Nights for Wednesday 3 July 2024

8:15 Pacific Waves

A daily current affairs programme that delves deeper into the major stories of the week, through a Pacific lens, and shines a light on issues affecting Pacific people wherever they are in the world. Hosted by Susana Suisuiki.

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8:30 Nights Jukebox

Emile Donovan plays your requests - as long as you've got a compelling reason, or a good story to go with it.

Send in your requests to nights@rnz.co.nz or text 2101.

8:45 The Reading: Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones

The second episode of a 12 part series with Ziyande Matshe and Brian Sergent reading the 'Hand Me Down World' by Lloyd Jones.

An African woman becomes pregnant while working as a cleaner in a Tunisian hotel but, just weeks after the birth, her baby is stolen away by the father. Her journey to find him relies on the barest of resources as she tracks him across continents.

9:07 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Emile Donovan as he dons his quizmaster hat.

If you get an answer right, you move on to the next question. If you get it wrong, your time in the chair is up, and the next caller will be put through. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the run goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

The quiz is themed - find out more about tonight's theme on Nights' Facebook page.

9:15 Nights Agony Aunt Courtney Dawson

Nights' resident Agony Aunt Courtney Dawson is back for her monthly visit to answer listeners' problems.

Tonight, whether to reconcile with a friend who long-ago betrayed you, and how to successfully seed a new nickname.

9:30 Midweek Mediawatch

After a two week break, order is restored and Colin Peacock is in the studio tonight talking to Emile Donovan about the big issues facing the media this week. Including the imminent demise of Newshub and the launch of ThreeNews as well as the closure of a long running New Zealand Sunday tabloid.

10:17 The science behind your baby's babbling

A video of Liverpool-based 19-month old baby Orla arguing with her babysitter went viral last week

People commented that her babbles carried a clear Liverpool or 'scouse' accent.

Researchers say even though Orla isn't saying any words, this babble is an important process of language acquisition.

Julian Pine is a professor of psychology from the University of Liverpool, and the director of the UK's International Centre for Research in Language and Communicative Development.

He joins Emile Donovan to explain.

10:30 Are your favourite childhood films any good, or is it just nostalgia?

We tend to view our childhood through rose-tinted glasses: the best food is canned spaghetti on toast; the best music is the Wiggles. Your best friend is whoever you happen to be with at any point in time. 

Still Any Good? is a New Zealand podcast that revisits favourite childhood films to answer that simple eponymous question.

Co-hosts Robert Johnson and Christopher Webb join Emile Donovan.

10:45 How capitalism drove Aotearoa's colonisation

The Financial Colonisation of Aotearoa by Catherine Comyn was released last year and was long-listed in 2024 Ockham NZ Book Awards non-fiction category.

Catherine set out to understand how unfettered and opportunistic global capitalism was involved in the colonisation of New Zealand through institutions like the New Zealand Company.

She spoke to Emile Donovan about why she wrote the book, what she found out and if anybody will be held accountable - way after the fact.

11:07 Pocket Edition

On this week's Pocket Edition Maggie Tweedie plays new songs from Caru, T.G Shand, Anna Coddington and Mystery Waitress and we catch up with Australian rock god Jimmy Barnes ahead of his New Zealand tour in July.