Nights

It's the return of friend of the show, writer and all-round thinker Danyl McLauchlan, who joins us to explore some of the best political novels of the 21st century. Tonight, he's diving into Iain M Bank's Look to Windward a book set in the far reaches of space but wrestling with some very earthly questions.

As we close in on election day on November 7, it feels like there's a new poll, with a new set of numbers, coming out every other day. But there's one poll that boasts of having a pretty good track record since it began in 2002. I am, of course, talking about the Muffin Break Bean Poll . . . Buy a coffee at one of the more than 30 Muffin Break cafes around the country and you get a bean to cast yo...

AI is coming for your job. We've all heard that one by now, as large language models get smarter and seemingly more capable by the week. But one profession you might not have expected to be pondering that question quite so soon is mathematics. Long seen as one of the great frontiers of human intelligence, maths is now becoming a testing ground for just how far AI can go. It seems like every week t...

Listening to a piece of music can be an incredibly emotional and deeply personal experience. It's something we often do alone, with headphones on or the stereo turned up at home. But in Japan, there's a long tradition of experiencing music a little differently, through listening bars, places where people come together specifically to sit, listen and appreciate the music. It's this culture that's a...

Mouth ulcers - also known as canker sores - are one of those pesky things that can really ruin your week. And even though they can be small - oh the pain - so with up to one in four of us get them coming back again and again - we thought we should chat to an expert. So, what causes them, what makes them come back, and how can we know if it's that's worth getting help? Joining Emile is Dr Anita Lim...

Getting kiwis into their own home has been a major issue this election. For a lot of people - even if they earn a good wage, a major barrier is saving enough for a 20% deposit that a lot of banks require. Our major parties are aiming to address this by extending access to 5% deposits and expanding some of those income limits under the current First Home Loan Scheme. But is this the best approach a...

How do you convince an alien species that humans deserve to live? And what if you're starting to doubt they do? That simple but terrifying premise is at the centre of a new science fiction novel from New Zealand author Mandy Hager. It's Hager's 23rd book, and set in 2297, on an Earth devastated by climate catastrophe. The title of the book is Lifted and it officially launches in Wellington at Unit...

It's time for Shower Thoughts, our weekly attempt to answer the questions that get stuck in your head and refuse to leave. Tonight's one is this: in a world of GPS, Google Maps and instant tracking, why are we still relying on bits of colourful fabric to tell us who and where we are? Do we actually still need flags in the 21st century? Joining Emile to fly the flag for flags, and possibly put us s...

It's time for us to get up to speed. To tune into the zeitgeist. To chat about what's happening in pop-culture and the world wide web. Joining us tonight, for our regular segment on Nights, it's the Dial-Up with Anna Rawhiti- Connell.

Cast your mind back to 2014 - Marie Kondo released the English-language version of her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and posed that now-infamous question, "does this spark joy," which guided homes around the globe in their quest to declutter. It leant into the philosophy that clutter can get in the way of the life you want. But new research by my next guest suggests there are some m...

You've heard the stories, the hospitality sector in crisis, nobody's drinking anymore, on one hand hurrah, the world capital of binge drinking is growing up. On the other, oh dear. Nobody knows how to socialise anymore, Gen Z is condemned to pass through life listless singletons melting their brains with AI slop, rather than ethanol. The narratives are seductive, they probably reinforce our own in...

Geocaching is a popular global game where participants hunt down hidden containers - called "geocaches" or "caches". There are more than 3 million of them hidden around the world - in far flung places. This weekend, the the biggest New Zealand geocaching event of the year is drawing players from far and wide. Hundreds of new caches have been placed around the wider Nelson region - some urban and s...

Levi Brinsdon-Hall founded his social enterprise Delicious Revolution to change perceptions around where our food comes from. 

Scentsation uses targeted aromas around individual products to make the shopping experience more appealing.

De La Salle College in South Auckland is building a reputation with its debating programme becoming one of the strongest in Auckland.

Whether we believe in them or not, why do ghost stories fascinate us? What is it about the supernatural and spooky which gets us going? Historian Amanda McVitty is hosting a series of ghost talks at the Thistle Inn for the Wellington Heritage Festival this month and she'll be be bringing the capital's spooky colonial history to life. Amanda speaks to Susana.

The University of Otago's MindJam is returning to Queenstown this weekend, with academics from its Division of Humanities getting together to tackle the big questions, share a few ideas and head off on some thought-provoking tangents. Associate professor Grace Moore is chairing proceedings. She speaks to Susana.

Dan talks about what he's been watching, including Tenzing (Apple), The Last Lighthouse (YouTube) and Klara and The Sun (in cinemas).

It’s time for our semi-regular politics catch-up with political scientist, writer, thinker and former deputy leader of The Opportunities Party, or TOP as it was known then, Natalia Albert. Tonight, we’re looking at why this election has become so complicated, with coalition possibilities, electorate seats and some particularly tricky MMP maths all making it harder to work out what government we co...

What happens when you take the artwork of 179 Auckland children and bring it to life on a massive scale? Windows of Imagination does exactly that, transforming their drawings into a colourful animated projection on the southern façade of Te Waihorotiu Station, giving us a glimpse of Auckland through the eyes of its tamariki. 

A new dinosaur exhibition, which takes visitors back around 68 million years, opens at Auckland Museum this weekend. Susana speaks to Victoria Travers, Director of Audience Experience at Auckland Museum.

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

Long Story Short is the podcast from award-winning New Zealand journalists Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding. Each episode takes a sensational crime, scandal, catastrophe, or something just plain weird, unravels it, then pieces the whole story back together. And the first episode of season two is out now. Emile speaks to Adam and Eugene about the stories they couldn't help but explore.

Colin Peacock joins Emile Donovan to debrief the week in media news.

On Monday night, you may have caught a plea from our sports man, Ben Strang  . . . to bring back jousting Well, I said leave it with us, and we have delivered.