B-Side Stories: Recent Episodes
B-Side Stories
Stories from the people who make Wellington tick!
B-Side Stories takes us beyond the mainstream to celebrate the unsung heroes, rebels and enthusiasts who shape the fabric and flavour of Wellington, New Zealand.
B-Side Stories is aired every Tuesday from 5-6 pm on Wellington Access Radio, with support from NZ on Air.
Bats of the Republic. He is also the founder of a publishing company, Featherproof Books, and a video game studio, Interactive Tragedy LTD.Sadie Coe talks to Dylan and Zach about their work, about play, and about the joys and pains of creativity, and gets jealous of students of the amazing Visual Narrative courses offered at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington (https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/design-innovation/research/communication-design/visual-narrative-lab).B-Side Stories thanks Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air for their support.
“Music is the emotional underscore, but it’s not just the music – it’s the dancing, it’s the people, it’s the whakawhanaungatanga”.The Wellington Folk Festival has been held once a year since 1965. Organisers Tony Burt and Mary Livingston play some live music in the studio and talk to B-Sides hosts Sadie Coe and Trish Given about the history of the “splendiferous” festival and the upcoming 60th birthday weekend of music, dance, workshops, and community, to be held over three days at the beautiful Brookfield Outdoor Education Centre in Wainuiomata.See https://wellingtonfolkfestival.org.nz/ for more info.B-Side stories thanks Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air for their support.
We are joined by Tom Kay, an independent candidate for Greater Wellington's Pōneke/Wellington General area. Tom was born in Hawkes Bay and has worked in Wellington as an environmental advocate, freshwater scientist, and policy adviser. Tom loves Wellington and is passionate about improving train services, caring for our rivers, and preparing for climate change and emergencies. He is standing to bring a youthful voice to the regional council, and look after the environment we all love.
In this episode, we sit down with Trish Given, an independent candidate for Wellington City Council's Motukairangi/Eastern Ward. Born in Ireland and a resident of Wellington for 16 years, Trish has built her life here with her Kiwi husband and their two children. She's deeply rooted in the Eastern suburbs—not just as a resident, but as someone committed to nurturing the future of this vibrant community.
Noa Noa Von Bassewitz grew up living on the back of the Taniwha Whātaitai. Her childhood dream of becoming a vampire was thwarted by braces, but she has woven personal and symbolic representations of supernatural beings through her art her whole life. Noa Noa is currently moving from woodblock printing into large scale multi-layered monoprints: "an explosion in the gallery" and is also exploring the medium of stand-up comedy on the side. She talked to Sadie Coe about connection and separation, love, travel, and putting fear aside.We also played some tracks by Noa Noa's son Ngahere Wafer. You can see one of his video's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z-VQpkIn7QMade with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.
"It was the most impactful story I've ever written".When journalist Iona McNaughton wrote a feature about Vietnam-based Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, she didn't expect it to resonate so strongly with readers that it lead to the creation of the New Zealand branch of the charity. One of those those readers was Sue Chamberlain, and, in this episode of B-Side Stories, Sue and Iona talk to us about what brought them to found Blue Dragon NZ, and about the amazing work the Foundation does to help children living in extreme poverty and to rescue victims of human trafficking and slavery.
Kim Young is one of the founders of Newtown Open Studios, a marriage celebrant, a gallery owner, a poker player, a gardener, and a zero waste advocate, amongst other things. She talks to Sadie Coe about these and also Kidunk and limited edition rice pudding. Don't know what these are? Listen up!Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.
On Sunday March 3, 2024, B-Side Stories hung out at the amazing Newtown Festival with the Access Radio crew and 80,000 happy revellers. Lots of cool people stopped by to talk to us. Here are some of those chats, recorded live on the day.Ngā mihi to the friendly folk who chatted with us: Heather, Jacob, Mikaela (hopefully we spelled that correctly!), Nick, Prue, Thomas, Xavier and Lucas, and Phil from Phil and the Gaps.Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air
Trish and Sadie talk about upcoming events, and play some tracks by performers at this weekend's Newtown Festival.Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air
The New Zealand Fringe Festival is Aotearoa's largest open-access arts event. We talked to award-winning playwright, producer, and reviewer Jack McGee about some of the cool stuff to see at Fringe, and also learned about his theatre company Squash Co Arts Collective and the challenges of being a reviewer in a town like Wellington, where everyone knows everyone. We also learned what "durational theatre" involves!Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air
Nautilus Creative Space is an independently run art collective that recently moved to Newtown after 15 years in Ōwhiro Bay. In this very fun episode of B-Side Stories, Sadie talks to artists Jordan, Sean, Holly, and James about the transformative nature of working in a collective. We hear about their many creative pursuits from music and songwriting to videography, intuitive guidance readings, painting, jewellery, photography, writing...and much more! We also hear music from Sean's band Spiral, and James performs live in the studio.Email nautilus.creative.trust@gmail.com for more info.B-Side Stories is made with the support of Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and NZ On Air.
Mike Riversdale AKA Miramar Mike talks to Sadie and Trish about what inspired him to create Aroha Wellington, a night of music, comedy, and connections where punters buy two tickets, and give one away to someone who could do with a fun night out, spreading wellbeing and positivity. https://aroha.miramarmike.co.nz/Mike tells us about all the amazing people who have come together to make this event happen, about his day job in IT, and about the journey his gift of the gab has taken him on. This podcast was made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.
Ever since she was a child and made dresses from her grandmother's old saris, Sneha Pulapaka has been fascinated by textiles and upcycling old fabric. She talks to Sadie on B-Side Stories about juggling her passion for textile art and sustainability with the love of photography she inherited from her grandfather, and her role as a parent. Her social enterprise, The Native Loom, works with artisans in Southern India to create beautiful and functional upcycled products, and also runs workshops here in Wellington to teach people the joy of printing on fabric.This podcast is created with the support of Wellington Access Radio www.accessradio.org.nz and NZ on Air.
"No-one gets into the waste industry for the money. Everyone gets into it because they want to make a change". When Shelali Shetty moved to Wellington from Southern India she came looking for adventure but she wasn't expecting that her first recruitment interview would be conducted partly underneath a desk while an earthquake rolled through. Undetered, she's gone on to work at the Sustainability Trust, to be a Trustee of the Wellington Timebank, and to manage Wellington City Council’s Resource Recovery Centre. She tells us about the ins-and-outs of waste management in Wellington and her love for bringing people together.
Find out how tradescantia is bringing people together- this week Mel talks with Nigel Charman and Jane Martin about the communities regenerating ecosystems in backyards and parks in the city!See more about Jane's work and examples of backyard regeneration at www.aroha.ecoand join Nigel in restoring Tanera Gully at https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/projects/tanera-gully-restoration-project-wellington or taking on Old Man's Beard at https://www.ombfree.nz/
Mel chats to Greg Campbell and Jazzy Jo Higgins from the Aro Valley Jazz Jam about life in the "New Orleans of the South Pacific", the Welly Jazz Festival and top picks for local music! 🎷🎹Listen from 5-6pm every Tuesday on Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM or stream at www.accessradio.org.nz for stories of all the cool stuff your Welly neighbours are up to, and catch up on any past episodes wherever you get your podcasts 😎
Kate Walmsley and Liam Prince chat to Mel about their work as compost managers at Welly urban farm Kaicycle, working toward resilient & regenerative food systems!
This week on B Side Stories we talk to local designer Larissa Banks about her life becoming a professional crafter, and her recent graduation from Wellington's Comedy School!
This week, Casey Tearle talks to Mel about her career as a dancer that took her around the world, the dance / circus scene here in Welly, and her transition to working in Tiriti law.
We talked to local legend Tim Jones on his life, his tireless decades in climate and transport advocacy, and his new novel Emergency Weather!
If you go down to the wild Wellington South Coast during a storm, there's a high chance that you could spot Mary Livingston there, braced against the wind and happily taking photos.Mary has a lifelong love of the sea, which lead to a 40 year career as a marine biologist, and, more recently, to her fascination with capturing astounding images of the surf and coastline. Mary also uses abstraction to create landscapes with her camera from all sorts of surfaces, from cars to fenceposts.We talked to her about her two current photography exhibitions, her love of performing folk music, especially songs of the sea, and her time spent on boats chasing flatfish...and we found out which other creative art she practises.Made with support from Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.
Nigel Beckford collects, curates, augments, and transforms snippets of the culture of Aotearoa, taking moments of daily life from the news (man tasered after doing kung fu moves on a fried chicken joint's roof) or from his own experiences and conversations (playing football in goose poo leads to amputation of limb) and turning them into songs and stories.In this episode of B-Side Stories Nigel talks to Sadie and Trish about performing with the collective of musicians Sven Olsen's Brutal Canadian Love Saga, about his previous "bonkers rock" band The Inhalers, about writing, and art, and imagination, and lots more. Nigel is a natural born storyteller in all media: listen in for how he instinctively seized on the special nature of radio to prank Trish at the start of the show.This programme was made with the support of NZ on Air and Wellington Access Radio.
You might know that Geordie Rogers was elected to represent the Pukehīnau/Lambton ward during the February 2024 Wellington City Council by-election. But you might not know much about Geordie and his background. In this episode, Laura and Victoria ask Geordie about the close election campaign, and explore his background, interests, and first impressions of the job at Wellington City Council. You'll learn a bit about Geordie's advocacy with Renters United, and much more.
Multi-disciplinary artists Biddy and James open their home and garden each year as part of Newtown Open Studios. They talk to Sadie and Trish about the art they create both separately and together in what they describe as a cross-pollination, and about the home they've created, which is a landmark in Newtown, Te Whanganui a Tara.
Have you ever written a song? Our guest Ali Whitton completed a 52 week song writing challenge - writing a new song every week for a whole year! Hear him speak about the challenges, the learnings, the rap song... and hear some of Ali's music performed live. Recorded at Wellington Access Radio 20 Feb 2024. Hosted by Laura Keown and Sadie Coe.Follow @lostbirdsings on Instagram to hear more from Ali Whitton.
Esther King shares her love for foraging with B Sides, offering some great tips and motivation for the forage-curious!
Terese McLeod talks about islands, a stream, and views that can't be bought by billionaires by B-Side Stories
An incredible new mural runs down the side of the St James Theatre. The art work was created by Tina Rae Carter and Keri-Mei Zagrobelna, and entitled, "Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua," a Māori whakataukī which translates as, "walking backwards into the future."The mural features many visual stories weaving in and out including a moko kauae with the Matariki constellation, a tuna taniwha, whare and raupō designs, and a theatre curtain. It is a conversation between the land and history, and Wellington's St James Theatre. Tina and Keri-Mei speak about its creation and their backgrounds as artists.
What's happening with Victoria University's theatre programme? Dr Kerryn Palmer is a freelance director, actor, and teacher of drama for over 25 years. She spoke to Laura about the campaign to Save the Victoria University Theatre department from deep staff cuts that would limit offerings for students and lose the talent of skilled instructors.
Part two!Local theatre-makers and creative types Cadence Chung, Hazel Perigo-Blackburn, and and Lewis Thomson tell us about bringing a former high school production to the bright lights of BATS Theatre
Part one (with songs!)Local theatre-makers and creative types Cadence Chung, Hazel Perigo-Blackburn, and and Lewis Thomson tell us about bringing a former high school production to the bright lights of BATS Theatre
Laura speaks to Dylan Hutton and Anna Barker - stars of a new theater show about riding bikes in Wellington and having a sibling in your life. Long Ride Home. They tell us the secrets of riding and acting at the same time, and talk about the hustle of making theatre in Wellington.
Laura interviews Ryan O'Connell, the founder of Wellington's centre of e-bike rental and guided tours: Switched on Bikes. The team at Switched on have been e-bike experts for eight years, and offer incredible experiences for visitors to Wellington. They also have e-bike subscriptions for locals, and an e-bike GPS tracking service. Laura and Ryan discuss cycling in Wellington, being a serial entrepreneur, and putting sustainability values at the heart of a business.https://switchedonbikes.co.nz/
Laura Interviews Bailee Lobb, a performance and installation artist who works with colour, soft structures, movement, and spatial interventions to create immersive environments. Bailee uses her art to explore her experience of disability and autism.In this episode she describes her background, and the themes of her latest works, including 'How do you sleep at night?'. She describes the difference between neurodivergence and neurodiversity. Listen for her favourite place in Wellington.Bailee's exhibition of textile installations exploring the pursuit of self-regulation and sensory support, called ‘Sensory Self Portraits’, is heading to the Nelson Arts festival in October 2023.
"The subliminal message is the frequency".Shift Collective make large scale live video projections that incorporate music in a call-and-response approach, to tell stories about life in Aotearoa New Zealand. They are collaborating with musician Ceramic (Tom Heynes) at Te Ramaroa light festival.Shift Collective members Adrian McCleland and Johanna Sanders speak to Sadie Coe about how they've taken live video works out of the club scene and into the art world. Music and visuals mixed together live create an experience which is more than the sum of its parts, and their work with Ceramic will explore expressions of energy in harmony with the environment at Te Ramaroa.Tom treats us to a live demonstration of how different frequencies of sound resonate in the body and talks about sound made visible (cymatics) and how his training and work as an acupuncturist affects his prolific musical output.https://ceramicnz.bandcamp.com/musichttps://teramaroa.nz/installation/16-ko-hinemoa-ko-ahau/B-Side Stories is made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.
Wellycon is the largest boardgame convention in Aotearoa New Zealand and, on King's birthday weekend 2023, 1,400 or more keen players are expected to join in at Wellington's Tākina convention centre.Sadie Coe talked to Ceedee Doyle and Adrianne Pollock about some of the huge number of exciting activities taking place over the two days of Wellycon: late night mega-games, the national Settlers of Catan tournament, a giant Lego pit, a game-themed quiz, treasure hunts, expert lectures and panel discussions, play-to-win games, and world premieres of new games and EVEN MORE!!!Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.
Emily Wikingi tells Perrine about her experience getting ready for and performing kapa haka at Te Matatini 2023.'He toi whakairo, he mana tangata'Where there is artistic excellence, there is human dignity~ Piri Sciascia, founder of kapa hapa group Tamatea Arikinui
"The hardest platform you can ever perform on is the street". King Homeboy is a legend in the Wellington busking scene and an internationally acclaimed beatboxer and musician. The six time national beatboxing champ, and world record holder for the longest continuous beatbox (34 hours!) talks to Perrine Gilkison and Sadie Coe about his "wild, amazing journey", ahead of his next trip to the World Beatboxing Champs in Berlin, and treats us to some live beatboxing!This show was produced with support from Wellington Access Radio and New Zealand On Air.
