Nights for Friday 7 February 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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8:30 Tenuous Connections

It's Friday night, so Nights is putting on a playlist of music with a loose theme based off an even looser starting point.

Tonight, it's songs connected to the periodic table.

9:07 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Mark Leishman 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 This Weekend: Levin Medieval Market

Every Friday, we bring you some of the most interesting events and happenings coming up in Aotearoa this weekend.

Tonight we're heading to Levin and speaking to Anna Harris the chair of the Medieval Market committee. 

This Saturday marks 30 years of the market which began in Manakau back in 1995 as a fundraiser event for a local daycare.

9:20 Focus on Politics

In Focus on Politics, Lillian Hanly goes to Waitangi and experiences the manaakitanga, the politics, and the ceremony of New Zealand's national day.

9:35 Short-Cuts with Dan Slevin

It's time for our weekly catchup with Nights resident screen critic Dan Slevin.

Tonight he's taking a look at a new documentary following the young heavy metal Alien Weaponry, a filmed performance of the hit Broadway musical Come From Away and Pig which stars Nicolas Cage who plays a former chef who now supplies truffles to the finest restaurants in Portland.

10:17 NASA: 1 in 43 chance asteroid hits earth in 2032 

This week the odds of Asteroid, 2024 YR, hitting earth in seven years time jumped from one point three percent to two point three percent, which is a one in forty three chance. 

That's according to Nasa's Center for Near Earth Object Studies.

The space rock is roughly ninety metres in width which would make it about the same size as the object which hit earth in 1908 flattening a vast expanse of Siberia

However astronomers are urging us not to panic, with the likelihood of 2024 YR4 ever striking earth dropping to virtually zero once we have more data on its speed and trajectory.

To find out more Mark Leishman speaks to astronomer and former superintendent of the Mt John Observatory in Canterbury Alan Gilmore.

10:30 Out Lately with Finn Johansson

He's back, and no doubt ready to inform, educate and entertain us with an array of eclectic music.

It's Finn Johansson. 

Tonight he's got music from Māori artist RNZŌ, Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and songwriter Bad Bunny and Wellington electro-folk sibling trio Womb

11:07 RNZ Music: The Music Of Ry Cooder

In the final part of a 2 Part series, Elliott Childs looks at the career of musician Ry Cooder.