Afternoons for Wednesday 7 August 2024

1:15 Dads on parental leave

Here in Aotearoa men represent around just two percent of those claiming paid parental leave. However a Taranaki father is keen to see that change. Callum Williamson is taking leave from his general manager role at Conductive Education Taranaki to look after his two children aged three, and ten months. 

For the next three months he will be writing about his experiences and he hopes to encourage more Kiwi dads to take the plunge.

1:25 Fighting tooth decay

It's a big day today for a Christchurch based charity which is on a mission to improve the dental health of our tamariki. The BYTE charitable trust provides toothbrushes and toothpaste to classrooms of six- and seven-year olds who then get together for a group brushing activity twice daily. The pilot programme has today been launched at Te Kōmanawa Rowley School in Christchurch's Hoon Hay.

Martin Lee is a BYTE trustee and he talks to Jesse from the launch.

1:35 70 years potting around

The earliest known pottery vessels were discovered in Jiangxi in China and date back to 18,000 BC. While it doesn't go quite that far back, the Napier Pottery Club is celebrating a big milestone, marking 70 years since it was established.

Hawke's Bay clay artist Penny Madden has been with the club for more than 50 years and she chats to Jesse about the club and what keeps it going. 

1:45 Heading Off: Travel Sketching

If you're got the time, travel can be a  chance to really soak yourself into a new place. And what better way to lose yourself in a setting, than sketching it.  

In Heading Out this week I'm chatting with Tony McNeight ) who teaches travel sketching and runs several travel sketching tours with his company Erin Hill Sketching. 

2.12 Podcast Critic: Adam Burns

Today Adam reviews two podcasts. He looks at Sportscafe-ish, which sees the return of a New Zealand sports television icon. And he chats with Jesse about Transmissions, the definitive story of Joy Division.

2:20 Easy Eats with Sam Parish: Cauliflower Curry Fritters with Coriander Chutney

The fabulous sounding dish looks just as good. Get the recipe here. 

2:30 Bookmarks with Justin Flitter

Justin has had his finger on the pulse of technological advancement in New Zealand for over two decades now. In 2016 he founded NewZealand.AI to help businesses understand and incorporate the ever-expanding landscape of artificial intelligence. He's also the man behind Unrivaled, a business-to-business marketing agency, the emcee and producer of TEDx Auckland, and the Chair of the NZ Tech Marketers Group.

Justin is currently embarking on 'The Great NZ AI Roadshow', which you can read all about at www.newzealand.ai.

3:10 Feature interview: Dr Matt Beane

See one, do one, teach one.  

This is the way so many  of us learned how to do our jobs through mentorships, apprenticeships and other on-the-job training schemes. But AI and robotics are changing the way we teach many important skills says automation expert and assistant professor at the University of California Santa Barbara,  Dr Matt Beane. He says we're sacrificing learning in the name of productivity and that's reducing human ability.  

In his new book he argues that we  need to find a way to use new intelligent technologies while maintaining relationships between experts and new workers coming up through the ranks . 

It's called The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines.  

3:35 Stories from Our Changing World

Music is an important part of our everyday lives, but have you ever stopped to think about how weird it is that we can make and listen to music?  

On Our Changing World we hear from University of Auckland psychologist Dr. Sam Mehr. Dr Mehr won the 2023 Prime Minister's emerging scientist prize for his research into how and why humans produce and perceive music. 

3:45 The pre-Panel