Sara Shabahang and Bahman Khalili talk to Perrine about recent protests in Iran, what they are fighting for, and the role music plays in the protests. We also get to chat about how they came here, and the Iranian community of Wellington. The music discussed or played in the show:~ Speak Out by Public Voice~ Baraye by Shervin Hajipour~Shades of Blues by Public Voice
Love not loss: Josh - CEO of Sustainable Coastlines - talks to Perrine about Seaweek, our problem with litter, the absolute joy we can get from our coastlines... and what you can do to help :D
Internationally 15% of humans have dyslexia or related neurodiverse conditions. In New Zealand the government gathers no statistics on dyslexia/neurodiversity and the conditions are not mentioned in any legislation. People with dyslexia are over-represented in school dropouts, unemployment rates and in the prison population. Mike Styles is an adult literacy specialist who is calling for the New Zealand government, which only officially recognised the existence of dyslexia in 2007, to carry out an inquiry into dyslexia. He talks to Sadie Coe about why he believes that dyslexia is both an equity issue and a productivity issue and what measures could be taken to allow people with dyslexia to use and develop the positive skills that come with the condition.B-Side Stories is produced with help from Wellington Access Radio and New Zealand on Air.
This week, B-Side Stories host Rachel Liao caught up with Pōneke-based multidisciplinary artist Min-Young Her about her latest show “Misaeng” on at Play_station artist run space, her background and interest in the arts, and how she is settling into the windy city!
This week on B-Side Stories, co-hosts Rachel Liao & Min-Young Her caught up with Wellington-based songwriter/producer Mitch Zachry about his latest track ‘setting sun’. We chatted everything from his creative process to musical influences, and of course, played some our fave tracks of his!
Trish Given and Sadie Coe have a chat about some recent and upcoming events around Wellington this September.Thanks to Wellington Access Radio www.accessradio.org.nz and NZ On Air.
"Alongside being a quiz mistress, it's actually my dream job". Luana Scowcroft is a candidate in the Motu Kairangi ward in the upcoming Wellington City Council elections. She talked to Sadie Coe about what motivated her to run for council, and told us about some of her achievements to date, including painting an anti-nuclear banner for the Rainbow Warrior as a young child, building an eco-resort at the age of 24 (this was not even her first business), and working for governmental and non-governmental organisations.Luana also spoke about how her Cook Islands upbringing strengthens her value system, and her passion for building relationships and putting people and communities at the centre of conversations about our city's future.Thanks to Wellington Access Radio www.accessradio.org.nz and to NZ On Air.
Peter Clayworth takes us on a fascinating tour of the sites of struggle in the 1913 General Strike - industrial power struggles, machine guns and horses on the streets of Wellington. You won't see your city the same afterwards!
(note - it gets a bit windy in the middle but worth listening through the wind as there are some really interesting bits in there!)
"We're writing from the point of view of people who are 'it', about things that we're actually dealing with": Check out our interview with local writers Al Gray and Erin Donahue about the problem with fairy tales (and much more!).
Feeding bellies, not bins: Jack Rainey, the Manager of the Dixon St Everybody Eats, tells B Sides all about the concept and the practise of running a pay-as-you-feel restaurant in central Wellington
Kanikani* enthusiasts Sofia, Thomas and Lauren talk to B Sides about why they spend an evening a month dancing in the dark in a room full of strangers (or is it a room full of friends? hard to tell in the dark).
Some great dance tracks included!
*Kanikani means dance in te reo Māori. The monthly event is called Kanikani - dancing in the dark!
An interview with Shuari Naidoo, CEO and Founder of Moraka Mentsrual Cups and President of the Victoria University Feminist Organization.
An interview with the co-founders of Community Comms Collective, giving a free communications boost to community organisations.
An interview with Emma Beattie, content writer and board member at Regenerate Magazine. Regenerate offers employment opportunities to people affected by homelessness and poverty in Wellington.
Vivian Lyngdoh, co-Chair of Wellington Pride, spoke to David about the Festival and being intersectional and inclusive. Kia ora Vivian!
www.wellingtonpridefestival.com
Julie and Heidi from Volunteer Wellington came into the studio to talk about their role as community connectors - matching volunteers to programmes, supporting and developing people who manage volunteers, and their employee volunteering programme.
Joel and Freya talk to Perrine and David about creating audience-led theatre... and what happens when people get really into it.
David spoke with Arihia Latham – writer, educator and rongoā Māori practitioner based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Find our more – https://linktr.ee/Arihia
Ruth talks to Perrine about her life as a musician and teacher in the lead-up to the Wellington jazz festival
[poor quality audio is only for first minute]
"There's a deep sense of satisfaction...manipulating things in the universe into useful harmony...and then the working together, the social aspect and feeling part of a loving community. You come away feeling replenished".
Debbie McGill, Simon Cosgrove, and Derek McDonald tell Sadie Coe about the flourishing community at Granville Flats, where The Fixery empowers tenants to fix broken items and to create new things, from artworks to face masks to jam and relish.
Seamus Johnson from Wellington band Sea Mouse chats to Perrine and performs some wicked songs live in the studio - including a possible new B Sides theme song!
Perrine talks to Nicky Boughtwood from Kaibosh about their mammoth efforts to redistribute food for social justice. We catch up on how COVID has changed their work, hear about the cool places that the kai goes to, and chat about their important role Kaibosh have in keeping Wellington tick!
Ash Holwell talks to Perrine about community-building in central downtown Wellington, based around new collaborative space two/fiftyseven
"New Zealand has given me a massive opportunity to be something completely different". Mount Vic Hub coordinator Patricia Given came to Wellington with decades of experience in the fashion industry, and swiftly became a hugely respected community leader.
Trish is passionate about making things happen in the community and last year was awarded an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Award for her contribution to a long list of organisations including Cycle Wellington, Wellington Irish, the Innermost Gardens, Predator Free Wellington, and many more. She's often seen around town on her bike Olive, towing the hublet: a mobile community centre.
Here she chats in the studio with B-Sides host Sadie Coe and City Councillor Laurie Foon.
"Amazing Wellingtonians doing incredible things". B-Sides founder and Wellington City Councillor Laurie Foon talks about why she became a councillor, her vision for the city, and what the key decisions are facing us in the long term plan, in conversation with Patricia Given and Sadie Coe.
...And why is poo so central to all this?
Home Ground creates space for women in the justice system to pause, nurture hope, activate social change and create better lives for themselves and future generations.
On a Home Ground project, artists (inside and outside of prison) make creative works using dance, performance, photography, writing, painting and music to address the issues women and whānau face in the justice system.
Jacqui and Hazel came onto B-Side Stories to talk to Sadie Coe about the collective strength of women honouring the wisdom of their lived experience, and the power of creativity.
https://www.homegroundnz.com/
Photo credit: PM with support from Fraser Crichton B-Side Stories is broadcast with help from NZ on Air.
Julia Marshall of Gecko Press is a children's book publisher and advocate for the magic of reading. She spoke with David about how it takes a village to make a book https://geckopress.com
Helen and Trish talk to Perrine about Crip the Lit, a group of great local writers who identify as disabled.
Ben talks to Perrine about the work Unions Wellington do to support working people in Pōneke, the links between unions and activism, and how the union movement changes with the times
Laura interviews Lily Lewis from Make it 16 NZ - the incredible youth-led organisation advocating for a lower voting age in Aotearoa. They've taken their case all the way to the High Court of New Zealand.
Laura's full unedited conversation with Abe Gray about the history of the movement to legalise cannabis in Aotearoa. Abe is botanist, a science communicator and an activist, who has been fighting for nearly 20 years to make cannabis legal. Visit www.yeswecannabis.org.nz to join the calls for legalisation in 2020. Or if you need to read more, Abe recommends the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor: https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/topics/cannabis/
There was going to be a School Strike 4 Climate march event in September, but new Covid-19 uncertainty has led to its cancellation. Laura spoke to The Wellington Regional Secretary for SS4C, Rhiannon Mackie, about why the climate movement is still so important and what it's like to be involved in SS4C.
Playcentre is a unique parent cooperative model of early childhood education created right here in Wellington, New Zealand, back in 1941. The kaupapa of Playcentre is "Whānau tupu ngātahi — Families growing together".
Playcentre members Jesse Pirini and Kate Mitcalfe spoke to B-Sides host Sadie Coe about what it feels like to be part of a community of adults and children sharing learning alongside each other, and the joys and challenges of that shared commitment and input.
We learned about how their Playcentre experience informs Jesse and Kate's adult lives, about the organisation's commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi, and, most of all, about the fundamental wellbeing that comes from the connections made at Playcentre.
David spoke with Jackson Nieuwland – a genderqueer writer, editor and librarian from Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Their debut poetry collection 'I Am A Human Being' was published last month and is available from Compound Press.
Caroline from Sustainability Trust talks to B Sides about community gardening in Wellington, being a late bloomer with gardening, and her top tip for snail eradication!
Dr Marion Leighton talks to B Sides about the long-term health gains from active transport and micro-mobility, and why doctors are promoting active and safe transport in Wellington.
Tam talks to Laura in the studio about the Covid-19 response in Wellington, fixing the city's pipes and water systems, and about some of her recent media appearances including about 'private council briefings'. She gives a good insight into how she's finding being a City Councillor, and talks about her efforts to get more community connection and engagement in political issues.
Tam is encouraging those interested in helping with the Covid-19 response to support isolated people to reach out to the Wellington Student Volunteer Army, or the VUWSA on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/WellySVA/
Writer and performer Freya Daly Sadgrove spoke with David about her new book 'Head Girl', line breaks and making live poetry performances events to remember.
Perrine headed along to Wellington Curtain Bank's 10th birthday party to hear about the difference that upcycled curtains are making to people and the environment in Wellington.
Tyler Dunkel tells B Sides about the Wellington Pride Festival - what makes our festival so special and how this great rainbow of events all fit in together!
Tim McDougall tells Perrine and Laura about raising hell and raising funds for the Owen Street skatespot.
With music by Stalker, Ayn Randy,Total Ruin.
Author and performer Eamonn Marra came on to talk to David about his debut book '2000ft Above Worry Level' – available now at your favourite independent book store. Image courtesy Unity Books
Daniela Fuenzalida, one of the Aro Valley community coordinators, talks to Katia about what is coming up in the 2020 Aro Fair and why it is great to volunteer.
Rose Lu joins Laura and Sadie in the studio to chat about her new book of essays: All Who Live on Islands. It's a book about being a Chinese New Zealander, working in tech, family, friends, mental health, sex, travel, food, and much more! Rose will be speaking in the New Zealand Festival of the Arts on 8 March 2020.
Science communicator, scientist, author and campaigner Laurie Winkless spoke with David Klein about her work. You can find Laurie on Twitter – @laurie_winkless
Murdoch talks to Perrine and Laura about life in a local publishing collective - creating their place in the literary scene through biting satire and flirting with all the wrong people.
Gabriella Jimenez Rojas from Women in Urbanism Aotearoa talks to B-Side Stories about this urban design movement, which aims to amplify the voices of women, girls, and non-binary people in order to transform our towns into beautiful, inclusive, and safe environments.
Miriame Barbarich talks to Katia about ĀPŌPŌ, Wellington's first indigenous CreativeTech programme, hub and co-working space.
Seeds to Feeds is a new food festival in Wellington from 16-22 March 2020. It's an amazing initiative to celebrate community gardens, and making healthy, local food together! More than just a meal, growers are encouraged to come together to locally source the ingredients.
Elza van Boxel spoke to Laura and Perrine about the importance of local food, for the health of our bodies, minds, and spirits. To find out more, or get involved, find Seeds to Feeds on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seedstofeedsnz/
Maia Douglas Baker came into the studio (with her awesome support crew) to tell B Sides some entertaining and devastating stories from our city's past. She also tells us what motivates her and how she connected to Wellington as mana whenua who wasn't born here.
Again Again is a cup lending system operating in Wellington that aims to eliminate single use waste in the caffeine world. David Binstead tells us how the scheme works, why it's good for the planet, and how Again Again are encouraging psychological shifts in coffee drinkers.
"We want to inspire people to grow food, giving them the tools and the experience and the connections". Josie Sligo-Green and Katherine Silvester, from GrowSpace Wellington, talk to Sadie Coe about connecting to nature through growing food, and about their efforts to turn excess areas of land around Wellington into productive gardens.
Back in September, School Strike 4 Climate New Zealand organised their biggest event ever. A general strike across the country, involving everyone, young and old, in the movement for climate justice, and meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An estimated 170,000 people took part around Aotearoa. Listen to Laura's conversation with strike organiser Hugo Olsen-Smith about planning the event, why the movement is important to him, and hope for a better future. Sorry for the delay in posting - still an incredibly important conversation!
CEO and co-founder of Sharesies Brooke Roberts came in to talk financial literacy, start up life and pineapples.
Hannah Newport-Watson from The Pantograph Punch came in to talk about the arts and culture website, plus her role as an author and editor
A day in Pōneke some time in the near future: Wellington artist and writer Sarah Laing tells Perrine about her talking mural which is part of the wonderful Verb literary festival, and about making comics in Aotearoa
Perrine heads to the Free Store on Willis St and hears about community-building happening from a local shipping container. Turns out this project is so much more than redistribution of food.
Artist and mother Rebekah Rasmussen talks to us about blurring the boundaries between these two roles and getting inspiration from your children and environment.
Amelia from Greater Wellington's Transport Choices team joined Laura to talk about Bike Fest - a month long series of events in the Wellington region to encourage and celebrate biking. Learn more and get involved at https://bikethere.org.nz/
Laura Robinson chats to B Sides about obsessions with true crime, and the process of satirising true crime tropes in her new collective podcast project, KILLJOY
Pera Barrett talks to host Sadie Coe about being mana whenua of Ōtaki and Kāpiti Island, about his music and writing, and about how a tragic accident changed his path in life and led to his setting up two charities to help children from lower socio-economic areas: Shoebox Christmas, and Stationery Starter Packs. We end with a track from Pera performing as Percieve.
Merio Marsters shares stories about the delightful round room that is the Berrhampore Centennial Community Centre
Katia talks to Dr. Sea from Extinction Rebellion Wellington who tells us a bit about XR, being a Rebel for Life, the Week of Action coming ahead and the Rebel Camp.
Laura speaks to Harry Smith, a student of Victoria University and self-descried policy-wonk running for City Council in Wellington's Pukehīnau Lambton Ward. Learn about Harry's background and the policies he cares about which have led him to run for council.
Laura speaks to Tamatha Paul, a recent graduate of Victoria University, and President of Victoria University Student Association. She's running to represent her community in Wellington's Pukehīnau Lambton Ward in this year's local elections. Learn a bit about her background and what's inspired her to run for council.
Laura speaks to Steph Edlin, an 18 year old running to represent her community in Wellington's Motukairangi Eastern Ward in this year's local elections. Learn a bit about her background and what's inspired her to run for council.
