our international law obligations. Back in February 2020 those standards were commended by Leilani Farha, who was visiting at the time in her former role as UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
This week chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt called out the government on its lack of progress in implementing its Healthy Homes Standards, saying it puts New Zealand in breach of our international law obligations. Back in February 2020 those standards were commended by Leilani Farha, who was visiting at the time in her former role as UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
Descending deep down into the waters off the west coast of Ireland, to where there is no light, underwater chemist Sam Afoullouss has a robot collecting marine organisms in his search for new medicines.
Descending deep down into the waters off the west coast of Ireland, to where there is no light, underwater chemist Sam Afoullouss has a robot collecting marine organisms in his search for new medicines.
Descending deep down into the waters off the west coast of Ireland, to where there is no light, underwater chemist Sam Afoullouss has a robot collecting marine organisms in his search for new medicines.
Captain Robert Scott's last diary entry, as he lay freezing and starving to death on an ill-fated South Pole journey, concludes: "for God's sake look after our people". Uppermost were the three women who would now be widows: his wife Kathleen, Oriana Wilson, and Lois Evans - the Welsh working-class wife of a Petty Officer.
Captain Robert Scott's last diary entry, as he lay freezing and starving to death on an ill-fated South Pole journey, concludes: "for God's sake look after our people". Uppermost were the three women who would now be widows: his wife Kathleen, Oriana Wilson, and Lois Evans - the Welsh working-class wife of a Petty Officer.
Captain Robert Scott's last diary entry, as he lay freezing and starving to death on an ill-fated South Pole journey, concludes: "for God's sake look after our people". Uppermost were the three women who would now be widows: his wife Kathleen, Oriana Wilson, and Lois Evans - the Welsh working-class wife of a Petty Officer.
Egyptian veterinarian Amir Khalil is widely known as 'the war vet', having spent years rescuing animals from disaster areas and war zones.
Egyptian veterinarian Amir Khalil is widely known as 'the war vet', having spent years rescuing animals from disaster areas and war zones.
Egyptian veterinarian Amir Khalil is widely known as 'the war vet', having spent years rescuing animals from disaster areas and war zones.
After 17 years hosting Nights, RNZ presenter Bryan Crump heads over to our fine music network RNZ Concert this month. He joins Kim Hill to play some favourite songs and chat about his career.
After 17 years hosting Nights, RNZ presenter Bryan Crump heads over to our fine music network RNZ Concert this month. He joins Kim Hill to play some favourite songs and chat about his career.
After 17 years hosting Nights, RNZ presenter Bryan Crump heads over to our fine music network RNZ Concert this month. He joins Kim Hill to play some favourite songs and chat about his career.
Robbie Burton has been at the helm of independent publishers Potton & Burton since 1990, when it was called Craig Potton Publishing. Having published countless non-fiction titles over the decades, Burton has finally put pen to paper to write his own.
Robbie Burton has been at the helm of independent publishers Potton & Burton since 1990, when it was called Craig Potton Publishing. Having published countless non-fiction titles over the decades, Burton has finally put pen to paper to write his own.
Robbie Burton has been at the helm of independent publishers Potton & Burton since 1990, when it was called Craig Potton Publishing. Having published countless non-fiction titles over the decades, Burton has finally put pen to paper to write his own.
The life and work of Sylvia Durrant, otherwise known as Auckland's Bird Lady, is celebrated in a new book which is part graphic biography part environmental handbook authored by Johanna Emeney and Sarah Laing.
The life and work of Sylvia Durrant, otherwise known as Auckland's Bird Lady, is celebrated in a new book which is part graphic biography part environmental handbook authored by Johanna Emeney and Sarah Laing.
The life and work of Sylvia Durrant, otherwise known as Auckland's Bird Lady, is celebrated in a new book which is part graphic biography part environmental handbook authored by Johanna Emeney and Sarah Laing.
Psychoanalyst and historian Daniel Pick explores the intriguing world of mind-control in his book Brainwashed: A New History of Thought Control.
Psychoanalyst and historian Daniel Pick explores the intriguing world of mind-control in his book Brainwashed: A New History of Thought Control.
Psychoanalyst and historian Daniel Pick explores the intriguing world of mind-control in his book Brainwashed: A New History of Thought Control.
The Spinoff's editor-at-large Toby Manhire has been spending much of his recent time following the highs and lows of the local body election campaigns across the country.
The Spinoff's editor-at-large Toby Manhire has been spending much of his recent time following the highs and lows of the local body election campaigns across the country.
The Spinoff's editor-at-large Toby Manhire has been spending much of his recent time following the highs and lows of the local body election campaigns across the country.
El Salvador journalist Carlos Dada received the IPI World Press Freedom Hero award this month in the face of continued persecution of the media in central America.
El Salvador journalist Carlos Dada received the IPI World Press Freedom Hero award this month in the face of continued persecution of the media in central America.
El Salvador journalist Carlos Dada received the IPI World Press Freedom Hero award this month in the face of continued persecution of the media in central America.
'Living well as a practice for dying well' is the subject of deathwalker Zenith Virago's speech on September 23 at the third Death Matters conference in Christchurch. Based in Byron Shire, just north of Byron Bay, Virago is the founder of the Natural Death Care Centre. She has been dubbed a maverick pioneer in working towards cultural change in how we approach death.
'Living well as a practice for dying well' is the subject of deathwalker Zenith Virago's speech on September 23 at the third Death Matters conference in Christchurch. Based in Byron Shire, just north of Byron Bay, Virago is the founder of the Natural Death Care Centre. She has been dubbed a maverick pioneer in working towards cultural change in how we approach death.
'Living well as a practice for dying well' is the subject of deathwalker Zenith Virago's speech on September 23 at the third Death Matters conference in Christchurch. Based in Byron Shire, just north of Byron Bay, Virago is the founder of the Natural Death Care Centre. She has been dubbed a maverick pioneer in working towards cultural change in how we approach death.
Hawaiian artist, illustrator and self-described 'possibilist' Solomon Enos evokes Pacific science fiction and fantasy for his art created in his series across different media Polyfantastica.
Hawaiian artist, illustrator and self-described 'possibilist' Solomon Enos evokes Pacific science fiction and fantasy for his art created in his series across different media Polyfantastica.
Hawaiian artist, illustrator and self-described 'possibilist' Solomon Enos evokes Pacific science fiction and fantasy for his art created in his series across different media Polyfantastica.
As an "alpha introvert", Richard Osman says it was his worst nightmare to become a TV presenter for the first time at 40-odd – but he now loves hosting the quiz show Pointless.
As an "alpha introvert", Richard Osman says it was his worst nightmare to become a TV presenter for the first time at 40-odd – but he now loves hosting the quiz show Pointless.
As an "alpha introvert", Richard Osman says it was his worst nightmare to become a TV presenter for the first time at 40-odd – but he now loves hosting the quiz show Pointless.
In Emily Writes' latest book Needs Adult Supervision, the mother of two shares stories of growing up at the same time as your kids.
In Emily Writes' latest book Needs Adult Supervision, the mother of two shares stories of growing up at the same time as your kids.
In Emily Writes' latest book Needs Adult Supervision, the mother of two shares stories of growing up at the same time as your kids.
