Afternoons for Tuesday 24 September 2024

Critter of the Week T Shirts 2024!

Preorders are now open! Head on over here to claim your sweet T! 

Forest and Bird's CEO, Nicola Toki, Joyya, and Jesse Mulligan team up to bring you Critter of the Week – an awe-inspiring tribute to the lesser-known native critters and plants of Aotearoa. Illustrated by the incredible Giselle Clarkson and guided by science consultant Mike Dickison, each item showcases New Zealand's unique biodiversity our local conservation experts are striving to protect. 

With $5 from every product going directly to Aotearoa-based conservation efforts, your purchase supports heroes on the ground protecting our natural treasures. Together we've raised over $31,686! Join us in celebrating the wild beauty of Aotearoa while giving back – now that's something to be proud of!

Crafted from premium organic cotton, ethically manufactured by our World Fair Trade Organisation certified production facility in India – showcasing Joyya's commitment to sparking good in places of extreme poverty and modern slavery.

1:15 Asparagus price wars

It may feel too soon to be eating asparagus with two months of spring still to go, but the end of September means the harvest is well underway. Growers are relieved to be getting their product on the market, but are also nervous about pricing with an abundance of cheap green vegetables already available.

Jesse talks to Horowhenua based asparagus grower Catherine Lewis about how the harvest is going.

1:25 Can 3D printed houses solve the housing crisis?

If you have looked for a house recently, you might have heard - you can't build them for what you can buy them at the moment.

With construction prices up by as much as 40 percent - combined with land values - there's not much incentive to build your own home. But in the US state of Texas, the world's biggest 3D printed housing neighbourhood has just opened. Experts reckon it's something we should be looking at down under.

Associate Professor M Hank Haeusler from Australia's Centre for Next-Generation Architectural Manufacturing speaks to Jesse.

1:35 A leg up from Six-60

Four lucky Otago Uni students have been given a pretty unique chance to kickstart their music careers after winning a highly sought after Six-60 scholarship. The scholarships were set up in 2021 by the University and the band.

They include a $10,000 rent rebate, mentoring from band members and access to the University's recording studios. Not to mention the chance to live in the iconic flat where it all started - 660 Castle Street.

Emilie Murphy is one of the lucky recipients.

1:45 Tech Tuesday

Tim Batt tells Jesse about the latest events in the tech world, including an incredible blow to the Internet Archive; Sony's $400m failure; and a new Nintendo that may be on the horizon.

2:10 Book Critic: You Are Here by David Nicholls

Claire Mabey discusses 'the perfect Sunday read' from David Nicholls. She also recommends Commune: Chasing a utopian dream in Aotearoa by Olive Jones and a deep dive into evolution: Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon.

2:20 Update on Oz with Brad Foster

Brad calls in with news about the Australian Government taking legal action against misleading pricing in supermarkets; the latest in NRL games lined up this weekend and the 20th anniversary of Oz Harvest. 

2:30 Music feature: Aly Cook on Lucinda Williams

Country music star Aly Cook takes us on a journey through the songs of American singer-songwriter Lucinda WIlliams. 

3:10 A ditty keeps the doctor away 

Music can be medicine. It can help treat diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and depression says neuroscientist Daniel Levitin. He’s not just a brain scientist, he’s a record producer working with artists like Sting and Stevie Wonder. He knows how music can fuse into our earliest memories, affect our mood and connect us with other people. Professor Levitin brings together the results of hundreds of studies on music and the brain to show how music can reach patients in ways other treatments can’t. His new book is called Music as Medicine: How We Can Harness Its Therapeutic Power.

3:30 BBC Witness History: India’s plague outbreak 

After the pneumonic plague broke out, the city of Surat went from being one of the dirtiest cities in India, to the cleanest.

3:45 The pre-Panel