Nights for Tuesday 23 July 2024

8:10 The House

Tonight on our Parliament programme, Phil Smith chats with Kieran McAnulty about his recent visits to the UK and Scottish Parliaments and Clerks.

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.

Follow this podcast

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:

Our new reading series is "Sleeping Dogs ', by New Zealand writer Judith White.

One night in Marseilles a NZ woman impulsively abandons her husband when he admits to an affair six years earlier.

Alone in the city at night she is left to consider her options.

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 Shower Thoughts: How do underwater cables work?

Every Tuesday, we take curious questions from you, the listener - the types of questions that only enter your mind in the calm contemplation of the morning shower - and find an expert to stump up some answers.

Tonight we delve into the world of underwater cables with telecommunications expert Paul Brislen.

9:30 Nights Politics 

We're doing things a little differently tonight, shifting our outlook overseas, to the US.

Joe Biden made a very tough political decision this week - the toughest decision to make in politics. When to step aside and let someone else take over.

Now that decision is part soul-searching, but another big part is political calculus. Will stepping down save the Democrats campaign for the Presidency. And that, of course, remains to be seen.

We're joined tonight by someone who made a similar decision former Labour Party leader Andrew Little.

10:17 Why do Governments' apologise and do they mean anything?

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced he will make a formal public apology on behalf of the government to those who experienced abuse in state care, calling it "a shameful part of our history".

It's the culmination of five years of hearings and interviews with victims, decades of advocacy, with the Royal Commission of Inquiry's report finally coming out tomorrow.

But what will the apology do? And what does apologising materially change?

Professor Andrew Geddis is a specialist in public law at the University of Otago and speaks to Emile Donovan.

10:30 How humans used the world around them to create colour

Before the world of acrylic paint tubes, berries, flowers and plants were turned into dyes for clothes and paints for artworks.

Joumana Medlej is an artist born in Lebanon, now based in East London, best known for her work with early Arabic calligraphy.

She's also the author of Wild Inks & Paints, a handbook drawing on historical techniques for foraged plants, berries, and other earthly materials.

Joumana joins Emile Donovan.

10:45 The rise of male diet influencers

Writer Tony Stamp has been investigating the orgins and influx of self-appointed diet experts for David Farrier's Webworm.

He speaks to Emile Donovan about what they are eating and why.

11:07 Worlds of Music

Trevor Reekie hosts a weekly music programme celebrating an eclectic mix of 'world' music, fusion and folk roots.