A new production of Verdi's Macbeth from NZ Opera moves away from the "Scottishness" of the source material and leans into the psychological and emotional content of the piece as an exploration of human nature. Directed by Netia Jones, the production borrows from an Italian Horror show aesthetic.
A new production of Verdi's Macbeth from NZ Opera moves away from the "Scottishness" of the source material and leans into the psychological and emotional content of the piece as an exploration of human nature. Directed by Netia Jones, the production borrows from an Italian Horror show aesthetic.
A new production of Verdi's Macbeth from NZ Opera moves away from the "Scottishness" of the source material and leans into the psychological and emotional content of the piece as an exploration of human nature. Directed by Netia Jones, the production borrows from an Italian Horror show aesthetic.
Alex Pritz's prize-winning documentary The Territory drops viewers on both sides of the battle to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Alex Pritz's prize-winning documentary The Territory drops viewers on both sides of the battle to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Alex Pritz's prize-winning documentary The Territory drops viewers on both sides of the battle to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Writer Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed numerous times in mid-August as he prepared to give a lecture in New York State on the subject of the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers. On stage with Rushdie was co-founder of City of Asylum Pittsburgh Henry Reese, who was also injured in the attack.
Writer Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed numerous times in mid-August as he prepared to give a lecture in New York State on the subject of the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers. On stage with Rushdie was co-founder of City of Asylum Pittsburgh Henry Reese, who was also injured in the attack.
Writer Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed numerous times in mid-August as he prepared to give a lecture in New York State on the subject of the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers. On stage with Rushdie was co-founder of City of Asylum Pittsburgh Henry Reese, who was also injured in the attack.
Since his appointment as Race Relations Commissioner three years ago, Meng Foon has proven himself unafraid to speak out. The former Gisborne mayor talks to Kim Hill about New Zealand's journey towards greater inclusivity.
Since his appointment as Race Relations Commissioner three years ago, Meng Foon has proven himself unafraid to speak out. The former Gisborne mayor talks to Kim Hill about New Zealand's journey towards greater inclusivity.
Since his appointment as Race Relations Commissioner three years ago, Meng Foon has proven himself unafraid to speak out. The former Gisborne mayor talks to Kim Hill about New Zealand's journey towards greater inclusivity.
Fatphobia, toxic masculinity in rugby, and meat-eating are some of the issues comedian Alice Snedden explores in the new – and final series – of her hit documentary show Bad News.
Fatphobia, toxic masculinity in rugby, and meat-eating are some of the issues comedian Alice Snedden explores in the new – and final series – of her hit documentary show Bad News.
Fatphobia, toxic masculinity in rugby, and meat-eating are some of the issues comedian Alice Snedden explores in the new – and final series – of her hit documentary show Bad News.
Staunch royalists Angela and Bill Thompson have spent most of their lives devoted to collecting memorbilia and dressing as the late King and Queen. Their immaculate home in Te Aroha is full to the ceiling with royal decor and open for tours. Throughout their many decades honouring the royal family, the Queen sent several gifts. Angela Thompson spoke to Susie Ferguson.
Staunch royalists Angela and Bill Thompson have spent most of their lives devoted to collecting memorbilia and dressing as the late King and Queen. Their immaculate home in Te Aroha is full to the ceiling with royal decor and open for tours. Throughout their many decades honouring the royal family, the Queen sent several gifts. Angela Thompson spoke to Susie Ferguson.
Staunch royalists Angela and Bill Thompson have spent most of their lives devoted to collecting memorbilia and dressing as the late King and Queen. Their immaculate home in Te Aroha is full to the ceiling with royal decor and open for tours. Throughout their many decades honouring the royal family, the Queen sent several gifts. Angela Thompson spoke to Susie Ferguson.
The Very Reverend Dr Derek Browning served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2017 and 2018, and had the opportunity to meet the Queen several times, and even stay at Balmoral. Dr Browning is currently the minister at Morningside Parish Church in Edinburgh, and spoke to Kim Hill.
The Very Reverend Dr Derek Browning served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2017 and 2018, and had the opportunity to meet the Queen several times, and even stay at Balmoral. Dr Browning is currently the minister at Morningside Parish Church in Edinburgh, and spoke to Kim Hill.
The Very Reverend Dr Derek Browning served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2017 and 2018, and had the opportunity to meet the Queen several times, and even stay at Balmoral. Dr Browning is currently the minister at Morningside Parish Church in Edinburgh, and spoke to Kim Hill.
In Scotland, where the Queen died, there is a feeling of deep sadness. Queen Elizabeth had a lot to do with the Scottish Women's Institutes, a 100-year-old organisation that's designed to bring women together. Its president, Anne Kerr, never met her majesty the Queen, but says many of her members did have the privilege, and are feeling her loss very much.
In Scotland, where the Queen died, there is a feeling of deep sadness. Queen Elizabeth had a lot to do with the Scottish Women's Institutes, a 100-year-old organisation that's designed to bring women together. Its president, Anne Kerr, never met her majesty the Queen, but says many of her members did have the privilege, and are feeling her loss very much.
In Scotland, where the Queen died, there is a feeling of deep sadness. Queen Elizabeth had a lot to do with the Scottish Women's Institutes, a 100-year-old organisation that's designed to bring women together. Its president, Anne Kerr, never met her majesty the Queen, but says many of her members did have the privilege, and are feeling her loss very much.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II brings to an end a long, complex and remarkable chapter in the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. University of Cantebury Historian Katie Pickles has spent much of her time researching that relationship and how the reigns of both Queen Elizabeth and her great-grandmother Queen Victoria helped raise women's status. Professor Katie Pickles spoke to Susie Ferguson
The death of Queen Elizabeth II brings to an end a long, complex and remarkable chapter in the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. University of Cantebury Historian Katie Pickles has spent much of her time researching that relationship and how the reigns of both Queen Elizabeth and her great-grandmother Queen Victoria helped raise women's status. Professor Katie Pickles spoke to Susie Ferguson
The death of Queen Elizabeth II brings to an end a long, complex and remarkable chapter in the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. University of Cantebury Historian Katie Pickles has spent much of her time researching that relationship and how the reigns of both Queen Elizabeth and her great-grandmother Queen Victoria helped raise women's status. Professor Katie Pickles spoke to Susie Ferguson
King Charles comes to the throne at 73 and has served a very long apprenticeship unlike the Queen who came to the throne at 25. As heir, he spoke out on issues that tread close to politics... from architecture to organic farming. And his first marriage - to Diana, the Princess of Wales - was mercilessly dissected by the media and remains for many the defining event of his public life. But, in his first speech as King this morning, the Sovereign said his life would change as he took up his new responsibilities... unable to devote so much time to the charities and issues he cared for so deeply. The King was clear that his duty now was to serve; and to "uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of" the role of Sovereign. Vernon Bogdanor is Professor of government at King's College London and writes about the monarchy. He spoke to Kim Hill.
King Charles comes to the throne at 73 and has served a very long apprenticeship unlike the Queen who came to the throne at 25. As heir, he spoke out on issues that tread close to politics... from architecture to organic farming. And his first marriage - to Diana, the Princess of Wales - was mercilessly dissected by the media and remains for many the defining event of his public life. But, in his first speech as King this morning, the Sovereign said his life would change as he took up his new responsibilities... unable to devote so much time to the charities and issues he cared for so deeply. The King was clear that his duty now was to serve; and to "uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of" the role of Sovereign. Vernon Bogdanor is Professor of government at King's College London and writes about the monarchy. He spoke to Kim Hill.
King Charles comes to the throne at 73 and has served a very long apprenticeship unlike the Queen who came to the throne at 25. As heir, he spoke out on issues that tread close to politics... from architecture to organic farming. And his first marriage - to Diana, the Princess of Wales - was mercilessly dissected by the media and remains for many the defining event of his public life. But, in his first speech as King this morning, the Sovereign said his life would change as he took up his new responsibilities... unable to devote so much time to the charities and issues he cared for so deeply. The King was clear that his duty now was to serve; and to "uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of" the role of Sovereign. Vernon Bogdanor is Professor of government at King's College London and writes about the monarchy. He spoke to Kim Hill.
Marilyn Baker lives in Braemar, the closest town to Balmoral, and is part of the Castleton Dancers of Braemar, who do Scottish Country dancing as a way to keep fit and raise money for charity. When the Queen turned 80, Marilyn created a new dance - or strathspey - for her, and the group later performed it for the Queen. She spoke to Kim Hill from Barcelona.
Marilyn Baker lives in Braemar, the closest town to Balmoral, and is part of the Castleton Dancers of Braemar, who do Scottish Country dancing as a way to keep fit and raise money for charity. When the Queen turned 80, Marilyn created a new dance - or strathspey - for her, and the group later performed it for the Queen. She spoke to Kim Hill from Barcelona.
Marilyn Baker lives in Braemar, the closest town to Balmoral, and is part of the Castleton Dancers of Braemar, who do Scottish Country dancing as a way to keep fit and raise money for charity. When the Queen turned 80, Marilyn created a new dance - or strathspey - for her, and the group later performed it for the Queen. She spoke to Kim Hill from Barcelona.
In the days, weeks, months ahead many things will change in New Zealand. Bank notes and coins will have King Charles' face on them and we will have Kings Counsels, rather Queen's counsel. There will be a lot of legal logistics, and perhaps some conversations about what refinements are needed to Aotearoa's constitution arrangements. Kim Hill spoke with constitutional law expert, Andrew Butler.
In the days, weeks, months ahead many things will change in New Zealand. Bank notes and coins will have King Charles' face on them and we will have Kings Counsels, rather Queen's counsel. There will be a lot of legal logistics, and perhaps some conversations about what refinements are needed to Aotearoa's constitution arrangements. Kim Hill spoke with constitutional law expert, Andrew Butler.
In the days, weeks, months ahead many things will change in New Zealand. Bank notes and coins will have King Charles' face on them and we will have Kings Counsels, rather Queen's counsel. There will be a lot of legal logistics, and perhaps some conversations about what refinements are needed to Aotearoa's constitution arrangements. Kim Hill spoke with constitutional law expert, Andrew Butler.
The New Zealand Defence Force will play a major role in the coming 10 days of commemoration events for her Majesty the Queen. A State Memorial Service will take place within that time, as well as a cemerony for the accession of the new King Charles. Queen Elizabeth was the first member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services as a full-time member and was personally involved in a number of areas. The Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short, spoke to Kim Hill.
The New Zealand Defence Force will play a major role in the coming 10 days of commemoration events for her Majesty the Queen. A State Memorial Service will take place within that time, as well as a cemerony for the accession of the new King Charles. Queen Elizabeth was the first member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services as a full-time member and was personally involved in a number of areas. The Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short, spoke to Kim Hill.
The New Zealand Defence Force will play a major role in the coming 10 days of commemoration events for her Majesty the Queen. A State Memorial Service will take place within that time, as well as a cemerony for the accession of the new King Charles. Queen Elizabeth was the first member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services as a full-time member and was personally involved in a number of areas. The Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short, spoke to Kim Hill.
Former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley says Queen Elizabeth was fun, curious and engaging and showed exceptional knowledge of New Zealand issues. She told Susie Ferguson the Queen gave stability to the Commonwealth and on the world stage and will be remembered that way.
Former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley says Queen Elizabeth was fun, curious and engaging and showed exceptional knowledge of New Zealand issues. She told Susie Ferguson the Queen gave stability to the Commonwealth and on the world stage and will be remembered that way.
Former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley says Queen Elizabeth was fun, curious and engaging and showed exceptional knowledge of New Zealand issues. She told Susie Ferguson the Queen gave stability to the Commonwealth and on the world stage and will be remembered that way.
In the United Kingdom, bells have rang out at St Paul's Cathedral, Windsor and Westminster Abbey and gun salutes took place across Britain to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, have flown from Aberdeen back to London, where the new King was greeted by cheering crowds outside Buckingham Palace, and spent 5 minutes shaking hands with well wishers waiting outside the palace. He then made his first address as King, a 10-minute speech from the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. RNZ's correspondent, Vincent McAviney spoke to Kim Hill
In the United Kingdom, bells have rang out at St Paul's Cathedral, Windsor and Westminster Abbey and gun salutes took place across Britain to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, have flown from Aberdeen back to London, where the new King was greeted by cheering crowds outside Buckingham Palace, and spent 5 minutes shaking hands with well wishers waiting outside the palace. He then made his first address as King, a 10-minute speech from the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. RNZ's correspondent, Vincent McAviney spoke to Kim Hill
In the United Kingdom, bells have rang out at St Paul's Cathedral, Windsor and Westminster Abbey and gun salutes took place across Britain to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, have flown from Aberdeen back to London, where the new King was greeted by cheering crowds outside Buckingham Palace, and spent 5 minutes shaking hands with well wishers waiting outside the palace. He then made his first address as King, a 10-minute speech from the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. RNZ's correspondent, Vincent McAviney spoke to Kim Hill
The Queen remains laying at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Her body will soon begin the journey down the country in a procession to London, where her funeral will take place at Westminster. Susie Ferguson spoke to Scottish Herald Political Correspondent, Andrew Learmonth.
The Queen remains laying at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Her body will soon begin the journey down the country in a procession to London, where her funeral will take place at Westminster. Susie Ferguson spoke to Scottish Herald Political Correspondent, Andrew Learmonth.
The Queen remains laying at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Her body will soon begin the journey down the country in a procession to London, where her funeral will take place at Westminster. Susie Ferguson spoke to Scottish Herald Political Correspondent, Andrew Learmonth.
On Friday night Tūhoe artist and activist Tame Iti was announced as one of seven 2022 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates. It comes at a busy time for Tame Iti. He has been painting the words 'I Will Not Speak Maori' (and then crossing the 'not' out) up large on Wellington's waterfront.
Back in 1992 cult Portland garage rock trio Dead Moon skipped the chance to play with Nirvana to do a 20-show tour of New Zealand, gaining many ardent fans here in the process. This month sees the release of Going South, a double LP of live recordings of the band's gig in Invercargill, to mark the 30th anniversary of that tour.
Emily Perkins is acclaimed as a novelist and short story writer, but her career started as an actor graduating from Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School in 1989. In her playwriting debut In 2015 Perkins created a contemporary interpretation of Ibsen's A Doll's House with Auckland Theatre Company, who have now commissioned a new work from her.
The relationship humans have with our canine friends is more established and, arguably, deeper than with any other animal. In Wonderdog: How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life Jules Howard looks at the fascinating history of scientists' work with dogs to understand what they - and we - are capable of.
