Afternoons for Wednesday 17 May 2023

 

1:15 Funding for carbon checks cut, why it matters

Roughly every five years, conservation workers go deep into the forests of Aotearoa to count animal droppings, birds and carbon.

This data is a health check for our native forests. But government funding for the task has quietly been halved, meaning the checks are happening less thoroughly.

Stuff's Climate Change Editor Eloise Gibson set out to find out why. She talks to Jesse about the impact this has.

1:25 Signing up to be frozen after death with promise of coming to life again!

A US firm is promoting a unique cryogenics programme where clients are preserved in a specific way shortly after death with the promise, if they can, will be woken again with a cure for their ailments.

The controversial practice is overshadowed by legal and ethical questions, but that's not deterring people signing up.

To explain the process and the moral and legal difficulties it presents,  The Cryogenics Institute president, Dennis Kowalski talks to Jesse.

1:35 Finding out where butterflies originally came from

After 20 years of hot debate in the field scientists have finally settled on the origins of butterflies.

They've pinned down how old they are, and where they came from.

To explain is entomologist and Associate Professor at the Australian National University Michael Brady talks to Jesse.

1:45 All Black memorial to be held tomorrow

The memorial for the legendary All Black Bruce Robertson is tomorrow.

Bruce passed away on Friday last week age 71.

He played 102 matches for the All Blacks from 1972 and was widely consiered the greatest centre of all time.

Kit Fawcett played alongside Bruce on the 1976 tour in South Africa and joins me now to remember Bruce.

2.12 Podcast Critic: Adam Burns

Today Adam talks to Jesse about Whistleblower and No Skins with Jinx and Shea.

2:25 Bookmarks with James Acheson

For Bookmarks today we're finding out about the favourite things of Academy Award Winner costume designer Jim Acheson.

He was one of the designers on Monty Pythons's The Meaning of Life - which is celebrating it's 40th year.

Jim has won THREE academy awards for his costume design work in films.

He currently lives in Wellington and is the designer for the set and costumes of the Royal New Zealand Ballet production of Romeo and Juilet.

3:10 How the internet is changing and what we need to know

The internet as we know it is over. It's Amy Webb's job to look at where technology is taking us as head of the Future Today Institute. She says we are in the middle of a perfect storm of advances in code, generative AI and hardware  that mean we will never have to think on our own again. Professor Webb says this could go one of two ways; solving some of humanities biggest challenges or creating ones we never imagined. She argues we need the government to move quickly to guide and regulate AI so that we control the direction it is going in, not the other way around.

3:35 Stories from Our Changing World

Coming up on Our Changing World - Claire Concannon visits Zealandia to learn about its efforts to restore the freshwater spaces within the ecosanctuary.

3:45 The Panel with Nikki Bezzant and Nick Leggett