The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

This week my two favourite disrupters finally released one of their long awaited projects, a short documentary series on Netflix called Harry and Meghan. You may have heard of it. I’ve been bemused by the lead up to the release of this very carefully crafted glimpse into their love story, and their lives. There’s been outrage over the trailers – for goodness sake, it’s just the trailer! And many,...

Travelling during the Christmas season is always a stressful process, but this year promises to bring extra chaos and worry. Between the staffing shortages, fuel rationing and general uncertainty, travelling around this time of year is guaranteed to be full of extra problems. Megan Singleton, seasoned traveller and BloggerAtLarge writer recommends booking the earliest flight possible (if you can)...

Grand by Noelle McCarthy. The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw. When McKinsey Comes to Town by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsyth. Freezing Order by Bill Browder. Readme. Txt by Chelsea Manning . LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's edition of the Sunday Panel, journalist Morgan Godfrey and political commentator Liam Hehir joined in on a discussion about the following issues: The Hamilton West byelection has just wrapped up and National candidate Tama Potaka has won the seat. Does this result mean anything for the 2023 election? Is the switch to National a sign of things to come? New AI system ChatGPT can write...

Christmas is a busy time, and everyone will most likely have at least one big meal- if not more- to plan. Having some simple hacks and cheat recipes to make the planning process easier will definitely come in handy, and celebrity food stylist and star of the Disney+ series Donna Hay Christmas has a few of her own. Donna Hay shared her favourite simple appetisers and nibbles and gave some tips on n...

With Christmas rapidly approaching, the right way to decorate is on everybody's minds. The plastic tree vs real tree debate has been gaining more momentum in recent years, especially since sustainability has become a bigger concern. UOA Research Fellow Dr Joel Rindelaub says that real trees have a smaller carbon footprint, but it goes up if you don't dispose of it the right way.  In comparison, pl...

Christmas can inspire a lot of emotions leading up to the big day, and stress, sadness and anxiety are among them. Between worrying about finances, organising things on a deadline, feeling anxious around large family gatherings or missing loved ones who are no longer with us, the Christmas season has a lot of emotional issues mixed in. Erin O'Hara, naturopath, wellness expert, and Golden Yogi dire...

Hear about each dressing and what they work with – run through your favourite recipe.   With this being my second to last segment for the year, I want to continue my mission to help make everyone's Christmas food as least stressful as possible.   So last week, we spoke about brining and cooking our chicken or turkey. So this week I want to talk about dressings, for the all important salads that wi...

The long-awaited Avatar sequel 'Avatar: The Way of Water' is out in theatres this week, after 13 years of buildup. The film will begin advance screenings from Wednesday December 14th, with an official release on December 15th. Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall says that this film promises to have compelling and unique visuals and that it'll make an exciting viewing experience- but early reviews are...

Actor Alfred Molina has played a wide variety of parts in his 5 decades in the industry, and he's added one more to his repertoire. Between Dr Otto Octavious in Spiderman, to Rivera Diego in Frida, to Shannon in Tennesse Wiliam’s play The Night of the Iguana, he's had plenty of memorable roles to his name. He's now starring in the Prime Video original series Three Pines, an adaptation of Louise Pe...

The latest sensation in artificial intelligence is being described as “fluent, clever and dangerously creative”.   Newly released AI ChatGPT can provide an entire essay, including quotes from text in just seconds- and it can do this while sounding eerily human. Phillipa Wintle from the New Zealand Association for the Teaching of English says English teachers everywhere are both impressed and conce...

National candidate Tama Potaka won the Hamilton West byelection, beating out Labour's Georgie Dansey and former Labour MP turned independent Gaurav Sharma. Tama Potaka has promised to use his platform to be a strong voice for change in order to benefit the people of Hamilton West.  NZ Herald political editor Claire Trevett says that this win is a warning for the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 elec...

National Party candidate Tama Potaka has won the Hamilton West byelection. Tama Potaka has claimed the seat left vacant by Gaurav Sharma, beating out Labour candidate Georgie Dansey by 2285 votes. Tama Potaka says that the people of Hamilton are looking for change and that he'll be the strong political voice they need. He also observed that Hamilton West have been feeling frustrated with Labour in...

