Afternoons for Tuesday 11 March 2025

1:15 Local legends key to charity hospital's success

Pressure on the healthcare system has been adding a lot of stress to people's lives lately, but one bright spot is the opening of the Southern Charity Hospital in Invercargill.

You may recall the story of Blair Vining, a Southland man with bowel cancer who made it his final mission to improve access to health services.

His wife Melissa picked up the baton, and five years later, the hospital is open.

It's offering colonoscopies to begin with, but the plan is to add other services including dentistry.

The project was run entirely by volunteers, and one of those is local legend Karl Boniface, who managed all the plumbing on top of running his own business.

1:25 Breeding apples for a warming climate

Plant & Food Research's 'Hot Climate Partnership' is a finalist in the Innovation & commercialisation category at tomorrow nights Science New Zealand Awards.

Heat can cause fruit to mature too quickly, and affect colour, texture and yield. So in 2002 they began developing more heat tolerant plants for the apple and pear industries. This has resulted in two commercial varieties - Tutti & Stellar. They are both now grown internationally. Emma Brown from the Hot Climate Partnership talks to Jesse

1:35 The women rebuilding Ukraine 

After Russian forces retreated from the northern Chernihiv region in Ukraine, leaving widespread destruction, the Repair Together initiative was born. Thousands of men and women volunteers worked together to clear debris and rebuild homes destroyed in the invasion, but negative stereotypes about women on construction sites persisted. The initiative’s co-founders decided it was time to break those stereotypes and prove that women had a place in construction. This led to the creation of the Velyke Divnytstvo (“The Great Women’s Build”) project, where an all-female team independently builds homes while teaching women construction skills.

Jesse talks to Olesandra Daruga, one of the organisers and head of communications at Repair Together.

1:45 Tech Tuesday

VerTech managing director Dan Watson joins Jesse to discuss the importance of securing digital media through platform changes, for example VHS to DVD to Cloud storage. He also looks at the issue of cyberattacks on large language models, manipulating AI systems into leaking sensitive data.

2:10 Book Critic: new work from Michelle Duff and Kate Camp

Claire Mabey reviews a forthcoming book of short stories from Michelle Duff called Surplus Women and Makeshift Seasons, new poetry from Kate Camp. 

She also reviews Australian writer Helen Garner's Yellow Diaries.

2:20 Update on Oz with Brad Foster

Australian correspondent Brad Foster brings the latest news from across the ditch to Jesse's desk. 

Today Brad discusses the Cyclone Alfred clean-up and comedian Dave Hughes demanding people leave his shows in Adelaide.

2:30 Music Feature: Aotearoa's pioneering electronic and dub fusion artists 

For today's music feature, we're travelling back to the heady days of the 1990s - when a new generation of Aotearoa jazz, soul, funk, dub and lounge musicians rose to fame. 

Nathan Haines and Mark De Clive-Lowe in Auckland and Bongmaster, Ebb and Solaa in Christchurch and Wellington were early pioneers of this movement.

This crossover between DJ culture and live music continued into the new Millennium with Fat Freddy's Drop, Trinity Roots, Ladi6 and Solaa putting New Zealand on the musical map. 

Martyn Pepperell shares some sounds from the era. 

3:10 Feature interview: The one-man Shark Tank

Dreams were never part of the equation for entrepreneur Simon Squibb. After leaving home at age 15, he started a landscaping business that led to another and another until becoming a multimillionaire. It was never about having a dream and now he says, he got that wrong.  Squibb has become a one-man Shark Tank, investing in start-ups, helping other people understand the power of their dreams and identifying the myths that hold people back. His new book is called What's Your Dream?: Find Your Passion. Love Your Work. Build a Richer Life.

3:30 BBC Witness History

In 1965, President Lyndon B Johnson pushed through the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to end racial discrimination.

3:45 The pre-Panel

Wallace Chapman and producer Sam Hollis join Jesse in the studio to preview tonight's instalment of The Panel.