First Up Podcast Options

5:21 AM.Joining Nathan Rarere from the fresh produce markets is our Minister of Fruit and Vegetables Glenn Forsyth. Audio

5:15 AM.Young swim star Lewis Clareburt will attempt to break a 25-year medal drought for New Zealand in the Olympic pool this weekend. The 22-year-old bronze medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2019… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.The British and Irish Lions kick off their covid effected Test Series against the World Champion Springboks in Cape Town with kick off at 4am Sunday NZ time. Kiwi Warren Gatland is in charge of the… Read more Audio

5:06 AM.Japan are gearing up for the opening ceremony of the Olympic games tonight at 10pm New Zealand time . This comes as Tokyo continues to experience a surge in positive Covid-19 cases with the BBC… Read more Audio

5:54 AM.We turn our attention now to the country's Covid-19 vaccine rollout. More than 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer have now been given in New Zealand. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said New… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.New Zealand's Olympians are starting to settle into the athletes village in Tokyo under strict Covid-19 rules. Among them are two of the youngsters in the squad, 17-year-old Erika Fairweather and… Read more Audio

5:37 AM.We head to Fiji now where health authorities are stretched to capacity by the rampant Covid-19 outbreak. We're joined by our correspondent Lice Movono. Audio

5:32 AM.Every week we check in with the reporters from the Local Democracy Reporting Programme. This week we're in Ashburton, where reporter Adam Burns has been looking at ... water. We started out by… Read more Audio

5:22 AM.A new study has found that a person's financial knowledge, behaviour and psychology have even more influence over financial wellbeing than how much they earn. In other words the more financial… Read more Audio

5:17 AM.To the Eastern Bay of Plenty where Covid 19 vaccinators are welcoming hundreds of people through the doors each week. So far, more than 15-thousand vaccinations have been administered in the… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.New Zealand's Covid-19 procedures for shipping crews are under the spotlight as it's confirmed that a third vessel in our waters is plagued with the virus. Nine crew members on board the container… Read more Audio

5:48 AM.There are just two days to go until the torch is lit in Tokyo and the 32nd Olympic Games get underway ... and they're promising to be one of the most unusual yet. Nathan Rarere spoke with our… Read more Audio

5:46 AM.A gregarious chicken has been appointed carpark monitor at a Waikato pre-school. Henry, as the female chook was dubbed by the children, has just been bestowed with her very own hi-viz jacket to make… Read more Video, Audio

5:44 AM.It is nearing the end of the school holidays, still a few days left and we're all being encouraged to explore our own backyard and get out and about, but what is that looking like around the country… Read more Audio

5:31 AM.One of New Zealand's leading voices through the Covid-19 pandemic, Michael Baker, believes the British public have had enough of "inept pandemic management". The University of Otago epidemiologist has… Read more Audio

5:22 AM.The billionaire space race between Branson and Bezos heated up this morning when Jeff Bezos took his Origin Blue craft to a higher altitude on the edge of space than Richard Branson's Unity 22 went 9… Read more Audio

5:12 AM.It's that time of the week where we have a look at one of New Zealand's small businesses. Trained jeweller Helen Nuttall showcases organic textures in her business is called Helen Elizabeth Jewellery… Read more Audio

5:07 AM.South Australia is on the trans-Tasman travel red list after the state recorded five cases of Covid-19 yesterday. The state is now in lockdown, joining New South Wales which had 78 cases yesterday and… Read more Audio

5:53 AM.Sixty-five homes in Westport have been red stickered after the weekend's devastating floods, meaning residents can't return home. Just over 300 have been yellow stickered and about 1800 have no or… Read more Audio

5:44 AM.The National Party's deputy leader Shane Reti says the Government should release its advice on opening the country's borders. The Government is understood to have received a report from an independent… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.To Afghanistan now where the Taliban is on the march as the official withdrawal of US forces nears its end. Charlotte Bellis is a New Zealand journalist working for al Jazeera and she is in… Read more Audio

5:30 AM.After being postponed for a year, the still-named '2020 Tokyo Olympics will officially open this Saturday. The action starts 2 days early for both the Football ferns who play Australia, and the men's… Read more Audio

5:22 AM.This week on TradeMe a piece of original Star Wars memorabilia, from a time when Star Wars merch was few and far between in New Zealand - and the ultimate in male mid-life crisis cars. But first… Read more Audio