Nights

Tonight we kick off a new feature where we talk to people who look after slightly unusual museum collections around the world!

It's that time of the week here on RNZ Nights, when we as answer those unshakeable questions lurking at the back of your mind. 

Joining us fortnightly is author and writer Anna Fifield. Tonight, she's looking at fears across Asia that the US is withdrawing from the region.

Robots have already started to revolutionize many areas of life - so we wanted to find out  what it might look like in the future.

Hoodies, they're comfy, warm and they look cool. But where did hoodies come from, and how did they come to be everywhere?

Tonight, we're talking the All Blacks, gambling and alcohol restrictions, English cricket controversy, and robot athletes.

This week Emma is taking a look at the history of when NZ was a Dominion.

A recent piece by Verity Johnson in Stuff has raised a very interesting question - has New Zealand run out of spiritual leaders?

This afternoon the government announced that they are moving to ban social media ban for under-16-year-olds. But how will it work?

Nights' resident screen critic Dan Slevin joins Susana Lei'ataua to review Primavera (directed by Damiano Michieletto), Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Daredevil: Born Again and The Day Shall Come (directed by Chris Morris, 2019)

Many parents will recognise this situation: a sick child, a long car trip, or as is the case over the past few days . . . constant rain during the school holidays. Added to all the other stresses of parenting, sometimes the easiest thing to do is switch on the TV - sometimes for hours. But should parents worry about those occasional "all-day screen" moments? Dr Jo Orlando is a digital well being r...

There are LEGO sets... and then there are LEGO creations that make you wonder, "How on earth did they build that?" That's exactly what's on show in Christchurch this weekend. From giant landmarks to moving models, it's a celebration of imagination on a massive scale. The Christchurch Brick Show is back, and organiser Jonny Reid speaks to Susana.

Celebrated New Zealand artist Dame Robin White has returned to painting with oil for the first time in 50 years. Renowned for portraying people and their environments in New Zealand and the Pacific in prints and tapa cloth, Robin's latest painting 'Karawa, Tarawa, Marawa (Sky, Land, Sea) aligns beautifully with Kiribati Language Week happening around the country right now. For 17 years Robin and h...

Journalist Melody Thomas joins Susana to talk about the upcoming episodes of her podcast, The Good Sex Project, which explores the ins and outs of intimacy, dating, and modern relationships in Aotearoa.

It's time for our fortnightly chat with Nights' resident sociolinguist, associate professor Julia de Bres. Tonight . . . We're talking about smiling . . . in particular, can we hear a smile? 

Christian Smith dials in from London with news from the other side of the world. 

There were tense scenes in New York this morning. A high-rise office building near Grand Central Terminal in New York was evacuated this morning after engineers raised fears it could be at risk of collapse. Leading to emergency services evacuating a busy Manhattan street block during the morning rush hour. The building, which was being transformed from offices into apartments, highlights just how...

It started with an overgrown bush in Dunedin's Southern Cemetery. Beneath it was a forgotten Chinese headstone and a 142-year-old mystery. After clearing the vegetation researchers have discovered not only was the headstone linked to the wrong man, but there were actually multiple men buried in the same plot. Christchurch historian and researcher Adrienne Shaw has helped piece the story together,...

We all get bad hair days and how we feel about our locks - or lack thereof - can affect how we show up in our everyday life. In fact - the relationship we have with our hair matters more than we may think. Elly Anastasiades - a PhD researcher at Anglia Ruskin University and a licensed Counselling Psychologist    - who's been researching and writing about this topic. She speaks to Susana Lei'Ataua

Have you ever been standing in the shower when suddenly the noise in your brain clears and, in its place, appears the perfect thought? That's a Shower Thought, and RNZ's Nights is aiming to answer those unshakeable questions lurking at the back of your mind. Tonight's question: Can you actually grow vegetables from the seeds in the veggies you buy at the supermarket?

We speak to Kaikoura mayor Craig Mackle for the latest on region under a red heavy rain warning.

New research has found that you can indeed teach an old cat new tricks. Companion Animals NZ in collaboration with Adelaide University have been looking at that tricky transition of making an outdoor cat, an indoor one. And it turns out making that making the change may be easier than expected. Susana speaks to Dr Nicola McDonald, Animal Welfare Manager at Companion Animals NZ, about the research.

This Friday the country will pause and look up as we mark Matariki. Matariki is the Maori name for the cluster of stars that rises at this time of year, signalling the Maori new year. Ayla Hoeta, Matariki is just one part of a much wider system of knowledge known as maramataka. Ayla is a maramataka practitioner, lecturer and first-year doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland's Faculty of...

If you have a love of shoes - or you've been scrolling social media - you're not imagining things if you've seen more extreme footwear than usual. Yes, strange shoes are trending - and as one outlet put it, 'ridiculous shoes are everywhere.' Some examples include: A pump that sculpts the foot into a cloven pig's hoof, sandals that support the heel and nothing else, a beam of light for a heel ... n...

It's Kiribati Language Week and Roi Burnett, a Pacific Studies doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland, is hoping that we'll all use this week as a chance to go beyond familiar narratives and delve into this rich culture - Roi joins Susana for a chat.