Afternoons for Wednesday 12 April 2023

1:15 Snow Leopard expert touches down in Wellington for habitat opening

A Snow Leopard expert has travelled all the way from Nepal for today's opening at Wellington Zoo.

Snow Leopard sisters Asha and Manju can be seen from today in their new habitat, which has taken 18 months to build

Wellington Zoo has paired with Nepalese Conservation group, Mountain Spirit, to help protect Snow Leopards - which are critically endangered in the wild in Nepal

Mountain Spirit advisor Dr. Shailendra Thakali speaks to Charlotte about snow leopard conservation. 

1:25 What makes a great cheese scone? 

New Zealand has long had a love affair with cheese scones, but one café in particular has won the affections of Cantabrians. 

Foundation Café at Tūranga, Christchurch Central City Library sell around 180 scones daily! 

Co-owner, Ruth Trevella tells Charlotte the secret to a great cheese scone. 

1:35 Tickets selling fast for New Zealand International Comedy Festival 

The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is right around the corner, shows are selling out- including for our next guest, Ed Gamble!

It's great to be able to welcome back international comedians to our shores 

You might know Ed Gamble from Taskmaster UK where he starred alongside our very own Rose Matafeo in 2019. 

He hosts the award winning podcast Off Menu with James Acaster, as well as many other podcast and TV appearances.

1.50 Walking bikes changing lives 

Christchurch resident Karen Brill bought a walking bike 18 months ago, which she says has let her get her life back.

She has gone from struggling to make it to the letter box to walking about 6km a da.

She'll be among those attendings the new accessible walk hosted by New Zealand Spinal Trust on Sunday 23 April.

2.12 Podcast Critic: Paul Bushnell

Two history-themed podcasts which pose the question "what if?" are the focus of today's podcast review. 
Paul Bushnell discusses 'Rachel Maddow presents Ultra' and 'This is Not History' with host, Charlotte Ryan. 

2:25 Bookmarks with Katie Wolfe

For today's Bookmarks, actor, director and writer Katie Wolfe joins Charlotte Ryan in the Auckland studio. 

Her play "The Haka Party" Incident has garnered three Adam NZ Play Awards, including Best Māori Playwright and the Dean Parker Award. 

Her first two short-films premiered at Sundance, her first feature length film, Kawa, was an adaptation of Witi Ihimaera's book, Nights in the Gardens of Spain.

3:10 Feature interview 

On a scale of 1-10, Gary Marcus puts his concerns about artificial intelligence at a 9.

They come not so much from the technology, he's founded many companies that use A.I. himself, but from humans and our ability to handle what we're creating.

Marcus is an entrepreneur and emeritus professor of psychology and neural science at N.Y.U.

 He's just signed a letter with Elon Musk and more than 1,000 AI experts calling for a 6 month moratorium on A.I experiments until safety protocols can be developed and shared.

Gary Marcus tells us about his concerns and his hope for the future of artificial intelligence. 

To find out more click here.

3:35 Stories from Our Changing World

Kiwi have returned to the wild in Wellington after a long absense. 

Veronika Meduna heads out into the field to see how Capital Kiwi Project's mahi is paying off.

http://http://www.rnz.co.nz/ourchangingworld

3:45 The Panel with Jenni Giblin and Mark Sainsbury