Every year, 100 billion bits of clothing get made on the planet. Only about 1% of that gets made from recycled materials, and the vast majority is heading for landfill at the end of its life. The Formary has set out to change all that, by building the systems to get greater value from our clothing, reduce environmental impacts, and save resources!
Bernadette Casey of The Formary spoke to Laura about her mission to get the world's textiles reused.
Laura speaks to Victoria Rhodes-Carlin, a student at Victoria University running for Greater Wellington Regional Council in this year's local elections. Learn a bit about her background and what's inspired her to run for council.
Laura speaks to Rabeea Inayatullah, a recent graduate of Victoria University stepping up to represent her community by running for Porirua Northern Ward in this year's local elections. Learn a bit about her background and what's inspired her to run for council.
David had a chat with Alison Bartley from Bartley and Company art gallery. We talked about the life of a gallery owner, the artists she represents and the history for the gallery. Visit bartleyandcompanyart.co.nz for more info
Taupuruariki Brightwell shares some local tales and tells us what it's like having one of the coolest jobs in Wellington - tour guiding at Te Wharewaka o Poneke
"A little bit sacreligious and unholy". Artists Suzanne Tamaki and Charmagne Anthony talk to Sadie about their upcoming exhibition alongside David Roil, called The Unholy Trinity: A Collection of Opulent Objects. Their work is story orientated, grounded in history and influenced by the Wellington environment, as well as by, variously, the macabre, burlesque, steampunk, indigenous and colonial culture, and late night horror movies. If you want to find out what a dollyboratory is, or why Suzanne's latest range of earrings is deadly, this is your chance.
B Sides caught up with Laura O'Connell Rapira about what RockEnrol have been up to since last time they were on the show, and the 2019 local government elections
Sneha Pulapaka tells the B Sides gang about The Native Loom, a social enterprise working for environmental and social benefits between Aotearoa and India
Jessie and Amy talk to B Side Stories about the Kiwi Bottle Drive and the big plan to reduce waste in Aotearoa!
Laura and Perrine are learning all about The Share Shack in Aro Valley with Taya, the community fridge coordinator. It's a place for people to share things they aren't using any more, or find some food or clothing they can use, all for free! Run by volunteers and donations, it's reducing waste and sharing with our neighbors. Find them on Facebook, or in real life reality right next to the Aro Valley Community Centre.
Vanessa Stacey talks to Sadie Coe about her dedication to the performing arts and to helping others into the industry. Vanessa began acting on the big screen at the age of seven, and since then has worked around New Zealand and the world acting, directing, and singing with various bands, as well as working as a publicist and tour manager for acts such as Fat Freddy's Drop. She also shares one of her latest songs live in the studio.
This Matariki, B-Sides host Sadie Coe celebrated by playing songs by some Wellington bands past and present. Have a listen, then go buy the albums of these great musicians!
Featured: Bilge Festival, Double Ya D, Tape Man, Black Minnaloushe, Orchestra of Spheres, Mermaidens, Beatcomber, Thrashing Marlin, Lucy Smyth, The All Seeing Hand (pictured), Mr Sterile Assembly, Hans Pucket, The Nudge.
Rachel Benefield is a mum committed to going plastic free! Laurie and Laura spoke to Rachel about how her family reduced their plastic waste, and how the experience inspired her speak-up and lead Plastic Free Kāpiti, a community group on Facebook to help other folks on the same journey!
Following the 15 March terror attacks in Christchurch, which left 51 people dead, Tahir Nawaz from Wellington has been thrust into the spotlight as a leader of the Muslim Community in New Zealand. In this episode, Laura speaks to Tahir about the Muslim community in Wellington, and how they have been affected by the terrible events in Christchurch, as well as learning about his background and life.
Ali Little left a successful corporate career for a life with more play in it. Her talents include performing and teaching improv theatre, photography, playing the ukulele, and creating everything from paintings to puppets and from taxidermy to TARDIS's.
"The idea that music and art and sports should all be left to people who are good at it and the rest of us should just watch them—I despise that idea."
Kaicycle Urban Farm in Newtown has a reputation of sustaining passionate youthful volunteers, an organic waste service that is too full to take anymore subscriptions and grows food through the compost it makes to give to Kaibosh and other community groups that need it! And whats more urban farms like these are a solution for Climate change! In this B-side stories interview we talking with Kaicycle urban farmers Sheldon Levet and Kate Walmsley about why this urban farm works and how our capital could see more of them!
Zoe Studd and team at Mountains To Sea Wellington are helping our local streams and oceans by empowering young people to protect the amazing habitats all around them. Hear about some of the incredible work they're doing to protect and restore our freshwater! Visit http://mountainstoseawellington.org/ to learn more.
Bruce Foster talks to Perrine about his environmentally inspired art and activism, and the ways that artists might want to make audiences uncomfortable!
Molly and Ursula tell B Sides about the School Strike 4 Climate held on 24 May - speaking to crowds of 4500, growing hope for youth in New Zealand, and becoming activists. They also lay down a few challenges for Perrine and Laura!
Laura and Perrine headed to Te Ngakau Civic Square on 24 May to check out the second school strike 4 climate.
Lucy and David from the Citizens Advice Bureau share the many interesting (and helpful!) things that the CAB do in a day... and fill us in on their changing central city location.
Note well: Sound is a little shaky for the first minute or so, but then clears up, so please persevere!
Climate Scientist James Renwick is a Professor at Victoria University, the winner of the Prime Minister’s Science Prize for Communication in 2018, and when you hear a climate scientist on Morning Report talking about the dangers of climate change, it’s probably him.
James sat down with Laura to chat about his journey into studying climate, the urgency that's required for responding to climate change, and using art to tell stories about our changing world.
Urban Habitat Collective are a diverse group of Wellingtonians working to collectively design and build a medium-density, stacked neighbourhood. Collective members Bronwen Newton and Lew Skinner talked to Sadie Coe about their vision of social living and a sharing of skills and resources in an urban community.
Stu Farrant is one person championing Wellington's water! He is an ecological engineer for Morphum Environmental, the chair of the Whaitua Committee, and he has just completed a Winston Churchill Fellowship looking at how cities around the world are getting more connected with their water. Listen in to find out about how we can better improve the relationship we have with ours!
Laura spoke to Dr Mike Joy, an environmental scientist, and researcher and lecturer at Victoria University. He’s been working for 20 years on the on understanding the freshwater crisis in Aotearoa, and on the public policies needed to resolve environmental issues. We spoke about his background and early work, and about an old sailboat called Medina that keeps him sane.
The second edition of our new economics segment is about the Living Wage. The Living Wage is a higher wage rate for people doing typically minimum-wage work. Laura asks our expert economist, Olivia Wills, about whether an employer should pay the Living Wage, and she hits us with some evidence based policy!
This episode is related to our interview with Lindy McIntyre from 11 April. Find it in you podcast feed to learn more about the Living Wage.
As an end cap to Organic Week NZ, the Sustainable Business Network organised a series of speakers on urban farming in Aotearoa. Laura went along and spoke to two out-of-towners about their projects and vision for sustainable and regenerative community agriculture in our cities. You'll hear Bailey Peryman from Cultivate Christchurch, and Sarah Smuts-Kennedy of For the Love of Bees.
Find related interviews in our back catalog with Julia Milne of Common Unity Project, and Jen Cooper from Kaicycle.
Bambi talks to us about statelessness in the Moken people in Thailand and we discuss how we can learn from this in Aotearoa
Our new economics segment covers the 'Wellbeing Budget'. At the end of May, the Government is set to announce a whole new style of budget. Our expert economist, Olivia Wills, tells us the new areas the Government will measure, and how it's different from an old budget.
Rhona O'Neill and Sadie Coe chat about the regular (this is the second one!) inclusive clothes swap that they are part of organising, and about the pitfalls of the fast fashion industry, environmentalism, inclusivity, and building community.
Tim Foote speaks with Richard Jeffrey from MOSAIC about the organisation’s work supporting and empowering male survivors of sexual and child abuse in the Wellington region, and working hard to change the way New Zealand views the sexual abuse of males.
Bridget Cassie came into the studio to share some energy and tell us about Inspiring Stories, Future Leaders, and Festival for the Future
Christian and Jamie from NOCAR CARGO talk to Perrine and Laura about pedalling wares around the streets of Poneke
Lindy chats to Perrine about how the Living Wage movement can help people participate as active citizens and why equal societies are better for all.
Lucy Smyth, when pressed, describes her music as "electronic pop meets soul jazz". She is originally from Christchurch where she completed a degree in jazz vocals and performed as a member of the band Sparkle Kitty. Now living in Wellington, she continues to explore voice as an instrument in her solo work and hopes to release an E.P. this year. She came into the studio to sing live for our listeners.
Jacinta Gulasekharam talks to Perrine and Laura about Dignity: Creating a movement for free sanitary items for all women in New Zealand
Laura chatted to Maribel Aburto and Katia Guiloff about a community mural being planned by the Latin Collective. The idea is inspired by the colourful living murals created by Chilean immigrant communities in France. The Latin Collective held community discussions to determine the themes for the artwork, and recruited a mural artist from Chile to help with the design. They are inviting everyone to join them on the weekend of 30-31 March.
For nearly 30 years Aro Video has been a haven for film-lovers, specialising in arthouse, foreign, and hard-to-get movies. Founder and owner Andrew Armitage speaks to Sadie Coe about how he came to create what some have called "a national treasure" and about how fans of the shop can help it through a current period of crisis.
Having a compost bin is a great way to reduce your household rubbish, and make rich soil to feed you garden. Nina Atkinson from Sustainability Trust chatted to Laura about how to make your compost bin really work. For worm farms and bokashi bins, try: https://sustaintrust.org.nz/collections/garden We also mention: http://kaicycle.workerbe.co/ as a food waste collection service.
Marie Fitzpatrick (photographed left) and Nic Murray (right) started sharing baking to light up the lives of others going through tough times. Now they've assembled an army of more than 1,500 Good Bitches who have baked up more than half a million deliveries across NZ, they've baked with prisoners, and now they're on a mission to amp up their kindness even further and make NZ the kindest place on Earth. Host Christine Langdon talks with the head bitches from Good Bitches Baking - a super kind charity that has taken Wellington, and New Zealand, by storm.
On Friday 15 March, young people around Aotearoa/New Zealand, and around the world, are holding a strike - leaving school for one day to tell politicians to take their future seriously and take urgent action on climate change. Bree Renwick from Kāpiti College joined me to chat about why she's helping to organise a strike at her school.
To learn more, and get involved go to www.schoolstrike4climatenz.com
Amazingly, Captain Cook is back from the dead and walking around Wellington reflecting on how maybe he didn't actually discover New Zealand! Listen to our outrageous, and oddly informative conversation with Cook, followed by a chat with Tom Clarke about how he helped to develop the walking tour "Captain Cook Thinks Again" Get your tickets now: http://www.barbarian.co.nz/captain-cook-thinks-again/
We are talking about Valentines Day, underwear, and the joys and challenges of creating jobs for former refugees, with Elisha Watson, founder of Wellington social enterprise Nisa (...but first a couple of embarrassing moments with Siri popping in for our first episode of the year!).
Pip Lee and Kate S give us some great ideas for exploring Wellington this summer (and beyond...)
An interview with Zoe Studd,Director of Mountains to Sea Wellington. A trust that operates with a team of dedicated staff and volunteers, running programs with communities and young people and creating a sense of Kaitiakitanga which in Maori means guardianship and protection, a way of managing the environment that reflects the deep kinship between humans and the natural world. They are creating a legion of kaitiaki, young guardians and protectors, empowered to take action to help protect and restore our rivers, harbors and coasts.
It's our last episode of 2018, and we wanted to find out how we could create less waste this Christmas(after all, we've been doing so well with our reusable shopping bags and coffee cups all year!) So we spoke with the expert - passionate waste-buster Ali Kirkpatrick, of Boomerang Bags, Waste-Ed and the Hopper Home Eco Shop. Beware, we go to some dark, depressing places, but there is hope!
Co-host Christine Langdon talks with Louise Parkin of the Nikau Foundation, Wellington's Community Foundation, about generosity in Wellington, the causes that Wellingtonians care about, and how to give effectively.
Laura visited WellyTech 2018 - the tech world's end of year party - and spoke to some of the people who make it happen. You'll hear: Raj Khushal who helped to create WellyTech, Victoria MacLennan who nurtures tech startups in Wellington, Jono Tucker who makes Raj look good with photo and video prowess, and Vivian Chandra who improves the tech systems at the businesses and charities that make the world a better place. They are all part of the team supporting the Access Granted community and making Wellington's (and NZ's) tech world tick. https://accessgranted.nz/
Laura and her special guest co-host Elizabeth hit the streets of Wellington for an honest review of the new Onzo bikes. Listen to our hopes, struggles, and triumphs riding Wellington's newest transport option - dockless rental bicycles.
Jem Yoshioka - local illustrator, storyteller, comic artist and blogger - chats to Perrine about how she works, some of her preoccupations, and the artistic world she operates in.
Image by Jem Yoshioka - jemshed.com
Co-host Christine Langdon visits Kapiti Island and talks with Manaaki Barrett of Kapiti Island Nature tours about how the family owned business is sharing the Island's unique birdlife, culture and history. They also chat about how they're taking a sustainable approach to growing the whanau-run tourism operation - which won the Department of Conservation Environmental Tourism Award at the NZ Tourism Awards in September.
Ruth Croft talks to Jake Schultz of Katoa Innovation about the digital platform he is creating. A social enterprise startup to empower communities to restore native habitat and save bees through education and emerging technology.
Ahead of World Prematurity Day on 17 November, we talk with Neil O'Styke, the Executive Director of The Neonatal Trust. One in 10 babies are born prematurely - with 1000 babies a year going through the Wellington Neonatal Unit and 400 babies through the Hutt Special Care Unit. Neil talks about the potential long-term impacts for those babies as well as the stresses their families experience, and how we can all help.
Jellyfish are flowing, and amorphous, and just... blobbie. They've helped to inspire the Artist Louie Neale for his upcoming show in Performance Art Week Aotearoa: Jellyfish Do Return. In this episode, Louie speaks to Laura about his performance, which explores humans using clothing to represent identity and queerness. Don't miss Louie's show and the rest of PAWA: https://performanceartweekaotearoa.com/
Allan Burne's life has been so varied, and he is such a natural storyteller, that we struggled to cover off the basic outline of his achievements in our half hour slot. Allan tells us how rescuing a man from a toilet got him a job with Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson, how a bad strategy to improve his modelmaking led to a PhD in Ecology and Biodiversity, and how he's fulfilling his childhood dream of being an actor.
