Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, Max Micheel, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
This week, Tess and Joel chat to a politics expert about the government’s 2017 budget and what it means for New Zealanders, we also have our weekly chat with National MP, Jami-Lee Ross, about the budget and where National stands in response to the critical comments about the budget. We have our usual weekly feature, Neighbourhood watch for all the latest in Australian news, this week with Radio Adelaide's Jordan Curtis. And lastly, our Fuck Off Fascism feature, all about the relationship between Fascism and the arts. All of this on the full podcast here.
If you’ve been listening to The Wire much over the past couple of days, then you’ll know we’re currently coming to the end of Fuck Off Fascism Week. Each day on the show we’ve unpacked different ideas around the concept of fascism, including its history, how it exists today, and how it interacts with the media and the arts. Today on the show, we look at the relationship between the arts and Fascism, musical protests and propaganda. We speak to Dr. Ciara Cremlin, a sociology professor at the University of Auckland who chats to us about how the arts ties into Fascism historically and today.
Fuck off Fascism Week continues on the Wire: every day this week we’ll be talking to academics, activists and other insightful voices about the concept of fascism and its return to the global political conversation. Today, Wire Producer Harry looks into just what constitutes a fascist state, what exactly makes a modern day fascist, and talks with Giacomo Lichtner from Victoria University about fascism in today's political climate.
Talking Southern Auckland recently published a piece highlighting the bias, binary labels and language employed when covering issues pertaining to South Auckland - and the impact this has on the communities and individuals that inhabit it. Wire host Jogai Bhatt caught with the author of the piece, Te Waha Nui journalist Brandon Ulfsby, to learn a little more about the nuances of reporting on South Auckland in a mainstream media landscape.
Discussions around the mental health sector and issues of under-funding are becoming increasingly relevant with the election right around the corner, and more-so with the upcoming Budget announcement for 2017. bFM reporter Katie Doyle catches up with the Green Party's Julie Anne Genter for more.
If you’ve been listening to The Wire much over the past couple of days, then you’ll know we’re currently in the midst of Fuck Off Fascism Week. Each day on the show we unpack different ideas around the concept of fascism, including its history, how it exists today, and how it interacts with the media and the arts. Today on the show, we look at a question that was making the rounds on everyone’s social media feeds earlier this year, after the video of a white nationalist getting punched went viral - is it okay to punch a Nazi? We speak to Avigail Allen, the co-founder of the antifascist group Dayenu, as well as Randy Cohen, who wrote The Ethicist column for the New York Times for 12 years, to find out their perspectives on the subject.
This week on the show, Ximena and Adam pose the question, ‘is it okay to punch a Nazi?’ as their contribution to Fuck Off Fascism Week. They also hear from Sam Fraser-Baxter for Dear Science, who tells them about New Zealand’s first city to go underwater back in 2015, as well as the co-founder of The Backbone Collective, a national coalition for domestic abuse survivors that's currently focusing its efforts on critiquing the functioning of the Family Court.
The Backbone Collective is a national coalition for domestic abuse survivors, which is currently focusing its efforts on the Family Court. They’ve recently released some damning research about the functioning of the Family Court, which prompted a response from the Family Court Principal Judge Ryan, the Minister for Justice and the Law Society, all of whom disagreed with the Collective’s findings. Co-founder Deborah McKenzie speaks to 95bFM reporter Caitlin McIlhagga about the response the Collective has received so far, the strategy behind how they're approaching the issues and where they think we should go from here.
Sam Fraser-Baxter is back again this week for Dear Science. This week we chat to him about South Dunedin, and how it became New Zealand’s first city to go underwater back in June 2015 when it experienced massive flooding. We also talk to him about how the frequency and severity of extreme weather events like this can be linked to global warming, and about why we as a nation kinda suck at tackling this problem head-on.
Fascism and propaganda has a long history going back to Nazi Germany and has continued right up to today with the alt-right and the use of social media and memes such as Pepe the frog. However, how does fascist propaganda work? And has the mainstream media contributed to the rise of the alt-right movement and so-called fascist political parties. Reporter Sam Smith spoke to Auckland University media and communications lecturer Gavin Ellis about fascist propaganda and the wider relationship between the alt-right and the media.
The government has announced the overhaul of the Resource Management Act (RMA), which will be replaced by two different bills, the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. The RMA is set to be fully replaced by 2029.
The RMA, which has been in effect for 34 years, is polarising across the political spectrum.
In announcing the reforms, RMA Reform Minister, Chris Bishop, says that “pretty much everything” will be quicker and less costly under the new regime.
For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about this overhaul of the RMA.
They also discussed The Education and Workforce Committee’s interim report on the harms young people experience online, with a majority recommending a ban on social media for under-16-year-olds.
But first, they discussed the overhaul of the RMA.
Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.
Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.
Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
On Sunday, “Block the Ban” held a protest against the government’s decision to ban new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.
The United Nations’ committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination has released a report warning that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights.
And last week, the government rejected the recommended methane emissions targets.
This is despite officials warning against the government doing so, stating that lowering methane emissions targets could increase New Zealand’s contribution to global warming.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review.
Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here
Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.
Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.
Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.
With the rise of fast fashion outlets like Shein and Temu alongside the wider mainstream options available that contribute substantial amounts of clothing waste to landfill, experts are calling for an urgent response on a governance, business, and individual level.
Wire Host Sara spoke to Mindful Fashion Chief Executive Jacinta Fitzgerald about the problem, and the industry response to sustainability, as well as University of Auckland Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the importance of ethical consumption.for individuals.
First, is the interview with Fitzgerald, where she begins by talking about the organisation Mindful Fashion.
Following this, Sara spoke to Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the research he has undertaken around consumerism.
The biannual Scrutiny Week took place in Parliament last week, with meetings across select committees and government departments focussed on scrutinising the outcomes of government work.
These include hearings on ministries like Health, Housing, Environment and Justice.
Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week, firstly by asking him to talk about the meetings he was involved in
The government has recently rejected all of the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations regarding strengthening the country’s methane targets recommendations.
The commission’s recommendations include strengthening the county’s 2050 methane emission targets, continuing lowering emissions after 2050, and that international shipping and aviation, which represents 9% of the county’s total emissions, should be included within targets.
Despite the commission saying that there would be upfront costs, many of the changes would result in cost savings over time, however, the government rejected this claim.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about the government rejecting these recommendations.
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