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.
Launched by OpenAI in November 2022, ChatGPT can do a lot of things. It can write coherent paragraphs of arguments and stories. It can write movie scripts, poems, make lectures for teachers, write essays and lyrics for songs. Recent research shows it Can even write scholarly articles that would be accepted by journals. Then there is also Dall-E an AI system that generates images and artwork
How should we value these technologies? What will be the effects of such technologies on our creative process?
Daniel talked with Nir Eisikovits, professor in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts to reflect on these questions.
Acute mental health care units remain in the shadows, neither fully integrated into general hospitals nor part of the community, researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington, say. Joe spoke to the lead researcher of this study, Associate Professor Ruth Cunningham on this matter.
Aotearoa's breast screening programme has now missed its mammogram coverage targets for three consecutive years. National Screening Unit stats show as of the end of last year, 65% of eligible women were being screened, which was short of the targeted 70%
Joe speaks to Adele Gautier, Research manager for The Breast Cancer Foundation on this matter.
UN experts commended the International Olympic Committee yesterday for considering allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports competitions as neutral athletes.
Following discussions with two Special Rapporteurs, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee issued a statement referring to the need to respect the rights of all athletes to be treated without any discrimination, in accordance with the Olympic Charter.
Alexandra Xanthaki a UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights and Professor of Laws at Brunel University London, United Kingdom spoke to Joe about this matter. This interview is also featured on 95bFM's The Playbook!
Auckland is still reeling from last week’s intense rainfall and subsequent flooding. Damage from the weather event has left many without possessions and housing.
The community is beginning to rally around those affected providing support in anything from food to housing to towels. David spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about the subject.
As people continue to struggle with rising cost of living, some economists have suggested raising unemployment rates to tamp inflation. However, doing so would further increase hardship for those laid off, and job losses would concentrate among low-income workers. Are gentler deflationary tools available?
Hanna spoke to Professor Robert MacCulloch, Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at the University of Auckland, about why unemployment remained low despite market shocks, the theory behind raising unemployment to tackle inflation and its critique, and the disciplinary effect of unemployment on workers.
Liam has a package re-evaluating the Three Waters Reform in the wake of the Auckland flooding. They’ve spoken to the University of Auckland's Dr Timothy Welch about stormwater infrastructure, E Tū Union director Mat Danaher about why they support Three Waters and ACT Party local government and infrastructure spokesperson Simon Court about why they continue to oppose it.
Hanna spoke to Professor Robert MaCulloch about Aotearoa's unemployment rates.
And Liam had a chat with bFM European Correspondent Cameron Adams about what's been going on in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and the UK!
The mass flooding in Auckland has renewed conversations and calls for the three waters reform to continue, to completion.
The controversial Labour policy has been speculated to be on the chopping block of new PM Chris Hipkins, further supported by the appointment of new cabinet minister Kieran McAnulty to the local government portfolio.
However, the devastation caused by the flooding reinstated how badly Tamaki Makaurau needs updated stormwater infrastructure.
To learn about where the reform currently stands and what stormwater infrastructure needs to be put in place, i’ve spoken to UoA’s Timothy Welch, E tū Unions Mat Danaher and ACT MP Simon Court about their respective opinions on the policy.
More than 200 homes have been red-stickered, and at least 5000 have been damaged after the devastating deluge across Tāmaki Makaurau and the upper North Island.
Experts are warning that health hazards such as mould and contamination could be waiting for residents returning to their flood damaged homes.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Senior Lecturer at the Massey University School of Built Environment, Dr Mikael Boulic, who says Auckland’s current conditions are the “worst case scenario” for mould to grow.
We started off our interview discussing what steps people should take when cleaning up their wet property.
The Auckland floods have been devastating for many, but will this extreme weather become our new normal?
Today Troy Matich spoke with Victoria University Professor James Renwick about how the future of climate change could bring more extreme weather, and disaster.
From Dec 27 to Jan 18, all train lines across Tāmaki will be shutting down for summer maintenance, a closure which is expected to be the last of its kind ahead of the opening of the City Rail Link.
The current measles outbreak in Tāmaki is being continually monitored, with exposure sites being updated daily on info.health.nz. The public are encouraged to track whether they’ve been in possible contact with the virus, and get up to date on any vaccinations to limit possibilities of transmission.
Auckland Council are supporting arts initiatives across the summer months, with Music in the Park kicking off in early January, and Movies in the Park following in February.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about these topics, and also asked for comment following the attack by two gunmen at Bondi Beach earlier this week.
Yesterday, the latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers under the National Homelessness Data Project, or NHDP, showed that homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled in the year to September. The report also found that 14 of the 21 agencies interviewed reported an increase in homelessness.
As well as this, Australia’s ban on social media for children under 16 has taken effect. And according to an interim report into social media harm, a social media ban for children in New Zealand is worth exploring further.
And last week the Government announced the replacement of the Resource Management Act, or RMA. The coalition said its replacement will slash red tape and supercharge growth.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the Government’s new RMA reforms and a potential social media ban in New Zealand.
But first they discussed the latest report on Auckland homelessness.
The Parliament’s Workforce and Education Committee has released an interim report on an inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders face online. The government has recently announced an overhaul of the Resource Management Act and introduced two new bills in its place, the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill.
For our weekly catch-up with the National Party, Producer Vihan spoke to MP Carl Bates, who is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Workforce and Education Committee, about the new findings of the interim report, the new Natural Environment Bill, and the Fast Track Approval Amendments Bill.
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.
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
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
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