Christine Langdon (in her first interview for B-Side Stories) interviews inspiring Wellingtonian Dee Glentworth, whose philosophy is "don't bin it, share it". Dee has created Free For All, which will rescue and re-home literally anything (for free)!
Want to start a business or have a great idea or just want a catalyst to change your life? Ruth croft talks with Tony Henderson Newport about his PopUp business school. A ten day accelerator that is free to participants.
Chris Tse, guest curator of Litcrawl 2018, talks to Perrine about mourning literary deaths and how great it feels when literature takes over the streets.
Laura jumps on her bicycle and rolls out for a visit with Catarina Gutierrez about the upcoming event taking over the streets in Wellington City. Hear about Te Ara Tapere ki Pōneke/Open Streets, learn about urbanists, hear about Onzo bikes, and generally get pumped to see our city in a new way! It's downtown on Sunday 28 October.
Visit http://bikethere.org.nz/te-ara-tapere/ for more info.
InsideOUT works to make Aotearoa a safer place for young people of minority genders and sexualities. Kate Aschoff talks to us about their work with rainbow diversity groups in schools and their other projects fostering inclusiveness and a sense of belonging for all young people.
Perrine goes to an Edit for Equity event run by Antistatic, with members of the public working alongside savvy guides to help correct the gender bias on wikipedia.
Image by Antistatic.
The Compassion Soup Kitchen on Tory St. hosted a community fun day. Laura went along to chat to some of the people and organisations there to learn more about homelessness in Wellington. You'll hear from: Regenerate Magazine, Wellington Night Shelter, Compassion Soup Kitchen, Kaibosh food rescue, and St Vincent de Paul's.
Carol Shortis talks to Ruth Croft about the service of The Whakaahuru Singers. Carol is their musical Director and they bring comfort to those approaching the end of life by singing at bedsides, using the gift of gentle singing to deliver moments of peace, comfort and support.
Ruth and Laura close the show by chatting about Forest & Bird's annual Bird of the Year competition! Kereru, kakapo, and kaki are in the lead this year. The last day to vote is Sunday! Visit www.birdoftheyear.org.nz to take part.
"Creativity is the heart of everything". A longer episode of B-Side Stories with Claire Hewitt and Lee Rutene from Alpha Omega playback theatre, talking to Sadie Coe about the joy in storytelling. Claire loves creating spaces where people can find their voice through play, through her company Igniting the Creative Spark. One of her many projects is Alpha Omega, and in the second half of the episode actor and paraolympian Lee Rutene talks about his passion for disability issues and about the healing power of telling stories.
There's a man down our street with a shed full of bones, and tanks crawling with flesh eating beetles. A fascinating interview with George Holly of Skulls Down Under. Hear about custom bone cleaning, degreasing, bleaching, repair and reconstruction of animal skulls and skeletons. There's even an alligator in the story.
The Knack is a craft market that has been running quarterly since 2008 as a fundraiser for Berhampore School. In that time it has built up a large following and has become a key community event for the area. Founder Justine Fletcher talks about the market and local community, and about her interests in inclusive education and in women's suffrage.
We hear from local writers Sinead Overbye, Joy Holley, Caroline Shepherd and Jake Brown (with co-editor Francis Cooke)
Rob Lee talks about the amazing work of The Brooklyn Trail Builders. Hear about the new track underway, how tracks are built and the guys that build them.
Nik Bullard from Museums Wellington tells Laura about the Nairn Street Cottage - Wellington's oldest surviving residential home. You'll learn about the Wallis family, who built and occupied the house for generations, and what life was like for the 1850s family in Wellington city.
The cottage still stands in Mt Cook. Look out for the newly restored/refurbished site, opening in September 2018! www.museumswellington.org.nz/
Shelley Gardner from Wellington Museum shares the farcical story of how Wellington became the Capital of New Zealand. It involves devious politics, a ship wreck, an earthquake, and ten years of fighting! You'll never guess who finally picked Wellington as the Capital City.
Visit Wellington Museum to learn more about the people who've made Wellington tick! https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/
Reframe Aotearoa’s mission is to make facilitation and conflict services affordable and accessible for everyone. Founder Tim Foote spoke to Sadie Coe about his transformative approach to conflict and why he loves working in this field.
So many of the amazing community groups we interview make their home at the Newtown Community and Cultural Centre. Eryn Gribble and Renee Rushton joined Laura and Sadie to chat about what the Community Centre does. They told us about some of the amazing resources that you can find there (free soup anyone?!). They also talk about why Newtown is the coolest suburb of all!
Visit http://www.newtowncommunity.org.nz/ to learn more.
B-Sides host Ruth Croft was in the studio(practicing her skills) and recorded an episode of Youth Zone for Wellington Access Radio, starring her children: Ryan and Amy. Listen to hear these high school students talk about their interests and plans for the future.
If you want to hear more from students like Ryan and Amy, listen to Youth Zone on Wellington Access Radio: http://www.accessradio.org.nz/youth-zone.html
Laura and Perrine sat in the studio with the Polly Johnson Set to celebrate the success of their latest fundraising campaign, and hear some live songs - an absolute treat! Listen to hear a bit about their musical journey.
The Polly Johnson Set is: Marty, Ty, Gina, Scott, and of course Polly, who couldn't join us on the air. Their fun and foot-stomping music will have you bopping, swaying and swooning. To support their first album, give a pledge here before 31 July 2018: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/5652-the-polly-johnson-set-s-first-album
There is consultation open right now on the Zero Carbon Act! It's an idea to make meaningful reductions in New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions, and make us carbon-neutral by 2050. The idea of the Act came from Generation Zero - a youth organisation dedicated to action on climate change.
In this episode, Laura Somerset from Generation Zero gives some advice and guidance to help you understand the Zero Carbon Act. It's everything you need to know to make a submission telling the Government what is important to you in climate change legislation.
You can make a submission before 19 July 2018 using Gen Zero's handy web form: http://www.generationzero.org/zca_submission
Ruth Croft talks to David Harkness about Getting Predator Free Brooklyn off the ground and how they it is making a difference in the war against RATS!
Today’s story involves a birthday and a matchmaking service with a difference. Five years ago Gail Marshall and Sue McCabe created Community Comms Collective. Hear how communications practitioners give back to the community using their professional skills to empower community organisations.
Our world is this close to having more plastic in it than animals! How can you reduce the amount of plastic in your life? Plastic-Free July is an excellent opportunity to learn more and experiment with methods that work for you. Here to take us through it is Sarah from a new social enterprise, Waste-ed, who are getting behind plastic free initiatives across Wellington to make sustainable living easy and accessible.
Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/waste.edNZ/, www.waste-ed.com
Addressing the widespread issue of sexual violence across Aoteaora takes time, money and serious energy. Luckily for Wellington, HELP exists to do just that. Their Annual Appeal is coming up this weekend (22 and 23 June) and they need funds to keep their doors open, so we spoke to chief executive Conor Twyford about what they do and why.
In this episode we refer to sexual violence such as rape. If you need support, you can call the HELP 24/7 crisis line on 04 801 6655 & push '0' at the menu, or visit www.wellingtonhelp.org.nz.
Matariki is the name of the constellation which appears in the sky in mid-winter, telling us a new cycle of the stars is beginning. In Maori tradition, this is also a time for remembering and celebrating loved ones who have passed in the past year, and for feeding the stars by holding great feasts and enjoying them with friends and whanau. Attempting to make this a real celebration in everyday New Zealand life is Charles Royal from Te Papa. Listen to learn more!
This week on B-Side's Jazz Festival special we spoke with Eilish Wilson, a baritone saxophone player and a graduate of the New Zealand school of music. Hear what she has to say on jazz music, culture and studies, as well as the complex field of gender in the jazz world!
Listen to jazz drummer and local hero Myele Manzanza wax lyrical about composition, the physicality of drumming, and finding a unique sound. Laura and Sapeer were in the studio for a Wellington Jazz Festival special episode!
Ever wondered why there isn't a separate jobs board to help you with your career in social good? Well guess what - there is one, and it's called Do Good Jobs. Julia Capon is the founder and CEO of New Zealand's only site exclusively for job listings and organisations trying to make the world a better place.
Wellycon has grown over 11 years from a group of 20 boardgame fans to an event involving over 400 people, ranging from the curious to the hardcore all-night gamers. Organisers Ceedee Doyle and Nigel McNaughton talk to one of B-Side Stories hosts, Sadie Coe, about this year's event, coming up at Queen's birthday, and about the resurgence of table top games across the world.
Laura found Mike Riversdale and Raj Khushal in a pub, and brought them into the studio to chat about their podcast Access Granted. The team from Access Granted host awesome interviews with amazing people from the world of technology. They're also running Techweek TV 2018, streaming live interviews from Techweek events around New Zealand. Visit www.accessgranted.co.nz for more.
In this special episode for chronic fatigue awareness day, Laura talked to Ali about his experience overcoming chronic fatigue. He talks about the importance of keeping hope and having perspective on the slow road to recovery.
Documentary filmmakers Simin Littschwager and Antony Kitchener talk about their film Rock-Paper-Scissors, which will premiere on May 20 at the DocEdge festival. Initially they had planned a short bio of Stavros Kyriakides, who creates sculptures from natural materials along Wellington's South Coast, but while filming they soon discovered a story of the conflict around Stavros' works.
Artist Steven Saunders knew from the age of 6 that he wanted to make movies and toys. He has continued on this path ever since and has created models ranging from dinosaur museum exhibits to Hobbit figurines to award winning sets for Blade Runner 2049. He talks to us about the joy of creating worlds both fantastical and fact-based.
We spoke to Cam from Zero Waste at Newtown Festival as he emerged from the impressive piles of diverted waste - phew!
We talk to the wonderful Shannon Friday from the Wellington Timebank and hear about things are changing up at your favourite local alternative economy!
The amazing Dayna Berghan-Whyman competes in the medieval battle sport of 'buhurt'. She's going to Europe in May 2018 to fight in two World Championship Medieval Combat competitions. She talks about discovering the sport, representing New Zealand, and remembering to pee before you put on armour.
Find Dayna's website here: http://handypaladin.co.nz/
Photo: CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF [https://bit.ly/2Jh7vxz]
Sadie talks to storyteller Sarah Hunter, who grew up in remote Porangahau and has since enmeshed her life with the Wellington creative scene. From her beachside studio she runs her agency Transmit Media-Creative, telling the stories of clients ranging from musicians Fat Freddy's Drop to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.
Sarah talks about her journey and work, and about the importance of creative collaboration.
Note: music tracks are faded out after a few seconds to comply with Soundcloud's copyright rules for downloadable audio.
B-Side Stories previews the first episode of "Exposure" a new podcast by our own Sapeer Mayron.
New Zealand is having its own #metoo reckoning. #metoonz is beginning, and on Exposure, Sapeer interviews journalist Alison Mau about the investigation.
Find more episodes of Exposure here: https://soundcloud.com/exposurecast
You've probably noticed this yourself - so often, managers are not necessarily trained in management. This can become problematic, but there is a solution! Adam Shand and his sister Amy are the founders and facilitators of Managers Anonymous, a support group for people wanting a helping hand with problems they're encountering at work, or as Adam puts it - "squishy human problems". Enjoy!
Mari North and Erin Kennedy are decorating the city with whimsical creations, decorating our benches, lampposts, and bike stands. They joined Laura and Sapeer to talk about yarn bombing, and how their queer knitting group takes art to the streets!
In a week full of climate change news, James Barber and Michelle Ducat joined Laura and Sapeer to talk about the Rally for Climate Justice in Wellington, and the blockade of the Oil Summit on 27 March 2018.
Elisha Watson is a young Wellingtonian who ditched her job as a lawyer to start her own business, nisa, with the purpose of helping our former refugee women to have employment by making kick ass undies!
Caroline McGlinchy has devoted her life to creativity and to supporting children and their parents. We talk to her about how those things are interwoven and about how her fascination with human behaviour has led her on a path of continual learning and exploration.
Note: music tracks are faded out after a few seconds to comply with Soundcloud's copyright rules for downloadable audio.
On Saturday, Wellington will explode with colour, light and magic for the first ever Wellington International Pride Parade. Amanduh is the chair of the organising committee, and in her words, it will be "catastrophic". Check out our interview with Amanduh to learn all about the event, where it came from and who put it all together. It's fabulous!
Laura talks to Amanda Barber and Robin Payne about their grassroots campaign to save the NZ Post Shop and Kiwibank location in Newtown. They desire to keep the community alive in a physical location where service, care, and help for the people of Newtown is retained.
Laura and Martin hopped in the studio for some stories from the year. You'll hear an interview with Paul Eagle on setting up at Parliament and how the new Government might impact on Wellington city. You'll also hear a few Christmas songs! Enjoy!
Francis Cooke, co-editor of Starling online journal, chats with us about the joys of editing the journal, the delights of LitCrawl, and even recites some poetry from Starling.
Wellingtonians Susan Paris and Kate de Goldi are the editors of two wonderfully chunky Annuals for children. Susan talks to the B-Side team about the fun, hard work, and more fun in creating these miscellany of fiction, comics, poems, essays, art, and high jinks.
Joining us this week on B-Side Stories was our wonderful B-Side Stories founder, sustainability champion, fashion entrepreneur, and now local government campaigner Laurie Foon.
Joining us this week on B-Side Stories was Christine Langdon, Chief of Good of local giving platform & social enterprise, The Good Registry, which launched last Wednesday. The Good Registry aims to redirect some of the money spent on unwanted or unneeded gifts to local and national charities.
The Social Change Collective is a brand new organisation that is facilitating discussion and action brainstorming on the issues that affect our lives, our communities, and of course our world. Once a month they meet to learn about an issue or topic with the help of guest experts, and then guests and experts alike figure out what they should all do about it.
To learn more, meet one of the co-founders, Joanna, who is a full time lawyer when she's not helping YOU make your life more fulfilling.
sSendam Rawkustra are a musical group which grew out of a mental health drop-in centre in Newtown, over 10 years ago. Band members Andreas Lepper and Matthew O'Brien came into the studio to play some music, read some poetry, and talk about their creative community of performers.
Joining us on B-Side Stories this week was Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant, songwriter, actress and performer to discuss her upcoming show "Songs By Twilight 3" on Sunday November 26. She shares why she's chosen local business to host her series of shows gives us an intimate acoustic performance of some of the songs being performed at the show.
Andrew Carey from Black Minnaloushe talks to Sadie and Laura about his new album, Get Down, and performs a couple of songs live in the studio.
