The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Six in a row for Crusaders …   They’ve beaten the Blues 21-7 to claim their 13th Super Rugby title.   Newstalk ZB sports commentator Elliott Smith joined Francesca Rudkin.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National has retained its hold in Tauranga.    With 100 percent of the preliminary vote counted, National's Sam Uffindell has convincingly won the by-election.   Tauranga’s new MP joined Francesca Rudkin.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sparring Partners by John Grisham. It is, in fact, three novellas in one book, each of which is an intriguing read. One concerns Jake Brigance – a character familiar to Grisham readers, who’s a lawyer in a town with too many of them, struggling to make a buck. Then there’s a guy on death row whose time is running out; and a family law firm torn apart by murder, ego and plain bad behaviour. As alwa...

Megan Singleton joined Francesca Rudkin to chat all about Memphis, Tennessee and give us the hot tips for any visitor. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National’s gang plan – is this going to achieve anything? Is it enforceable?  Should we return to allowing alcohol sales at dairies and convenience stores?  US to end Covid-19 testing for travelers – does NZ need to do more to entice people to travel here?   Political Commentator Ben Thomas and Business Desk Investments Editor, and host of Cooking the Books podcast, Frances Cook joined Francesca R...

I mentioned before the news, that my next guest almost inspired me to up and leave the family … to head off into the hills on an adventure.   One day journalist Hazel Phillips did just that, ditched the laptop and set off for three years living in mountain huts and tramping alone for days at a time – all while holding down a full-time job.   Hazel has shared her story in a new book, Solo: Backcoun...

Covid seems to be doing the rounds again at the moment – and one thing I keep hearing from people, even if their symptoms where mild is how tired they still feel once recovered.    So, let's talk about how to cope with and recover from post-covid low mood and energy.  Erin is the co-founder, director, naturopath and yoga teacher at Golden Yogi. She holds a bachelor of science (physiology) and a ba...

Mushrooms! Who loves them? We all do! (well, I would have to say most people do apart from my two girls) But here's hoping that will change as they get older.   The reason why I want to talk about mushrooms this week.   First reason: as the rain has come this week, with it has come the mushrooms growing under our totara tree.  Second reason: for anyone wanting to know more about mushrooms and more...

A bunch of New Zealanders fully naked, in the sub-zero temperatures of Makarora’s mountain ranges speaking complete gibberish.   It sounds completely bonkers … and it is ...  but it’s also a new film from Jackie Van Beek.   Nude Tuesday tells the story of a married couple who go to a new age relationship retreat, run by sex guru Bjorg, in a mad attempt to save their marriage.   The film opens in c...

Francesca talked on-air on Friday about the delays in Breast Cancer Screening – it has also been covered on this show with the launch of the Give Us Our Mammogram campaign last month.   Regular Sunday Session panellist and Coast host Lorna Subritzky is one of the 50,000 women who have been caught up in the screening backlog and that has now been diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time.  Lor...

Newstalk ZB chief political reporter Jason Walls joined Francesca Rudkin to share his thought on National’s gang plan and the PM’s Australia visit.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National has announced a commitment to tough anti-gang laws if elected next year.   Leader Christopher Luxon has unveiled a four-point policy, at the party's Northern Region Conference.  Christopher Luxon joined Francesca Rudkin.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to swap records, have dinner and spend a day in bilateral talks.   Jacinda Ardern is the first foreign leader to visit the new Prime Minister in Australia and it’s the first time she’s been back across the ditch since 2020.   By many accounts, the trip went well. Clearly, there is a rapport between the two,...

Elvis-themed weddings have been issued cease and desist notices in Las Vegas. Apart from Graceland Wedding Chapel, you will no longer find Elvis-themed chapels along the Strip.  Megan Singleton, bloggeratlarge.com, joined Francesca Rudkin.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley – she’s of course the author of the Seven Sisters series, who sadly died last year. She was incredibly prolific and managed to write this one even whilst unwell. It’s a standalone story, not related to any other series, about the murder of a boy at a private school which the headmaster is very keen to call a tragic mistake but of course there’s a lot mor...

This week is an interesting one as a new paper has come out on Lift Energy Storage Technology.  Published in the journal Energy the researchers involved have come up with a new energy storage concept that could turn tall buildings into batteries!  Building consumes around 40% of electricity worldwide, and while making them more efficient is one way to reduce this energy drain, there aren't many op...

Let's celebrate the Queen's Birthday.  I have done some research and one of the Queen's favourite desserts is Bombe Alaska!   So, this weekend let's party like the English and prepare a pretty cool dessert (get it, frozen) ice-cream dessert.   We can run through the making of the all-important meringue and the final making up of the bombe.   We served this dish at a function last week and it was s...

In less than three weeks, on Friday 24 June, we will be celebrating another long weekend, our new public holiday to mark Matariki.   A new children’s book, The Astromancer, has been released and tells the story of Matariki and the Māori lunar calendar.   The book is written by the one and only, one of our most accomplished authors, Witi Ihimaera and illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White.   Witi I...

Steve Newall, editor at flicks.co.nz, joined Francesca Rudkin to chat about Danish political drama Borgen and Taite Music Prize winner, Anthonie Tonnon.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Students at Yale University can take a class on how to increase their influence – and get this, it is the most popular course at the university's School of Management.   The lecturer behind the course is behavioural scientist Dr Zoe Chance.   Zoe’s wisdom has now been put into a book – Influence is your Superpower: The Science of Winning Hearts, Sparking Chance and making Good Things Happen.   Dr...

There’s not much better than to whip out the family board games on a wintery long Queen’s birthday weekend.   If you are anything like Francesca, your board game repertoire doesn’t go much past Monopoly and Cluedo … so we’re bringing in an expert to widen our horizons.   This weekend mini-Wellycon is on.   Wellycon is the biggest board game convention in New Zealand.   Wellycon organiser and chair...

On Monday, Francesca filled in for Kerre Woodham, she took talkback on the state of youth mental health – so many truly heart-breaking stories.   So, it came as no surprise to read this week, that a survey found sixty per cent of people said New Zealand isn’t doing enough to improve the mental wellbeing of our children.   Three-quarters of those surveyed had concerns children were at greater risk...

No Escape by Nury Turkel. This book is extraordinary – written by a man who was born in a Uyghur “re-education” camp during the Cultural Revolution, about the plight of the Uyghur people living in Xinjiang Province in Northwest China and much of it is simply unbelievable.  The area has been turned into a huge open prison and while it’s believed there are around 3 million people living inside the a...

Megan Singleton, bloggeratlarge.com, joined Francesca Rudkin on the current state of travel. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you trust the supermarkets?  How big Is the cost-of-living crisis going to play into National’s hands?  31 days in the job Kamahl Santamaria quits, how big a headache is this for TVNZ and who is your tip to replace him?  Drone home deliveries – are you in?  Editor and commentator Jo McCarroll and NZ Herald Senior Writer Simon Wilson joined Francesca Rudkin on The Panel.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnyst...