Nights for Wednesday 2 April 2025

8:10 The House

Tonight on our Parliament show - The House - Louis Collins heads along to a Health Committee hearing on the Gene Technology Bill.

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 to do if you regret your career

Do you come home from work with a feeling of regret? Well, you're not alone.

A new study by the employment website SEEK found more than half of New Zealand workers regret their career choice and if they had their time over would choose another line of work.

The survey of more than 1000 workers found not earning enough was the top reason for regret, followed by changing interests and passions, unfulfilling work, and a poor work/life balance.

To provide some advice on what to do if you find yourself in a similar position Emile speaks to Career Coach Tom O'Neil managing director of CV.CO.NZ

8:45 The Reading: Harbouring

Part seven of Harbouring by Jenny Pattrick as told by Amy McClean.

A historical novel set in Wellington in 1839. Huw, a Welsh immigrant and procurer of Maori land, working for Colonel Wakefield; his wife, Martha, travelling by boat to meet her husband; and a woman, Hineroa, who has become a slave to Te Rauparaha after losing her tribe in battle.

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. At the end of the run, the person with the most correct answers goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

9:25 What can writers do about their work being used to train AI models?

Thousands of New Zealand writers' books have been used, without permission. to train artificial intelligence models for the world's biggest social media entity.

Meta, the owner of Facebook, has been training its AI on the online 'shadow library' LibGen, which contains millions of freely available articles, research papers, and books, dredged from all across the web.

Is this intellectual property theft, or should we accept that the internet is a wild west?

Joshua Yuvaraj is the co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Intellectual Property, and a senior lecturer in law at the University of Auckland specialising in copyright and artificial intelligence.

He speaks to Emile about if there is anything authors can do to protect their work.

9:35 Midweek Mediawatch

Colin Peacock joins Nights to talk about the big stories in the media world.

Tonight he's taking another look at the ongoing battle for control over NZME and whether Jim Grenon's takeover bid will be successful. He's also talking about the controversy around Green MP Benjamin Doyle's private social media account.

10:17 Does New Zealand's geography cause higher supermarket prices?

The government is determined to bring the price of our groceries down with Finance Minister Nicola Willis saying significant action may be required to foster genuine competition.

It's not the first time a government has tried to make the weekly shop easier on the pocket but so far the status quo has remained.

One issue cited in the Commerce Commission's market study on the sector was New Zealand's geography and isolation which the study said affected the ability of new entrants to be efficient.

Associate Professor Sergio Biggemann from the Department of Marketing, Otago Business School, at the University of Otago says while geography plays a part there are many more factors that contribute to our higher prices.

10:30 Why waste is an integral part of the human story 

How do we decide what is junk?

From burnt toast to a spam email, from a used tissue to a used car, daily human life requires throwing things way that are no longer useful to us. While what we throw away might be 'out of sight, out of mind', our rubbish footprint continues a life of its own.

UK researcher John Scanlan is fascinated by the idea of waste and has written two books on the subject, his latest The Idea of Waste explores how we have grappled with both the material reality and the spectre of this shape-shifting phenomenon throughout history.

He joins Emile Donovan.

11:07 Pocket Edition

This week on Pocket Edition, Maggie Tweedie introduces us to new music from Aotearoa and beyond. From the witch folk pop of Byllie Jean to Sola Rosa's experimental electronica.