The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Bait is the latest TV miniseries capturing the attention of entertainment fans on Prime Video. It follows a struggling British Pakistani actor, played by Riz Ahmed, as tries to audition for the role of James Bond. Entertainment correspondent Steve Newall explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New studies show an alarming rate of Kiwis life off ultra-processed diets, especially considering 70 percent of packaged foods in NZ supermarkets meet this criteria. A new app created by a Kiwi nurse is looking to help us navigate the supermarket shelves and make healthier choices. KaiWise founder Peter Bird says the nation's food system is 'broken' and his own health issues inspired him to help K...

Chris Bishop's been turfed out as National's campaign chair in favour of Simeon Brown - signalling a potential dent in his relations with the PM.  The National MP's also lost his Leader of the House and Associate Sport Minister roles in yesterday's Cabinet reshuffle, but is replacing outgoing MP Judith Collins as Attorney General. Former Minister and commentator Peter Dunne says Luxon might b...

A long-distance swimming record's been broken by a New Zealander wanting to protect our ocean. Open-water swimmer Jono Ridler has swum more 1300 kilometres, from the top of the North Island to the capital - with only his togs, goggles, and swim cap. His trip was segmented, starting in January, and ending in Wellington only yesterday. Ridler says yesterday was 'incredible', with lots of Wellingtoni...

On Thursday afternoon, almost 300 pages of police emails, text messages and documents were released about the Tom Phillips Netflix documentary, following an Official Information Act request. What was released raises real questions about the appropriateness of the relationship and communication between police and the production company - and whether the doco should be made at all.   The planne...

British newcomer Robert Aramayo was the talk of this year's BAFTA awards after he walked away with the Best Actor victory. The leading role that saw him beat out Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet, and Michael B. Jordan was his depiction of  Scottish Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson in I Swear.  Robert Aramayo and director Kirk Jones explained why it was important to tell Davidson's...

The life and journey of former Prime Minister Helen Clark is set to be explored in a new play set to hit Auckland's ASB Waterfront Theatre this April. Helen Clark in Six Outfits will trace her journey from the farm in Waikato where she grew up all the way to taking on the top role in the Beehive. The play was written by Kiwi actress and writer Fiona Samuel - and she says she worked to find the sto...

The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent. Liz Nugent is particularly good at writing about dysfunctional families - I first loved Lying in Wait and the more recently, Strange Sally Diamond. In this new one, Ruby and her sister Erin live a sheltered life in Boston, but when Ruby’s 16, something awful happens which sends shockwaves through the family and tears them all apart. Ruby builds a new life...

Travel expert Megan Singleton has revealed her secret trick for getting discounts on hotels. In the months before your trip, if you open Booking.com and reserve a refundable room and lock it in for the dates you need, come back and check about two days before your payment will be taken. Then, you go back into Booking.com and add your dates in again and see what the prices are, and it's likely you'...

This week on The Sunday Panel, broadcaster and journalist Wilhelmina O’Keefe and Newstalk ZB Wellington mornings host Nick Mills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Labour's Chris Hipkins has refused to offer up a solution to the fuel crisis, after the Government rolled out their divisive relief scheme. Do we think Labour missed a beat, especially considerin...

On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 29 March 2026, newcomer Robert Aramayo shocked at this years BAFTAs by beating Hollywood heavyweights Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothee Chalamet to win the lead actor award.  This week he tells Francesca what went through his head when his name was read out and the impact his win has had on the film 'I Swear'. Fiona Samuel...

Viking wellness is a new spa trend that's growing in popularity, raising questions as to the overall benefits. The trend involves dry sauna and winter-sea swimming; hot and cold immersion traditions commonly found in Nordic countries such as Iceland, Finland, and Norway. The fast-growing Viking wellness trend often sees the hot-cold experiences paired with nature-based activities like barefoot wal...

