Up This Way: Recent Episodes
RNZ
Without her fans, holographic pop star Hatsune Miku would literally be nothing. It's now the same story for organisations, says Zoe Fraade-Blanar.
The empty jargon of the management world is symptomatic of a deeper cultural malaise, says the author of Business Bullshit André Spicer.
Samoan New Zealander Li'I Alaimoana, South African New Zealander Urzilla Carlson and Icelandic comic Ari Eldjárn explore comedy and culture.
Hearing devices have for years been an expensive and somewhat unfashionable necessity for those with hearing troubles, but as the tech improves, hearables are becoming a cool functional accessory. For one thing, translating languages, in real time, could soon be a reality. In the US, legislation has been passed could see devices like this sold over the counter - making them cheaper and far more accessible. Jason Galster leads the audiology research at Starkey Hearing technologies and says the technology of hearing aides is so advanced it's no wonder there's a push it to be more widely available.
2018's Auckland Pride Festival is all about peace. They've got the usual parties that people flock too... the Ponsonby Road parade, the family-friendly 'Bay Gay Out' plus dozens of other events. Co-chair Lexie Matheson takes Simon Morton through the programming.
Synthetic drugs sold as MDMA and ecstacy and oversized MDMA pills cause the most drug-related harm at NZ gigs and festivals, a volunteer with the drug checking service Know Your Stuff says.
At the winter Olympics next month, the Koreas will march under one flag - united, after so long apart. They'll also compete as one in women's ice hockey. This comes out of the first real talks between the countries in more than two years. International reaction has been mixed, with some concerned about the North's motives.
It's been dubbed the biggest advance in the world of genetic engineering but scientists are still trying to discover more about what the gene-therapy CRISPR-Cas9 can do. It's often described as molecular scissors, and can be used to find and cut out a specific short DNA sequence with a gene. Now new research has found many humans are immune to the main protein of CRISPR, which means they would reject it. Simon Morton asked the lead author of the study, Matthew Porteus from Standford University about the latest findings.
For the health of your brain, exercise is even better than thinking, Harvard psychiatry professor John Ratey says.
What do you do when when you're looking for love but but most people don't share your views on the world and society? Up This Way's Shaun D Wilson spoke to truther Jenny and writer Florence Wilkinson - who for Broadly looked into how people who subscribe to conspiracy theories are trying to make connections.
On Wednesday 24 January, RNZ National will be airing the first episode of Dexter Guff is Smarter Than You (And You Can Be Too). The comedy series has a very droll, completely deadpan format masquerading as a series of self-improvement podcasts. The vacuousness of motivational speaker Dexter Guff, and his self-delusions, are brilliantly captured in this eerily plausible series. Simon Morton spoke to Peter Oldring who plays Dexter.
At the end of last year 'Akilisi Pohiva's Democratic Party won a resounding victory in Tonga's election. The win came after his reign as the Kingdom's Prime Minister was cut short by King George Tupou the 6th, who intervened and dissolved parliament, on suspicion Mr Pohiva was trying to usurp some of his power. But the long time democracy activist has proven he's still very much in favour with the public, the 76-year-old now facing more of a battle with his health. RNZ Pacific journalist Koro Vakauta tells Simon Morton that Mr Pohiva's ongoing problems have been a concern at the opening of parliament.
Alphabet (Google) tightens up YouTube advertising rules; the future of smart speakers; Simon and Peter test out wireless home audio systems; and why has Facebook changed its algorithm?
Senior RNZ Sport journalist Barry Guy joins Simon Morton on Up This Way to with the lowdown on the latest in sports including an update on what's happening with the cricket.
At some point this summer many of us, who are lucky enough to back yards, have probably taken out the lawn mower and spent a sweltering afternoon cutting the grass. But have you ever thought about what that simple act tells us about our relationship to nature? In a time of eco-consciousness and climate change concerns, our environmental battles are often not the big corporate deforestations but rather the small things we do on our properties. Nick Holm is a Cultural Studies expert at Massey University who has been researching these connections.
Scientists have discovered the workings of tau – an essential protein that turns harmful in the Alzheimer's brain and takes down neurons as it spreads. Intercepting this process could arrest cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients.
