Nights for Monday 27 January 2025

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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8:45 The Reading: Civilisation - Twenty places on the edge of the world

Our reading comes from Civilisation - twenty places on the edge of the world by Steve Braunias. The book has been described as a love letter to New Zealand. In tonight's reading, Steve unearths a little known identity from the Maromaku valley in Northland.

9:05 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.

9:25 Whakataukī of the week with Johnson Witehira

Every Monday to start our week off on here Nights, we invite a guest on the show to share a whakataukī - a Māori proverb - that's meaningful to them.

Tonight we're talking to artist, designer and academic Johnson Witehira (Tamahaki, Ngāi Tū-te-auru).

9:35 The science of antivenom

Just over the seas from the safe shores of New Zealand, Australia is home to a unique array of venomous creatures, from spiders and snakes to ants and jellyfish.

But according to the Australian Museum, nobody has died from a spider bite in Australia in nearly fifty years.

This is partly due to the development of antivenoms. 

To tell us how they're made and how they work, professor of toxicology Bryan Fry from the University of Queensland joins Emile Donovan.

10:17 Cambridge exams on the rise as NCEA declines

A quarter of high schools in New Zealand now offer students alternative education qualifications, like Cambridge International, instead of the national school qualification NCEA level one.

Figures from Cambridge International Education, which run the Cambridge exams, show the number of students sitting its qualification assessments increased by nearly twenty percent last year to 8,000 pupils.

This comes off the back of a report published at the end of last year by the Education Review Office which said it was not clear what purpose NCEA Level One served.

So what should be done with NCEA, which is now twenty three years old?

Dr Michael Johnston is a senior research fellow at the New Zealand Initiative think tank, and led the ministerial advisory group which reviewed primary school English, mathematics and statistics learning.

He is a vocal critic of NCEA and joins Emile Donovan to discuss.

10:30 Sports with Jamie Wall

RNZ sports journalist Jamie Wall joins Emile to debrief the week in sport.

10:45 BBC World Lookahead with Jonathan Frewin

BBC World's Jonathan Frewin joins Emile Donovan for the latest on the Israel-Gaza ceasefire, a US federal reserve decision on interest rates, and marking five years since Brexit.

11:07 Nashville Babylon

Every week on Nashville Babylon Mark Rogers presents the very best in country, soul and rock 'n' roll.

This week's Nashville Babylon has classic reggae from Prince Buster, blues and soul courtesy of Al Green, Big Mama Thornton and Rory Gallagher plus new tracks from Miles Calder and The Altons.