Afternoons for Tuesday 27 August 2024

1:15 Can you give Melatonin to kids? 

Getting a good night's sleep is easier for some than others, and prescribed melatonin has been a saving grace for many. But there are still lingering questions about its safety and effectiveness for children.

A recent RNZ investigation found dozens of parents jumping through hoops to import melatonin to help their kids sleep. So, why is it so difficult to get your son or daughter a prescription, and what are the safety concerns involved?

Jesse is joined by Dr David Reith, an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Otago. 

1:25 Our history mapped 

It started off as a personalised gift for his brother: Matt Smith, a designer teamed up with his history buff father Mark, to create something unique to celebrate his brother completing his master's degree in teaching. Together they created a unique historical map of Aotearoa/New Zealand inspired by the groundbreaking London Tube map design. The map was a hit and since then they have created a map of our sporting history. And there's four more in the pipeline ...

1:35 Some brand-new wallabies and what they mean for the environment

Researchers have discovered a new species of wallaby living undetected around Rotorua. The invasive species may have been living in the area for over a century and researchers say their discovery is a threat to native biodiversity and will prove hard to eradicate.

Jesse talks to Dr Andrew Veale from the wildlife ecology and management team at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research.

1:45 Tech Tuesday: The arrest of ‘Russia’s Zuckerberg’, Pavel Durov

Tim Batt is in studio to look at the biggest story in tech right now: the arrest of Telegram's CEO.  

2:10 Book Critic: travels in post-war Vietnam and Marxism in NZ lit

Anna Rankin looks at two books: Dougal McNeill's Forms of Freedom, Marxist essays in New Zealand and Australia literature and Mary McCarthy's Vietnam.

2:20 All the pretty weeds

DOC has updated its list of environmental weeds and Lynda Hallinan surveys them and comes clean on which ones she let get away. As well as some advice on how to tell when a good plant is going rouge. 

2:30 Music feature: Neil Young

The multitalented Finn Johansson joins Jesse to talk about Canadian songwriter Neil Young. 

3:10 Feature interview: how to break up with your job 

Breaking up is hard to do in relationships but also breaking up with your job. Dr Tessa West is a social psychology professor at New York  University who says our relationships with our careers and jobs can be a lot like relationships with people and sometimes it's best to break up with your job it it's making you unhappy . She says we should ask some of the same questions we ask ourselves about unhappy relationships with romantic partners  if  work is making us miserable so we can move on or make it better. She offers practical advice to identify what makes us stressed at work, and how to 'smash it' in a job interview .  Her new book is called Job Therapy: Finding Work that Works for You.

3:30 Thrift

Katy Gosset meets a Christchurch woman who's teaching a new generation of New Zealanders how to pickle and preserve.

3:45 The pre-Panel