Earlier this week in China, an Iranian tanker sank. Oil has been coursing out of the rig for days, the slicks growing in size. If it doesn't burn off or stop chugging out soon, this could be one of the biggest oil spills in 50 years. But as journalist Adam Minter has discovered, the East China Sea has been so heavily overfished, there's little marine life to be worried about.
Emma Mildon, an author with over 32,000 Instagram followers, and The Social Club's Georgia McGillivray discuss what it takes to be a social media influencer.
Chicago-based Lauren Michele Jackson is a writer and PhD candidate focused on the intersections of race, gender, music and technology. Her articles have appeared in The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Complex, and Teen Vogue. She's currently working on a book called White Negroes: Love & Theft in the New Millennium. Up This Way Producer Shaun D Wilson spoke to Lauren to get her perspective on why some memes keep going year after year and how and why blackface continues in the digital age.
The scammers trying to convince you your computer has a problem may well have been conned themselves, Delhi journalist Snigdha Poonam says.
Kiwi flat-hunters can now connect with people who have rooms to rent on the free website and app Flat Candy. "It's almost like Trade Me Property except instead of rentals, it's people," says co-founder Finn Dinneen.
Rapper and video game developer ya boy sprightly has been getting a lot of attention recently for his RPG video game The Legend Of Drake.
The New Zealand start up scene has only really been around for the last decade or so, and when a Kiwi idea is picked up overseas it's huge for the players and for the economy, says start-up guru Dave Moskovitz
The idea of a war in space is no longer science fiction, but our international laws on extraterrestrial conflict are unclear, says the editor-in-chief of an upcoming military manual for outer space.
Most of us know too much stress isn't healthy, but a new study has discovered how it can affect our immune system and make us more vulnerable to disease.
Antibiotic resistance could leave humanity returning to an age when simple infections were fatal and surgery was life threatening, the World Health Organisation says. Australian researchers say revamping existing drugs could be the answer.
It's been a rough few weeks for residents in Southern California. First a massive fire swept through the region, destroying homes and leaving the earth scorched and dry. Then this week, rivers of mud flowed through, crushing homes and killing at least 17 people. Santa Barbara county in particular has been left devastated and attention is turning to the clean up effort. California correspondent Rachel Silverman says there are still a number of people missing, but hope of finding them alive is dwindling.
The true crime genre is booming because it offers the unique experience of being simultaneously in the place of the victim, the detective and the accused, says an academic and writer.
Put Some Colour In Your Life chronicles Australian painter Graeme Stevenson as he motorbikes around the world, visiting artists in their studios. It's an opportunity for viewers to learn about the techniques and inspirations that the profiled artists use to create their aesthetically pleasing wonders. The show was nominated for the Logie television awards, and in 2017 Graeme was made part of the Order of Australia. Put Some Colour In You Life airs 9:30pm on Fridays and 7:30pm on Saturdays on Sky Arts.
What if your dreams could tell the future? Famed Russian-American author Vladimir Nabakov tested just that theory by keeping a dream diary documenting 64 dreams over 80 days and ordering them with 118 index cards. His dream documentation and their relation to his work are examined in a new book by University of Missouri academic Gennady Barabtarlo called Insomniac Dreams: Experiments With Time. Simon Morton spoke to Gennady's collegue - The University of Auckland's Professor Brian Boyd - to talk through the oddness of some of these dreams, as well as Brian's own work writing and editing multiple books on Nabakov.
Overdubbed films have a bad reputation in the English-speaking world, but if done well can be superior to subtitled films, says a former Studio Ghibli producer.
There's a dispute going on at Fiji's Nadi Airport, between the workers on the ground and the company they work for. Management at Air Terminal Services have been arguing with workers since December over issues including sexual harassment and pay concerns. Now their jobs are being done by temporary replacements who unions say they are untrained. And just last weekend an Air New Zealand plane was damaged by ground crew in Fiji. Simon Morton speaks to RNZ Pacific journalist Dominic Godfrey.
Scrutiny of Apple intentionally slowing down iPhone performance heats up; more fallout from the world’s biggest hardware fault; gaming addiction now officially a mental disorder; and the Chinese electric car that's making waves.
Senior RNZ Sport journalist Barry Guy joins Simon Morton on Up This Way to give us the lowdown on the latest in sports.