BloggerAtLarge writer Megan Singleton is still in Thailand, and she's found more stuff for prospective travellers to try out in Bangkok. Megan's highlights include the klong (canal) tours which allow you to float past the temples and towns and the vendors selling food and goods to complement the journeys.   Shoppers will also love the Chatuchak markets, with over 15,000 stalls full of clothes, jew...

One Weka Went Walking by Kate Preece and Pippa Ensor. Beautiful hardback picture book about a weka which goes for a walk on the Chatham Islands and meets some of New Zealand’s most endangered birds along the way, from the tiny black robin to the world’s rarest seabirds. Stunning illustrations and great rhyme. A gift for any age. I will have a copy with me this morning to show Francesca.   Bedtime...

This week on the Sunday Panel, Newstalk ZB and Gold FM host Andrew Dickens and NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson joined on a discussion about the following issues of the week: The Government has decided to remove the entrenchment clause from Three Waters legislation and Leader of the House Chris Hipkins labelled it a "mistake".  This follows on from an extended period of lawyers and legal exper...

Clinical psychologist Dr Julie Smith is taking mental health awareness and strategies to a new audience after 10 years in the NHS.  Dr Julie Smith branched out onto TikTok and currently runs a successful account with 4.2 million followers. The account is focused around giving her young audience helpful, accessible mental health tools and strategies. She's also brought her day-to-day mental health...

Christmas is three weeks away, and with it comes more opportunities to binge-drink, eat, and over-indulge. Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara observed that people are more likely to overindulge on unhealthy food and alcohol at this time of year, and that holiday parties and certain limited food options play a part. Erin O'Hara says that people don't have to cut themselves off from food or...

Today, we are seriously getting ready for Xmas!   Turkey! It's a word that, when mentioned, many of us run for the hills. It's dry, you say, it's hard to cook, you say.   Well, let me help you out.   Today, we are going to talk about brining. It's been around for ages and what it does will amaze you.   Christmas brined chicken or turkey   1 sized 16 chicken or small turkey   2 bay leaves   2 lemon...

A long-term solution to counteract deadly mosquitoes is currently in the works. Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals to humans out there, as they spread malaria, yellow fever, dengue and zika, to name a few. The new research involves genetically modifying male mosquitoes and sending them out to mate with female ones to create non-viable offspring that won't live to reproduce. Dr Joel Rindelaub exp...

Guns N’ Roses will be arriving in Auckland's Eden Park to play on December 10th- but they've cut one tradition before the big concert.  Traditionally, lead singer Axl Rose would throw a microphone into the audience at the end of every concert, but this concert staple may be over for good.  Earlier this week, a woman was injured when a microphone hit her on the nose during their Adelaide concert. T...

Kiwi singer-songwriter Greg Johnson has been making music in the US over the last few years, but he's set to return to New Zealand soon. Greg has been based in the US for 20 years now, but is heading back home in March for a couple of festival dates. He's confirmed to be playing at both Selwyn Sounds and Hutt Sounds.   His latest single 'Nothing Grows on Mars' takes a look at the idea of living on...

Earlier this year, the Auckland City Mission opened up their new purpose built complex- HomeGround. This project has been in the works for at least 20 years and offers unconditional and permanent housing to anyone who may need it. A new book expands on the importance of this new building and the services it offers. HomeGround: The Story of a Building That Changes Lives was authored by Simon Wilson...

A Hungarian family who have been operating two successful businesses on the Kapiti Coast has had their residency application declined by Immigration New Zealand. The family now has 42 days to present their case to a tribunal to determine whether or not they can stay in the country. A petition launched to help the family stay in New Zealand has received overwhelming support with over 44,000 signatu...

The summer holidays are approaching and Christmas is three weeks away, which means we could use some extra help.  Ahead of the season, the Resilience Institute has launched a ‘Holiday Resilience Training’ program and at least 35 New Zealand companies have already signed up.   Resilience Institute Global Partner Bradley Hook says this training is necessary because people will have spent the whole y...