Laura and Sadie chat to Rob Wilson and Dr Serena Cox from Ghost Fishing NZ. They dive into the harbour and coastline of Wellington to clear-up t the gnarly rubbish that's littering the sea floor! https://www.ghostfishing.co.nz/
Steve Jardine is a trustee of Menzshed, an organisation set up to give men a place to relax, socialise, and put their hands to good work. A buddy system, a roomy shed at the Hataitai Community House and a warm community means Menzshed can take care of the vulnerable and the lonely, and offer them a place to feel valued. Also featured in our episode this week is the local delight French for Rabbits! If you haven't yet, check them out, they're pretty great: http://www.frenchforrabbits.com/
Stella Reid and Laura Robinson tell Sapeer and Perrine about their fabulous 11 minute short film, Drop Down Globe: Shakespeare as you've never seen her.
Thomas LaHood from Wellington theatre company Barbarian Productions talks to Perrine and Laura about being a clown, taking kids seriously, and using theatre to make life better.
Samantha Jones, founder and CEO of Little Yellow Bird just won the Innovation Award's coveted prize of Young Innovator of the Year, and LYB was a finalist in the Sustainability and Renewable Energy category.
Little Yellow Bird is breaking into the uniform and corporate workwear market with organically grown cotton and ethically treated growers, manufacturers and workers. They're blazing the trail in ethical fashion and demand better from their peers in the fashion industry.
Check out LYB at their website www.littleyellowbird.co.nz or on Instagram: @lyb_uniforms.
The Executive Menstruator and Creative Menstruator of the new social enterprise Wā Collective came on B-Sides to talk about ending period poverty, and being okay with using a menstrual cup! Olie Body and Marie Larking join Laura and Perrine in the studio. Visit http://wacollective.org.nz/ to learn more, and keep an eye out for their PledgeMe campaign in the coming days.
Michael Barnett talks to Laurie Foon about the best solutions for our towns tricky transport situation. After a career as a civil engineer whose expertise in urban transport had him linked to Welly's transport system, including being the WCC liaison engineer on planning for the Terrace Tunnel to the Basin Reserve section during the 1990s, he is now a co-founder and convener of FIT(Fair Intelligent Transport) Wellington and a member of Congestion Free Wellington!
Tony Kuepfer is the only glass blower in the Wellington region! He keeps a furnace of molten glass out in Mirimar, and came in to tell us about how he got started and why, 30 years on, he's still in love with glass. Tony's studio is open for visitors Friday's and Saturdays 10am - 4pm, at 9 Ropa St, Mirimar!
Sapeer and Laura chat about Mental Health Awareness Week NZ, and interview Tracy Wellington from Kiwi Community Assistance.
Kiwi Community Assistance (KCA) is a registered charity based in Tawa, Wellington that is run by volunteers. As a distribution hub to local schools, foodbanks and other charities they provide fresh produce, non perishable food, clothing, books, toys, through to household goods including furniture and whiteware to families in need in communities throughout Wellington
Katharine and Laura chat with Chris from Wellington Timebank about what time bank is, some new treats on-offer, and some of the more fun and unusual trades that he's seen!
Michele Frank is the Head of Conservation Projects at the World Wildlife Fund, who are one of the many partners behind the Great Kererū Count. You have until Sunday 1st October to help conservationists and scientists count our Kererū, which will help save our native bush and ecosystems. To learn more, and log your sightings, go to https://www.greatkererucount.nz/ and get counting!
Frank Burkitt joins Laura Keown and Laurie Foon to talk about the Wellington Independent Music Showcase: BATS Theatre, Sept 27-30 2017. He performs a live song and chats about the hard work of being an independent musician in Wellington.
Cally O'Neill is a Wellington woman who spends her time supporting communities in Co-Design; and more recently focusing on the Newtown community to help them come up with ideas on how the council should spend 3 million dollars on facilities improvements with the Our Town Newtown project. Hear what this community wants to happen most!
Stavros Kyriakides has lived in Island Bay since 1973, and since 2013 has been creating sculptures along the shoreline from the natural materials he finds there. We talked to Stavros about his inspiration, keeping fit, and the reactions of locals to his art. Stavros is soon to be the subject of a documentary film, and we also met with Antony Kitchener and Simin Littschwager who are in the process of editing this to submit to the Doc Edge film festival.
Emmet Maclaurin joined us on Tuesday to explain Just Speak's brand new Election Scorecards. JustSpeak represents the youth and rangatahi voice in the criminal justice conversation and at the decision-making table, and their scorecards help explain the criminal justice attitudes and policies held by our parties. Check them out: http://www.justspeak.org.nz/_election17scorecards
Perrine and Laurie talk to Mustenser Qamar from Meet a Muslim about the great community work they are doing.
Women Who Get Shit Done Unconferences are a chance for a diverse group of women to get together and share, learn....and dance to Beyonce.
Katharine and Laura spoke with Jess Ducey co-founder of WWGSD about the importance of diversity, the great things that happen when women get together and what even is an unconference anyway.
The Wellington flock of Frocks on Bikes hosted a progressive dinner on electric bicycles as part of Wellington on a Plate 2017. Laura rode along and talked to people about their experience biking around Wellington for delicious food. Listen to hear the mystery locations of the A La Carless event revealed!
The election is four weeks away. The political scene has been crazy - new parties, new leaders, parties disappearing!
How do you decide who to vote for? Do you simply vote the same as three years ago? Do you ask your mum what to do? In this episode, Sapeer and Laura chat to Chris McIntyre, who helped to create an online tool called 'Policy' (hosted by The Spinoff), that collects all of the Party policies on one place for people to review and inform their voting decision.
http://policy.thespinoff.co.nz/
Enjoy Public Art Gallery on Cuba Street is having its third annual book fair to celebrate the words to go with the art. Louise Rutledge joined us on Tuesday to talk about the book fair, the art world, and the role of contemporary galleries in Wellington.
The Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary is a safe and sustainable space to rehabilitate and re-home abused, injured and neglected animals.
Listen to Laura interview their Chief Animal Caretaker, Coax, about some of the amazing animals that live there, and how to support them.
Joining hosts Martin & Perrine this week on B-Side Stories is Ben Phillips from the Newtown Tool Library to discuss the latest in community tool lending and their fantastic "repair cafe" which is being run on October 14. Members of the public can bring old products to be given a new lease of life rather than being thrown out! Ben also introduces us to his favourite local track, Pro Bono Techno Zone by Estere.
Sam Seiniger has come up with a creative solution to keeping warm during the Wellington winter, converting a shipping container into a sauna, built with recycled material, right on the Wellington waterfront with views of the harbour. Sam from NZ Pop-Up Sauna talks with Katharine about sauna traditions, 'sweat bathing', and whether people really do jump in the Wellington harbour after a sauna session. https://www.nzpopupsauna.com/
This year, scientists, public health advocates, and environmental organisations, launched the Freshwater Rescue Plan. The Plan is seven steps the Government can take to address the pollution of rivers and lakes, and the contamination of fresh water. Listen to Laura's conversation with: Annabeth Cohen from Forest & Bird Don Rood from Fish & Game Keriata Stuart from Public Health Association And Jane Ruka from Waitaha Grandmothers Executive Council
They explain the seven steps of the plan and their vision for the future of New Zealand's fresh water.
For more info, visit www.freshwaterrescueplan.org.nz
Nopesisters clothing is a Wellington brand started by local sisters Brittany and Johanna Cosgrove, and their mum Bette! Brittany joins to tell us all about their MastectoTees and NOPEtees and the causes you can support by buying them, as well as a new shirt just around the corner...
You can check out the shirts on their facebook page and buy them using their very easy order forms! https://www.facebook.com/nopesisters/?fref=mentions
Bicycle Junction is a bike shop with a difference. They've been bringing the joy of biking to the masses. And now they've got a new community hub in Wellington central. Help them move shop this Sunday, then check out the new location for a coffee sometime! https://www.bicyclejunction.co.nz/
We interviewed Karin Wiley from Places for Penguins, a community programme that exists to give the Little Penguin/Korora 'a fighting chance'.
Last week we checked out the music of three bands performing at Meow who have been leaders in the alt-rock-pop world here in Wellington!
Since 2015, Adrienne Girling has chaired Out Wellington, the organisation that produces the Wellington Pride Festival/Tū whakahīhī e Te Whanganui-ā-Tara. This year she won an Absolutely Positively Wellington award for her contribution. She joined Laura in the studio to talk about how Out Wellington makes it happen, and what Pride events have done for Wellington City! https://www.wellingtonpridefestival.org.nz/
Michael Clements is an avid collector of Jewish cultural memorabilia! Michael joined Laura and Sapeer to talk about the new display of his collection at the Wellington Jewish Community Centre on now. The exhibit is called: Jewish Life in Wellington 1840-2017
Photo by LUCY SWINNEN of STUFF
This week on B-Side Stories we trialed a new concept, lost Wellington classic albums. Every couple of months we'll shine the B-Side spotlight on albums that have eluded mainstream success but have still left a creative and interesting mark on the Wellington musical landscape. Our pilot album this week was 2014's "More Songs About Girls & The Apocalypse" by Vorn. Vorn sat down with host Martin Andrews to chat about the conception and recording of the album and highlighted four songs in particular, Repentance Song, Drowning Kittens, The story of my f##king life & The Rules.
Sarah Thomson is a freshly minted law grad who's decided to take the Government to court to challenge, what she considers, is their inadequate response to climate change. What motivates someone in their early 20s to take on the Government? Listen in and find out.
Eric Spurr from Landcare Research joined Laura on the phone from Auckland to discuss the importance of the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey, what it has taught us so far, and how people can get involved to be citizen scientists!
This year's survey: 24 June - 2 July 2017 Visit: http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/science/plants-animals-fungi/animals/birds/garden-bird-surveys
Every year New Zealand celebrates National Volunteer Week to recognize the contribution of New Zealand's 1.2 million volunteers. Julie Thomson from Volunteer Wellington Joined B-Side Stories host Laura Keown in the studio to chat about the value of volunteering, and the special events on in Wellington for National Volunteer Week 2017!
B-Side Stories transforms into a music show as Laura and Perrine play some tunes from artists visiting the 2017 Wellington Jazz Festival. The Playlist is:
The Comet is Coming, "Start Running" Brad Kang "Body and Soul" Black String "Seven Beats" Dave Weckl and band "Higher Ground"
Visit www.jazzfestival.co.nz for the full programme!
Joris De Bres from Project Crimson joined us in the studio to talk about Trees That Count - an initiative to plant one native tree for every New Zealander this year! Key to the project is that new trees get counted. Go to https://www.treesthatcount.co.nz/ to count the trees you plant, or pledge for a tree to be planted on your behalf.
Catherine Robertson from the New Zealand Society Of Authors joined Ben and Laurie in the Wellington Access Radio Studio. Both writers and readers will be interested to learn about authors, genres, and publishing in NZ.
Boomerang Bags Wellington is a plastic pollution solution for our plastic bag epidemic. And the mayor wants to get these in circulation to reduce the 9000 tonnes of plastic that is being dumped in the city's landfills every year. Moore Wilsons are also coming on board with rumours that they have ordered 3000 of them to have in circulation for their store. Find out more as in this interview Pip and Sarah of the Boomerang Bags.
Hannah Blumhardt and Liam Prince return to B-Side Stories to tell us about their upcoming Rubbish Trip, living zero waste and connecting with people who also want to minimise their waste. They also perform a fantastic Neapolitan song!
Sarah Meads tells us about a great community environmental initiative happening in Kelburn and Highbury ... GoEco!
The amazing Laura O'Connell Rapira does many many things but in this interview we talk about co-founding RockEnrol - a group that aims to get young people engaged and voting in New Zealand. Laura told us about their crazy idea to lower the voting age. It's so crazy, it might just work!
Jordan Anderson is the a co-author of a report from JustSpeak called, "Bailing out the Justice System". We talked about why there are more people in prison instead of less, and how we could be spending public money on #abillionbetterthings
We talk to Annabel Wilson of Ravel Productions about their show 'No Science to Goodbye'
Laura went to Race Relations Day in Wellington to speak to organisers and supporters about what they day is about.
You'll hear from Tayo Agunlejika and Pancha Narayanan from Upper Hutt, and you'll hear the Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy.
Wellington Zoo recently celebrated it's 110th year by throwing the Wild Ideas Conservation Symposium, which was about sharing conservation learnings from the world's leading global conservation organisations. B-Side Stories were able to talk to Esther Conway of 21st Century Tiger and Ang Sherpa from the Red Panda Network about the challenges these animals face, how their organisations support them and some tips for us as consumers.
The The Dowse Art Museum has a new exhibition called This Time of Useful Consciousness, featuring New Zealand artists who are chiming into the conversation of the urgency to address global environmental issues. Curator for the Dowse, Melanie Oliver talks to B-Side Stories about the reasons why the artists wanted to be part of the exhibition.
Henry and Laura talk the easiest way to listen to B-Side Stories: subscribe in your favourite podcast app! Choose a free one. Laura recommends 'podcast addict' for android users.
James Smith from BaseJump Improv tells Henry and Laura about Chicago-style improvisation, and the Foundation course available in May 2017.
http://www.basejumpimprov.co.nz/
Stephanie Hill along with her husband Ravi Dass, started their business Mr. Foureyes and a family at roughly the same time. And the business isn't ordinary; it aims to give as much as it gets by helping a child with their eyesight every time YOU buy a pair of glasses. Stephanie talks to B-side Stories about her "normal", as a mum, a business woman and a person engaged with helping her community.
Ahead of WRC's annual fundraising appeal, Kyla and Hannah sat down to talk about the services that WRC offer, and how to prevent sexual violence in New Zealand. You'll hear the events on from 30 March-2 April 2017 where you can donate to WRC.
If you have an experience of sexual abuse or rape, or want to reach out to Wellington Rape Crisis, they are online at http://www.wellingtonrapecrisis.org.nz, or call 04 801 8973. All interactions are confidential. It is always OK to ask for help.
David Klein is a local cycling and science enthusiast! His show, Tour de Science, is a science storytelling presentation that took him around Aotearoa this summer - performing 58 times and covering over 5000km on a cargo bike. We also hear about the New Zealand Bicycle Film Festival 2017, starting Tuesday at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
Also joining us this week was Keighty Morton with their band April Fish who are performing at this years Cuba Dupa festival. Keighty has written an 8 track performance for a 10 person choir to be accompanied by themself on piano and a stand up bass. Keighty gave us a sneak peek of the choir performing "Capture Me"
Joining hosts Martin & Laura on B-Side Stories this week was Johnny Gbenda Charles, restaurateur, boutique sports manager, volunteer, ex professional footballer, amazing racer and now Wellington's latest coffee brewer. Johnny chatted about growing up in Sierra Leone his move to Wellington as a 9 yr old and why people over profit is such an important business & personal consideration for him.
Catherine Healy spoke to us about the NZ Prostitutes' Collective (NZPC). The NZPC is a non-profit run by sex workers to support the rights, health and well-being of people in the sex industry. They are celebrating their 30th year in 2017!