Who has access to your DNA? More importantly...do you? Most people now have the right to access their lab results and DNA data. But that doesn't mean the companies that hold that data can't access it too. The ins and out and legal issues surrounding ownership of our medical and genetic information has been labelled a modern civil rights issue.
If you've jumped in the sea this summer and found it to be a surprisingly warm temperature that's because the Tasman Sea is currently going through a "marine heatwave". Since November the water has been more than 2 degrees above average...in fact it's been the warmest ever in records going back to 1900, for December at least. And while that feels great for beachgoers, it's not great for ocean species - extreme systems like this can have a profound affect on marine ecosystems. Simon Morton speaks to climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger.
One of the more interesting voices in independent video gaming right now is Nina Freeman. Her games favor narratives that often chronicle everyday life and conversations. Nina's been rather prolific recently with the releases of Edinburgh International Festival commissioned Lost Memories Dot Net, and the 1960s period piece Kimmy - which focuses on babysitting. She was also a level designer on space station adventure Tacoma. They all shipped in 2017.
Oreet Ashery is an Israeli-British artist who works in multiple mediums including film, photography, and performance. Her art often tackles themes of politics, gender, class, social constructs, and the plight of refugees. In Malmö, Sweden she constructed a fascinating sonic scene called Passing through Metal. Forty knitters tap tapped away on their needles while a sludge metal band joined in with their most contrasting of sounds. Recently Oreet won the Film London Jarman Award - a prize for practitioners doing experimental work - for her series Revisiting Genesis, which has a woozy tech focused angle on mortality.
Over in the States, the New Zealand example is often pointed to as why Californian residents shouldn't be allowed to keep ferrets. There's a passionate community of ferret-lovers in the golden state, who see the issue as one of excessive and illogical lawmaking. La Masa resident Pat Wright, of the Legalise Ferrets group, spends around 30 hours a week on the issue and has even served time in maximum security prison - such is his passion.
The NZ Festival's Reader and Writer's section is a chance to see some of your favourite authors and find many new ones. A very new author - at least to English language fiction - is Indonesian writer Intan Paramaditha.
What was the real Tower of Babylon? Why do humans speak so many languages, sometimes over small geographical distances? On this little planet we speak over 7000 distinct languages, but they're unevenly spread - a massive country might be home to many times less languages than its smaller cousin. Simon Morton speaks to Michael Gavin (Associate Professor of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University).
New Zealanders' contributions to the voluntary, work-based savings initiative KiwiSaver have grown into a significant pool of money that could be used to build much-needed infrastructure, says investment manager Sam Stubbs.
Whether you're on a bus, turning up your music to drown out the rattling, or sitting in traffic next to honking cars and squealing breaks, there's a lot of sounds around. A paper from Canadian scientists has been looking at the effect of these sounds on our hearing and so has kiwi expert Professor Kim Dirks from the University of Auckland...what's the issue here?
The move from traditional throat singing to opera intrigued Glasgow-based music critic Kate Molleson so much she decided to travel to the country, crossing hundreds of kilometres to find out where this love of opera came from.
Until now astronauts have had to send mysterious microbes and organisms back to earth to figure out what they are. But for the first time, NASA astronauts have successfully sequenced DNA and identified the organism in space. This development is an important step for a number of reasons - astronauts illnesses can be diagnosed away from Earth and, at some point, discovering life on other planets. Space writer Sarah Lewin explains to Simon Morton how they did it.
Another bombshell this week for the Trump administration, an explosive new tell-all book which has thrown the White House into a frenzy. Lawyers for Donald Trump moved to stop publication of the book but the author, Michael Wolff, retaliated by bringing its release date forward. The White House has been quick to undermine the book's accuracy but the fallout continues.
Plant Culture founder Cameron Sims works with farmers in Ashburton to produce premium hemp seed products. It's time Kiwis got into this superfood, he says.
Star Trek and Dr. Seuss - a laughable pairing surely? Well maybe not. In the US a judge is allowing Dr. Seuss Enterprises to proceed with a lawsuit against the tiny ComicMix company. They're behind a book which retells the classic Oh The Places You'll Go as Oh The Places You'll Boldly Go - a recreation featuring Star Trek characters and scenarios.
