Afternoons for Wednesday 13 November 2024

1:15 Goodbye and thanks for all the fish

After nearly 40 years as a band, 10 studio albums, 18 Aotearoa Music Awards, and an induction into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, Shihad are calling it a day. 

The iconic Kiwi rock band announced their split today, but thankfully fans will have one last opportunity to see them play live. 

The 'Loud Forever' tour will make eight stops, beginning at the end of December and wrapping up at Wellington's Homegrown festival in March. 

Band members Phil Knight, Tom Larkin, Karl Kippenberger and Jon Toogood join Jesse in the Auckland studio.

1:25 A custom death, a custom casket

When we die, most of us will end up in a brown box, but the more eccentric among us may want something a little more ... them. 

That's why 15 years ago Ross Hall launched Dying Art, his business designing custom caskets that reflect the personality of the people who will eventually be laid to rest in them. 

Some he's created are truly out the gate - picture a Lego casket, a giant block of Dairy Milk chocolate, a sailboat complete with mast. 

Ross Hall talks to Jesse about Dying Art.

1:35 Oamaru turns back the clock

Over the few days, Oamaru residents and visitors to the town will be able to escape the 21st Century and step back into the Victoria era .

The Oamaru Heritage Celebrations start tomorrow and, until Sunday, there's a packed programme of events, set against the backdrop of the town's Victorian precinct and impressive limestone buildings.

There's a ball, a garden party, exhibitions and even penny farthing races, and tours to bring the town's history to life... 

Joining Jesse is tour guide and festival stalwart, Mike Gray.

1:45 Heading Off: walking the Hexatrek

Kiwi journalist Claire McCall and her partner set off on an epic walking adventure to tackle a freshly minted long-distance trail called the Hexatrek in its pioneer year.

The 3034km route connects the highest, most spectacular mountains and national parks in France and travels through the Vosges, the Alps, the Écrins and the Pyrenees among others.

2.12 Music Critic: new music from The Veils and Manami Kakudo 

New Music Wednesday we call it around here. And here's the Sherrif of Sounds himself, Matthew Crawley - he's our music reviewer today. Matthew is reviewing the new track from The Veils, O Fortune Teller. He also has some fresh music from a recent trip to Japan: Soto Wa Kosame by Manami Kakudo 

2:20 Easy Eats with Kelly Gibney: Mac 'n Cheese with a twist

This isn't your ordinary mac 'n cheese, thanks to a few surprising ingredients. Get the recipe here.

2:30 Bookmarks with Mitchell Pham

Mitchell was born in Vietnam towards the end of the war.. After the war ended ended things got even more chaotic, causing him to flee the country. Solo. Aged just 12. 

At the time Mitchell couldn't have know this, but he wouldn't see his family again for 30 years.

After bouncing around a couple of Indonesian refugee camps, he finally moved here. To Aotearoa New Zealand

He's gone on to found several international tech companies, work as a government advisor, promote NZ - Asian relations, and be awarded and ONZM by King Charles 3.

A short documentary was made of his story for the TVNZ series I Am. You can watch it here. 

3:10 Feature interview: all you need to know about the immune system

The way our immune system fights off malicious bacteria and viruses, finds cancer growths and even can re-wire our brains is pure poetry to John Trowsdale, emeritus professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge. He's spent 50 years studying how the system that is essential for defense against marauding microbes can also turn against our own tissues with catastrophic consequences.

His new book offers insights into our complex immune system, what we can do to keep it healthy, and the creative new ways researchers are harnessing the destructive power of our own bodies to combat disease like cancer and dementia. His book is called, What the Body Knows: A Guide to the New Science of Our Immune System.

3:35 Stories from Our Changing World

Australian redback spiders found their way to New Zealand in the 1980s.  

These dangerously venomous spiders are now found in Central Otago and New Plymouth, where they pose a risk to both people and our native endangered species. 

To control these invasive spiders, a team of scientists at Plant & Food Research is working on a cunning trap. It's a targeted, environmentally friendly alternative to pesticides. 

But first, to get the trap working, the scientists need to enlist the help of the spiders themselves. 

We join Ellen Rykers in the lab as she meets 800 redback spiders with Dr Andrew Twidle.

 

3:45 The pre-Panel