The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Areto Labs is aiming to counteract social media trolls using AI technology. Developed here in New Zealand, FairPlayBot is focused on analysing the abuse directed at athletes and countering it with positive posting.  Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Areto Labs and co-creator of the FairPlayBot, Jacqueline Comer spoke to Francesca Rudkin about the new invention. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.co...

Dahlias, Begonias and more. Jo McCarroll tells you which plants you should get in the soil today. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Megan Singleton tells you which countries have or are going open their doors to vaccinated travellers. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Opioid addiction crisis in America has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 people.  Yet last week the family at the centre of the epidemic were granted immunity.  Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe spent years investigating the notorious Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma who make powerful painkiller OxyContin.  Patrick also testified at the Sackler’s recent Congressional hearing.  The re...

Stress comes to us all in tiny little assaults throughout our day — these are known as “micro-stresses.”   Micro-stresses can be things as small or seemingly insignificant as the alarm going off in the morning, getting stuck in traffic, a messy house, worrying about your email inbox, or hearing criticism about yourself.  So, what is the difference between macro and micro stressors? How can you man...

Ig Nobel Prizes, awarded since 1991, are intended to celebrate science that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” Dr Michelle Dickinson shares her favourites. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Newall has your ticket to some of the hottest movies coming up...including one by NZ director Jane Campion that could finally win Netflix the coveted Best Picture award. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever said something, and then thought, I could have said that better, I could have chosen my words better? I certainly have. And I can’t help think National Party Leader Judith Collins may be feeling the same way after her rather personal attack on Dr Siouxsie Wiles. On Thursday, a story started circulating on right wing blogs accusing Dr Wiles of breaking Level 4 lockdown rules. She has...

Whilst the rest of the country outside Auckland are finding a bit of new found freedom unfortunately we are still in lockdown mode.  And for the Van de Elzen family, that involves cooking at home each night, trying to keep things including our food as interesting as possible.  I've noticed that the subject of food waste has been in the headlines a couple of times this week. Feeling this is largely...

Before 2015, Paula Hawkins was a hard-working freelance financial journalist and struggling chick-lit author, writing under the pen name Amy Silver.  Then she wrote Girl on the Train.  It was a global smash hit.  The psychological thriller sold 20 million copies and was turned into a Hollywood movie starting Emily Blunt.  Paula’s new book A Slow Fire Burning, her third thriller, is out now.    LIS...

It could be bad news for Aucklanders wanting to leave alert level four. Three people who visited Middlemore hospital have now tested positive for Covid-19. There are also 36 cases with no links to the current outbreak. Auckland University Covid Modeller Shaun Hendy says Auckland could be locked down for awhile. He says the restrictions could last a further 10-14 days. He also says there could be a...

It's been 20 years since the 9/11 terror attack on the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre.  2,977 people lost their lives that day, including 343 firefighters.  Chief Joseph Pfeifer was the first FDNY chief to arrive at the twin towers and took command of the rescue operation in the north tower.  Chief Pfeifer has detailed the day and its impact in a new book Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11....

Growing sprouts from mung beans or lentils, planting chamomile plants from chamomile tea, and using yams as a productive weed control; Editor of NZ Gardener magazine Jo McCarroll, provides some tips of what you can do to get your garden into shape during lockdown, using products from your pantry. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Megan Singleton has found the best webcams of wildlife in Africa, so you can experience a safari all from the comfort of your couch. Due to the time difference, Megan recommends watching from 3pm NZT onwards. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being a teenager has changed.  A lot.  The world our children are growing up in today is completely different - Tiktok, sexting, vaping, our teenagers are constantly connected to their peers through their cellphones and social media, a world many parents aren’t experienced in, yet they’re the ones trying to raise their teens and help them navigate it all.  GP Dr Ginni Mansberg and clinical psychol...

Since it's Father's Day, Erin O'Hara today talked about men's health. Her Men's Health tips were:  Have regular checkups with your doctor - Regular checkups and screening tests can spot disease early, when it is easiest to treat - heart disease, prostate, colorectal, etc  Regular Exercise  Stress Reduction   Watch your weight   A healthy diet - For heart health and weight management, it’s importan...

A great Father's Day dessert: Ingredients  250g gingernut biscuits  125g unsalted butter, melted 500g cream cheese 300g sour cream Juice of 1 lemon 1 cup sugar 2 tsp vanilla paste 2 eggs   Directions Preheat an oven to 150*c and line a 20cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.  Take the gingernut biscuits and wrap them up in a tea towel and hit them with a rolling pin, or blitz in a food pr...

Mindfulness-based interventions have become very popular and do have merit.  But now psychological research has also revealed that in some circumstances it’s important to be mindless.   There are some things that we learn to do with a state of “automaticity” like riding a bike to brushing your teeth.  When you have done it enough times you don't think about every move, you just do it.  New researc...

It’s been 6 years since Stan Walker released an album, and to make up for it he’s about to release two. One is called Te Aroha Nui, an album named after his grandmother featuring some of his greatest hits and new songs all sung in te reo Maori, set to be released during Maori Language Week.   It includes single Tau Te Marire – a reworked te reo version of his massive hit Take it Easy.  Stan has re...

This week Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that almost 70% of the eligible population have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine or have booked to have one, but this does not include children under 12 who have not yet been cleared to receive the vaccine.   Dr Fran Priddy, the Clinical Evaluation Director at Malaghan Institute and also the Clinical Director of the Vaccine Al...

The man who carried out Friday's attack is being described as a ticking time bomb. Sri Lankan Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen was shot dead by police at New Lynn Countdown, after he stabbed at least five people, and two others were hurt. Herald reporter Sam Hurley has followed Samsudeen through the courts and says he seemed like a scary man to be let out into the community. He says everyone knew h...

The Government recorded 82 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday -- bringing our current outbreak to 429.   376 of those cases have clear epidemiological links to another case or sub-cluster -- links haven't fully been established yet for the others.  Professor Des Gorman says the rise in numbers is predictable as "we're seeing a lag in reporting cases and a lag and people getting tested." Because of th...

There is going to be a lot to unpack after this lockdown. We all knew it would be highly probably Delta would make it to our shores. The global scientific and medical communities and the scenes we watched on TV made it clear Delta had shifted Covid into a whole new league. I think we all assumed a country with an elimination strategy would have been thoroughly preparing for a case in the community...

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz. Emily is traumatised after she and her friend Kristen killed a man who attacked her on a recent Cambodian holiday. They go on another trip, to Chile, where – unbelievably - they leave behind another victim. Terrified of being arrested, Emily can’t understand Kristen’s blasé approach to these events, nor her obsessive approach to their friendship. Something is cl...

This week Megan has put together a list of destinations you can visit via video until you can get there for real. Listen above to find out more, and you can check the full list out on her website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.