Dr Deidre Brown has a life-long interest in the relationship between Maori and early Christian missionaries.
In November 2019, Zarifa Ghafari became the mayor of Maidan Shahr, the capital city of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. She is one of the only female mayors in Afghan history and the youngest - appointed at age 26.
What has 90s rave culture got to offer the anxious 2020s? Back in the mid-90s Nelson-based artist Josephine Cachemaille was cofounder and general manager of The Gathering, described as "New Zealand's most transformative, influential and downright legendary music festival". Cachemaille has reunited with two artist friends, Eve Armstrong and Gabby O'Connor to bring back the dance party as an art project at Wellington's Enjoy Gallery.
The Right Honourable Trevor Mallard resigned as Speaker of the House this week after 35 years as a Member of Parliament. He will soon take up a three-year posting in Dublin as our second resident Ambassador to Ireland.
Set in Renaissance Italy, Maggie O'Farrell's ninth novel The Marriage Portrait imagines the lost story of Lucrezia de' Medici, who was betrothed to the Duke of Ferrara at age 13. Her marriage was short and unhappy, and when she died at age 16 it was rumoured she was poisoned by orders of her husband. The new book follows on the heels of Hamnet, a work of historical fiction inspired by Shakespeare's son that won the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020. O'Farrell is also author of I am, I am, I am, a memoir which chronicles 17 brushes with death including childhood encephalitis, amoebic dysentery and an ill-advised leap off a harbour wall into the sea as a teen.
There's a contemporary drive for artificial intelligence to be more precise and, in being so, more human. Yet some argue that our lack of precision is at the core of what actually makes us human. Graphic designer James Goggin has been revisiting Fuzzy Logic, an intentionally imprecise computational theory first conceived back in 1965.
Ben Novak was 14 years old when he decided to dedicate his life to resurrecting extinct animals. Now, aged 35, Novak is a de-extinction biologist with Revive & Restore, an American organisation aiming to enhance biodiversity through the genetic rescue of extinct and endangered species.
What's your favourite artwork and why? Starting with her own picks, art critic and author Megan Dunn contemplates the point of art, how we use it, and why we enjoy it.
In the 1960s June Nelson and her husband, renowned ornithologist Bryan Nelson, spent a "madcap" year camping in the Galápagos Islands to study the abundant birdlife.
Finding ground somewhere between memoir and history book, Fintan O'Toole documents the spectacular changes that have occurred in Ireland over the past six decades in his latest book We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958.
Traces of poliovirus in New York's sewage system have health authorities concerned a recent case could be the tip of the iceberg.
A new documentary about the Gloriavale Christian Community follows a lone family as they mount a ground-breaking legal case against the community's powerful leaders, known as the shepherds.
A newly unveiled fossil fish called Qikiqtania wakei is thought to have shunned the forward march of evolution, eschewing the ability to walk and deciding to stay in the water.
Los Angeles-based author Rachel Kushner covers diverse ground in her new collection of essays, from illegal motorbike racing on Baha Peninsula to recounting time spent in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Britain's leading biographer Tom Bower has turned his sights on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for his latest offering, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors.
While New Zealand comedy is often branded as self-deprecating, laconic and deadpan, media studies lecturer Nick Holm says the defining characteristic is that it's a bit s**t.
A year on from the fall of Kabul, Australian reporter Lynne O'Donnell returned to Afghanistan, and now says she'll never go back. O'Donnell returned for three days last month, only to be detained, forced to retract articles, and coerced into making a public apology for accusing the Taliban of sex slavery.
Largely ignored following its release on Leonard Cohen's 1984 album Various Positions, 'Hallelujah' took a long, winding road to become a modern day anthem, covered by hundreds of artists around the globe.
Award-winning investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe paints deeply human portraits of victims and vigilantes alike in his latest page-turner, Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks.
Self-described "book detective" and literary scholar at Harvard University, Vanessa Braganza has recently uncovered what she believes to be a long-overlooked example of defiance by the first wife of King Henry VIII. While studying a pendant by court painter Hans Holbein, Braganza used a method she describes as "early modern Wordle" to decode a cipher she believes is a sign of the Tudor Queen's conviction of her own enduring legitimacy. Braganza posits that the pendant was commissioned by Catherine of Aragon during the period when the King was trying to divorce her to marry Anne Boleyn, with whom he had become infatuated.
Considered one of the world's great violinists, American Hilary Hahn is a three-time Grammy Award winner passionate about making classical music more accessible.
In the touching new documentary A Boy Called Piano, playwright and musician Fa'amoana John Luafutu shares his story of coming to New Zealand from Samoa as a child in the 1950s, only to be taken from his family and made a state ward at age 12.
From pink and black 1950s suits to bejeweled Vegas jumpsuits, the new Elvis biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann runs the gamut of groundbreaking outfits worn by the King. The costumes were created by Oscar-winning designer Catherine Martin, who is Luhrmann's wife and chief collaborator.
Boris Johnson's resignation as British Prime Minister earlier this month was "publicly humiliating and a bloody an end as any in the 300 year history of the office", says Sir Anthony Seldon, the UK's preeminent political author and contemporary historian.
Historian James Belich is well known for his trailblazing work on the New Zealand Wars and New Zealand history, but more recently his interests have broadened to include Europe's expansion in the late medieval and early modern eras. Belich's latest book The World the Plague Made explores how the Black Death of the 14th century not only halved populations but also helped bring about Europe's rise.
What's been hailed as the largest climate change bill in the United States and indeed the world could soon be passed. The surprise agreement, which Senate Democrats announced late Wednesday and hope to pass as early as next week, has shocked many.
In early 2021, during the Covid lockdowns, teenager Dov Forman started posting videos to social media with his great-grandmother Lily Ebert, a Holocaust survivor.
Dr Norman Swan's new book So You Want To Live Younger Longer? is filled with practical information on how to stay at your peak no matter what your age, while debunking money and time-wasting myths.
Despite living in the bustling metropolis of New York, Risa Mickenberg largely shuns social connections and relationships.
Punch, the debut feature by director Welby Ings, examines the relationship between a teenage boxer and his alcoholic father, played by Oscar-nominee Tim Roth.
From sleeping on a ledge high above the Grand Canyon to paddleboarding the Baltic sea, artist and designer David Trubridge has journeyed far and wide, camera in hand.
Danish-British writer, comedian, broadcaster and activist Sandi Toksvig is touring our shores in early December with her brand-new show Next Slide Please, in which Toksvig explores reasons to be cheerful after long months of coronavirus-induced gloominess.
First produced in 1984, Wednesday to Come follows the women of an Ōtaki family during the Great Depression. For director Erina Daniels, it's a story that has strong parallels with today.
After leading the country's Covid response for the last two years, Dr Ashley Bloomfield is stepping down from the role of Director General of Health.
Kim reads out listener feedback from the show. You can get in touch by email saturday@rnz.co.nz or txt 2101.
The beetle larvae known as Zophobas morio - more commonly called superworms - have been found to be able to survive on a diet of polystyrene, a discovery which could help change the recycling industry.
In 1982, young filmmaker Robert B. Weide wrote a letter to his literary idol Kurt Vonnegut, proposing a documentary on the author's life and work. Vonnegut, who was 60 at the time, met Weide, and authorised the production. An optimistic Weide thought he could raise the money and complete the film within a year.