Ham and pineapple and chunky tomato pizza  Cook time: 10 minutes  Prep time: 10 minutes  Serves: 6 200 ml warm water   9 gm dried yeast (1 pkt)   9 gm sugar   120 gm wholemeal flour   250 gm flour   2 tsp salt   2 tbsp sunflower oil   Chunky pizza sauce   1 onion, roughly diced   2 cloves garlic, crushed   6 large tomatoes, chopped &...

Cockroaches are not usually associated with romance.  But scientists publishing in the journal Royal Society Open Science have just discovered something surprising - some cockroach couples appear to form exclusive, long-term partnerships. And the way they start that relationship is by eating each other’s wings.  Researchers already knew that during courtship, Salganea taiwanensis cockroa...

If you notice your pay packet feels a little lighter from next week, it's due to incoming changes coming to KiwiSaver. From April 1, the default KiwiSaver contribution rate will increase from 3 percent to 3.5 percent, a phased move which will take the default rate to 4 percent in 2028. Pathfinder KiwiSaver co-founder John Berry says this will give people more money to enjoy their retirement with,...

The Government unveiled their fuel crisis relief support package aimed at low-income households, and it's sparked a divided response. About 140,000 families with children will receive an extra $50 per week through a boost to the In-Work Tax Credit, beginning April 7. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the Government's made the right move with this, given that it won't requ...

The Government has unveiled their support package aimed at helping households through the fuel crisis, but one expert has explained why a new solution is needed. A temporary $50 weekly tax credit for about 143,000 eligible lower-income families with children has been implemented, and it will continue for a year, or until the price of 91 drops below $3 a litre for four weeks in a row. Auckland Univ...

There's growing calls for Kiwis to buy New-Zealand made products as pressures mount on our manufacturing sector and local producers. This follows the recent announcements of closures of both McCain and Heinz Wattie's processing sites.  Buy NZ Made executive director Dane Ambler says we need to nip this in the bud now, as demand collapses. "There's growing international competition, so now is...

The reason why Labour leader Chris Hipkins has an uphill battle leading into this year’s election, regardless of what the polls say, has been on show this week. I am not talking about awkward personal posts. I’m talking about his politicking.   About a month ago, Chris Hipkins delivered his State of the Nation speech in Auckland. Some described it as boring. Others saw it as an effort to come...

& Juliet has taken Broadway and the West End by storm and earned 8 Olivier nominations and it's set to debut in New Zealand. The show was created by Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read and it offers a new twist on the Shakespeare classic, where Juliet gets to live out her own story - soundtracked by Max Martin hits everyone knows.  Kiwi actress and singer Awhimai Fraser is set to star a...

Kiwi actress Madeleine Sami's been successful across the Tasman, and she's drawing in more international acclaim. Fresh from directing a NZ series called The Sanctuary in West Auckland and getting the nod to be the new host of The Traitors, she's back on our screens for the second season of Deadloch, and it's a hit with critics.  She says it feels 'pretty cool' to be part of something that pe...

Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester. This book is marvellous - the premise being that every marriage has its own language which is meaningless to anyone listening in. A new Netflix show called Cheating becomes the talk of the town and appears to contain verbatim words and phrases which were unique to Kate and Jack - but Jack has died and Kate’s left wondering whether their long and faithfu...

The conflict in the Middle East has continued for another week, and there's concerns from industry experts about it impacting tourism. Intrepid Travel’s chief executive recently confirmed travellers are delaying their plans until the second half of the year in the hope disruption caused by the Iran war will be resolved. BloggerAtLarge.com writer Megan Singleton says people are concerned about the...

This week on the Sunday Panel, journalist, TV producer and commentator Irene Gardiner and partner at Freebairn and Hehir lawyers, Liam Hehir, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is proposing rules that would remove minimum legal-size limits for commercial fishers across popular fish species like snapper and...

On the Sunday Session with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast for Sunday 22 March 2026, Madeleine Sami's Emmy nominated show Deadloch is back for season two, filmed in the Northern Territory, Madeleine tells Andrew about the insanity of filming in the croc infested area and questions how much the high temperatures impact the locals. Smash hit musical & Juliet is being brought to New Zealand by a...