The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

This week on The Sunday Panel, commentator and producer Irene Gardiner and ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills joined in with Francesca Rudkin on a discussion about the following:  The Government is set to make an education announcement tomorrow about reducing class sizes for students in years 4 to 8. Is this a sign they are committed to improving working conditions and the education system? Do...

New Zealand's headed towards its fourth winter since the Covid-19 pandemic was introduced. Mask mandates and lockdowns are a thing of the past, meaning the virus is more likely to spread through the wider community in 2023. Most people recover within days or weeks, but what happens to the percentage of people who will suffer from long Covid? Wellness expert Erin O'Hara says all the symptoms of lon...

Welcome to our Kumara patch! Unfortunately and very sadly, the floods that caused havoc over the North Island during the Auckland Anniversary weekend also wiped out a lot of our kumara farmers in the Dargaville area. Our thoughts are still with you, as this is certainly something that will take a long time to rebuild.   So whilst kumara is a little more expensive at the moment, I don't want you no...

While some of us have green fingers, and can help any plant to thrive, others of us probably shouldn’t be left alone with even a cactus!   Now researchers have found that some plants actually make a sound when they need to be watered, unfortunately it’s just not within the hearing range of humans.   Published in the journal Cell  the researchers placed ultrasonic microphones next to but not touchi...

Danish explorer Peter Freuchen was said to be one of history's most interesting men. Peter Freuchen spent 20 years living with the Inuit in Greenland, established a trading post that would be the home base for several expeditions, and went on to write books and Academy Award-winning scripts. His extraordinary life story was brought into the spotlight in author Reid Mitenbuler's book, Wanderlust. R...

If you’re keen to walk one of the country’s 10 Great Walks, bookings open later this month for this coming season, the first season since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic when there are no restrictions.    The Conservation Department says it expects interest will be very high from Kiwis and international visitors. A bit like old times! The Milford, Kepler and Routeburn are hugely popular and...

Coachella 2023 began its two-weekend run on Friday April 14th (Saturday 15th NZT). 250,000 people will be attending the California event in person, and the rest of the world will have the chance to watch Youtube's livestream over both weekends. Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall says yesterday's livestream featured headliners Blink-182, Pusha T, The Chemical Brothers, Gorillaz, Bad Bunny, and New Ze...

Screenwriter and producer Anthony McCarten is regarded as one of the most celebrated Kiwi storytellers.  Born and raised in New Plymouth, Anthony McCarten went on to write and produce several acclaimed biopics and became a four-time Academy Award nominee. He's worked on The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Two Popes and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Anthon...

The Government's expected to confirm they will be reducing class sizes for students in years 4 to 8 on Monday. Those year groups have the highest student to teacher ratio, with one teacher to 29 pupils. NZEI President Mark Potter says that over a generation of teachers have been saying that the teacher-pupil ratio for those students needs to be reduced. "So it's a very important time for teachers...

Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins unveiled Affordable Water Reforms, a rebrand to Three Waters. National and ACT have dismissed the reforms as a hollow name brand, but ZB political editor Jason Walls says these criticisms are inaccurate. Jason Walls explained that the splitting of four water entities to ten was better for local councils, as they felt it gav...

The Government has announced they will boost science funding to protect New Zealand from extreme weather events. Research, Science and Innovation Minister Ayesha Verrall confirmed $1 0.8 million will be put into urgent research.  Ayesha Verrall explained that good science will inform people where roads need to go and where it is safest to rebuild. EQC Chief Resilience and Research Officer Dr Jo Ho...

Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai. This is a very different perspective on the Vietnam War, focusing on the Amerasian children who were abandoned by their GI fathers when they returned to the US; and on the shame and regret felt by many of those men for their actions. Focuses on one veteran who returns to Vietnam with his wife after 40 years, looking for the woman he treated badly and left behind,...

BloggerAtLarge's Megan Singleton has returned from a week in Rarotonga, an island destination with plenty to offer. Megan explained that Rarotonga is unique in the sense that it's easier to get around and explore all the land and water attractions beyond the walls of your resort.  Megan's highlights include several popular e-biking tours, the Punanga Nui Saturday market, a glass-bottom boat cruise...