Catherine looks back on the start of the NZPC in 1987, and the work to decriminalise sex work in 2003. Now New Zealand is a model for protecting the health and rights of sex workers. Go us!
Sisters Hannah Irakau Pehi and Dr. Phillipa Te Paea Pehi are on a hikoi through New Zealand to promote a positive and healthy future for our precious world & encourage living lives full of potential. They call this hikoi Kiwi Rising! And they just walked through Wellington!!!
A roving conversation with artist, author, blogger, and story-teller Benjamin Mumford-Zisk. He promos his own books, and talks a bit about the love of writing and one of life's great questions: to self-publish, or not to self-publish? http://www.mumfordzisk.com/
Join our end-cap to bike month that focuses on women in cycling. Sylvie Froncek and Stephanie Cairns speak about Mechanical Tempest, and the female-identifying/LGBTQIA-friendly Wenches with Wrenches. What do women talk about when they're fixing bikes?
Sylvie Froncek and Stephanie Cairns are chatting about women riding bikes. Host Laura Keown asks some 'dumb questions' about ladies riding bikes. And we promo the next Wenches with Wrenches bike maintenance night for female identifying and LBGTIA folks. http://www.mechanicaltempest.co.nz/wenches-with-wrenches/
Marianne from Action Station talks about the importance of public broadcasting and media and the people-powered investigation that's scouring the country for ideas on how to leek it alive and well in NZ.
Mark Amery, the curator for Common Ground Public Arts Festival talks about how artists are creating some big conversations about a precious resource - our water.
We spoke to Demi Heath from Photival: a photography festival for positive change. Their aim is to show people thought provoking photographic work from all over the world and the give people the tools they need to help. They are working with established international photographers as well as home grown inspiring photographers. Each exhibition will be linked with a charity, NGO or activist group that works within the area being showcased by the photographer.
http://www.photival.com/
Millie Lambess from the St Vincent de Paul Society Wellington spoke to us about The Institute of Refuge in Art. It's a Fringe festival gallery show that re-purposes old artwork, and raises money for the St Vinnies' refugee services. It's in Black Coffee in Newtown from 25 February 2017.
https://www.facebook.com/events/704108069756218/
Bike Month Special 2017 some of Welly's most inspiring bike culture builders banter about the joys and challenges of cycling in Wellington. Part 2 talks to Kelvin Aris of Full Moon Ride and Patrick Morgan of Cycle Aware Wellington about the joys and challenges of cycle culture in Wellington.
For Bike Month 2017 some of Welly's most inspiring bike culture builders banter about the joys and challenges of cycling in Wellington. In Part 1 we talk with Arthur Price for Bike Space and Mechanical Tempest and Jo Clendon from Bikes Welcome.
Joining hosts Henry & Martin in studio last week was Aaron Packard, founder and board chairperson of 350 Aotearoa, New Zealand's largest and most visible action group combating climate change. Aaron was recently in Marrakesh for the COP:22, the UN Climate Change Conference and he discusses what he learned from this global conference one year on from the Paris Climate Agreement. He also talks about what some of the things we can do locally to combat an issue that affects us all. http://350.org.nz/ http://www.cop22-morocco.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement
Dave Woulfe has a plan to make his kayaks, paddle boards, and mountain bikes free for all Wellingtonians to use. The owner of three outdoor adventure business wants to make enough money this summer to cover his costs and then...he'll start hiring gear out for free. Listen in to hear how Dave and his team plan to make this new way of doing business work, and how you can help out.
Joining us briefly this week on B-Side Stories was Matt Dagger, GM of local food rescue heroes Kaibosh. The November earthquake has left Kaibosh with no permanent premises to work out of so they are on the look out for a new base from which they can continue to distribute over 20 Tonne of food throughout the Wellington region to the less fortunate. Have a quick listen and find out a little bit more about their Earthquake A-Peel! http://www.kaibosh.org.nz/donate-funds/kaibosh-earthquake-a-peel/
On B-Side Stories this week we have our very first open mic! We were treated to 10 Songwriters joining us in studio to play one of their compositions live to air. In performance order they were: 1. Martin Andrews - "Baby You're Drunk, Go Home" - www.martinandrews.co.nz 2. Nathan Laloux - "Somewhere" - facebook.com/nathanlalouxmusic 3. Stellarize - "Circles" - www.stellarizemusic.com 4. Luna Landars - "Something Special" - www.soundcloud.com/scoobmusic-1 5. Tom Kane - "An Invitation" - www.nomansheath.bandcamp.com 6. Tyler - "Waiting For You" 7. Chris - "Peacemaker" 8. Emma Gatsby - "Medicine" - www.emmagatsby.com 9. Rob Whelan - "Alchemist Of Destiny" - www.facebook.com/robwhelanmusic 10. Sianna Rae - "Sacred Angel" - www.siannarae.bandcamp.com/album/gypsy-moon 11. Scott Roy - "Is There Anyone Out There" - www.soundcloud.com/scoobmusic-1
Henry spoke with Damian Sligo-Green about how to put your money where your values are. It turns out your KiwiSaver fund can be invested in some murky business. Damian give us the low-down and explains how we can avoid investing our life's savings in nuclear arms, fossil fuel and other such things.
Laura spoke to the Deputy Mayor about his experience of the Kaikoura earthquakes from Wellington's south coast, in the early morning of Monday 14 November 2016.
Paul shared what happened to him that eventful Monday, why the CBD was opened the next day, and what he's thankful for in this time.
Laura and Henry chat to Rena Kohere from the Sustainability Trust. We talked about the 14 November earthquake, and how we can become more resilient. And we spoke about Christmas shopping! We heard Rena's ideas for making Christmas shopping more eco-friendly, and softer on your pocketbook!
http://www.sustaintrust.org.nz/rena-on-gifts-that-are-kinder/
Melanie Oliver from Dowse Gallery talks to us about their latest exhibition Solo 2016. A snapshot of six contemporary Wellington artists presenting contemporary art work across a range of media.
A zine is a thing that you make and people look at it! They are sometimes revealing, sometimes beautiful, sometimes funny, and offer something for everyone.
Ellen and Rachel spoke to Laura and Henry about making zines and taking care of socks.
Wellington Zinefest 2016 is Saturday 19 November at Wellington High School. For more: http://wellingtonzinefest.blogspot.co.nz/
ReBicycle is a new initiative to fix-up old bikes and gift or lend them to people who need them. It gives a bike a second life, and helps a person to be fit and connected to their community. Some recipients have been new kiwis who are refugees settled in Wellington.
Hilleke and Laura spoke about ReBicycle, and the other amazing bicycle initiatives going on in Wellington and New Zealand!
For more: https://rebicyclewellington.wordpress.com/
Victor Komarovsky is part of a group of young New Zealanders who decided to take matters into their own hands after getting tired of watching politicians do nothing to tackle climate change. Victor explains how Generation Zero is drafting the Zero Carbon Act, a new law they intend to put before Parliament that would force governments to act and start cutting carbon pollution.
An interview with two top Wellington women Angela Meyer and Anna Dean, who have each individually made massive contributions to Wellington’s creative crown. They re-cap on the wins they have had in their marketing agency, Double Denim. They also talk about why they formed the Ace Lady Network that is now bringing big lady power to the female community in Wellington and beyond.
This week Ali spoke to Emily and Bart from Climathon NZ which is happening this weekend. It's a 24 hour challenge addressing local climate change challenges. It's about innovation, collaboration, inspiration, annnnnd fun! Listen to what Bart and Emily had to say.
Angela Rampton and Anna-Marie Miller joined B-Side Stories to talk about how the Council's Welly Next Door campaign lead to a recording caravan. It captures ordinary people's stories for everyone to listen to. They heard amazing stories during seniors' week, mental health week, and at the Great War exhibition.
Hosted by Laura Keown.
For more: www.wellynextdoor.co.nz
This week on B-Side Stories, Adam Manterys joins host Martin Andrews to discuss the upcoming Music Film Festival screening at the Paramount theater from 28 Oct - 13 Nov. Included in the festival are the Pink Floyd/Wizard of Oz mash-up "Dark side of the rainbow", the classic Bowie concert film "Ziggy Stardust" and opening night favourite "Spinal Tap". https://www.facebook.com/musicfilmfestivalnz/?fref=ts
Wellington mum and business woman, Anna Bordignon talks about how she started her social enterprise Munch 5 years ago with the purpose of employing other Mums, to share knowledge on how to feed kids healthy, natural food in their lunchboxes and not pollute the planet while doing it. This year her business was selected as one of 30 businesses from around the world to show their eco-friendly products to the stars at this years Emmy's in LA 2016. Talk about following your dreams.
Joining host Martin Andrews this week is Sian Torrington, artist and activist to discuss her current project, "We don't have to be the Building". A passionate and embodied research, art and writing project about a queer whakapapa of activism and sexuality, through Homosexual Law Reform to today, resulting in assemblage art and writing in the lightboxes on Courtenay Place, Wellington. www.wedonthavetobethebuilding.tumblr.com http://allmeaningisthelineyoudraw.wordpress.com www.soundcloud.com/siantorrington
After seeing people begging in the railway station, Parris Quinn was determined to help feed Wellington's homeless. Her whole family created Heart Parcels, who give out weekly hot meals to people in need. Hosted by Laura Keown and Martin Andrews
To learn more, and order Heart Parcels' fundraising brownies: www.facebook.com/heartparcels
Winara Levi is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Charlotte is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
There are remarkable things happening in the Wellington suburb of Vogelmorn. The community has taken ownership of the Vogelmorn Bowling Club and they are deciding and designing what they want for the Vogelmorn Precinct. Cally O’ Neill is an architectural designer for sustainable environments and community development and has been facilitating the community of Vogelmorn to help make these decisions together.
Olivia Hall is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Toby Newberry is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Tim O'Donovan joins us to tell us about 14HoursHomeless which is happening this Friday to coincide with World Homelessness Day. Join others in sleeping out in a car, on a couch, or on cardboard for the night to help raise awareness and funds for the plight of New Zealand's homeless.
Its election season and its time to get answers to the tough political questions of the day... like what is a Local Community Board? Does it have any power, and do we really need to care? Robert Ashe, Lower Hutt's first ever Green Party candidate, demystifies this little corner of Wellington's local elections and talks about what he'd do if re-elected to his Community Board in Eastbourne.
After 28 years it is the end of an era for one of Wellington's cafe institutions the Ministry of Food, which will move from it's iconic location in Bowen st. due to it being up for development. Laurie talks the cafe's owner Brenda Jessup about the businesses journey, the changes she has scene in the city and impact this local business has had on the community at large.
Volunteers from last weekend's South Coast Clean-up describe some of the items they found on the beach.
To learn more about Wellington South Coast Clean-up: https://www.facebook.com/Wellington-South-Coast-Clean-up-189965687735595/?fref=ts
Ellie Clayton and Tim Lawther came in to chat about what ChangeMakers Refugee Forum does for refugee communities in Wellington.
They told us about the Ahwa Info Hub, their youth development camp, the Asylum Seeker Equality Project, and the Women's driving programme.
To learn more, visit http://crf.org.nz/
Julia Milne is the co-founder and coordinator of Common Unity Project, a registered charity that works with Epuni Primary School in Lower Hutt.
They are growing food on a disused soccer field to feed the children of Epuni School three times each week. Parents and the community come to school to learn, share and educate one another.
Learn more here: http://www.commonunityproject.org.nz/
Jag Popham is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Michael Howard is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
After an intelligent conversation with Giovanni Tiso (http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/) about the state of journalism in NZ, Laura promotes a naked reading event!
"We've got you covered Wellington."
http://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2016/naked-girls-reading-the-new-zealand-debut/wellington
Kristen is the station manager at Wellington Access Radio, where B-Side Stories is produced! She spoke to Martin and Laura about the station's upcoming AGM, the switch from AM to FM, and how potential programme makers can get involved in podcasting and shows!
We love Wellington Access Radio: http://accessradio.org.nz/
Don't Dream it's Over: Reimagining Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand is a new book from Freerange Press.
The book's editor, Giovanni Tiso joined Laura and Martin for a conversation on the state of journalism in NZ.
You can find out more about the book here: http://www.projectfreerange.com/project/dont-dream-its-over-reimagining-journalism-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/
And you can read Giovanni's blog here: http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/
Listen again to the lovely two super-humans; Jenny and Kareena, from The Misprint Co.! The Misprint Co. make good-looking notebooks out of your waste paper. Their recent emergence as finalists in the Wellington Low Carbon Challenge 2016 means they're currently closing in on a PledgeMe campaign to expand their business and do even more good things for Aotearoa. Their ultimate mission is to help New Zealand close-loop our waste streams.
For refugees arriving in New Zealand, finding work is one of the most challenging aspects of resettling in a new country. Language barriers and the lack of local experience means it can be very difficult to find the right training or job opportunities. Pomegranate Kitchen offers catering services and delivers delicious meals prepared by former refugees to central Wellington workplaces. We speak to one of the founders; the fantastic Rebecca, to find out more.
Emma and Ellie from Peace Action Wellington chat about recent and future peace campaigns. We discuss their protest bringing attention to the Australian offshore detention camps. We also chat about their future campaign to oppose the NZ Defence Industry Association's annual forum - which they simply call a weapons expo.
To learn more or get involved with Peace Action Wellington, find them here: https://www.facebook.com/Peace-Action-Wellington-170238716372507/
Ali and Laura banter about the coming week of events in Wellington. Find out more here: http://www.eventfinda.co.nz/tour/2016/conservation-week/in/wellington
6 September 2016
Conservation Week 2016 Image: Kieran Rynhart ©
Mary Rainsford is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Rosana Rosli is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Russell Self is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Ben Sampey is a creative guy with a creative solution to help homeless people. He has created a prototype nano-shelter; a portable home for people sleeping rough. Now he sleeps in it every night.
In this episode, you'll hear him talk about the response to his creation, and share some insights on being homeless.
To learn more, visit Ben on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpacePirateArt?fref=ts
Jacob, Rose, and Andrew promote the new show: No Post on Sunday, from Everybody Cool Lives Here. The show is created by a cast of performers with and without intellectual disabilities.
This episode is in two parts! In the first half you'll hear from two actors from 'No Post on Sunday' talk about how they developed the show.
In the second half you'll hear the artistic director Rose Kirkup talk more about 'Everybody Cool Lives Here'.
Book tickets here: http://www.circa.co.nz/package/no-post-on-sunday/
Learn more here: http://everybodycoolliveshere.com/
Kai cycle is a bicycle-powered food-waste collection-service.... Say.. whhaaaaatttt?!? Listen to Jen explain all, including their recent participation in the Low Carbon Challenge.
