Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Castor Chacko, Oto Sequeira, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
A New study has shed light on the phenomenon of binaural beats, sounds which essentially evoke psychoactive effects within the brain. There is very little-known about binaural beats, so to gain some clarity, Joe spoke to the lead author of the study, Dr. Monica Barrett from RMIT University in Melbourne about what they are exactly.
A study released this week revealed that Kiwis have concerning gaps in knowledge when it comes to the Holocaust. The Holocaust Centre in Wellington is the country's national Holocaust education and remembrance centre, and they say that the results of this study underline the need for a more comprehensive education on the Holocaust in New Zealand.
Emilia Sullivan spoke to Miriam Bookman, deputy chair of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.
This week on the Thursday Wire, our regular interview with Labour’s Andrew Little is back. Tuva’a speaks to Little about new Covid-19 medications that New Zealand will be receiving soon.
Joe speaks to Dr. Caroline Shorter, a senior researcher from the University of Otago, Wellington, about a recent study looking at the price of keeping children warm at night.
Producer Emilia speaks to Miriam Bookman, deputy chair of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, about a study released this week revealing that Kiwis have concerning gaps in knowledge when it comes to the Holocaust. Emilia also speaks to Professor Robin Gauld, Pro-Vice chancellor of commerce and Dean of Business at the University of Otago, about the major reforms to New Zealand’s healthcare systems set to come into place in July.
Joe also speaks to Sophie Jones from Able on how subtitles can be to utilized to improve children's literacy. Finally, Joe talks to Dr. Monica Barrett from RMIT University in Melbourne about the phenomenon known as binaural beats.
Major reforms to New Zealand's healthcare systems are set to come into place in July. The changes would see all DHBs replaced by one national organisation, Health New Zealand, while a Māori Health Authority will be established to commission health services, monitor the state of Māori health, and develop policy.
Emilia Sullivan spoke about these reforms to the University of Otago's Professor Robin Gauld, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Commerce and Dean of Otago Business School.
A new report was released last week about the state of children’s literacy in New Zealand, demonstrating that it’s time to learn the wide-ranging benefits of using subtitles, in terms of improving literacy. New Zealand’s media accessibility organisation Able creates subtitles and captions for New Zealand TV and media, which have shown the benefits on children’s literacy
Joe talked to Sophie Jones from Able on the matter.
The cost of heating a child’s bedroom through the night in a Wellington winter would run through 46 per cent of the government’s Winter Energy Payment, a study by researchers at the University of Otago, Wellington has found.
Joe spoke to Dr. Caroline Shorter, a senior researcher from the University of Otago, on the matter.
Tuesday saw the introduction of the Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) Bill to Parliament. The bill will provide a regulatory foundation for setting pay and conditions across whole industries, through negotiations between employers and workers through their unions. On the Wire this week Frances speaks to Annie Newman from the New Zealand trade union E Tū about what the Bill will mean for workers and their in developing legislation.
On the Wire this Wednesday Cameron joined Frances from Berlin and spoke about the war in Ukraine, US President Biden’s tour in Europe, elections in Hungary and Serbia and developments in the world of digital tech over there.
Frances talks to Associate professor Erin Griffey from the University of Auckland who is taking popular beauty recipes from Renaissance Europe and working with a team in the science faculty to recreate and analyse them. They call themselves the Beautiful Chemistry Project, and have a great website where you can have a look at some renaissance beauty secrets.
https://www.beautifulchemistryproject.com/
Erin told Frances a bit about how the project began, what it entails and where it’s hoping to go in the future.
This week on the Wednesday Wire, Aneeka kicks off speaking with the ACT Party’s Brooke van Velden on our weekly catch-up. This week they’re talking about the call for a referendum on co-governance
Frances then speaks with Associate Professor Erin Griffey from the University of Auckland about the Beautiful Chemistry Project - taking beauty recipes from Renaissance Europe in art history and making them in the lab at the university
Alex then speaks with Pauline Cleaver, the Associate Deputy Secretary from the Ministry of Education about the new history curriculum and then Frances speaks with Annie Newman, the Assistant National Secretary from E Tu about the introduction of the Fair Pay Agreements bill to Parliament yesterday.
Finally we jump into this week’s EuroVision where Frances speaks with European correspondent Cameron Mulgan. This week talking further about Ukraine, Biden’s tour through Europe, some elections going on and some changes in the world of digital tech over there.
On Tuesday, Aucklanders checked the updated property valuations of their house, for many to find declines in value by 10s of thousands of dollars —- on average, by 9% from when they were last done in 2021.
According to the Council. rating valuations were based on market trends and recent sales activity, as of May 1 2024.
Wayne Brown said in response to the decreased values, “The economy's been faltering for a while, and It's really driven by government policies rather than Auckland's policies,”
Also, as we get closer to 2026 and the completion of the City Rail Link, Aucklanders have expressed various concerns about the standard of completion, including incorporation of public feedback.
