The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Re-elected mayor Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger is calling for a rethink to local election voting systems. Mauger says he's humbled by the margin of his victory over rival Sara Templeton, but admits the country needs better engagement. "And our general elections are very well-subscribed, because we're going down and voting and the postal system's just not working. We need to do something different...

Andrew Little is laying out his priorities as he takes the Wellington mayoral chains.  He won a landslide in the capital, getting more than 34,000 votes.  His nearest competition was Karl Tiefenbacher on 8807 votes.  He's acknowledged leading Wellington is a big job, but he's determined to take the necessary steps. "I'm serious about a council where everybody has a role, has a place...

Wayne Brown says his second term will see the continuation of cutting wasteful spending.  He surged to victory, scoring 90,000 more votes than nearest opponent Kerrin Leoni.  He says he's committed to making a city-wide deal with the central Government - so both entities can work as equal partners. "We don't fit into the role of other small councils, and so we want to be negotiating as e...

Kiwi pop icon Suzanne Lynch's had a long-running music career, and she's looking back on her legacy in a new memoir. Lynch got her start at 14 after a chance encounter with guitarist Peter Posa, which led to the creation of The Chicks, often considered New Zealand’s first successful girl group. Since then, she's worked with many well-known artists - and even toured the world with Cat Stevens twice...

TV personality and author Richard Osman recently took a brief writing hiatus, but he's returned with the latest instalment in the Thursday Murder Club book series. The series focuses on  a group of retirement village residents who investigate unsolved murders, and it's gotten so popular, it's received a Netflix adaptation starring Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. Osman says he's enjoyed retur...

Gravity Let Me Go by Trent Dalton. Noah Cork should be on top of the world. His new true crime book is a bestseller, but strange things happening around him are deeply unsettling. As a major storm threatens Brisbane he’s caught up in one of his own, failing to see what’s right under his nose in this brilliant story about murder and marriage and one man desperate to do the best by his family, with...

The Holiday Inn Express recently unveiled a new morning alarm system that's designed to be more pleasant than a blaring clock. The Holiday Inn Express Breakfast Alarm Clock is designed to wake guests up with the smell of bacon, coffee or muffins. BloggerAtLarge's Megan Singleton got the chance to try it out to find out if this technology's worth the hype. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener f...

I had an interesting experience this week, one that reminded me that sometimes even the obvious needs to be pointed out.   For a very brief moment I got a small taste of what it’s like to have low vision. Blind Low Vision New Zealand hosted a breakfast - during which I was given glasses to wear which mimicked glaucoma, and then I was guided into a café where I tried to read a menu. This all r...

This week on the Sunday Panel, Chelsea Daniels from the Front Page podcast and TV producer, journalist and commentator, Irene Gardiner, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  From Monday, the starting age for bowel cancer screenings will be lowered from 60 to 58 in Northland, Auckland, and the South Island. The rest of the North Island will follow in Marc...

Listen to the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 5 October. Get the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast every Sunday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beef and black bean empanadas  Cook time: 15 minutes  Prep time: 30 minutes  Serves: 6-8  300gm beef mince   2 whites onions, peeled and diced   1 can cooked black beans, drained   1 can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed   4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed   2 tbsp cumin seeds   1/2 tsp nutmeg powder   1/2 tsp chili powder   1 tsp salt &nb...

The start of daylight savings means longer days - and the extra light can help motivate people to get outside and get some exercise. Walking after meals offers numerous health benefits, including improved digestion, regulated blood sugar levels, improved heart health and it can elevate your mood by releasing positive hormones. Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara reveals how to incorporate m...

Most of us have had to take a few days off work or school because of the flu or Covid-19. But imagine being sick with Covid, not for a week or two, but for 750 days!  That’s exactly what happened to one patient described in a recent paper published in the Lancet ( Characterisation of a persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection lasting more than 750 days in a person living with HIV: a genomic analysis -...

Taylor Swift's much-anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl , dropped on Friday after weeks of hype and speculation. For this album, the 35-year-old artist reunited with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback to deliver a more upbeat project with some light introspection.  Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall says the album's prompted mixed responses - but it's already broken se...

Experts say better staffing numbers will be key to improving bowel-cancer screening. The screening age is set to lower to 58 for Northland, Auckland and the South Island today, with the rest of the North Island to follow in March. More than 120,000 people will qualify for screening in the first year of this change, and the Government aims to boost colonoscopy capacity to lower the age screening ag...

The past few weeks have been chaotic for Te Pāti Māori following Takuta Ferris’ social media posts and the decision to remove Mariameno Kapa-Kingi as party whip. These events have raised concerns about instability within the party and there's plans to announce a reset in the coming days. Newstalk ZB political reporter Ethan Griffiths says it's unclear what this reset will look like, or how the Lab...

The All Blacks have picked up a bonus-point 28-14 win over the Wallabies in Perth, but it hasn't been enough to win the Rugby Championship. South Africa's landed the title after winning a tight contest against Argentina 29-27 in London, just edging out the ABs on points differential. Former All Black Ant Strachan says this result will come as a relief for the All Blacks, but there's room for impro...

There's growing calls for New Zealand to regulate AI, amid concerns that the nation is falling behind on this matter. It's been revealed that Meta has been data scraping the accounts of users in New Zealand and Australia due to the lack of regulations - in order to train AI. AI expert Dr Andrew Lensen says the EU is leading the way with its AI Act - and it's something other countries should be loo...

Astrid Jorgensen used her love of communal singing to build Pub Choir - a concept she took all the way to America's Got Talent. The idea involves turning a theatre of regular people into a choir and with Jorgensen's tuition and a PowerPoint, any group can sing a three-part harmony. She used her experience to craft a memoir - Average At Best. "Can everyone learn to sing and win a Grammy Award? Abso...

Ken Follett's made a name for himself as an author of historical epic novels - and he's got a new one out. After starting his career as a thriller writer in the 70s, Ken’s decision to write The Pillars of the Earth in 1989 set his career on a different trajectory, and it paid off. Pillars has sold over 27 million copies and to date remains his most famous novel - and his total book sales now sits...

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger. When a self driving car crashes, a family’s lives are thrown into chaos. In the aftermath, questions are raised about responsibility for the accident and where the ethical line between human culpability and the technology is drawn. The people in this family are all keeping secrets from one another, and as these are thrown into the spotlight this book just gets more...

It's common for people to want to build a trip around a big event, but waiting for the flights and hotels to line up can be tricky. Booking things at the last minute can add on a bunch of extra costs, so BloggerAtLarge writer Megan Singleton revealed how you can get ahead and make a booking. She also revealed how to make the most out of a cancellation policy - read more about her travel tips here....

This week on the Sunday Panel, resident economist at Opes Partners, Ed McKnight, and Newstalk ZB host Roman Travers joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed New Zealand wouldn't recognise a Palestinian state at this point in time. Are we surprised by this?  The All Blacks managed to turn their luck around and b...

Inflammation can be caused by a number of factors, but new research has found there's a link between the condition and hormone changes in women. Loss of oestrogen can affect joints and the connective tissue that 'glues' your skeleton together, and the changes in hormones can result in general muscle aches, pains and stiffness.  Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara explains further. LIST...

On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 28 September 2025, Ken Follett is the master of the historical epic, this week he tells Francesca why he turned to Stonehenge for his new novel Circle of Days. Pub Choir has become a global phenomenon, it's founder Astrid Jorgensen talks about why she's so passionate about getting people singing and why being able to sing, is...