Music is great. But what if it could be nutritious as well? Simon Morton speaks to Daniel Battaglia, Music Director of the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra, about turning tubers into music makers.
Australia takes 20 thousand refugees, migrants and asylum seekers ever year but those who arrive by boat are detained off shore. The situation on Manus and Nauru reached boiling point last year, with international advocacy agents and the United Nations highlighting the conditions of the detainees.
Flawed computer chips, Spotify gets ready to go public as it gets sued for using unlicensed music, why facial recognition will be big in 2018, and another faulty Apple product, this time an iPad keyboard.
Sports presenter and former rugby player Melodie Robinson tells Simon Morton what has caught her eye in the sports world this week. Surely we've gotta mention the ASB classic...
Citizen science has been around a while now, a chance for amateurs to get involved with volunteering and for scientists to get help with collecting data. But a kiwi group is going further. Government initiative Curious Minds has what it calls "extreme" citizen science in its Participatory Science Platform. The idea is it pairs novices with scientists for its projects. National Coordinator Victoria Metcalf explained just why it's different to other platforms out there.
An 11,000-year-old skeleton of two children, unearthed in Alaska, is yet another part of the story of where Native Americans come form. The baby girl's bones have helped clear a few things up thanks to a simple genome, which suggests there was a now-lost population during the last ice age, related to the ancestors of today's Native Americans. Science writer and author Carl Zimmer tell Simon Morton it's been a long process figuring out what this new data meant.
King tides, power outages, flooding - the country's already been battered by its first storm of the year and we're only six days in. The torrential rain swept across the top of the North Island before moving down the country. A woman died after a large tree, brought down by the hurricane-strength wind, crushed her car in Rotorua.
When CRISPR hit the news a few years ago it sounded like magic - now we can turn on and off genes at will and it was different to traditional GM technology that introduced genes from one species to another - who wants a frog genes in their tomato?
Some people claim nuts are even healthier when they're 'activated' by soaking. But while it's a good idea to soak legumes and grains, leave your nuts alone, says Rachel Brown from Otago University's Nut Research Group.
Even A Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973 is a compilation put together by archival music specialists Light In The Attic Records. For the keen crate digger, groups with names like Hachimitsu Pie and The Dylan II can't help but spark interest. Simon Morton talks to Yosuke Kitazawa, the L.A. based producer and co-curator of Even A Tree Can Shed Tears.
Writer and journalist Jon Ronson has made a career out of investigating unusual characters. He explores the porn industry in his podcast series The Butterfly Effect.
As our cities grow and our land is swallowed up by real estate, farmers are turning to other, more sustainable ways to produce veges and fruit. In our biggest city, the idea of vertical farming has taken hold. Growing produce in high-rises, warehouses or shipping containers could solve the problem.
Christmas is done, Boxing Day sales finished now it's time for another holiday tradition - returning that ugly jersey your aunt got you or those shoes that just don't fit no matter how hard you try. For consumers it's an easy fix, send it back get a different size, get a refund or store credit. But for online retailers it's an expense that rivals that which they've saved on storefront real estate.
Californians will be able to have a very chilled out New Year's Day, when recreational marijuana is legalised. The state voted in favour of the move more than a year ago but it's taken this long for lawmakers to figure out how the new market will work. Simon Morton talks to Zoë Corbyn, a journalist based in San Francisco.
RNZ stalwart, former presenter Lloyd Scott has just been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Lloyd has spent more than 50 years working in broadcasting, theatre and television.
Manying Ip been named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. The academic and author says her greatest hope is that Chinese New Zealanders will become as mainstream as Māori and Pakeha New Zealanders.
Looking for a job, or even finding someone to employ can be a slog. Helping Hands claims they can help streamline the job search process for both employers and employees. Potential job applicants create online profiles which employers can then browse through and request the best prospective employees. Jobseekers can find themselves in employment within a couple of days of saying yes to an employment request. Simon Morton speaks to Helping Hands co-founder Dave McGregor.
What are the problems facing bugs-as-food entrepreneurs today? It's a tough business convincing a doubtful public, even as various nutrition and environmental factors make adding a cricket to your cereal seem more and more sensible.
