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.
In 2008 Auckland University’s Department of Computer Science initiated an annual series of lectures intended to describe ongoing research in Computer Science to a wider public, called the Gibbons series. This year the lectures look to a step towards the singularity, artificial intelligence and its impact.The third lecture in the series takes place tonight at the University of Auckland Owen G Glenn Building at 6pm, with guest lecturer Marcus Frean from the University of Victoria. Wire producer Harry Willis spoke with Frean about what he will be talking about this evening, the wonders of Deep Learning algorithms, and possible implications for the Science.
Last month, the Ministry of Immigration changed their policy regarding skilled migrant workers and visa allocations to those workers. In the changes, there has been introduced a maximum visa allocation of three years to migrants who do not fulfil the “skilled worker” category, earning New Zealand’s median income of approximately $49,000. Wire producer Harry Willis spoke with Marisa Bedois, CEO of the New Zealand restaurant association on the impact these changes will have on the hospitality industry in New Zealand, and how important migrant workers are in New Zealand. Harry began first by asking her to explain, in more detail, the changes in the immigration policy.
Los Angeles based writer, art critic, and author of the highly acclaimed novel I Love Dick joins bFM reporter Amanda Jane Robinson for a lively Skype session, ahead of her talk at the Auckland Writers Festival this weekend.
This week, Jogai and Harry chat with an Associate Professor from Victoria University, Marcus Frean, to learn a little bit about deep learning and artificial intelligence ahead of his lecture tonight, and bFM reporter Amanda Jane Robinson engages in a lively Skype session with the author of the acclaimed novel, I Love Dick. Our weekly feature State of the States is back, with new correspondence from WNYU News, and Producer Harry Willis has a report on migrant hospitality workers. Andrew Little is also back for our weekly chat. All this and more on the Thursday Wire - check out the full podcast here.
The Auckland Writers Festival has kicked off, with some very exciting national and international writers scheduled to speak over the coming days. One of the major international speakers is Nigerian/ American novelist, essayist, art historian and photography columnist for The New York Times, Teju Cole. We caught up with him ahead of his talk this Friday on his recent collection of essays, Known and Strange Things.
If you’re interested in heading along to see Teju’s talk on Friday 19 May at 1pm at the Aotea Centre, get yourself some tickets from here.
Hundreds of thousands of computers and networks worldwide are currently under attack from a devastating virus. Appropriately named WannaCry, the virus was first detected on Friday May 12th. Shortly after, the worm had gone global, infecting 230 thousand computers across 150 countries, with the highest profile victim being hospitals across Britain's National Health Service. 95bFM’s Adam Jacobson speaks to Professor Clark Thomborson, a cyber security expert at the University of Auckland, to find out the details behind WannaCry and how ransomware functions.
The New Zealand Promoters Association are expressing strong concerns surrounding Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency’s choice to elect Ticketmaster as the exclusive ticketer for Venue Wellington. 95bFM’s Adam Jacobson spoke with NZPA Vice-President Gray Bartlett about why event promoters are uneasy about the decision, and about whether it’s affecting cities beyond Wellington as well.
It’s no secret Trump spilled some highly-classified beans last week during his meeting in the White House with the Russian Foreign Minister. But what actually went down? What’s the significance of this revelation for US national security? And will there be any consequences for Trump? 95bFM’s Ximena Smith reports.
This week on the show, Ximena & Adam have a hell of a diverse line-up for ya, ranging from a chat with Writers’ Festival speaker Teju Cole to a report explaining Trump’s classified information disclosure to Russia. Sam Fraser-Baxter also chimes in for Dear Science to tell us about the wild dude who invented the deprivation tank.
A new project aiming to increase youth engagement in politics in New Zealand has been launched. Active Citizenship Aotearoa is aiming to empower, engage and educate young New Zealanders to become active citizens. Young people make up 20 percent of the voting age population in New Zealand, yet have the lowest level of electoral enrolment across all age groups. Active Citizenship Aotearoa say they are failed by an inconsistent standard of education nationwide, and are not taught about voting, democracy or civic affairs. The group are planning to create education campaigns to equip young people to be active citizens, who understand and participate in the governance of their communities. Reporter Sam Smith spoke to one of the founders Isabella Lenihan-Ikin.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Tāmaki Makaurau’s council budget is among those impacted by the proposal of a rates cap, considering Tāmaki’s average 5.8% annual rates increase across the 25/26 financial year.
Youth homelessness is a growing concern as discussions continue around “move on” orders for those without housing in Auckland’s CBD.
And the Skycity Convention Centre is set to open in 2026, with high hopes for what it may bring for Tāmaki Makaurau after its prolonged development.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Counsellor Fairey about these topics.
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