Kate Spencer is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
We're joined by Helen Kirlew Smith from Enspiral who'll be explaining how new open ways of working and improved technology can transform society through open source principals. We'll find out how Wellingtonians can learn more at the forthcoming OSOS 2016 — better for business, technology and democracy event.
AWESOME HUMAN ALERT...! On B-Side Stories today we're interviewing Sarah from Sew Love. Sarah and Cecil (her van!) are currently in Wellington helping us reduce single-use plastic bags. Sarah is taking the fun of creative sustainability on the road around NZ and will be popping up at Harbourside market on Sunday 4 September. Learn all about solar-powered Cecil and how sewing can help us LOVE the planet!
Duncan Hope is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: www.pim.nz/
Sarah Tuck and Jody Burrell joined Laura and Martin in the studio to talk about founding the CoLiberate wellness center, now based in the Urban Dream Brokerage. They share some simple exercises to bring mindfulness back into your day.
If you want to visit CoLiberate and prioritise your own wellbeing, check them out here: http://coliberate.co.nz/
April Fields is a qualifier for the 2016 Wellington Regional Poetry Slam. The regional slam will be Friday October 21st, at Old St Paul's in Thorndon.
For more on slam poetry in Wellington: http://www.pim.nz/
B-Sides host Laura Beth Keown created this story about discovering the path of Oceania Humpback whales by tagging them in the Kermadec Islands. You'll hear about the amazing effort of an international research team, and the incredible things they saw in the farthest reaches of New Zealand's waters!
Photo credit to Olive Andrews of Conservation International.
To learn more, see these articles and interviews mentioned in the episode: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-humpback-highway/ http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/201798307/thar-she-goes!-on-the-tail-of-the-kermadec-humpback-whales
Laura and Martin are joined by Sahnnan King to talk about the Park Up For Homes movement. Shannan talks about her passion for the issue of housing deprivation, her personal experiences, and some of the stories she's heard.
"The Wellington Homeless Problem" is a phrase that's being used a lot at the moment. More & more street people seem to appear to ask for change and sleep rough on our streets. Everyone has an opinion but the streeties themselves are the only ones not being heard. Joining us this week were Zap & A.K, former streeties who now advocate for the current street life. Listen in to hear their take on why some people choose the street, what long term solutions are available and how the public should interact with street beggars.
Why Music is the question at the heart of local charity, One Percent Collective's, latest generosity journal. Joining host Martin Andrews this week was OPC Chief Doer Of Things, Pat Shepherd, to discuss how the generosity of music and musicians can translate into everyday giving by all walks of life.
http://www.onepercentcollective.org/ http://www.onepercentcollective.org/whymusic/
Lyndy speaks about the alliance between unions, faith groups, and community groups that started the Living Wage movement in New Zealand. Visit http://www.livingwage.org.nz/ for more info, and to see the Accredited Living Wage employers in Wellington!
Saturday 16 July 2016 is the Night Light Bicycle Parade! Listen to some of the creators of parade floats talk about their creations. You'll hear: Jim Richards and Bridgette Murphy from the Rangiwahia Environmental Arts Centre with "The Comradeship", Gerard on the Tuatara bike, and Solomon on the Pineapple bike (also dressed as a pineapple)!
The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) is nearly upon us again. In Wellington the festival has been screening for 45 years, of which Bill Gosden has overseen more than 30 years in the role of Director. He joins us today on B-Side Stories at 5pm to chat about the role that the festival plays for the NZ film industry and what we should be looking out for in the programme this year.
Plastic Free July champion, Flo McNeill, has instigated possibly Welly's first official plastic bag alternative system, the Paekākāriki Bag Bank, in an effort to support her whole community on the road to becoming plastic bag free.
Liam Prince and Hannah Blumhardt share their tips and tell us of their journey that has lead to them holding a plastic free and Zero waste get together called Plastic Free and Beyond: Living Zero Waste in Wellington.
Ali and Laurie chat to Fran and Chloe from Shift; a project that's working to break down the barriers to physical activity and wellbeing for young Wellington women.
Gabby O'Connor's art installation "Studio Antarctica" is currently showing at Porirua's Pataka Art Museum. In 2015 Gabby spent several weeks researching her art living in a shipping container on four metres of ice over the 500 metre deep McMurdo Sound in Antarctica.
Laura and Martin discuss New Zealand's refugee quota with Murdoch Stephens from Doing Our Bit. The Government announced in May 2016 that the refugee quota would increase from 750 to 1000 in 2018. Murdoch explains why NZ could still do far more.
Since 1945 Alcoholics Anonymous has been helping New Zealanders who have lost the ability to control their drinking. Tonight we're joined in studio by "Barry" who has successfully been through the AA service and now assists others who are looking to get their life back in order. Join us for an open and honest look into what it takes to get back on your feet when you're addicted to alcohol.
Laura shares some interviews from the Park Up at Parliament, 25/06/2016. You'll hear the voices of: Labour MP, Grant Robertson Viv from Whitby, Porirua Green Party Co-Leader, Meteria Turei Jason Clarke from M.A.D (Making a Difference)
Tour Aotearoa is a biennial cycle tour (brevet) from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Henry Fisher completed the 3000km journey in 26 days earlier this year, last week he joined us to talk about the preparation needed to undertake such a strenuous ride and the physical and emotional roller coaster of cycling over 100km a day for a month.
Erik Zydervelt talks about Wellington's first EV car share scheme, about to launch in Spring.
Lucien Johnson tells us about his forthcoming appearance as part of Wellington Jazz Festival and the launch of his new album; a collaboration of some amazing Wellington jazz musicians.
Playwright Hone Kouka speaks about the Kia Mau Festival in Wellington, 7-25 June 2016. http://www.kiamaufestival.com/
No Lights No Lycra Wellington is a fortnightly open to anyone dance meet up group who shed their inhibitions by dancing in total darkness for an hour in a Newtown hall. Joining us this week on B-Side Stories is Charlotte Crocker, chief organiser of NLNLW. Charlotte discusses the origins of NLNL, preparing playlists & what drew her to dancing in the dark. She also plays us one of her tunes from her musical project "Noncharlet".
Joining B-Sides Stories this week were Ruth Mundy and Sean O'Brien aka Joe Blossom, for a NZ Music Month special. Host Martin Andrews talks to our guests about the craft of songwriting and trying to make a living in Aotearoa as an artist. The duo share their stories with warmth and humour, and treat us to some fantastic live in-studio performances.
Food Co-operative coordinator Sallie Calvert joins Ali to talk about the benefits of getting low-cost fruit and vege to the communities around Wellington who need it most! http://www.rph.org.nz/content/0f6e1c1b-592f-44e2-8be3-d9e1085be944.html
Pinaman Owusu, Ghanaian born kiwi, speaks about showcasing creative collections at the first ever Africa Fashion Festival New Zealand. http://www.africafashionfestival.com/
Liora Noy talks about the services available at The Wellington Family Support Hub in Newtown, and about volunteering to help refugee mothers and babies in Greece. https://familysupporthub.wordpress.com/ http://www.lighthouserelief.org/
Choose you derby name and listen to Richter City Roller Derby's Scanda Lass. We chat about the sport, who plays, how it all started in Wellington, and how you can see a match!
Samantha Jones is revolutionizing the fashion industry with her newly launched company Little Yellow Bird, who supply corporate uniforms that use ethically sourced fabrics under fair working conditions.
Wellington has been a Fair Trade City for over five years! In celebration of Fair Trade Fortnight 2016, Laurie and Laura visit the Wellington Chocolate Factory, All Good, Stories Espresso, Trade Aid and Commonsense Organics.
Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri and Michel Alkhouri, co-founders of the Make Foundation, aim to bring art and music to children in Wellington and children in Syrian refugee camps. Naia and Luka contribute their songs!
This week on B-Side Stories host Martin Andrews chats with Body Love Blueprint founder Courtney Durr, about her journey from personal trainer to start up founder and incorporating her own personal philosophy of self love and worth being more important than whats reflected on the bathroom scales. An honest and inspiring discussion for both men and women alike!
Steve O' Connor, CEO of Wellington hi tech power retailer Flick Electric talks about their newly developed app "Choice", which enables every kiwi to see if their power use is clean or dirty.
Finn Roy and Molly Sokhom offer a peak into the Wellington comedy scene, and explain meat packs.
Zoe and Tim create one drawing every day for 31 days in exciting locations all over the world. March 2016: Wellington, New Zealand!
Lee Barry and Rena Kohere discuss the Sustainability Trust's Warm Up For Winter Market. Electric cars, delicious foods, up-cycled goods, and best of all - FLOOR SNAKES.
Sara Hirsch and Ben Fagan are international poets on a tour of New Zealand. They joined B-Side Stories to talk about slam, building bridges, and changing the world with spoken word. Visit http://www.sarahirsch.co.uk/ and http://www.benfagan.nz/ for more!
This week on B-Side Stories we play some of our favourite Wellington tunes:
Ills Winter - Caught In The Headlights Eb & Sparrow - Two Wolves Karl Jensen - The Little Town Groeni - Hinde Roman Birch - Time Square City The Balkanistas - Ajde Zano Vorn - Drowning Kittens The Polly Johnson Set - Let Me Count The Ways (I Love You) Connan Mockasin - I'm The Man, That Will Find You
This week on BSide Stories we were joined by Ali Whitton of LOST BiRD, the local Wellington Country Folk duo consisting of guitar player/songwriter Ali & Oliver Vetter on violin. Ali discusses his Celtic origins in England, the influence of the notorious Wellington weather on his songwriting and the difficulties of maintaining a working life while following your heart in the arts. We were also treated to three live performances of as yet unreleased LOST BiRD songs.
Laura talks to Dave Piper and Lauren Milstead from Achilles international New Zealand. They help people with disabilities participate in mainstream athletic events, or simply keep fit with a fortnightly run. Hear Dave, who is totally blind, talk about how running on the road is a bit too easy for him!
Nic Lane is part of the team who formed Everybody Cool Lives Here, a service for youth with an intellectual impairment (winner of 6 awards in 2015 New Zealand Fringe Festival for Wake Up Tomorrow). This year, he launched Vivid Wgtn, a street art platform aimed to empower local street artists to advance their arts practice in legal ways.
General Manager for Cuba Dupa and the Wellington Fringe Festival Emma Giesen talks about Welly holds the Creative Capital title and the up and coming Cuba Dupa.
Hannah and Eryn joined us to talk about the amazing community connections built by Wellington Timebank. You can learn more at www.wellingtontimebank.org.nz or sign-up yourself by emailing wgtn.timebank@gmail.com You'll also hear about the Alpha Art Gallery and their Fringe show! Check it out here: www.alphagallery.org.nz/fringe
One year on from the Wellington Smart Energy Challenge we catch up with Russell from NoCar Cargo and Ryan from Switched On Bikes to see how their smart businesses are faring and the challenges of being small business owners in the CBD.
Joining B-Side Stories are Abby and Bella from Saving 2050, the wonderful Wellington organisation promoting environmental, animal and human friendly recipes to help New Zealand achieve it's target of halving our greenhouse emissions by 2050. Join us on Wellington Access Radio 783am for the tastiest revolution you've ever known!
Lauren Tennent goes to work at Peoples Coffee and she also goes regularly to prison. It is part of her job to teach women inmates at Arohata how to make good coffee. Find out why this young lady loves this part of her job and why Peoples Coffee want to be aligned with a prison.
Beekeeper Cenna Lloyd, talks about Wellington's booming bee passion and why she started her own bee business Local Flavour Urban Honey
Celia Painter and Abbie Krieble are teenagers who have written an illustrated book titled "When Life Gives you Lemons" that aims to help young people suffering from depression.
Celia and Abbie talked with Ali on 2 Feb 2016 about creating the book and overcoming their own struggles with depression.
Laura spoke with Poetry in Motion, an inclusive group that aims to raise the profile of spoken word poetry, and challenge people's notions of what poetry is and can be! Michael Howard, Simone Bensthrop, and Travis Cottreau joined us to chat and performed some of their own original work.
Three of Wellingtons top gardeners, answer the Question-"Can gardening Save the World?"
This week on B-Side stories, host Martin Andrews chats with Jon Coddington, marionette maestro and barista extraordinaire. Jon's Pulp Fiction marionette show, "Puppet Fiction" recently returned from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it was the No.1 rated free day show of the festival. Jon discusses the origins of his marionette work, what it was like in Edinburgh and closes the show with his best Christopher Walken impression!
Phantasticus is a 5 piece high-energy gypsy-flavours ensemble hailing from Wellington, who played live in the Access radio studio ahead of the release of their first album Phantasticus Acousticus and a gig at Old St Paul's on Friday.
A B-Side Stories interview with Kiwi innovators behind a wasp-killing bait, an Iwi-led restoration project from Tolaga Bay and a new-generation native lizard monitoring system who have each been awarded $25,000 from a WWF New Zealand grant to recognize their contribution to innovation in conservation.
Daimon Schwalger aka the Nomad and Zeal boss James Harris talk about the effects the new beat making Course is having on Welly youth.
Daimon Schwalger aka the Nomad and Zeal boss James Harris talk about the effects the new beat making Course is having on Welly youth.
Katie Wilson and Geoff Simmons talk about their theater piece about to show it's second season at Bats. It is called the F Word and strikes just as many nerves as it is all about Feminism
B-Side Stories host Martin Andrews is joined by Marie & Nic, the founders of Good Bitches Baking. GBB recently celebrated their one year anniversary providing home baking to the less fortunate living in Wellington, having recruited over 500 keen bakers and spread to eight cities around New Zealand. Marie & Nic discuss the birth and growth of their charitable trust and their desire "to make the world a little bit less shitty".
Peter Gilberd, founder of the Woodridge planters talks about the work they are doing for the environment which is having a big effect on the Newlands community.
Ali talks to Paul Stanley Ward from Polhill Protectors about the recent successes within the reserve, why it's such a special area, and their hopes for the future there.
This week on B-Side Stories host Martin Andrews is joined by Helen Brasting, founder and driving force behind Film For Change Aotearoa. Film For Change works collaboratively to make and distribute short films for charities that may not otherwise have the financial means for digital advertising or marketing. Helen discusses her personal journey from budding film maker to recently celebrating the first birthday of her community based organisation Film For Change Aotearoa.
Erin Leigh of WorkerBe and WorkerBe Oasis talking about a wellness revolution and the edible cities movement in Wellington.
Nick Hyder speaks to Wellington 3 piece Hi Tek Soul group Groeni about their upcoming E.P. and live shows.
Helen Kettles talk about how the community are coming together for the South Coast clean up.
Principal Mark Potter talks about the Berhampore School Centenary and the underlying culture of the school.
