Nights for Tuesday 18 March 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 What does space do to the human body?

Two stranded astronauts who have spent 285 days orbiting the Earth are now on their way home.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are set to return to terra firma tomorrow morning NZ time.

To pass the time, the pair has kept busy conducting repairs on the station, venturing outside on spacewalks, and generally trying to keep fit. But how will their bodies cope with such a long time in zero gravity?

Emile talks to Dr Brian Russell, a former NASA researcher and expert on human physical performance in space, now a research associate at AUT's Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand.

8:45 The Reading: Milk

Helen Jones reads the second instalment of  'Milk'  - our four-part story by Susy Pointon.

Can you find love in a milking shed? Tanya escapes her past and drags her kids and alcoholic ex, north to the Hokianga, where soon finds herself living and working on a dairy farm.

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.

9:25 Nights at the Museum: Sulabh International Museum of Toilets

Nights is endeavouring to put a digital foot in the door of every weird and wonderful museum the world has on offer.

Tonight we're heading to the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in New Delhi.

It was founded by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, a world-renowned sociologist and social activist and the museum was born out of his extensive research into the historical development of toilet systems.

To find out more about the museum Emile Donovan speaks to Sulabh International's Senior Vice President and Head of Communications Dr Suti Sahariah.

9:35 Shower Thoughts: What is cash?

Each Tuesday, here on Nights we're aiming to answer your curious questions about the world and how it works.

Tonight, Graeme Denny the Senior Manager of Cash Services at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand explains why cash is different from other forms of money.

10:17 Does locally produced television drama have a future?

Now in its 33rd year, Shortland Street has become a staple not only of New Zealand television, but of the invisible industrial world of New Zealand television production.

In a famously fickle industry, it has provided stable and long term employment not just for actors but writers, directors and camera operators.

But even Shortland Street is not immune to the vagaries of advertising, viewership and plain old economics, with news that the show was consulting on its contracts after production had slowed from five episodes a week to three.

Which raises the questions - where would the local industry be without it? And if this has happened to Shortland Street, how hard is it for everyone else?

Irene Gardiner is President of SPADA, the Screen Production and Development Association, and she speaks to Emile Donovan.

10:30 Ex-nun Pauline Grogan: Healing through music

Pauline Grogan has led an extraordinary life.

A former nun, you may know her from her 1996 autobiography of her time in a Mount Albert convent, called Beyond the Veil.

Pauline, now aged 79, has a new gospel to preach: the power of music. After suffering two strokes in 2020, Pauline lives each day beset by chronic pain, and her best relief has been through music.

Her new memoir Miss Adventure: Healing with Music charts the impact of music on her life and others, and calls for aged care facilities in New Zealand to let their residents have access to and play their own music.

She speaks to Emile Donovan.

Pauline Grogan's website

10:45 Would you trust a DIY video to help fix your car?

We've all been known to google the odd DIY video. But would you trust a DIY video that tells you how to fix your car?  

According to a UK Auto Trader study of 130 TikTok videos, almost 60% of them could do your car more harm than good.  A staggering 90% were unsuitable for beginners.

Jason Land is a mechanic and member of the New Zealand Motor Trade Association and he speaks to Emile Donovan about the pitfalls of DIY mechanics.

11:07 Worlds of Music

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