I discuss the incorporation of the wider neighbourhood in Mt Eden at the Maungawhau station and the dismissal of public perspectives at the K Road station
New Zealand and key allies have imposed sanctions on two “extremist” Israeli politicians for their role in “inciting violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank.
However, opposition parties, including Labour as well as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, are calling for further action to be taken against Israel.
It comes after Israel kidnapped 12 pro-Palestine activists on international waters, who were intending to break the aid blockade and reach Gaza.
And earlier this week, the National Business released their annual rich list.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, I spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about these topics.
Los Angeles is approaching a week of protests against ICE, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Over 200 protestors have been arrested since the protests began, and restrictions have been placed on protestors, including a curfew.
The White House has sent 2,000 members of the National Guard to the city already, and another 2,000 are expected to be deployed. This is despite California Governor Gavin Newsom attempting to stop their deployment.
For International Desk, I spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the protests.
The Green party recently made renewed calls to the government to sanction Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine following the seizure of the Madleen, a vessel that aimed to deliver food and medical aid to Gaza.
The vessel, which was en route to Gaza, was intercepted in the Mediterranean by the Israeli Defence Forces before being rerouted to Israel with all those on board, among whom was Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford recently announced the Parent Boost Visa, part of the government’s self-described commitment to supporting parents living overseas to visit and stay with their families here in Aotearoa.
And, over in the United States, 2000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles in response to protests opposing the city’s recent immigration raids.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about all of these issues
Currently, 19 out of 38 OECD countries use incineration as a form of waste management.
With the process leading to a range of negative impacts, such as air pollution, Co2 emissions and respiratory illnesses, Aotearoa has luckily remained incinerator free.
However, calls have been made by some activists to strengthen New Zealand’s legislation to ensure that incineration facilities are not opened up in Aotearoa.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Sue Coutts from Zero Waste Network New Zealand to discuss a petition calling on the government to keep New Zealand Incinerator-free.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
These past few weeks in politics have seen various issues that we spoke about in our weekly catchup with the National Party.
First up, at the Aotearoa Music Awards, National MP Chris Bishop was heard making disdainful remarks such as “what a load of crap” during a performance by singer Stan Walker.
Second, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngārewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were recently suspended from parliament for 21 days for their haka protesting the Treaty Principles Bill. The penalty is far harsher than any previous penalty for an MP, raising questions about whether it is justified or sets a dangerous precedent.
Finally, the government recently announced a new visa for parents of migrants, allowing them to come to New Zealand for a longer period of time than traditional visitors without having to acquire residency.
Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues in our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, starting with Chris Bishop’s comments at the AMAs.
As per coalition agreements, ACT Party Leader, David Seymour, has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, taking over from NZ First Leader, Winston Peters.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about Seymour’s new position, and what this means for the party.
They also discussed accusations Seymour made regarding submissions to the Regulatory Standards Bill.
In an interview with Guyon Espiner, Seymour claimed that 99.5% of the submissions against the Regulatory Standards Bill were driven by ‘bots’ and were ‘fake’ submissions.
Seymour later clarified to RNZ that by bots, he was meaning “online campaigns” creating “non-representative samples” that do not represent the public’s opinion.
The Ministry of Regulations received roughly 23,000 submissions on the bill. Of the submissions. Of the submissions, 0.33% were fully or partially supporting the bill, with 88% being against the bill.
Finally, they discussed the recommended suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs’ Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke standing.
But they, we discussed David Seymour as Deputy Prime Minister.
The recommended suspension for Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, over the MP’s haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.
Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi will be suspended from the House for 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a seven day suspension. This is Parliament's harshest sanctions in the country’s history. Prior to this, the longest suspension an MP had faced in Parliament was three days.
The debate had previously been delayed so that the MPs could participate in the Budget debate — however, both co-leaders were not present at the debate.
During the debate MP Tākuta Ferris said that the debate was not about the haka, but at the heart, it was the House continuing to ignore Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori sovereignty, and that the “racism” in the House is hardly being hidden.
For our weekly catch-up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the suspension, and what’s next for the party.
They also discussed NZ First Party Leader Winston Peters’ comments regarding Waititi’s moko, referring to the MPs moko kanohi as “scribbles”. He was asked to apologise by the Speaker, which he did.
But first, they discussed the suspension of the MPs.
Auckland Transport are seeking community feedback on a proposal for a new T3 transit lane on Mount Smart Road to relieve congestion during peak times heading towards the Royal Oak roundabout.
Between better public transport systems, a ‘time of use’ charge, and different ways of managing Auckland traffic, Producer Sara asks Councillor Julie Fairey about how Auckland Council hopes to reduce peak-time congestion as the city’s population grows.
She also talk to Julie Fairey about the recent allocation of funds to community-led projects through Ngā Hapori Momoho. This year, the grant which aims to “improve financial security, improve health outcomes, and grow community and intercultural connection” has approved funding for eleven community groups, six of which are either Māori organisations or delivering ‘strong Māori outcomes’.
Sara begins with questions about Auckland central congestion.
*unfortunately the audio quality on Julie's end is poor
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