The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

After going virtual for a year, awards shows are back, and this year's Academy Awards are set to be held in person. The luxury goodie bags for nominees will also make a reappearance, and include all sorts of extravagant freebies from plastic surgery consultations to holidays in Swedish lighthouses, the Guardian reports. Entertainment company Distinctive Assets will again provide its traditional "E...

Up until a couple of years ago, NHS surgeon Dr Joshua Wolrich believed a person’s health was defined by their weight.  He judged patients who came into hospital based on their size.  His feelings on weight and health also impacted his own psyche, he didn’t believe he could be a good doctor unless he lost weight. Well now he’s taken to studying nutrition and he’s battling diet culture and “nutribol...

A boost in the fundraising efforts towards a New Zealand War Memorial Museum in the French town Le Quesnoy have seen the project enter a new phase of finalising developing plans. The project is designed to remember the soldiers who liberated the small French town in World War One. To explain more about the project, Francesca Rudkin is joined by the chair of the New Zealand War Memorial Museum, Le...

It’s been a big week. The Trans-Tasman Bubble opened on Monday with plenty of interpretative dance and celebration, and by the end of the week traffic was halted between Western Australia and New Zealand as Perth went into a three-day lockdown. This week also saw new restrictions on travellers from India, Brazil, Pakistan, and Papua New Guinea, and border exceptions changes were announced which wi...

Anzac Day commemoration organisers in Auckland are chuffed with this morning's turn out. Thousands woke up early and gathered at Auckland's Domain for the dawn service. It was extra special for many, after services were cancelled nationwide due to Covid-19 last year. Parade coordinator Kane Te Tai says it was good to see the wider community show up to support veterans. He says they weren't sure of...

While today we remember, thank and acknowledge all those military personnel that have and do serve our country, this year’s annual Poppy Day Appeal was a special salute to women. Themed ‘Service and Sacrifice’, the appeal was to recognise the service of women in the military. One of those serving is Chief Petty Officer Monique Jellick from the Royal New Zealand Navy. Monique joins Francesca Rudkin...

As the seasons change, more Kiwis may notice ants popping up in their house as the tiny bugs escape the cold. But did you know there's one spieces of ant that is able to grow and shrink its own brain? New research on the Indian jumping ant has exposed the strange little quirk - and it's all to do with having more space for offspring. Nanogirl Michelle Dickinson joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss....

The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France. The number of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigge...

Australian indie singer Amy Billings has been on the music scene under various names since 2008. But it was was in 2016, having adopted the name Amy Shark, that she released her break out hit Adore, sending record companies into a bidding war. Since then Amy has been nominated for 22 and won 8 ARIA awards for her work. And there’s another album coming at the end of this month called Cry Forever. A...

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly This is the third in Kelly's flower titled series (Lilac Girls, Lost Roses). Lilac Girls featured Caroline Ferriday, a real life New York socialite and philanthropist during WW2, and the lead characters in the other books are antecedents of hers. The new one is about Georgeanna Woolsey, an ancestor of Caroline Ferriday, whose family are abolitionists and who...

Travel blogger Megan Singleton has taken on a new hobby this week - curling!  She is on a trip through the lower South Island, seeing the sights in Clyde, Ranfurly, St Bathans and Naseby - where she took on the hobby of curling! And while she is living it up in down south, the country is gearing up for the travel bubble to launch tonight. But one Australian writer has cautioned people against comi...

The Government is suggesting limiting the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes. It is one of a number of proposals being put forward to meet its goal of making New Zealand smoke-free by 2025. Others include restricting where cigarettes can be sold and creating a licensing regime. The Government is also talking about creating a smoke-free generation, where people who are under 18 next year will...

6 Duck legs 6 tbsp sea salt5 cloves garlic, crushed3 tbsp chopped thymeCracked black pepperPure olive oil to coverWhitebeans & sage500gm White Beans1 Carrot, chopped 1 Onions, chopped2 Tomatoes, chopped 2 tbsp Olive oil2 tbsp Flat parsley, chopped 1 tbsp Sage, choppedLittle bit of Smoked Meat Trimmings, like bacon Mix together the salt, garlic, thyme & pepper. Take your duck legs rub in the salt m...

