Afternoons

It's time for Heading Off where we hear all about your travel adventures .. we love getting the real experience not the glossy travel brochure version! If you have an interesting story to tell.. please get in touch on 2101 or email me at jesse@rnz.co.nz. Today we're off to Ypres and Mesen in Belgium and our tour guide is Jan Patterson.

To climate news now and while our politicians deal with claims that we've broken our climate change promises in the EU free trade agreement, many scientists are focused on another issue. A major new study has found that an area previously thought of as relatively stable, might be anything but. Climate scientists are calling for urgent research on East Antarctica and in particular Wilkes Subglacial...

In the Auckland studio with Jesse is Ali Ventura, head of content at RNZ, Kate Rodger friend of the show, and Senior Afternoons producer Olivia Wilson - they're there to discuss the topics that might not make the news headlines but will be filling up your group chats.

Our next guest was a city slicker before she got an opportunity to get into farming .. twenty years on she's still in the industry, living and working on a large-scale North Canterbury dairy farm. Anthea Rolfe says she had a lot to learn about farming, but one thing she wasn't expecting was the isolation of farm life, especially for women.

New Zealand, we have a problem. It's one we must fix. During yesterday's Treasury announcement Iain Rennie made it clear we're in a tenuous financial position thanks to our ageing population and ballooning superannuation costs. So what can we do about it? Dr Claire Matthews is the Head of the School of Accountancy and Finance at Massey Business School, she joins Jesse to share some solutions.

Wallace Chapman and Jesse Mulligan star in the shortest show on radio, where they show they really can make something out of nothing, join them to be part of their delight, or to simply despair. Wallace will also preview what's on The Panel tonight.

Seven minutes and 40 seconds. That's all it took for a father and son to commit Australia's most devastating terror attack. It took place at the Jewish Chanukah Festival of lights celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach 9 months ago. 55 people were shot, 15 were killed. Alongside the horror were extraordinary acts of courage with strangers helping strangers, people confronting the attackers and first...

We're playing You're the Judge today and it's a really interesting dilemma we're asking you to weigh in on. Should your wishes be respected after death? Mary* has sent us a conundrum she has and wants your feedback. Message us on 2101 or email us afternoons@rnz.co.nz

A good podcast is like good radio .. you can't stop listening! Joining Jesse to share what she's been listening to is our Podcast Critic Jemima Huston. This week she's looking at: Where is Austin Tice? by Josh Baker (BBC and NPR) and All in the Mind with Sana Qadar (ABC)

Tuesdays is our chance to chat books! Our critic Anna Rankin joins Jesse to share what she's been reading. U.X.O by Brannvan Gnanalingam Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assidi

Mayoral minutes is where we speak with a local mayor about the challenges they're facing - how they're working to solve them - and what makes their community special. Today we're heading to the Waitaki District in the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island ...where you'll find Oamaru .... Mayor Mel Tavendale joins Jesse.

We're going to turn our attention to parenting now and making the call to get help when our children need something we're struggling to provide. Kristin Ward - mum of three and parent coach manager from The Parenting Place - is with Jesse to discuss when counselling should be considered.

Several big announcements this year have left vegetable growers around the country wondering what comes next. Heinz Wattie's is closing four sites, including its frozen packing operation in Hastings, while McCain is shutting its Hastings vegetable processing plant. For crop farmers, that means finding new buyers, rethinking what they plant, and asking whether New Zealand can support a local frozen...

For many children, seeing where their food comes from and understanding life on a working farm is a bit of an unknown. That's why Patoka-based farmer and vet Dr Sally Newall developed a new learning facility to help change this. Sally joins Jesse from her farm in Patoka near Napier.

Treasury has today opened the country's financial books to reveal the state of the government accounts. It's what's known as PREFU - or the Pre-Election Fiscal Update. As well as a financial snapshot, it also provides forecasts on key areas like inflation, wages, the housing market and unemployment for the next few years. RNZ Business Editor Corin Dann talks it through with Jesse.

Wallace Chapman and Jesse Mulligan star in the shortest show on radio, where they show they really can make something out of nothing, join them to be part of their delight, or to simply despair. Wallace will also preview what's on The Panel tonight.

Five minutes doesn't sound like enough time to change much. But if you are spending big chunks of your time sitting, thinking, working, or scrolling, getting up for just 5 minutes at regular intervals can change everything. Journalist and broadcaster Manoush Zomorodi has spent years investigating what the digital, sedentary life is doing to us. Three years ago, her Body Electric podcast invited li...

Afternoons critic Ruwani Perera is with Jesse to share what she's been watching - Last Seen (Apple TV) and Sweetpea (TV3)

It's time for our expert feature ... where we invite an expert in their field on the show to answer all your questions. And today we're talking about arguably the most popular and universally loved dish in the world ... pizza! With endless topping, base and sauce options .. the humble pizza is surely the ultimate crowd pleaser. Vincent Michaelsen and wife Nina own the popular long standing pizzeri...

That's right, every Monday around this time Jesse hits the clubs. We've been doing this segment for around a year now and it is fast becoming one of our favourite conversations .. there is something really cool about chatting to passionate New Zealanders about their passions. If you have a club or society you'd like Jesse to visit you can get in touch on 2101 or email him at jesse@rnz.co.nz. This...

Each Monday, we like to chat about what's hitting the headlines in Australia. Our regular contributor Brad Foster is away, so TVNZ's Jacob Johnson is joining Jesse.

We're going to turn our attention to bats now .. because for a long time scientists have been puzzled about how bats evolved .. where they originated from and how the different families are related. Now a major international study has essentially redrawn the bat family tree ... solving the evolution puzzle. The study brought together 137 researchers from 64 countries .. including the University of...

ADHD .. or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder .. affects a lot of New Zealanders and so to try to make sure they got the help they needed, in February GPs and Nurse Practitioners were given the ability to diagnose the condition and prescribe stimulant medication. But it seems that isn't enough. A viewpoint article in the New Zealand Medical Journal says you can't assess ADHD in a standard 15...

We're starting our show today talking politics .. and a possible plan to get an overhang. Political commentator Bryce Edwards has written a piece for his Substack, The Democracy Project, about moves to get parties more seats in Parliament without needing to actually win any more party votes. Such strategies are totally legit under MMP .. but are they ethically sound? Bryce Edwards joins Jesse to e...

Every Friday passionate conservationist Nicola Toki and Jesse chat about a critter that is endemic to our New Zealand and needs some love. This week Nicola is bringing our attention to Aotearoa's largest cuckoo - the koekoea (long-tailed cuckoo).