First Up Podcast Options

5:12 AM.Opera on the harbour is coming to Auckland! Over Valentines Day weekend in February, Wynyard Point in the city will play host to a cavalcade of operatic talent with the Waitemata Harbour setting the… Read more Audio

5:05 AM.We're off to another Pacific nation now and we're joined by our correspondent in Australia, Pam Corkery. Audio

5:53 AM.And to one of those schools welcoming back students - Claire Amos is the tumuaki / principal of Albany Senior High School and she's up early to be with us. Audio

5:46 AM.After 10 long weeks of at-home learning, Zoom lessons, and separation from friends, Auckland and Waikato senior students will be putting on their school uniforms and returning to campus this morning… Read more Audio

5:34 AM.Palmerston North woman Moyra Speir has at last been granted permission to go and look after her nephew Andrew, who's terribly ill in Auckland. 36-year-old Andrew is dying from bowel cancer that has… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.Last week TradeMe released figures on what the secondhand economy is worth to the country, it turns out most of us have around $1700 worth of goods we part with - without really missing any of it. Up… Read more Audio

5:14 AM.To Japan now where Covid infections have gone from more than 5-thousand cases a day to just 19. Nathan Rarere asked our correspondent in Tokyo Chris Gilbert, how this is possible? Audio

5:07 AM.It's a big week in the UK, with an international climate conference kicking off in Scotland and a budget due to be presented to the House of Commons on Wednesday. Joining Nathan Rarere from London is… Read more Audio

5:42 AM.To the Bay of Plenty of town in Murupara now which has one of the lowest rates of vaccination for Covid-19 in the country. So far untouched by the Delta outbreak, there are serious concerns about what… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.Covid has postponed one of New Zealand's largest events for the fourth time in the past two years. The Auckland Home Show was set to celebrate their 40th show at the beginning of 2020, but since then… Read more Audio

5:20 AM.Joining Nathan Rarere for a Labour weekend look at the fresh produce markets is our Minister of Fruit and Vege and Petone's breakdancing champion 1982 through '84, Glenn Forsyth. Fruit of the Week… Read more Audio

5:11 AM.Iconic city landmarks around New Zealand will be lit purple this Sunday to mark World Polio Day, and to remember the more than 800 New Zealanders who died from the Poliomyelitis virus during the… Read more Audio

5:05 AM.We begin this morning in the USA, where we're joined by our man in the Biggest of All Apples, New York City, Bevan Hurley. Audio

5:53 AM.A single ticket has taken out last night's 42.2 million dollar Lotto draw. The winning ticket was bought in the northern Waikato town of Pokeno - which is famous for its massive ice-creams and pork… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.Tomorrow at 10am, the Prime Minister will announce a new Covid-19 protection framework.. essentially more freedoms tagged to vaccination rates.. and hopefully some dates for Auckland retail… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.From next Tuesday high school students in years 11-13 who live in alert level 3 areas will be able return to the classroom. Students who return will need to wear a mask, and staff and volunteers… Read more Audio

5:26 AM.In New Zealand in the 70s we had On The Mat, in the 80s it was the WWF Superstars of wrestling, and for the last 30 years the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) has been the biggest, if not the only… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.It's that time of the week where we cast our eyes around the motu and talk to our Local Democracy reporters, this week it is the turn of Chloe Ranford who's based in Marlborough. Audio

5:15 AM.Former WRC rally driver Hayden Paddon's electric car will make it's competitive debut this weekend at a hill climb near Waimate. Paddon has spent the last two and a half years developing the Hyundai… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.The first study in New Zealand into microplastics in wastewater plants has found hundreds of thousands of microplastics enter the ocean around Aotearoa every day. Taking samples from water coming into… Read more Audio

5:06 AM.We begin this morning in Europe where Italian police have made arrests in a mafia crack down. For more on this story and a few other morsels from the earth's most northern continent, Nathan Rarere was… Read more Audio

5:48 AM.Auckland hairdressers and barbers say they need more targetted financial support if they are going to make it out of the lockdown intact. And as Ella Stewart reports, the cost of staying closed for… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.Yesterday Nathan asked the audience what questions you might still have about Covid 19. And you did! ... about alternatives to the Pfizer vaccine, booster shots and mask wearing.. So Nathan put all of… Read more Audio

5:31 AM.The NBA season tips off today and what better way to catch up on what's in store than talking with our friend in San Francisco, Dan Dibley from 95.7 the Game. Nathan Rarere asked Dan if Le Bron James… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.It's that time of the week where we have a look into the lives of Aotearoa's small business owners. This morning we're hearing from the owner of 'Anj' Ashleigh Jenner. She makes clay flowers and… Read more Audio