As the battle against the Tasman fires continues, Alex Ashton reflects on the emergency response and questions whether New Zealand is ready for a future where fires like this could become more frequent.

Three Minutes Max, short & sharp opinions from commentators around New Zealand. Here's Amanda Miller, talking about her feature length film documentary on social justice advocate Celia Lashlie.

Each week Sunday Morning gets in touch New Zealanders living abroad to talk about their lives as well as events and current affairs in their adopted countries. This week we speak to Ollie Spinks who, like many New Zealanders, has made his home in London. He gives his views on Brexit and a bit about his line of work in gas and electricity markets.…

To start non-election years at Parliament MPs spend 13 hours arguing who would be better at running the country. The House explain's what they do and why.

Three Minutes Max, short & sharp opinions from commentators around New Zealand. Commentator Janet Wilson is here to give her thoughts on Mike King being named New Zealander of the year.

A molecular biologist at the Liggins Institute, Dr Justin O'Sullivan is doing research into mapping genes in 3D, which is opening the door to a new way of understanding, and therefore preventing and treating, all sorts of diseases. The insights gained through the technology have lead to more light being shed on the genetic drivers of type 1 dia ...…

A recent poll's found there's little backing for the suggestion that the summer holiday break is moved from December to February. The issue was raised as more settled summer weather tends to coincide with the start of the school year. NIWA has also confirmed that February is, on average, the best of the summer months in terms of both termperatu ...…

Calls in Fiji for independent probe into rogue Chinese developer; Australia's Medivac bill a victory for refugees in offshore detention; Sovereignty concerns a barrier to Pacific common market; NZ role in Tokelau suspensions questioned in High Court; Solomon Islands poised for historic election; Mixed signals as PNG forces' APEC pay issue feste ...…

In honour of Blue Note Records’ 80th birthday, Nick presents a highlights reel of the best in 1950s and 60s Blue Note jazz. This hour: Jimmy Smith, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter.

The second part of a best-of compilation from Blue Note Records. This hour: music from Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Clark, Horace Silver, and Duke Pearson.

Lydia Cole is one of NZ's best exports. She's starting a tour around the country today before a european tour in March. Kirsten caught up with her for a session just before it all kicks off.

Al Park has been a stalwart of the Christchurch music scene for a considerable number of years.

Cate Le Bon live in session with Kiran Dass in RNZ's Auckland studios just after she arrived in the country.

Proof from America's Test Kitchen is a new-ish show trying to solve some food mysteries. Like should you put ketchup on burgers, and how do odd jellybean flavours get designed?! Writer and producer Maya Kroth shares her love of celery with Proof's host Bridget Lancaster, including stories from celery's golden age in Victorian times when it was ...…

Listener Ange emailed us at pods@rnz.co.nz as she's loving The Sporkful with Dan Pashman. She says the show's become a "recent podcast obsession", and strongly recommends an episode called 'A Brief History of American Barbecue'. We play a clip from this episode (and thanks to Anne Saini for her help bringing that to you).…

BBC Radio 4's Food Programme turns 40 this year. With a mission to explore the world of food "from culture to cooking, from politics to pleasure" each week host Sheila Dillon, producer Dan Saladino, and regular contributors including the food writer Tim Hayward, tuck into all sorts of stories about the foods and drinks we're consuming today. We ...…

Business Wars from Wondery recreates the stories of some of the big rivalries that have shaped consumer history. Past series have followed Nike vs Adidas, Xbox and Playstation, and Coke versus Pepsi. We play an excerpt from Episode 2 of the Business Wars series dealing with the battle of the burgers- Burger King vs McDonald's- with milkshake mi ...…

For a few years back in the 1980s and 90s, McDonald's sold pizza at some of its restaurants. Then it stopped doing so. These simple facts have propelled Brian Thompson into an investigation spanning years and 105 podcast episodes as he tries to answer the question- 'Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald's?'…

Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald's? Also battling burger chains, the future of seeds, Instagram and food culture, American BBQ, and that time when celery cost more than caviar!

Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald's? Also battling burger chains, the future of seeds, Instagram and food culture, American BBQ, and that time when celery cost more than caviar!