Celebrated saxophonist Lucien Johnson has poetry in the blood. He is the son of late poet Louis Johnson and first met his father's friend and fellow poet Peter Bland as a child. . For the upcoming Classical on Cuba festival, Johnson has set three love poems by Bland to music for The New Cuba Street Suite, which will be premiering at City Gallery Wellington on 23 July.
Lea Ypi grew up in Albania, once one of the most isolated countries on Earth and the last Stalinist outpost in Europe. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, everything changed.
Las Vegas show-maker Brian Burke has a reputation for creating incredible large-scale stage productions. Now Burke is bringing his magic to our very own World of WearableArt, having signed on as the show's creative director for the next three years.
Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned, abruptly departing the country this week after his presidential palace was stormed by thousands of protesters.
The most transmissible variant yet of the coronavirus is threatening a fresh wave of infections in New Zealand. The subvariant of Omicron known as BA.5 is reported as now dominant in the United States, and is likely to make up the majority of community cases here within a couple of weeks.
Floris Niu is an organic cacao grower and chocolate producer in Samoa. She grew up in New Zealand, but after a series of illnesses left her corporate life for native Upolu, where her family have farmed cacao for four generations.
One of New Zealand's most celebrated authors, Kate De Goldi's short fiction, novels and picture books engage children, teenagers and adults alike. Novel The 10pm Question was published to critical acclaim, quickly becoming an iconic piece of New Zealand literature. Her latest, Eddy, Eddy is being met with similar excitement.
Jackie Flynn Mogensen is a reporter with the American magazine, Mother Jones. Her recent article 'A Plane of Monkeys, a Pandemic, and a Botched Deal: Inside the Science Crisis You've Never Heard Of' takes a look into the famously secretive trade in research monkeys in the midst of a pandemic and a primate shortage.
A piece of doggerel composed on the event of the July freefall of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Colombia's Truth Commission has presented its final report on the country's civil conflict, announcing that at least 450,664 people were killed over nearly six decades. Meanwhile, for the first time in 200 years the country has moved to the left with the election of Gustavo Petro as president.
It's been a phenomenal week in UK politics with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a humiliating defeat, resigning as leader of the conservative party on Thursday following 59 government ministers - at last count - handing in their notice.
Organic gardener Kath Irvine returns to share some winter gardening tips and to answer your questions.
Hairy MacLary creator Dame Lynley Dodd shares her creative process in the upcoming short documentary Lynley Dodd: Writing the Pictures, Painting the Words. In her 34 books, the beloved children's author has done "double duty" as both writer and illustrator and "sweated blood" to get her beloved rhymes lines just right.
Russian opposition leader and former presidential candidate Alexei Navalny was on a flight from Siberia to Moscow in 2020 when he started to feel ill. Navalny managed to get to Germany where he discovered he had been poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. There also was Daniel Roher, a Canadian documentary filmmaker who followed Navalny as he conducted his investigation.
The bicycle has been at the centre of the culture wars for more than 200 years, says author and bike enthusiast Jody Rosen.
Plastic surgery as a medical speciality began 100 years ago during the first world war, pioneered by Dunedin-born surgeon Harold Gillies.
The authors behind some of the literary masterpieces of recent decades have supplied first edition copies of their books, complete with their unique hand-written annotations, for auction.
Long-time US women's rights lawyer Gloria Allred is probably the most famous attorney in the United States. Having represented Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) in the 1980s, last week she watched the overturning of Roe V Wade, only to then see this week the sentencing of Jeffrey Epstein's partner-in-crime Ghislaine Maxwell, some of whose victims she also represented.
Sydney-based New Zealander Dr Matt Baker returns for a chat about some of the latest science news.
After getting a hysterectomy in her early 40s, poet and writer Sarah Jane Barnett was prompted to examine what "being a woman" really means.
New film The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson is the first Australian feature with an Indigenous woman writing, directing and performing the lead role.
Russian-American journalist and author Masha Gessen has an unparalleled understanding of the forces that have wracked Russia in recent years.
In her latest video work Boney (Phoney?) M, New York-based artist Li-Ming Hu explores the bounds of a concept she says is now simply a fact of life - cultural appropriation. Hu talks to Kim Hill about performance, sincerity and why she's still on her 'OE'.
Peace might be on the horizon for the East African nation of Ethiopia after 19 months of civil war, which has seen thousands killed and millions needing humanitarian aid.
The US Supreme Court has revoked the constitutional right to an abortion that has been in place for half a century.
Rena Owen has played everyone from Beth Heke in Once Were Warriors to Nee Alavar in Star Wars, but the actress says playing Dame Whina Cooper was one of the most challenging roles of her 30-plus year career.
In her new book The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Saved the World, evolutionary biologist Nichola Rahani writes that being 'cooperative breeders' is how humans have survived.
American writer Mary Gaitskill traverses a lot of ground in her new collection of provocative essays, Oppositions. Compelling and oddly cohesive, the essays see Gaitskill put her sharp writing style and nuanced mind to a wide range of topics including the Book of Revelation, Nabokov and the ubiquitous music of Talking Heads.
By sharing his passion for the wisdom of ancient Greek philosophers, maverick headmaster Kevin McArevey has made a profound difference to the pupils at Holy Cross Boys Primary School in North Belfast. The documentary Young Plato is screening as part of the DocEdge Festival with its first screening at The Capitol Cinema in Auckland on Sunday 19 June.
The phrase 'Pacific family' seems to be gathering steam of late. Earlier this week, visiting Australian foreign minister Penny Wong said Pacific security should be provided by the Pacific family, in the wake of China looking to sign sweeping trade and security agreements with 10 countries across the region. Dr Anna Powles is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University. Her research focuses on geopolitics, security and conflict in the Pacific Islands region.
Set in a fictional country and told in a made-up language, new film Nude Tuesday follows a couple who head to new-age retreat Wøndeulä (pronounced Vue-de-la) as a last ditch effort to rekindle their lacklustre marriage. The absurdist comedy is based on an original screenplay by Jackie Van Beek, who also stars as the film's sexually repressed protagonist, Laura.
Formed in 1972 in Wellington, the Values Party claims the title of the world's first national-level environmentalist party, and was a precursor to the Green Party we know today. The party's founder and leader Tony Brunt was, at 25 years old, part of a new generation that was starting to push back against the conservative, conformist monoculture dominating New Zealand at the time.
Best known around these parts as one-half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, Bret McKenzie is, in his own words, one of the best comedy songwriters in the biz.
Computers might be close to being able to write better than humans, but not without dropping some real clangers. Recently developed AI technology uses 'deep learning' - machine learning featuring artificial neural networks - to produce text. The Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) technology is being hailed for writing original prose with human fluency, but not always.
In 2016, Auckland-based journalist Hazel Phillips found herself disillusioned with life in the big smoke. She packed up her all her belongings, except for a tramping pack, boots, and ski gear and headed south.
When Dr Ian Griffin spotted some strange activity in Dunedin's night sky on St Patrick's Day in 2015, he knew he had to capture it.