Sky TV is increasing the cost of its Neon streaming service by 15 per cent to $15.99 a month. The price increase will apply from May 17. Sky says those who want to avoid the price increase can commit to Neon for 12 months (the service has traditionally been no-contract) for $159.99 a year - which works out to a $31.89 or 16 per cent saving over the new monthly price. Last year, Sky bought Lightbox...

Tonight, at 11.59, the Trans-Tasman bubble officially begins. For the first time in more than a year, passengers on green flights will be able to travel quarantine free between Australia and New Zealand This shouldn’t be a big deal. Jumping on a flight across the ditch was something Kiwis took for granted and did in their thousands each week, and it does seem a bit strange that it’s become a marke...

Tana Umaga is no stranger to public life – former Hurricanes player, All Blacks captain and now assistant coach of the Blues. But he and his wife Rochelle have kept their family and private life away from the spotlight. However, a new venture is seeing them open up on the next chapter in their life. The Umaga’s have created Viktual+, a new wellness brand, harnessing traditional Maori and Pacific p...

An epidemiologist is backing new research, calling for the Japanese Government to reconsider this year's Tokyo Olympics. An article in the British Medical Journal says an international mass gathering like the Games is not safe or secure during a pandemic. It says holding them -- and ignoring science -- is contradictory to Japan's commitment to global health and human security. A recent survey of J...

The countdown is on to the opening of our trans-Tasman bubble. It officially begins at 11.59pm tonight -- with the first quarantine-free flights expected from Australia tomorrow afternoon. NewstalkZB political reporter Aaron Dahmen told Francesca Rudkin when opening the bubble, the Government considered whether Kiwis may become stranded. "They've basically thrown that plan out the window and gone...

A year after they last saw one another, Prince William and his brother Prince Harry put their fraught relationship aside as they said farewell to their grandfather at his funeral on Saturday in the UK. The brothers were sombre and silent as they walked together in a procession behind Prince Philip's coffin before his funeral at Windsor Castle along with their father, Prince Charles, and other clos...

The future of Judith Collins as the National Party leader has once again dominated headlines this week. Rumours of a Simon Bridges/Christopher Luxon ticket swirled earlier in the week after a NZ Herald report, though all parties are denying that the two are plotting to roll Collins any time soon.  However, speaking on The Sunday Panel with Francesca Rudkin, journalist Frances Cook says Press Galle...

When our little people experience big feelings, than can a challenge for parents. Uncertain times, like we have experienced over the last year, can be a big driver for those feelings. Jacqui Maguire is here to help. She is a clinical psychologist and one of New Zealand’s leading voices on wellbeing and mental health. For the last year, Maguire has been working on a new book aimed at children - Whe...

Spellbound by Catherine Robertson This is the third in her series of books set in a small NZ coastal community called Gabriel’s Bay. A small town full of quirky characters with interesting traits and relationships, written in an immediately recognisable Kiwi style, really feel good and deceptively well written. Dancing in the Mosque by Homeira Qaderi She was brought up in Afghanistan, which of cou...

Queenstown has been a hot tourist destination for many New Zealanders over the last year, keen to explore the country while the borders are closed. And soon the southern town will be bustling with international tourists once again, when Australians flock there once the trans-Tasman bubble begins. Travel blogger Megan Singleton is leading a group tour down there before the bubble begins. She joined...

The relationship between stress and sleep is bidirectional—that is, stress can disrupt sleep and sleep loss can increase subsequent stress levels. Wellbeing expert and naturopath Erin O'Hara joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss the relationship, and some herbal and nutritional support to overcome these issues. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of New Zealand's original reality TV hits is returning to our screens. Popstars, which allows budding musicians the chance to break out and become superstars on their own, is back for the first time since 1999, when girl group TrueBliss was formed.  The format was a mega-hit, being sold around the world and inspiring the Idol franchise - and now it's back for a second season.  Entertainment ed...