Books & Authors

Many have revelled in a return to a simpler life due to Covid-19. Professor Emrys Westacott, who wrote The Wisdom of Frugality, says this is a time to reflect on whether the type of society we had… Audio

Julia Ebner says creating identities to go undercover and infiltrate extreme groups was like creating characters for a novel. But it didn't always go to plan. She discusses her new book Going Dark,… Audio

At the same time as the Covid-19 pandemic began sweeping the world Australian moral philosopher Toby Ord released his book calculating the possibility of the end of humanity. In The Precipice he… Audio

New Zealand actor and novelist Barbara Ewing has written a memoir about life as a young woman in Wellington and Auckland in the 1950s and early 1960s, before she headed off to study in London. One… Audio

Shaun Bythell lives in Wigtown, Scotland, where he runs The Bookshop - the largest second hand bookshop in Scotland. Its shelves span nearly 2 kilometres and contain over 100,000 books, Shaun has… Audio

In his latest book, 'The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West', modern warfare expert, David Kilcullen has put forward a theory of how state threats, (like Russia and China)… Audio

Before the pandemic, antibiotic resistant bacteria is what kept many global health officials up at night. Superbugs have not gone away, they are still out there figuring out ways to defeat whatever… Audio

Legendary Dunedin musician Shayne Carter can now add multi-award winning author to his life story. He speaks to Jesse Mulligan.  Audio

Snipeologist, Te Papa ornithologist, founder of bird identification website nzbirdsonline and identifier of Happy Feet Colin Miskelly tells Kathryn Ryan why birds have been taking his fancy for over… Audio, Gallery

Becky Manawatu's debut novel Auē pulled off a rare feat at last night's Ockham Book Awards, winning the country's top Fiction award as well as best first book of fiction.

The Westport based writer… Audio

History was made at last night's Ockham Book Awards, with two first time writers taking out the top fiction and non fiction prizes.

Becky Manawatu's novel Aue, a raw and heartbreaking story of two… Audio

First time writers have taken out the top prizes at the 2020 Ockham Book Awards tonight. Debut novel Auē by Becky Manawatu has won both the Best First Book and the Best Fiction prizes while musician…

Anxiety isn't just something that happens to someone else right now. More and more people are finding out about the unmistakable torment of a racing heart, excessive worry and insomnia that comes with… Audio

How do you focus on reading when living through a world crisis? Robert has some suggestions. Audio

From its creation in 2010, to being sold to Facebook, to becoming a $100-billion company complete with digital influencers and personal brands. Until now the Instagram story has never been told in so… Audio