Israel's governing coalition is about to mark its first anniversary on June 13, however recent events have raised questions around how much longer it can last. Earlier this week, a bill that allows a half-million Israeli settlers to live under civilian law in the West Bank failed to pass during a vote by the Knesset. The bill has routinely passed every five years since 1967. Many Knesset members voted against their own fundamental beliefs in an effort to either bring down the coalition, or save it. The Bennett-Lapid coalition is the most representative in Israeli history, spanning eight-parties from the right, left, centre - and for the first time in Israeli history, an Arab-Israeli political party. Neri Zilber is a journalist and political analyst based in Tel Aviv. He has written for Financial Times, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Daily Beast and more.
Book publishing is often a risky business, but no more so than when you go out of your way to represent the underdog. Truly a publishing phenomenon, Steele Roberts Aotearoa is the combined effort of Roger Steele and his partner Christine Roberts, who have been putting lesser-known artists, writers and activists into print for 26 years. Incredibly, Steele says they have published 610 books, a few under other imprints.
Book publishing is often a risky business, but no more so than when you go out of your way to represent the underdog. Truly a publishing phenomenon, Steele Roberts Aotearoa is the combined effort of Roger Steele and his partner Christine Roberts, who have been putting lesser-known artists, writers and activists into print for 26 years. Incredibly, Steele says they have published 610 books, a few under other imprints. In an effort to retire, he hopes the last offering from Steele Roberts will be the collected works of the trailblazing late Maori writer JC Sturm later this year. Sturm's now-celebrated book of poetry Dedications was their first back in 1996. Now the spotlight is on Steele, with a talk and panel discussion at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival on Saturday 11 June.
The striking landscape of the MacKenzie Country provides the backdrop to Winter Time, the new novel from award-winning author Laurence Fearnley.
Sugar imbalances are common in babies, with approximately one in six having low blood sugar. As glucose is the main source of energy for a newborn's brain, episodes of low blood glucose may have permanent adverse effects on thinking, learning and coordination. The neonatal glucose studies team, led by Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding at University of Auckland, has been researching in this field for more than 20 years.
In 1992, American political scientist Francis Fukuyama published The End of History and the Last Man, which argued that Western liberal democracy had triumphed against communism in the battle of ideas. In the book Fukuyama posed the question: if humanity had arrived at the most effective form of government, had we arrived at the end of history? In the 30 years since, liberal democracy has often seemed in decline.
Hone Kouka is no stranger to controversy with his work, and his new play Nga Rorirori is no exception.
Years in the making, the Law Commission last week presented its comprehensive review of surrogacy in New Zealand to parliament.
During his 35-year career, South African-born photographer Gideon Mendel has travelled the globe documenting the impact of disease, flood and fire on communities.
UK journalist and author Nick Duerden has spent years interviewing the most famous musicians on the planet and believes, without exception, they are at their most interesting when they've peaked and are on the way down. Duerden interviewed 50 musicians who experienced fame and lived to tell the tale for his latest book Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars.
If you thought there wasn't any more to say about crime in Baltimore after watching The Wire, think again. Justin Fenton was a crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun newspaper for 13 years and has written a shocking true account of a corrupt police force in his new book, We Own this City.
As a child Rangi Te Kanawa was surrounded by weaving. Te Kanawa's formative experiences immersed in the world of harakeke are undoubtedly what led to her current work as a textile conservator and researcher. Of particular interest to Te Kanawa are customary Maori clothing dyes.
Dubbed "a doom scroll described as a play", Scenes from a Yellow Peril is the latest offering from Chinese-New Zealand playwright and performance poet Nathan Joe.
Almost 50 years ago the US Supreme Court handed down the landmark Roe v Wade ruling securing a woman's legal right to obtain an abortion. IThe plaintiff at the centre of the case, known by the pseudonym Jane Roe, was Louisiana-born woman Norma McCorvey. Journalist Joshua Prager spent hundreds of hours with McCorvey and her three children up until her death in 2017, and tells her story in his latest book, The Family Roe.
The world is not just seeing high oil prices, it is at the beginning of a fully-fledged energy crisis, says Helen Thompson, a professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University.
A robot that can sample planktonic communities under the Antarctic ice shelf is the latest tool developed by Professor Craig Cary and his colleagues to help forecast the future impacts of climate change. A microbial ecologist, Cary has studied bacteria in the world's most extreme environments, including deep sea hydrothermal vents and our own geothermal areas.
Having moved to Joshua Tree after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, husband-and-wife duo Maryrose and Brian Crook are back on home soil for a string of shows with their swirling psychedelic-rock act The Renderers.
Author, plant lover and former BBC documentary maker Jonathan Drori joins the show for a chat about recent botanical news. This week, bananas and orchids.
Barrie Cassidy is the former host of ABC's political commentary program Insiders and has covered federal politics for more than 40 years - reporting on 13 federal elections.
Novelist and playwright Whiti Hereaka received the top prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards this week for her novel Kurangaituku.
A well-known face of stage and screen, Jennifer Ward-Lealand is finding herself getting increasingly busy behind the camera in recent years, including working as an intimacy coordinator.
An image of a gargantuan black hole at the heart of our galaxy has been captured, giving a first glimpse of the 'gentle giant' known as Sagittarius A*.
Kathleen Stock was a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex for 18 years, but quit her post last year amid angry protests over her views on gender and transgender rights.
Paul McCartney's younger brother, Mike, has just received a British Empire Medal for his services to the community of the Wirral, the peninsula across the Mersey from Liverpool.
Thirty-six years after his father was ousted, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr has been elected president of the Philippines in a landslide win. Regine Cabato is the Manila reporter for The Washington Post Southeast Asia Bureau and has been reporting on the elections.
Al Park is about to release his first solo album in 20 years, Pony, featuring songs written from the 1970s to now.
Three hundred kauri saplings grown from seeds from the Waitakere property of Colin McCahon have been made available to the public as part of the Kauri Ora project, supported by local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki.
Journalist Amit Katwala tells the thrilling story of the invention of the flawed lie-detecting machine in his new book Tremors in the Blood: Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector.
Writer Janet Frame's time at Seacliff Mental Hospital in the 1940s and 50s has provided inspiration for a new operatic work premiering in Christchurch this month.
A groundbreaking "bone bath" technique developed by researchers at the University of Otago now allows researchers to access ancient DNA non-destructively.
Protesters have rallied outside the US Supreme Court following the bombshell leak earlier this week indicating the court is poised to overturn Roe v Wade.
Andy Mycock works with a UK group advocating for lowering the voting age and has been following developments in New Zealand closely.
Arcane libel laws and the greed of people in power enabled British media personality and sexual offender Jimmy Savile to dodge the legal system for 30-plus years, says journalist Meirion Jones.
In the Southern Hemisphere, April 30 marks the Pagan festival of Samhain, sometimes known as witches' New Year's Eve. In Wicca, a modern Pagan religion followed by witches, it's the night when the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest. Rowan of Wycksted is a green witch living rurally in the Kaipara who follows traditions handed down through generations.
Jan Kemp burst onto the New Zealand poetry scene in the early 1970s, and became one of the few young women poets of her era to be allowed into male-dominated club of the time.
When returned to their wetland glory bogs are incredibly effective carbon sinks, that could make up for carbon loss from soils elsewhere.
Scottish band Belle and Sebastian has a new album out this month – A Bit Of Previous. Founder Stuart Murdoch tells Kim Hill how spirituality and the compassion of others have enabled him to keep performing with a disabling illness.