This week on B-Side stories, Martin Andrews interviews Hemi Pou, owner operator of Cuba St menswear store Wakefield Hotel. Hemi discusses his past in rugby, what led him to setting up a clothing store, where the name Wakefield Hotel came from including the story behind the historic storefront signage, and his latest initiative, designing the new bison logo for Rongotai College and what it represents to the greater Eastern Suburbs community.
Ian Downer talks about what to expect at the Old School Synth night at the Pyramid Club.
Mike O'Connor speaks to Ben Pringle from Red Cross, about their photo exhibition currently on display at the Embassy theatre supporting the International Day of the Disappeared.
Ali Whitten speaks to the Nature Through The Arts collective who discussed their 'Imagine My City' project which aims to better connect children to nature
Nick Hyder speaks to Michael Norris, co-founder of the chamber ensemble, Stroma, about their upcoming concert at the Wellington City Gallery.
Mike O'Connor speaks to Spencer Club about the photos he has take as a fundraiser for Nepal
Sarah Hunter And Lisa Thomlins talk about the unique live stream known as Munki Mash about to happen this weekend, which will feature many of Welly's best musicians who will perform for the last time in the iconic Munki Studios.
Conor Boyle And Fredd Marshall of Grow Aotearoa talk about the philosophy and activism behind planting a mixed species food forest / public orchard in Karori on Saturday.
New B-Sides Stories host Martin Andrews sits down for a chat with Maori language immersion teacher Serahn Kahukura to discuss the state of te reo today, whether te wiki o te reo maori is positive or negative, and why learning the maori language is positive for all New Zealanders regardless of ethnicity.
Hannah Milward talks about her mission to go to Nepal as a Volunteer Nurse, which is being supported by her friends at a fundraiser gig called Beats for Nepal at Meow. Ready Sett who are organising the gig play live tracks before and after the interview.
Cyclocross champion Tom Lynskey talks out how a sport that's big in Belgium has discovered a loyal following in Wellington.
Chrissy O and her vintage treasure trove , Hunters and Collectors may have been more suited to the streets of New York, however we have been blessed with this quirky institution right here on Cuba street for over a few decades now. Tonight on B-Side Stories, it will be a great privilege to talk to Chrissy about some of the highs, the tricky times and how she keeps coming up with those oh so inspiring windows.
Melissa Keys, one of the backbones of Conscious Consumers, talks about the organisations rapid traction and their next steps with the Good Spend Counter.
Nadia Reid is one of the new generation of folk artists. In this interview she talks about her windy journey in music so far and her up and coming concert at Meow Wellington on June the 28th.
Clare Bowden, designer for Mandatory menswear talks about why her iconic Wellington business is still going strong after 18 years and why the store is moving to pop up in Miramar.
Midge Murray one of the dynamic duo behind the NZ Art Show talks about the reasons for success behind this gem of a Wellington event.
Fathia, her son Mohammed and refugee voluntary support person Kate talk about the journey of settling on wellington 10 years ago to celebrate world refugee day.
Neil Anderson a ranger at Zealandia, for 15 years talks about the effect the Eco sanctuary has on our city.
Jennifer Whitty, lecturer, activist and designer talks about the new fashion label called Space Between made from up-cycled NZ Post corporate uniforms.
Jen Riches talks to Myele Manzanza about the Welly Jazz Festival and the Documentary Edge Film Festival directors, Alex Lee and Dan Shanan.
DJ Kelvinator talks to Ebony from Eb and Sparrow and owner of Bicycle Junction Dan Mikkleson.
Mag E Read was an artist and a school teacher until 7 years ago when an incident changed her life. Hear Mag E's amazing story on how she persisted in re-knowing herself, re-finding her inner artist and the challenge to do her first exhibition at Roar Gallery called Wall to Wall Fashion.
Wellington jazz musician talks about the roots of the flourishing Wellington Jazz scene and our up and coming Jazz festival.
Ali Whitton talks about the road back to performing in his new life in Wellington and does a live set as Lost Bird.
Donna Redmond and Casey James talk about the impact the Boys and Girls Institute are having on families in Wellington and how they use the food they receive from Kaibosh.
Daniel Kinne, a coffee farmer from Papua New Guinea, visits New Zealand to celebrate Fair Trade Fortnight and talks about the impact we have on villages like his, when we buy Fair Trade.
Local lads, Nik Bruce-Smith and Rob Harris talk about the burgeoning comedy scene in Wellington, the Medicine Show and their latest act in the International Comedy Festival.
Ben Dowdle, the Campaign Director of the Unmask Palm Oi Campaign talks about why he has devoted every spare hour in the last four years to getting mandatory labeling on Palm oil and the simple thing we can do to help.
Ryan O'Connell and Sofia Robinson talk about how their new e- bike Business Switched on Bikes, is about to take Wellington by storm.
Russell Silverwood talks about his new business No Car Cargo, that was his idea from the Smart Energy Challenge.
Charlie Hanna and Rory Wagner talk about their Smart Energy Challenge idea; to turn our coffee grinds into a Bio gas. With a city that turns around one tonne of coffee grinds from only 30 cafes per week, there'll be no gas shortage in this town.
Megan Wraight and John Hardwick Smith talk about the design and vision for the Pukeahu National Memorial Park.
Daria Malesic describes the process and collaboration researching for the WW1 Remembrance Light and Sound show on at Pukeahu National Memorial Park.
Patrick Morgan of Cycle Aware Wellington talks about why the council needs to get on with Constructing safer Cycle Lanes promised and the Rally to tell them to "get on with it" on this Tuesday the 21st.
Artist Siv Fjaerestad and public space advocate Mark Amery,talk about one of the biggest art projects ever to happen in Wellington; Projected Fields.
Partners in rebellion theatre, Jo Randerson and Thomas Lahood have been given the keys to Welly's historical Opera House to produce one of their most ambitious projects yet. The production, Grand Opening. will undoubtedly be one of the must see's at this weekends first ever Cuba Dupa.
Antony Maddock, the TPP Free Rockabilly talks about his Music, performing at Cuba Dupa and why we all need to know about the TPPA.
Welly Electric Blue Witch Hop songstress Estere anticipates her first Womad and when she is in her happiest place.
Mel Parsons talks about her experiences of life on the road, her new album Drylands and why she loves what she does.
Flip Grater talks about life between Paris and Canterbury, why so much good music is coming out of Christchurch and her passions of music, food and animal rights.
This interview is about hree remarkable young women, Matilde Tayawa Belinda Liu Evangeline Singh, who have stepped up to found and run WWW4Peace - Wellington Women Work for Peace for International Womens Day which is this Sunday at the Newtown Festival.
The Newtown Festival is aiming to step up it's recycling program this year and program coordinator James Coyle, talks about they and we are going to do it.
Wellington directors Thomas Robins and David Stubbs talk about winning an emmy for their interactive TV series Reservoir Hill. and their new series Road trip
David Laing of Wellington and Michelle Ducat of Lower Hutt talk about how their Families manage being car free.
Nathalie Boltt talks about the craziness of her new film Vajazzle due out on Valentines Day.
Mark Antony Steelsmith talks about his new animation exhibition Black Dog Failure on at at Toi Poneke.
Ciclovia organizer Susan Hutchinson -Daniel talks about an event that that takes over the streets.
Gina Rembe talks about why we should get involved with the second round of the successful Solar Energy Challenge; entries due in by Feb 15th.
Father and Daughter team, Laurie and Johanna Sanders talk about the new market in LowerHutt, the Village Market that is here to stay.
Kelvin Aris hosts B-side stories and talks to the man of many artistic talents Stephen Templer about the summer games and Drew James artistic director of the mother of all festivals Cuba Dupa.
The Mum’s from The The Common Unity Project Aotearoa Sew Good Cooperative at Epuni School in Lower Hutt speak about why the project has been good for them.
Oliver Vetter of Sustainable Coastlines talks about the impact Sustainable Coastlines are having through their Love your Coast beach and harbour clean ups in Wellington.
Mandy Coleman talks about life as the Sea Shepherd Wellington Coordinator and the issues we have with our oceans, including pollution.
Angela McLeod, president of UN Women National Committee Aotearoa New Zealand talks about what UN Women do and a new project launch called Journey to Justice that aims to reduce violence against women in the Solomon Islands.
Darren Hoskins, operations manager for the Southern landfill tells us how we are with our waste.
Myfanwy Emeny, our city's s urban ecologist, introduces us to her gecko's, and talks about our city's bio diversity.
Silvia Zuur, talks about how her passion for learning lead her to be the CEO and founder of Chalkle, an on line education platform.
Kiwi Contemporary Dance Choreographer Alexa Wilson talks about her new performance Status of Being, life in Berlin and the message behind the moves.
The story of the Wellington Chocolate Voyage from a Bougainville cocoa plantation to the Wellington Chocolate Factory.
Emily Dowding-Smith has just returned from snorkeling the Arctic as part of a team of 10 women selected to raise awareness about disappearing sea ice and altered eco systems.
Vincent's coordinator, Glen McDonald shares some great incites after 29 years working in this community art workshop.
Tony Stoddard talks about his Great Kereru Counting Mission and we need you all to join him.
Anj Barton, Steph Partridge talk about why they and lots of other good Wellington artists and businesses are helping fund raise for Shakti ethnic women's safe house. Featuring live performance from Zoe Moon and Ready Sett.
Justine Fletcher talks about her exhibition 1260 - Sign for Change representing the 1260 Wellington women who FOUGHT for the right to vote.
Jean Watson - 80 year old Star of new film Aunty and the Star people talks about her life founding and supporting an orphanage in India.
Teuila Grace Tualaulelei, Florist and Enrollment Field Officer talks about how it is on the front line getting people to enrol.
Andrew Armitage, founder and owner of Wellington institution Aro Video celebrates 25 years.
Robin Hammond, World Press Photographer from Wellington talks about how his eye for injustice took him to winning awards for his photo series "condemned".
Kelvin Aris And Stephen Templer talk about why they are on a mission to a the Playable Cities Conference in Bristol and what is in it for Wellington.
Inventors of Karma Kola, Matt Morrison and Simon Coley talk about how this product benefits the people of Boma in Sierra Leone, and how they won the award for the Worlds Fairest Trader's.
Sing it To MY Face - a new inter-generational musical drama by Jo Randerson and Julian Raphael
"What makes Aro Valley so active in positive environmental action" with Aro Solar instigator Louise Sharrell, Karen MacIntyre on history and Kelvin Aris on community resilience.
In part One of Two Part series, on what makes Aro Valley so environmentally active resident Julia Stace talks about her decision to put in Solar Voltaic Panels and Charles Barrie talks about the benefits of the community Garden and his vision for Te Aro.
Wellington film Directors Alister Barry and Abi King Jones talk about their new film Hot Air.
Fashion Designers Juli Hunter, Teresa Scott of Chalky Digits, and Fi Clements of Senorita Awesumo talk about what Eco Fashion is and what they are about to show at NZ Eco Fashion Exposed in Lower Hutt.
Jim Scott and Max O'Million, DJ's on Actives Friday night drive show and Father/ Son talk about their time and Active and family love of music.
Pat Robin's discusses her life and why she is still driven to make her new short film Food for Thought.
Bella Kalolo talks about why she is stepping up for the Maui's Dolphin, as well as what has become important in her life in music.
Xoe Hall talks about her fun new "Bus Stop Boutique" in Berhampore/ Newtown and what has inspired her journey into street art.
Meet Helen Kirlew -Smith, your " Urban Dream Broker". She is on a mission to help you make Wellington a more vibrant city. If you are a community group, social enterprise, fledgling business, designer or artist...please listen in to hear how she can help YOU.
Phillipa O'Brien, a photographer from Kingston has two highly individual exhibitions on in Wellington.
Christina Bellis of the Sustainability Trust talks about how they won a Green Ribbon award.
Jan Wright our commissioner for the environment talks about her latest report on an industry rapidly about to approach us called "fracking'', Drilling for Oil and Gas in New Zealand . But of course the
Lu Davidson, of the Inspiring Stories Trust, talks about how their up and coming film competition is" Making a Difference".
Sam Hunt talks about his time in Wellington, things that influenced him in his life of poetry and what has enabled him to be the individual that he is.
Wellington's best ever Doorman, Brian Morris, talks about retaining the good vibe in Wellington's nightlife, what he see's on our streets at night and shares some wise thoughts.
Rose Mensah, a cocoa farmer from Ghana visited Wellington as part of Fairtrade Fortnight and got our Wellington Fairtrade Businesses talking.
James Shaw, our Green Central candidate talks about the life experiences that led him to politics, and what is really important to him and therefore really important to us.
Kay Baxter of the Koanga Institute shares her story about her incredible life's work on saving New Zealand's precious seeds and the relationship of this, with our health and the health of future generations.
Sam Manzanza talks about how Wellington can celebrate the 51st Africa Day and about his life before and in Wellington.
Wellington DJ Koa talks about a legendary Wellington gig featuring, Rhombus, Bongmaster, and Trinity Roots and talks about the Wellington scene.
Kaibosh are asking is to Miss a Meal In May and help our Food Rescue Hero's keeping our food in hungry tummy's and not in the land fill.
Jeremy Taylor talks about World Record Store Day in Slowboat Records, why this longest running independent record store is still our favourite and his best day there ever.
Our local deputy principal Mike and his wife Hannah Stewart, share their experiences and challenges after 2 and a half years on a VSA program in PNG, including the local tradition of wife capturing.
Generation Zero are doing a great job of rattling the cage, to get action on climate change higher on the political agenda. I had a chat with Paul Young, Generation Zero's spokesperson, at their political stunt outside Parliament last week about other countries that DO have a climate change plan and an opportunity that NZ cannot afford to miss.
Soul Powerhouse, Deva Mahal, talks to us on a brief return visit about her journey in music, performing with her family and her musical grounding in Wellington
Part two of a chat with Author of Zen under Fire, Marianne Elliot about how she came to own one of Wellies best restaurants, her next career path with Action Station and a bit on her current life perspective.
Wellington artist Sheyne Tuffery talks about what it was like creating the massive new mural in Mt. Cook.
Liz Gibson and Alan Berman talk about why they are committed to getting our kids Experiencing Marine Reserves.
Marianne Elliot talks about her time as a human rights lawyer in war torn Afghanistan, and about what got her through these life and death experiences.
Gabe Johnston from Baobab Wellington, Fashion designer Duncan Mclean, musician James Coyle, events co-ordinator for Newtown festival and myself have a chat about Newtown culture and why the Newtown festival is great for the community.
An interview with the backbone of Wellington football Tony Morrison, about Culture Kicks and why people from all different backgrounds and cultures come together through their love of football.
Natalie Smith emerging artist at Toi Poneke, talks about growing up in Wellington and Owhiro Bay and how doing things the wrong way round has helped her to become an artist.