Earlier in the year, scientists were able to observe the merging of two neutron stars. This cosmic collision took place around 130 million years ago.They were able to confirm the long held theory that the origins of the heavier elements came from such events. In other words there's gold in them there stars!! Simon Morton asked University of Otago geochemist Dr. Mike Palin to go big, and delve into the origins of metal.
Consumer NZ taste-tested 17 extra virgin olive oils from New Zealand, Australia and Europe – and 2 Australian brands have come out on top.
Could a computer make 'em laugh, make 'em cry? Scratch that, could it make an epic West End musical? Simon Morton is joined by three of the key talents who put together the computer generated musical Beyond The Fence - Creative Director Archie Baron, and musical theatre writers Benjamin Till & Nathan Taylor. Their experience was documented in the Sky Arts documentary Computer Says Show.
Extreme weather events are being across the world now, as global warming makes its impact felt on the climate. But new research has shown there was extreme weather in the Antarctic in the early 20th century, and it may have played a part in the race to the South Pole by Roald Amundsen and Captain Robert Falcon Scott during the warm summer of 1911.
With all the talk of bitcoin and the housing market you may be thinking it's time to get in on this investing business - but how do you start?
Apple may have to compensate customers after slowing down the processing speed on many iPhone models; Twitter prohibits accounts that promote violence against civilians; and how WeChat morphed from a messaging app to an everything app.
A new study has found that those who are good at gaming also scored the highest on traditional IQ tests. Alex Wade, from the University of York joins Simon Morton.
Simon Morton visits Mint Innovation, an Auckland company using bacteria to mine precious metals from your old electronic junk.
The vision of the Ministry of Social Development is to help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent. But many beneficiaries are taking to social media to talk about what they see as poor treatment from its agency, Work and Income. Philippa Tolley asks if this a sign of real problems or the opinions of a disgruntled few.
Mountain biking is experiencing a boom in New Zealand. Chris Bramwell takes to the trails to find out why.
Miniaturist Mavis Cheyne uses her wood turning, pottery, joinery, embroidery and decorative skills to recreate all kinds of things in tiny scale and amazing detail. We visit her garage workshop to see how she does it.
Is traditional high country farming under threat? RNZ Rural reporter, Alexa Cook works on a cattle muster and explores why, and if, New Zealand should hold on tighter to its high country farms.
The rise in methamphetamine use in New Zealand is breaking up families, piling the pressure on schools, mental health workers, police and rehabilitation clinics. RNZs Northland reporter, Lois Williams talks to those agencies and the whānau and grandparents forced to take on the care of damaged children, whose addicted parents are no longer capable of looking after them.
New Zealand is reputed to have more working dogs per capita than anywhere else in the world. So what's in a day's work? A groundbreaking study is using canine fit bits to find out.
Simple radio technology - previously used to track kiwis in the wild - is helping tackle the problem of people with dementia getting disoriented and lost.
Would you sign a contract to join a queue for nearly 2 days to buy a pair of shoes costing nearly $400? We explore the world of the hardcore sneaker head, a place where a passion for cool kicks is a serious business!
Peloton is a spin class with a difference – 80,000 bikes, 250,000 riders, and it all happens in your home. Steven Kurutz from the New York Times has been to Peloton HQ in Manhattan.
Dr Bev Lawton answers your questions about peri-menopause, insomnia and how drinking caffeine and alcohol affects hot flushes.
We look at the different varieties of hormone replacement therapy or HRT available on the market with Dr Bev Lawton. She's Director of the Wellington Menopause Clinic, the director of the Women's Health Research Centre at the University of Otago, and a past president of the Australasian Menopause Society.
Women take bioidentical hormones because they're supposedly a natural, safer, personalised alternative to conventional HRT. But are they really? Menopause specialist Dr Bev Lawton has a warning.
From SSRIs to black cohosh, we look at some of the alternatives to Hormone Replacement Therapy with menopause specialist Dr Bev Lawton.
What is HRT? Director of the Women's Health Research Centre at the University of Otago, menopause expert Bev Lawton on the risks and benefits of taking HRT during menopause.
Menopause science; what causes it and why does it happen? With menopause specialist Dr Bev Lawton of the Women's Health Research Centre at the University of Otago.
Exploring menopause symptoms, treatments and the science with Dr Bev Lawton, the Director of the Women's Health Research Centre at the University of Otago.