Rosemary flowers in white wine is one of the Renaissance-era skincare recipes that art historian Erin Griffey is recreating with a team of scientists for the groundbreaking Beautiful Chemistry Project.
English curator and art dealer James Birch is arguably best known for his innovative ways of championing British art - including exhibiting the works of figurative painter Francis Bacon in Moscow in the late 1980s, when Russia was part of the USSR. Birch's new book Bacon In Moscow tells the story of his audacious effort to bring Bacon's raw, unsettling works to more than 400,000 Soviet citizens.
Two landmark studies released this year have pointed the finger at the long-suspected Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as being a leading cause of multiple sclerosis.
Self-proclaimed free speech absolutist Elon Musk raised eyebrows around the world this week after it was revealed he is purchasing social media platform Twitter for $US44 billion. The announcement came on the heels of the European Union agreeing on a groundbreaking raft of new content rules that look to curb the worst abuses across social media.
That strange noise early on and lots of love for Jim Lynch. Listener feedback for 23 April 2022.
Sydney-based New Zealander Dr Matt Baker returns for a chat about some of the latest science news.
From his house on Otago Harbour, designer and artist Matthew Galloway sees the same view every evening as the sun sets: a plume of smoke rising from the chimney of the Ravensdown Factory. The factory processes phosphate rock into fertiliser for our farms, but to make this product New Zealand imports the phosphate from occupied Western Sahara.
For the last 12 years Bill Browder has been firmly in the sights of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Initially a supporter of Putin, Browder's company Hermitage Capital Management was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005 - when it was blacklisted. Browder was deemed a threat to national security and deported to the UK.
A proposed 3313-hectare fenced ecosanctuary in Wainuiomata would see critically endangered species such as kakapo, kokako and hihi return to the valley, says its author Jim Lynch.
American writer Jennifer Egan has described her new novel The Candy House as the sibling to her 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad.
Often dubbed 'the Art Olympics', the Venice Biennale is all about representation. While the Russian pavilion is closed this year, near the centre of the biennale a large wooden temporary pavilion has been erected. It stands smouldering, scorched by fire, expressing the situation in Ukraine.
The 26 million residents of Shanghai have been dealing with strict lockdown conditions since late March due to China's zero-Covid strategy.
This week Megan Dunn looks at the first 'humanoid' robot artist Ai-Da, who is about to present her exhibition, Leaping into the Metaverse at the Venice Biennale.
Experimental theatre-maker Julia Croft seeks to reimagine a more sustainable way of living in her new solo show Terrapolis.
London-based sociologist Dr Keith Kahn Harris has written about some weighty issues, including the heavy metal music scene and antisemitism, but his latest book sprang out of a fascination with the omnipresent Kinder Surprise Egg.
In the early 80s Aidan Hart left his job as a teacher and took up sculpting full-time, embarking on a quest to find art that would help him express the inner spirituality of man. This exploration drew him to religious icons, and eventually led him to becoming a member of the Orthodox Church.
The second round of the French presidential elections will see the incumbent centrist Emmanuel Macron once again face off against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen, whom Macron easily beat in the 2017 elections. However, this time may not be such a cake walk, and some observers say the tight race is an indicator of the seismic shift in France's political culture.
Dr Chris Thorogood fulfilled a childhood dream last month after travelling deep into the Philippines rainforest to lay eyes on the otherworldly Rafflesia banaoana.
Known for her historical fiction, Jenny Pattrick is one of New Zealand's best-selling novelists. She has had 10 novels published since her acclaimed 2003 debut The Denniston Rose, yet Pattrick came to be published quite late in life.
What began with an internet search for the cheapest house in New Zealand led Sam Duckor-Jones to buy an old Anglican church in Greymouth, which he then doused in pink and renamed Gloria.
Originally from Wales, avant-pop artist Cate Le Bon has made her new home in Joshua Tree National Park, in southern California. Lured by the surreal cactus-dotted landscape last year, Le Bon relocated to the desert after finishing her sixth solo album Pompeii.
The prevailing theory of how life started on Earth is about to be put to the test by Auckland biophysicist Dr Peter Wills and a team of international collaborators.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island made history last week when they voted to form the company's first ever US union since it was founded nearly 30 years ago.
Our regular commentator, Cambridge University consultant clinical virologist Dr Chris Smith joins us with the latest Covid-19 science, and to answer your questions.
The 12th of September 2018 is a day Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert will never forget. The Australian-British academic had travelled to Iran to attend a seminar on Shia Islam and was about to return to Australia when she was suddenly detained by the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guards at the airport gate in Tehran.
Anna Jackson has six books of her poetry to her name, but her latest Actions & Travels focuses on the work of others. Rather than an academic textbook, Actions & Travels explores how poetry works through the discussion of 100 poems.
Renowned Maori leader Tā Tipene O'Regan (Ngāi Tahu) was named 2022 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year at a digital ceremony this week. This year marks the 25th anniversary since Tā Tipene successfully led the negotiation of one of Aotearoa's first major iwi settlements, Te Kerēme - the Ngāi Tahu Claim.
Artist and writer Areez Katki is a rising star in the contemporary arts scene, giving new relevance to embroidery while exploring his Queer and Parsi-Indian identity.
Professor Jeremy Nicholson is the Director of the Australian National Phenome Centre at Murdoch University and a leading researcher into Long Covid. His team is working with multiple universities around the world - including Harvard and Cambridge - to try and understand the long term cardiometabolic and other systemic effects of the disease, as well as the impact of Covid-19 in kids.
With her filmmaking Dame Jane Campion has often surprised - as she also did with comments at the recent Critics Choice Awards, for which she has apologised. And she surprises again with photos from her early years when she was the muse of photographer John Lethbridge.
As the world wrestles with trying to end the Covid-19, professor David Hayman is on the hunt for our next pandemic foe. An infectious disease ecologist at Massey University, Hayman has travelled the globe looking at the spread of pathogens between wildlife and humans.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is accusing the current Australian government of creating a political vacuum in the Pacific region by neglecting their needs and concerns. Rudd recently released his new book The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China.
A recent study conducted at the University of Essex has examined the characteristics that can lead to someone being chalked up as 'boring'. Led by experimental social psychologist Dr Wijnand Van Tilburg, the study examined the occupations, hobbies, and personality traits that people ascribe to being stereotypically dull - such as watching television, being religious, or watching birds.
Most people would not have heard of Aleksandr Dugin, the Russian philosopher and geopolitical strategist who is sometimes referred to as Putin's brain. Julian Walker is the co-host of the podcast Conspirituality, which recently dedicated an episode to Dugin and his ideologies.
Now installed in central Berlin is a fully functional, open source cellphone tower that, in luminous hot pink, asking to be noticed. It's the work of New Zealand artist, activist and 'critical engineer' Julian Oliver who returned to Upper Hutt when Covid-19 struck.
Alan Jansson is arguably best known for his role in helping to create OMC's 1995 smash hit 'How Bizarre', but more than a decade earlier the producer and engineer was pioneering New Zealand electronica as a founding member of The Body Electric. Formed from the ashes of Wellington punk band The Steroids in 1982, The Body Electric started as a two-piece with Jansson and Andy Drey, who were later joined by actor Garry Smith on vocals. Despite being largely ignored by radio, their debut single 'Pulsing' was a hit, and spent 27 weeks in the charts. Almost 40 years on, Flying Nun is set to re-release The Body Electric's 1983 album Presentation and Reality, plus The Body Electric 12" with four remastered tracks from the same era.