Political commentator and Capital PR Director Ben Thomas and NZ Gardener editor Jo McCarroll joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss the following topics in this week's edition of the Sunday Panel:  Former Labour Finance Minister and co-founder of ACT, Roger Douglas, says he's unimpressed with the state of modern politics. What do we think of his remarks? Are politicians too guided by the polls these d...

Easter weekend encourages us to consume more sugar and carbohydrates, with chocolate eggs and hot cross buns appearing on the shelves. The World Health Organisation recommends no more than 50 grams of sugar a day (10 teaspoons worth), and most Easter eggs contain more than that amount. Wellness expert Erin O'Hara says you don't have to skip the chocolate and sweet treats, but balancing out sugar i...

For the last 85 years, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has explored what makes a good and fulfilling life. The director of this study is Harvard Medical School psychiatry professor Robert Waldinger, and alongside colleague Marc Schulz, he turned decades of research into a book 'The Good Life'. So what's the key to a good life? Robert Waldinger says taking care of your health and forging goo...

At the beginning of the week Vodafone NZ became One NZ, and to mark the occasion they announced a new agreement with Elon Musk’s Space X that will enable them to provide mobile coverage for their customers across the whole of New Zealand. Currently if you’re a One NZ customer your mobile service is delivered through cellphone towers, but this new agreement will mean customers in areas that don’t h...

This Easter weekend, we are getting the kids back into the kitchen and going a bit old school with polenta.   Remember when polenta cakes started popping up in café food counters? They were terrible! Hard and dry little rock cakes! This is mainly due to the fact that polenta needs to be eaten quickly after heating. Think of Polenta like many other starches. Once polenta is cooked, it continues to...

It’s Easter Sunday, and for many of us this means devouring one (or maybe more) chocolate Easter eggs.   As we head in for another bite, when we promised ourselves we would take it slow – the question is, why is chocolate so irresistible and moreish?   Scientists at the university of Leeds asked this question too and their results were published this week in the journal Applied Materials and Inter...

On April 6th, Netflix released their latest comedy-drama series, Beef. Beef stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as two people caught up in a road rage incident that threatens to consume their lives. Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall says this series was inspired by one of the show's writers stalling at a green light and accidentally following an angry driver on their way home. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudi...

A new bill may force French influencers to disclose their use of filters and editing. The French parliament has introduced potential new legislation requiring influencers to add a notification confirming that an image has been altered or filtered. The bill would also look to limit the promotion of cosmetic procedures and surgery. Psychologist and Body Right campaigner Sara Chatwin says we need to...

Sir Sam Neill is back at work after battling an aggressive blood cancer, starring in an adaptation of Australian Author Liane Moriarty's latest book. During his health scare the 75-year-old wrote a memoir titled "Did I Ever Tell You This." Neill says he was forced to write things down quickly as he wasn't sure how long he'd live. He says it started off purely as a personal project. "I thought I'd...

Attention is turning to policy, with the two main parties neck and neck just over six months out from the election. A new Taxpayers' Union Curia Poll puts Labour on 36.9 percent, and National just behind on 36.5 percent. National leader Chris Luxon says the polls will bounce around a bit, but he doesn't get too caught up in that. He says it's about the arc of where they need to get to, and they kn...

It's shaping up to be a tight race to the seats of power, and both main parties say they're focused on the next six months. A new Taxpayers' Union Curia Poll puts Labour up 1.4 points on last month, to 36.9 percent, and National just behind on 36.5. Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni says there's still a long way to go. She says the new Prime Minister has been warmly received by the public, var...

This week on The Sunday Panel, Coast day host Lorna Riley and NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson joined Francesca Rudkin for a chat about the following issues: Jacinda Ardern will be delivering her valedictory speech this coming Wednesday. She's been reasonably quiet since her departure, so what can we expect from this speech? How will her legacy as a Prime Minister be remembered?  More discussi...