New Zealand poet, editor and translator, Fleur Adcock turned 85 on February 10 and is marking this milestone with the publication of her Collected Poems, which combines Poems 1960-2000 and four subsequent collections in one volume. Adcock, who lives in England, has published many collections of poems, most recently The Land Ballot (2014) and Ho ...…

New Zealand poet, editor and translator, Fleur Adcock turned 85 on February 10 and is marking this milestone with the publication of her Collected Poems, which combines Poems 1960-2000 and four subsequent collections in one volume. Adcock, who lives in England, has published many collections of poems, most recently The Land Ballot (2014) and Ho ...…

Genesis Butler became a vegan when she was six. Now 12, Butler is leading the Million Dollar Vegan campaign to encourage people to eat less meat and dairy products in order to fight climate change. The campaign is backed by celebrities including Paul McCartney and is offering Pope Francis a million dollars for charity if he goes vegan for Lent. ...…

Nigerian Chigozie Obioma is the author of The Fishermen, which was a finalist for the Man Booker prize 2015, and a winner of four other awards, including an NAACP Image award, the FT/Oppenheimer prize for fiction, and several nominations. The novel, which is being translated in 26 languages, is also being adapted into a stage play. Obioma was n ...…

Dutch architect, planner, architectural theorist and writer Reinier de Graaf is in New Zealand for In:Situ, the NZ Institute of Architects Conference. de Graaf is a partner in the Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). He joined in 1996 and over the past two decades has been responsible for the design and master-planning of ...…

The latest world and Pacific regional news.

Nathan Joe is a NZ Broadcasting School graduate who has become an award-winning playwright and a theatre critic. He's staged Hippolytus Veiled and Like Sex at Auckland's Basement Theatre (winners of Playmarket's b425 award in 2015 and 2016), and contributed regularly to Auckland Fringe. Joe has been experimenting with unconventional theatre-mak ...…

Professor Michael Fuhrer is an ARC (Australian Research Council) Laureate Fellow in the School of Physics at Monash University. He directs the ARC Centre of Excellence for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) and co-directs the Monash Centre for Atomically Thin Materials. Prior to coming to Monash, Fuhrer directed the Center for N ...…

The latest world, Pacific and sports news.

Succulent smugglers have been targeting a particularly beautiful specimen of the plant in southern California and last week two people were in court charged with poaching 1800 Dudleya farinosa, or Powdery Liveforever) from a state park. It was the fourth such prosecution in a year and reflects a growing demand by Dudleya fans, especially those ...…

The Scottish twins Charlie and Craig Reid, known as the music duo The Proclaimers, released their debut album This is the Story in 1987. It contained their first hit - the politically-charged anti-Thatcher anthem 'Letter from America'. Next came the hugely-popular album Sunshine on Leith in 1988. The Reid brothers are long term supporters of th ...…

The latest world, Pacific and sports news.

The latest news in Niuean language (Vagahau Niue) - brought to you by our partner - Pacific Media Network.

The latest world, Pacific and sports news.

The latest Pacific regional and sports news.

ABC Wantok Programme for 15 February 2019

Tonight on the show: The common or garden seagull is not so common or garden it appears ... in fact the birds are severely at risk, but not many people are aware of the decline in numbers. Sophie Barker, the Marketing Manager for the Otago Peninsula Trust will be with us shortly... Auckland University student-radio station bfm is 50 years old t ...…

A wild horse sale near Hamner Springs attracted of crowd of about 400.

Portland, or Waikawa Island, is off the Mahia Peninsula near Wairoa. Maori first started living there 600 years ago with a tohunga (expert) setting up a university there. These days the island's home to the endangered shore plover.

Coastal North Taranaki is very dry. There's a lot of feeding out taking place and, because of the shortage of feed, animals are being culled. Another hot dry week in Mid-Canterbury's allowed arable farmers to make full advantage of the conditions. The bulk of the harvest has been done with later crops still to go.…

This week Casey Treloar posted an emotional farewell video from her family's dairy farm in South Australia. After three generations on the farm, economics have forced them to sell up.

Wild Horses go Under the Hammer in Hanmer, Portland Island: A Long History of Occupation, Australian Dairy Farming Family Sells Up and the Regional Wrap.

A New Plymouth councillor refuses to make an apology to his council collegues for saying he's ashamed to sing the national anthem in Maori. Rent rises are shooting up in Whanganui - and people are struggling to find housing. 50 years after the Vietnman War - New Zealand Vietnam veterans are formally recognised for their service.…

The latest news from Melanesia.

Auckland University Chemistry Lecturer Nicola Gaston to to Bryan with a brief guide to the periodic table

The latest regional Pacific news.

A summary of news around New Zealand over the past week.

The spotlight has sharply turned this week on to the relationship between New Zealand and China after a series of apparent snubs by the rising superpower towards this country. Our Deputy Political Editor, Chris Bramwell, asks whether the relationship is deteriorating.

The spotlight has sharply turned this week on to the relationship between New Zealand and China after a series of apparent snubs by the rising superpower towards this country. Our Deputy Political Editor, Chris Bramwell, asks whether the relationship is deteriorating.

Can the all conquering Crusaders complete the three-peat? Will the Blues shake off several seasons of despair and reclaim their place as a Super Rugby super power? RNZ's rugby correspondent Joe Porter runs the rule over the New Zealand franchises' chances of glory.