Years in the making, the Waitemata Table Tennis Club in Auckland recently opened a purpose-built table tennis stadium to the tune of $2 million. The modern building replaced the previous stadium that had been built by volunteers in the 1970s using second-hand materials. The project came to fruition thanks to the help of Simon Fenwick, an architectural designer who in the 1990s travelled around the world playing table tennis.
When Irish economist David McWilliams spoke to RNZ in October 2020 - roughly six months into the pandemic - he said it was time for governments to spend and ignore warnings to the contrary. Eighteen months down the track, Covid-19 is still wreaking havoc and recent world events have thrown the economy into further turmoil.
Not all nations last, and as author Gideon Defoe points out sometimes it's for the best. In his new book An Atlas of Extinct Countries, Defoe explores the fascinating and sometimes outlandish stories behind territories that didn't make the cut.
Response has been mixed to this week's announcement that RNZ and TVNZ will come under a new media entity. With much detail still to be revealed, many questions are as yet unanswered. Former New Zealand First MP Tracey Martin led the Business Case Governance Group that provided Faafoi advice ahead of the decision to create the new entity.
Michael Schur is an American television writer and producer whose list of impressive credits include creating the award-winning fantasy comedy show The Good Place. Set in the afterlife, the show deals with the two major themes of morality and redemption, leaning into Schur's own interest in ethics which was prompted by everyday personal experiences.
We have been told wrong: inequality is not the price of civilisation, says archaeologist David Wengrow. Many long held assumptions about how humans developed as a species are blown apart by Wengrow and the late anthropologist David Graeber in their international bestseller The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity.
An upcoming exhibition entitled To Fashion: Dressing Aotearoa documents the style of 12 distinctive individuals including rising poet Tayi Tibble, mental health advocate Sir John Kirwan, K'road chronicler Six, and tapa cloth artist and expert Sulieti Fieme'a Burrows.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer looks poised to enter the medicinal cannabis arena with a US$6.7 billion agreement to purchase Arena Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company with a pipeline dedicated to cannabinoid-type therapeutics. In New Zealand, we seem to be lagging in exploring the possibilities of the medicinal cannabis market.
Russia's state regulator Roskomnadzor says it has decided to block access to Facebook in Russia. Meanwhile on Friday night (NZ time) the Russian parliament passed legislation imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally "fake" news about the military.
The world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe on Friday when a fire broke out during a Russian seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the US ambassador to the United Nations has said.
What if Dr Frankenstein's monster had been cast away in a fjord in Aotearoa's deep south? This is the proposition explored by Vincent O'Sullivan in Mary's Boy, Jean Jacques, and other stories out next month.
On the islands off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz there's an ancient belief the winds can possess you, causing illness or disease.Hoda Afshar has been visiting the islands since 2015 and recently published her photobook Speak the Wind. Raised in Tehran during the war between Iran and Iraq, Afshar is interested in finding new ways to approach documentary image-making.
Ezra Hirawani is the co-founder of the country’s first kaupapa Māori electricity retailer Nau Mai Rā.
With a full-scale invasion of Ukraine now underway, Putin has claimed the attack is “a special military operation” to defend the populations in the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk from a “genocidal” regime. Marples is a professor of Russian and East European history at the University of Alberta.
Twenty-five years since the creation of her work Nothing™, artist Fiona Jack is sharing a massive new LED light work entitled Everything on the Auckland waterfront.
In 2018, the whole world was captivated by the story of Wild Boar football team that had gone missing in Thailand. Civilian cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were the first people to find the team alive and well, after diving further into the Tham Luang cave than anyone had managed before. The incredible story is now told in the BAFTA-nominated documentary The Rescue, now screening on National Geographic.
Professor Kurt Krause from the Department of Biochemistry at University of Otago says we should be looking to manufacture and develop our own anti-viral treatments and vaccines in New Zealand.
Stefan Wolff, a professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, says diplomacy has failed to deter Putin and pull Russia back from the brink - and it is unlikely to be useful in the current situation.
Between panic buying and violent protests, the global pandemic has highlighted some of humankind's worst behaviours. But Dutch writer and historian Rutger Bregman insists that despite being painted as a selfish species, humans are hardwired for kindness.
Rather than being 'starstruck' New Zealander Rose Matafeo has herself truly struck star status.
In a summer of Covid cancellations, Performance Arcade is one of the few festivals still standing. Now in its 11th year, a set of shipping containers on the Wellington waterfront is temporary home to an eclectic array of experimental 'live art' and a live music programme. It's the vision of artistic director Sam Trubridge, whose career has been all about exploring the potential for the arts outside conventional venues.
Chris Kraus' upcoming novel The Four Spent the Day Together tells the story of a violent methamphetamine murder involving four teenagers on the Iron Range of Minnesota. Best-known for the semi-autobiographical novel I Love Dick, Los Angeles-based Kraus spent much of her teenage years in New Zealand, studying at Victoria University and working as a journalist.
Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with young-onset dementia in 2014, when she was just 58 years old. But, rather than this signaling the start of a total decline, for Mitchell the diagnosis offered a new beginning.
Our regular commentator, Cambridge University consultant clinical virologist Dr Chris Smith joins us with the latest Covid-19 science, and to answer your questions.
When celebrated and rather unconventional Austrian artist, philosopher and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser died in the Bay of Islands in 2000 part of his legacy were designs for an arts centre for Whangarei. That long-awaited arts centre - complete with the largest afforested roof in the southern hemisphere - opens 20 February.
In 2016 tsunami scientist Kaya Wilson survived an accident that doctors say should have killed him. Up until then, Wilson had been living as a woman and questioning his gender - but the near-death experience was the catalyst for him to make the transition to a man.
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but marketing companies are now exploring the potential of advertising their products to us while we sleep.
Bringing together a treasure trove of photos by the late Paul C. Gilbert, new book Road People of Aotearoa chronicles the early days of the phenomenon of DIY house trucks, which appeared on New Zealand's roads around the mid-1970s as part of an alternative lifestyle movement.
Four young New Zealanders growing up in their parents' restaurants are the stars of Takeout Kids - a new doco series by filmmaker Julie Zhu.
Nearly 12 years ago Wikileaks published the Afghan War Diary, one of the biggest leaks in US military history. To avoid extradition to the States to face espionage charges, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years, before Ecuador turned him over to Britain in 2019. He is currently in Belmarsh Prison, south-east London.
There's been unprecedented fallout for Spotify since musician Neil Young withdrew from the music streaming service in late January. Yet Spotify's business model has long been of concern in the music industry in relation to its poor payment policies for musicians. Music critic Alex Ross explains.
Professor David Marples says the Russian leadership has reached a point of no return in its conflict with Ukraine.
Andriy Dubchak is the founder and CEO of Donbas Frontliner, a independent media outlet based in Ukraine and reporting on the escalating military tensions with Russia. Dubchak is usually based in Kyiv - but recently has been reporting from Mariupol, a port city in south eastern Ukraine which is home to about 500,000 people, and seen as a likely target for Moscow.