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.
Spike speaks to Associate Professor Stephen Hoadley about Biden's official 2024 campaign announcement, and how the election cycle is currently shaping up.
Spike speaks to Max Boraman, Professor of Politics at Massey University, about his recent piece on the Aotearoa union movement of the late 60s to 80s, and how they were able to combat a previous cost of living crisis.
The Crescent Under the Southern Cross is a short documentary that tells the story of Four muslim men who served for the Australian Defence Force during World War two. Last week, the director of the film, Dr. Simon Wilmot spoke about why these men were in Australia, and what they did during the war. This week in part two, Dr. Wilmot highlights how these men were treated after the war, and the effect the White Australia immigration policy had on them. He also discusses why it is important to remember these men's stories. This week he begins by sharing what was promised to them upon their return.
Spike speaks to author and inequality researcher Max Rashbrooke about the new IRD report on the effective tax rates of the wealthiest families in Aotearoa.
In Aotearoa, drug checking is a free, legal, and confidential service that aims to help people find out what is actually in their drugs so they can make informed decisions about if, when, and how they take them
Last week, the NZ Drug Foundation released its 2022 drug checking data report.
Jack Cormack-Neto spoke to Principal Science Advisor, Emily Hughes, about the impact of their drug checking clinics.
A massive study has been undertaken involving tens of thousands of accounting questions across hundreds of university campuses. These questions were fed into ChatGPT AI software, and the answers marked by the professors as though they were student’s answers.
The results were quite astonishing.
Arno spoke to Ruth Dimes, Business masters programme director at the University of Auckland, to find out more about the study and to see how real humans stack up against our AI counterparts. Arno started by asking about the aims of the study.
The SpaceX Starship rocket launch, which led to a subsequent explosion, can hardly be called a failure. Scientists involved learned a lot about rocket design through the partial launch, and even NASA has lauded the mission as a success.
Elon Musk has been accused of ignoring advice around the launchpad design that might have led to the failure of the rocket to complete its circumnavigation around the earth, but this remains as conjecture in the astrophysics community.
Arno spoke to University of Auckland astrophysicist Richard Easther to find out more about the launch: to find out what went wrong, and what went right. Arno started by asking if the launch was expected to fail.
AUKUS - a security pact signed between Australia, the UK and the US is a contentious topic for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Due to its pro-nuclear sentiments, New Zealand has been inherently hesitant to join the pact because of the impact it could have on New Zealand’s diplomatic relations with its Asia-Pacific allies.
Anti-AUKUS sentiments have dominated the political discourse around the topic, with many academics and politicians past and present against the pact because of the geopolitical tensions it could muster. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark called the AUKUS deal an “entanglement” that New Zealand shouldn’t get itself into.
To receive more input, Andre Fa'aoso spoke with Doctor Arama Rata, an independent researcher and spokesperson for Te Kuaka, a group that advocates for progressive foreign policy.
Host Andre Fa'aoso spoke with Doctor Arama Rata about the domestic tensions around New Zealand joining the AUKUS security-pact.
Jack Cormack-Neto chatted to Principal Science Advisor at the NZ Drug Foundation, Emily Hughes, about what they found at drug checking during 2022.
On The Green Desk, Jack Marshall interviewed Marine Ecologist Aaron Egerhe about the economic value of kelp forests.
Producer Alex Bonham spoke to Chief Executive Officer of Ecomatters Environment Trust, Carla Gee and senior organic waste advisor at the Auckland Council Elise O’Brien, about the potential for food scraps to improve soils and avoid tonnes emissions each year.
Producer Arno spoke to Richard Easther, astrophysicist at the University of Auckland, about the SpaceX Starship launch.
Arno also spoke with Ruth Dimes, Business masters programme director at the University of Auckland, about a study comparing students performance to ChatGPT AI.
Currently New Zealanders dump 300,000 tonnes of food each year in landfill where it emits methane, contributing to global warming. Aucklanders bin 100,000 tonnes of food and it makes up half of our kerbside waste. To address this, Auckland Council is rolling out a foodscrap collection this year. The scraps will go through an anaerobic digestion process to create fertiliser and biogas that will be used in horticultural systems south of the city. However, environmental campaigners argue that local composting leads to better soils and lower emissions. Alex Bonham spoke to Carla Gee of Ecomatters, that runs the Compost Collective, and Elise O'Brien, Senior Organic Waste Advisor at Auckland Council to talk about the amazing resource that is food waste.
The Healthcare exec Brian Thompson was shot dead by a masked assailant last week.
The crime has gained significant controversy and attention online, with many using it to restart the debate on the inequities of the United States healthcare system.
And this week Yale University was the latest college to commit to divesting from weapons manufacturing after a student vote.
For State of the States this week Wire Host Caeden speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
The government as announced their plan for the Cook Strait ferry a year after they scrapped Labour’s plan, including cancelling the ferries the Labour government had ordered.
And a new report from the Ministry of Social Development has revealed nearly a quarter of beneficiaries are not receiving their correct entitlements.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
For City Counselling this week, producer Sofia caught up with Councillor Shane Henderson about proposed time-of-use charging to solve congestion problems in Tāmaki and Council selling their remaining Auckland Airport shares last week.
The Green party recently released He Ara Anamata - the Green party’s emissions reduction plan.
The document covers more than 10 areas of the economy and energy Sector that a Greens-led government would be looking to adapt to minimise carbon emissions and protect the natural landscapes of Aotearoa.
It also comes 5 months after the government released their own draft emissions plan. Numerous experts pointed out that the government is behind on their own plan’s targets to meet the crucial emissions budget for 2031-2035.
For their weekly catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss the party’s new emissions reduction plan and how they would address climate and the economy in a greens-led government.
Last election, one of the National Party’s main campaign promises was to be ‘tough on crime’, promising to increase police coverage and penalties for crimes. A target was set to increase the number of police officers by 500 by November 2025, however some police leaders today say this goal is unrealistic.
The government also announced this week some shakeups to insulation standards, which they say should make houses more affordable.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor spoke to him about police staffing targets and new insulation standards.
This week on Dear Science, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about what latrines teach us about people, climate variation affecting Chinese dynasties, and invasive species becoming threatened.
Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
Last week it was revealed that two of the ten participants in the government's pilot bootcamp programme were on the run.
The youth were two months into the community rehabilitation phase of the programme, following the three month youth justice residence phase. Both teens were found in the weekend, but had allegedly reoffended, and are now set to come before the court.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, who have been heavily advocating for this programme, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about this incident.
She also talks to him about proposed changes to employment law which would give employers the power to dismiss workers earning over $180,000 without the employee refuting the decision.
And finally, she talks to him about David Seymour’s incumbent run as Deputy Prime Minister, which is set to begin in May of next year.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about changes to Auckland Transport’s responsibilities, nationwide bus and train fare hikes, and concerns over the opening of the City Rail Link.
For State of the States this week, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Andre Fa'aoso from the Yale Daily News about President Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was due to be sentenced next week for three felony charges.
They also discuss Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, who is the latest in a long list of unorthodox picks for government positions from Trump
95bFM 
