Nights

Cast your mind back to 2014 - Marie Kondo released the English-language version of her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and posed that now-infamous question, "does this spark joy," which guided homes around the globe in their quest to declutter. It leant into the philosophy that clutter can get in the way of the life you want. But new research by my next guest suggests there are some m...

You've heard the stories, the hospitality sector in crisis, nobody's drinking anymore, on one hand hurrah, the world capital of binge drinking is growing up. On the other, oh dear. Nobody knows how to socialise anymore, Gen Z is condemned to pass through life listless singletons melting their brains with AI slop, rather than ethanol. The narratives are seductive, they probably reinforce our own in...

Geocaching is a popular global game where participants hunt down hidden containers - called "geocaches" or "caches". There are more than 3 million of them hidden around the world - in far flung places. This weekend, the the biggest New Zealand geocaching event of the year is drawing players from far and wide. Hundreds of new caches have been placed around the wider Nelson region - some urban and s...

Levi Brinsdon-Hall founded his social enterprise Delicious Revolution to change perceptions around where our food comes from. 

Scentsation uses targeted aromas around individual products to make the shopping experience more appealing.

De La Salle College in South Auckland is building a reputation with its debating programme becoming one of the strongest in Auckland.

Whether we believe in them or not, why do ghost stories fascinate us? What is it about the supernatural and spooky which gets us going? Historian Amanda McVitty is hosting a series of ghost talks at the Thistle Inn for the Wellington Heritage Festival this month and she'll be be bringing the capital's spooky colonial history to life. Amanda speaks to Susana.

The University of Otago's MindJam is returning to Queenstown this weekend, with academics from its Division of Humanities getting together to tackle the big questions, share a few ideas and head off on some thought-provoking tangents. Associate professor Grace Moore is chairing proceedings. She speaks to Susana.

Dan talks about what he's been watching, including Tenzing (Apple), The Last Lighthouse (YouTube) and Klara and The Sun (in cinemas).

It’s time for our semi-regular politics catch-up with political scientist, writer, thinker and former deputy leader of The Opportunities Party, or TOP as it was known then, Natalia Albert. Tonight, we’re looking at why this election has become so complicated, with coalition possibilities, electorate seats and some particularly tricky MMP maths all making it harder to work out what government we co...

What happens when you take the artwork of 179 Auckland children and bring it to life on a massive scale? Windows of Imagination does exactly that, transforming their drawings into a colourful animated projection on the southern façade of Te Waihorotiu Station, giving us a glimpse of Auckland through the eyes of its tamariki. 

A new dinosaur exhibition, which takes visitors back around 68 million years, opens at Auckland Museum this weekend. Susana speaks to Victoria Travers, Director of Audience Experience at Auckland Museum.

Christian Smith dials in from London with news from the other side of the world.

Long Story Short is the podcast from award-winning New Zealand journalists Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding. Each episode takes a sensational crime, scandal, catastrophe, or something just plain weird, unravels it, then pieces the whole story back together. And the first episode of season two is out now. Emile speaks to Adam and Eugene about the stories they couldn't help but explore.

Colin Peacock joins Emile Donovan to debrief the week in media news.

On Monday night, you may have caught a plea from our sports man, Ben Strang  . . . to bring back jousting Well, I said leave it with us, and we have delivered.

Lily Allen fans will be saying "Not Fair" tonight. The singer cancelled her show this evening just hours before she was due on stage in Auckland. Allen made the announcement this morning on social media, leaving some fans with unrecoverable travel and accommodation costs. To discuss what seems to be a trend of artists flaking on New Zealand Emile speaks with music journalist Chris Schulz.

It's time for us to showcase another unusual museum here on RNZ Nights. It's our fortnightly segment we call Nights at the Museum. And tonight - we head to Croatia to the Museum of Hangovers co-founder Rino Dubokovic speaks to Emile.

Dylan Reeve has worked in reality TV for more than two decades - he also happens to be one of the hosts of RNZ podcast The Reality Machine.

Some of us are punctual folk. If the movie says it starts at half-seven, we expect it to start at half-seven. But - why DON'T movies start on time? What's the logic, the economics behind this? Neil Lambert is the owner of premium cinema chain Silky Otter. He speaks to Emile.

Is this more than just a minor irritation? Or does it point to a wider public safety issue? Should New Zealand do the same? 

But how do you take some of humanity's oldest and biggest questions and make them relevant to teenagers in the 21st century?

For her latest work, HIDE, poet and artist Rebecca Hawkes has woven together the stories of a medieval mystic scribe and a modern shepherd's daughter. The work has also been transformed into a musical performance with a complete cello score by Emily Winter. Rebecca joins Emile to discuss the project.

Nights sports commentator on the return of club cricket and a look at the various Trans-Tasman sporting competitions currently taking place, plus Formula 1 looks to be returning to Africa.

Every Monday, we take a moment to look back with our resident historian, Emma Kay. Emma runs Small Histories of New Zealand, where she digs up curious stories, funny articles, and lost treasures from our past and shares them on social media. This week Emma is taking a look at the history of of joke political parties.