Nights for Thursday 8 August 2024

8:10 The House

Tonight on our Parliament show - the House -  Louis Collins reflects on yesterday's general debate in Parliament, looking at some of the more... unique speeches. 

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

And today we reach the end of our fabulous adaptation of 'Billy Bird', by Emma Neale. 

When he loses his cousin Billy takes to acting like a bird. His parents are distressed, but it's not until Liam, the father, begins to deal with his own grief that Billy abandon's his protective fantasy.

It's read for us by Victoria Abbott

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 Philosophy Now: Is national pride healthy?

We all have a life, but what should we do with it?

Dan Weijers is a senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Waikato. Every month on Nights, he'll be unpacking some of life's big issues, whether it's love, death, happiness, or whether it's morally right to keep a pet goldfish.

Tonight Dan is exploring nationalism and if it's possible to love your country too much.

9:35 What makes for bad songwriting? 

Thoughtful and skillfully written song lyrics can elevate a good song into a great song. 

But what about terrible lyrics? Can they do the reverse and totally ruin a song? What makes lyrics awful in the first place?

Nights is joined by Dr Glenn Fosbraey, associate dean of humanities and social sciences at the University of Winchester.

Glenn has published various books, journal articles and chapters on the subjects of drama, song lyrics and popular music. He also runs the university's record label, Splendid Fred Records.

10:17 Day 13 of the Paris Olympics with Felicity Reid

It's another day of action in Paris, with kiwis in action at the kayak course, on the climbing wall, in the shot-put and on the golf course.

10:30 Gold for New Zealand at Singapore garden festival 

It's not just Paris where New Zealand is winning gold.

In Singapore, a garden designed by a New Zealander has won a gold prize at the city-state's biannual Gardens Festival. 

Jules Moore's Portals to Paradise picked up the top prize in the fantasy garden category. 

The garden, made of more than 4,000 plants, a waterfall, caves, and a "cosmic portal", also includes a soothing, meditative soundtrack 'Singapore Lights' sung by Moore and her son James.

Jules and James join Emile Donovan.

10:45 The art of bartending

The Otago Hospitality Awards were held last week, and the title of Bartender of the Year was taken home by Josh Thomas.

Josh is the co-founder and now director of Woof! Bar in Dunedin.

He shares his career with Emile Donovan.

11:07 The Mixtape

This week picking the music on the Mixtape is fashion rebel Kristine Crabb…the Auckland designer who dresses so many of our musicians in New Zealand.

Kristine started her 20 year career in fashion with the boutique shop Rip Shit and Bust in 2001 and then went on to create Miss Crabb, a label which earned her a cult following that she has carried over to her new project Gloria - named after the rebellious spirit of her grandmother.