Afternoons

 

1:10 The Pacific Music Award nominees are out! 

With the AMAs behind us, next on the awards calendar is the Pacific Music Awards! 

The nominees were announced this morning with a record 34 finalists. 

Leading them with four nominations each is Aaradhna and Shane Walker. 

Shane is up for Best Pacific Male Artist, Best Gospel Artist, Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist, and Best Pacific Song.

He joins Jesse in the Auckland studio. 

1:20 Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The search for a town crier

Do you love your town and love yelling? If so, we've got a job for you! Well, Bluff does. 

Bluff is looking for a new town crier.

Bluff promotions officer Frazer Murdoch tells Jesse why the role is an important one. 

1:35 The New Zealand born singing teacher on America's Got Talent.

You know the expression sing like no one is listening, well we've got the 2025 edit, sing like you're in a choir of thousands.
 Astrid Jorgensen is the creator and director behind Pub Choir; a performance where the audience becomes a choir.

Regular listeners may remember we spoke to Astrid in October about her ability to sell out venues all over the world and the joy of uniting strangers through song. 

Fast forward nine months and the New Zealand born choir director has taken her performance to one of the biggest stages there is- TV show America's Got Talent. 

Astrid shares her experience with Jesse. 

1:40 Miss Universe New Zealand Evolves

Tonight, Skycity Theatre in Auckland will host the grand finale of Miss Universe New Zealand. 

The woman crowned Miss Universe NZ 2025 will go on to compete at the 74th Miss Universe competition, which this year is being held in Thailand. 

One of those competing this year is Dr Deborah Lambie, who - if she's announced as the winner this evening - would be the first mother to be crowned Miss Universe NZ. 

She tells Jesse it's a chance to show that traditional beauty standards have evolved. 

1:45 Tech Tuesday with Tim Batt

Tech expert Tim Batt talks to Jesse about the importance of passwords and gives some tips on how to stay secure online.

2:10 Book Critic - Historical Fiction for Tweens and Teens

Catherine Ross, the Director of Library at Auckland Grammar School, reviews a selection of books for teenage readers, focusing on a theme of historical fiction. 

Private Peaceful by Sir Micheal Morpurgo, Rabbit Soldier Angel Thief by Katrina Nannested, The Blackbird Girls by Anna Blankman, The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang and for ages 14 plus, The Terror by Dan Simmonds. 

For more recommendations for tweens and teens go to https://schoolbookwizard.wixsite.com/book-wizard

2:20 Update on Oz with Brad Foster

Brad Foster talks us through how Australia has reacted to the crisis between Iran, Israel and the USA.

An upcoming rugby tour of the British and Irish Lions and the news that ACDC will hit stages in Australia, for the first time in ten years. 

2:30 Music feature - Billy Strings

Billy Strings is an award winning American guitarist, singer, songwriter and bluegrass musician. 

After a pretty tough upbringing, Billy left home to try to get sober and focus on a music career.

His song "Dust in a Baggie" garnered over 30 million views on YouTube and he has won multiple Grammys.

Marty Jones joins Jesse to celebrate the talent of Billy String. 

3:10 Feature interview - Did Yoko Ono break up The Beatles?

We know her name, but the story of Yoko Ono has been largely ignored or told only as a footnote in the story of John Lennon and The Beatles.  

Music journalist David Sheff was the last person to interview Lennon and Ono just before Lennon was murdered in 1980.  He's maintained a friendship with Ono over all these years. 

She's now 92, and Sheff's new book 'Yoko: A Biography' spans her life as the child of wealthy parents in pre-war Tokyo to the avant-garde art world. 

Jesse asks David the question, did she break up The Beatles.

3:30 Spoken Feature: Witness History - A civil rights swim in

On 18 June 1964, black and white protesters jumped into a 'whites only' swimming pool at a motel in St Augustine, in Florida.

Photos of the Monson Motor Lodge manager, James Brock, pouring cleaning acid into the pool to get them out, made global headlines.

The following day, the Civil Rights Act - a landmark bill to end discrimination which had been stalling in the Senate - was finally passed.

Using archive interviews with two of the swimming activists, JT Johnson and Mimi Jones, the BBC looks back at this crucial moment in the civil rights movement.

3:45 The pre-Panel Wallace Chapman preview tonight's instalment of The Panel.