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Books & Authors
'Academic superstar' wins top research award
NZ's top research award, the Rutherford Medal, has gone to Brian Boyd, whose work spans Shakespeare to Nabokov to Popper, & weaves arts and sciences together. Audio
Crimes NZ: What happened to Cynthia Grierson-Jackson in 1960?
Without Trace: On the Trail of New Zealand Missing Persons author Scott Bainbridge talks to Jesse about the case. Audio
Tom Sainsbury's field guide on New Zealanders
Comedian Tom Sainsbury is well-known for his Snapchat videos mimicking politicians, personalities, and stereotypical New Zealanders. Now he's releasing a book about colourful kiwi characters, he talks… Audio
Book review - Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Kiran Dass of Time Out Bookstore reviews Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, published by Pan Macmillan. Audio
From hostage in Sierra Leone to human rights advocate
As an 18-year-old, Aminata Conteh-Biger was kidnapped by anti-government rebels in Sierra Leone. She was held captive and brutally treated for months before being released as part of a negotiated… Audio
Dr Aliya Hamid Rao - How Married Couples Confront Unemployment
Dr Aliya Hamid Rao writes about the gender divide when it comes to unemployment in her new book. Audio
Book review - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb of University Book Shop, Dunedin, reviews Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Published by Bloomsbury. Mysterious, haunting, quite peculiar. Piranesi explores the echoing halls of The… Audio
Group therapy and banishing shame: Christie Tate
Chicago-based writer, essayist and lawyer Christie Tate tells Kathryn about her memoir Group, How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life. Group tells the story of Christie graduating… Audio
Paul Henry: 'In America I'm no-one – and I love that'
As a kid in the English city of Bristol, Paul Henry loved The Beverly Hillbillies and became obsessed with America. Now the outspoken broadcaster has a part-time home in Palm Springs. In his latest… Audio
Claire Mabey's 'To Be Read Lists'
Critic and Director of Verb Wellington Claire Mabey shares some favourites for your summer reading list. Audio
Book review - Navigating the Stars by Witi Ihimaera
Michelle Rahurahu Scott reviews Navigating the Stars by Witi Ihimaera, published by Penguin Random House. Audio
New Zealand's surf breaks and the characters who ride them
Avid board-rider and photographer Derek Morrison's book Surf Dreams takes us through the country's popular and most remote surfing communities with tales of the personalities who ride the waves. The… Audio
A page turner: booksellers tap into readers' tastes
Independent bookshops are popping up all across the country with four new ones opening in the past month alone.
Independent bookshops bucking the trend in NZ
Despite the trend in recent years towards e-books, independent bookshops are popping up all across the country.
Four new shops opened in the past few months, and another is due to open in Wellington… Video, Audio
On fire: a new book on Tibetan protests turns a lens on one town
A new book, Eat the Buddha by foreign correspondent Barbara Demick, focuses on protests by Tibetan monks in one town in China to peel away layers of hurt and history.
Seeds of dragons: A new history, the Story of China, by Michael Wood
A new history, The Story of China, tackles how China has managed to organise its state and the growth of its civilisation over centuries. Video
Jeffrey Sachs - The Ages of Globalization
Renowned economist Professor Jeffrey Sachs talks about what the world will look when the pandemic subsides. Audio
Book review - The Harpy by Megan Hunter
Stella Chrysostomou of VOLUME Books reviews The Harpy by Megan Hunter, published by Pan Macmillan. A marriage, a betrayal and a punishment. An exploration of love, revenge and female rage drawing on… Audio
New Zealand's little-told Far North wild horses story
People tend to think of the Kaimanawa ferals when the subject of wild horses in New Zealand comes up, but there is a significantly larger number of wild horses in Northland. Kelly Wilson's new book… Audio
Why William and Harry went their separate ways
In his new book about the rift between Prince William and Prince Harry, Battle of Brothers, historian and royal expert Robert Lacey examines the breakdown and explains why the relationship between the… Audio