Afternoons for Friday 26 October 2018

1:10 First song: Rhian Sheehan

Back in March we spoke to musician, music producer and screen composer Rhian Sheehan for Bookmarks, and he told us he was working on his fifth album.

Rhian's known for his atmospheric electronic music, and has spent the past decade writing scores for TV, film and even planetarium shows.  

The album, A Quiet Divide is out now and he's touring it at the moment. 

We can't fit his many musicians and string section into our studio, so just Rhian joins to give us a taste of his live show

1:15 Where are the women at tech events? 

PledgeMe chief Anna Guenther was flabbergasted when she discovered that there are more Johns, Waynes and Marks than women speaking at next year's NZ High Tech Awards. 

Anna started crowd sourcing a list of inspiring New Zealand Women in 2015 to try and make it easier for media and events to find female experts in their fields, but the problem is clearly still there. 

1:25 Sydney spring bee swarms 

The streets of Sydney are abuzz with bee swarms this spring. 

While there is always a swarming season, this year has seen hundreds of calls being made to beekeepers to come and collect the swarms from schools, cars and homes. 

Doug Purdie is a co-founder of The Urban Beehive in Sydney and he thinks people don't need to be too concerned. 

1:34  Could regional TV be on the comeback?

A group of broadcasters, headed by Mainland TV in Nelson hope so and have formed a trust to take a proposal to the Government to make some of its reserved Freeview digital TV spectrum available to community TV broadcasters. Back in its heyday, in the 1990's, there were 18 TV stations, but many shut down when digital TV was introduced in September 2012. Gary Watson, the chief executive of Mainland TV, tells Jesse of his plan to set up four new regional TV stations.

1:40 Great album

2:10 Film Review with Richard Swainson

Richard reviews A Star is Born and Bad Times at the El Royale

2:20 NZ Live: The Roulettes

Today's NZ Live band is a three-piece comprising Justin McLean, Ben Grant and Mark Queenin.
The band's historical and musical roots are in Dunedin. They describe themselves as survivors from "90s alcohol-fueled Dunedin rock and roll bands". Those bands were Bike and Funhouse but, those survivors are The Roulettes.

3:10 Food: Buffalo Cheese

Helen Dorresteyn was the first person to farm buffalo in New Zealand, and ten years on her Clevedon Buffalo company is winning awards for its buffalo cheese

She's with me now to talk buffalo and share a recipe for a buffalo cheese salad

3:20 Talk the Walk - Iceland

Tramper, author and photographer Rob Brown was our very first Talk the Walk guest, sharing his stories of the Routeburn track. He's recently come back from a trip to Iceland, where he was able to explore some of the incredible landscapes there.

Iceland is a small country with a population less than that of Christchurch, a small park service and nearly as many tourists as New Zealand gets so is struggling to cope with increased tourism.

3:25 Critter of the Week: Native Parasitoid wasps

Before we talk wasps, we'll be announcing the winner of our inaugural Critter of the Week Bake off.

We were incredibly impressed by all the entries and choosing the winners was very difficult.

However there can only be one winner, and it was  Jasmin Hollister and her friend Alex from Lyttleton for thier Powelliphanta cake. The cake impressed us with its detail, and looks very like the actual snail as you can see from the gallery below. Jasmin and Alex win a trip for two to Wellington and a guided tour of Zealandia!

Here they are working on their winning entry

And this week's critter of the week:

Think ‘wasp’, think ‘yellow and black’ and ‘sting!’  But in Aotearoa, far outnumbering those few easily recognised introduced ‘social’ wasps, are our native parasitoid wasps.  Skinny, solitary and often all black, these wasps are full of purpose – find a host to lay their eggs in.  Nicola Toki, DOC’s Threatened Species Ambassador, tells us who they choose as hosts and answers the important question – “if I find one, will it sting me?”

 

3:45 The Pre-Panel Story of the Day and One Quick Question

4:05 The Panel with Cas Carter and Selwyn Manning

 

 

New Critter of the Week T-shirts! 

We have a new selection of limited edition Critter of the Week T-shirts, including children's sizes plus a tea towel! 

To order one click here, you only have until 31st October to get your orders in.