Afternoons for Wednesday 6 July 2016

1:10 First song

1:15 Campaign to Pardon Gays in Aotearoa

This Saturday marks 30 years since the Homosexual Law Reform Act was passed. The act decriminalised sexual relations between men aged 16 and over.

Today, a petition is being presented to Parliament, asking for past convictions for being homosexual to be expunged. The petition has 2112 signatures, and is being presented by Green Party spokesman for rainbow issues, Kevin Hague.

The Campaign to Pardon Gays in Aotearoa started in late 2014, and the organiser is Wiremu Demchick.

Gareth Watkins of Nga Taonga Sound and Vision has put together this piece to mark the 30th anniversary of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill.

1:20  The 'Tesla of Eco-Villages

Auckland house prices have risen nearly five per cent over the past three months. The Reserve Bank's deputy governor, Grant Spencer, is due to speak tomorrow, on measures for reining in prices, with potential for more LVR restrictions.

But do we need to look at other ways of where and how we live? Our guest is building sustainable integrated neighbourhoods, or what he calls, the 'Tesla of eco-villages'. It's the idea of using today's technology, to redefine residential real-estate development. While being entirely self-reliant; growing your own food, generating your own energy, managing waste locally, and recycling water.

James Ehrlich is the founder of ReGen Villages, the Californian-based company, behind the project.

1:35 Sound Archives: Maori Language Week

It is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori -  Māori Language Week this week.  Today in our weekly segment from the sound archives,  Sarah Johnston from Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision plays us several radio recordings that shed a bit of light on changing attitudes towards promoting the use of the Māori language.

1:40 Favourite album

2:10 Music Critic Colin Morris

2:20 Bookmarks - Author Rachael King

There is no one more qualified to be our guest on this week's edition of bookmarks.  Her father was one of our most prominent authors and mum was a publisher, but young Rachael, determined not to follow in the family business, became a bass guitarist in a rock band and spent a year traveling through Europe.

Then came a return to university studies, a Bachelor of Arts and the start of a short-lived radio career as arts report on BFM.  But the passion for litterature was there all along and after completing her Masters in Creative Writing she began work on her first novel "The Sound of Butterflies."  It's was translated into eight languages and won the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Award for Best First Novel.

Since then other books and many other awards have followed.

3:10 Sandra Amodt: why diets make us fat

When it comes to losing weight, food is not the enemy, your brain is. Neuroscientist, Dr Sandra Aamodt says our own brains decide how much we should weigh and no amount of dieting is going to change that. She explains the neuroscience of  losing weight in her new book, Why Diets Make Us Fat: The Unintended Consequences of Our Obsession with Weight Loss,

3:35 New Zealand Society

Tales of life in Aotearoa.

3:45 The Panel Pre-Show