First Up Podcast Options

5:45 AM.The Auckland domain is set to be lit up with family fun tomorrow evening, as Christmas in the Park is back for the first time since 2019. Dixon Nacey is the creative director and joins us now ahead of… Read more Audio

5:34 AM.Now for New Zealand radio's most popular pre-6 AM frog news segment. Frogtalk For the past 30 years, Linda Hart has nurtured thousands of tadpoles in her garden in Tairua on the Coromandel. It was… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.Joining Nathan Rarere from the markets is our Minister of Fruit and Veggies Glenn Forsyth. Fruit of the Week: Yellow Flesh Peaches! Audio

5:15 AM.To Africa now - Nathan Rarere joined from Ghana by our correspondent and father of gorgeous one year-old triplets, Nabil Ahmed Audio

5:05 AM.We begin this morning in the United States - where it's been announced that basketball star Brittney Griner has been released from detention in Russia, with Nathan Rarere from New York is Bevan… Read more Audio

5:49 AM.Time hear from the Deputy Prime Minister now Grant Robertson now. Nathan Rarere asked him if a bad batch of aviation fuel that's forcing airlines to ration their supplies could disrupt people's… Read more Audio

5:44 AM.To a story about a bridge in the Coromandel, but not a one way road bridge like you might expect. A walking and cycling bridge that would cross the Tairua river between Tairua and Pauanui looks set to… Read more Audio

5:34 AM.Upcoming holiday travel plans could -- potentially -- be disrupted due to a dud batch of aviation fuel. Routine testing found the shipment of 25 million litres of fuel was not fit for purpose and… Read more Audio

5:21 AM.And it's Thursday, so time now to head to the regions with our local democracy reporting programme. This morning it is the turn of Diane McCarthy from Whakatane. Audio

5:13 AM.To Europe now, in Sweden is our correspondent Anita Purcell Sjölund. Audio

5:52 AM.A baby who badly needs a heart operation but who's parents won't let him be treated with blood from anyone who's had the Covid vaccine still can't get the care he needs. After a hearing in the High… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.A space-travel company in the South Island is one step closer to getting an aeroplane into space after receiving a whopping 20 million dollar funding boost. Dawn Aerospace, based in Tekapo, received… Read more Audio

5:37 AM.Did you know that 25% of house fires start in the kitchen and 50% of fatal house fires involve alcohol or drugs? To help intoxicated people stay off the stove, Fire and Emergency NZ has created the… Read more Video, Audio

5:13 AM.Voters in the US state of Georgia head to the polls this morning in a run-off election to determine who will represent them in the US Senate. Going up against Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock is… Read more Audio

5:07 AM.To the Middle East now where most of the quarter finalists for the 2022 Soccer/Football World Cup have been found - joining Nathan Rarere from the centre of it all is Alex Baird in Doha. Audio

5:50 AM.A Royal Commission of Inquiry -- the highest-level inquiry available to the government -- will examine how New Zealand responded during to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be chaired by Australian-based… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.New research shows New Zealand businesses are holding twice as much stock as before the pandemic, while making significantly less money. Inventory management software company Unleashed has published a… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.Having won the Christchurch and Queenstown marathons, and then the Auckland Marathon for a second year running, over the weekend Daniel Jones ran 60 kilometres across incredibly rugged terrain in four… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.Local Democracy Reporting time now and this morning we're in Mid-Canterbury with Jonathan Leask. He told Nathan Rarere about some major roading projects in Ashburton, which not everyone's too happy… Read more Audio

5:14 AM.The thespians of Wellington's Circa Theatre are at it again - it's Pantomime season and this year they're putting their spin on the classic tale - Pinnochio. Nathan Rarere asked director Gavin… Read more Audio

5:09 AM.Time now for the latest news from Japan with Chris Gilbert who has been out on the police beat this week. Chris began by telling Nathan Rarere about one civilian who really really wanted the police to… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.The west Auckland MP Phil Twford has met with the son of a dairy owner killed in a botched robbery eight years ago, who wants to know what's changed since his dad's death. Arun Kumar died after being… Read more Audio