Afternoons

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).

Here is the winning song for the 2026 Kiwi Cover Song Contest. Ese, Tara and Sophia Aumalesulu with their version of the song See What Love Can Do. Thanks to RNZ's very talented music recording engineer Andre Upton.

We had the great pleasure of announcing our winners of the Afternoons Kiwi Cover Song Contest last week. The reaction from winners Ese Aumalesulu and his daughters Tara and Sophia was amazing .. if you've missed it do go to our website .. or check out the video on RNZ on Instagram .. it's been doing some incredible numbers. The family won for their cover of the song See What Love Can Do made famou...

Shared Kitchen's Julie Biuso is with Jesse to share her recipe for asparagus. Click HERE for the recipe.

It's time for NZ Live, the best, most intimate music recording session and today we're heading to Otautahi Christchurch, where we're joined by alt pop artist Phoebe Vic.

Afternoons critic Dominic Corry joins Jesse to review: Heart of the Beast, Resident Evil and Mayday (Apple+)

Every Friday afternoon we delve into the mysterious .. the unexplained .. the stories that send a shiver down your spine. If you've got a Freaky Friday story you'd like to share please let us know on 2101 or Jesse@rnz.co.nz Today we're speaking with Helen.

Could Alzheimer's Disease become treatable and preventable? Well, a new report from Alzheimer's Disease International says after years of slow progress, clinicial trials are now on the brink of dignostic and medical breakthroughs. By 2050, the number of people living with dementia is expected to be 139 million so these breakthroughs couldn't come soon enough. To discuss the details Jesse is joined...

On Wednesday I spoke to Jessica Lockhart from Lonely Planet Oceania about Dunedin and the Waitaki making it on the travel guides' Best in Travel list for 2027. Jessica said both places showcase the 'best of the quirkiness that New Zealand has to offer' ... she made a special mention of the Royal Dunedin Museum of Natural History, which she described as a museum of curious. Bruce Mahalski is the cu...

The first Chinese dumplings sampled by most of us, in an old school Chinese takeaway shop, were usually deep fried wontons .. and according to food champion and friend of the show Connie Clarkson .. not especially Chinese. But that was in the early 1980s and since then the standard of dumplings have evolved, along with our taste buds. Tomorrow is international dumpling day .. so what better way to...