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.
Yesterday marked the inauguration of the newly elected President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
Trump’s election marks the second non-consecutive term for any US president, with him winning both the popular vote AND electoral college, contrasting his previous election victory in 2016.
However, despite running on one of his campaign slogans of ‘ending all wars’, Trump frequently made promises to annex a number of territories in North and South America, namely Greenland and the Panama Canal, and made comments about turning Canada into America’s 51st state.
Oto spoke to Associate Professor in Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland - Chris Ogden, to discuss the validity of these claims, why Trump was making them and what military expansion during his presidency could hypothetically look like.
On New Years Eve, the government announced a ‘free vape kit’ initiative to combat tobacco usage rates, as a part of Smokefree 2025 plans.
Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, says those involved with the initiative will be provided with a vape device and a one month’s supply of nicotine pods each month for a three month period, with additional support from an anti-smoking service.
Costello says vaping has had a "key role," in lowering smoking rates, and that the government is in support of this initiative, as she says that "vaping is far less harmful than smoking cigarettes."
However, the advocacy group for doctors working in general practice; General Practitioners Aotearoa, have expressed concerns about this vaping kit, as they say the government is funding this initiative without strong scientific evidence to back up their claims.
The group referred to a study of individuals undergoing a 'vape to quit' programme, with findings showing that only 16% of participants fully quit both smoking and vaping.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Chair of General Practitioners Aotearoa, Dr Buzz Burrell, about the ‘free vape kit’ initiative, and using vaping as a cessation tool for tobacco usage, as well as whether this move takes into account communities disproportionately affected by nicotine consumption.
They started off by asking him about how much evidence there is that vaping is an adequate method to limit one’s tobacco addiction.
This podcast has been edited to take out the claim "…so if you inhale nicotine through a vape you've got an equal chance of developing lung cancer. So you're not reducing the lung cancer risk at all," as well as mentions of 'vape lung' (EVALI) regarding consuming nicotine from vapes. Despite ongoing research into these claims, there is not currently adequate data to back these points.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez March about the National party’s recent cabinet reshuffle, as well as the government’s changes to free speech legislation in Universities and the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Force.
He spoke to Michael Swanson, PhD Candidate in New Zealand Politics at the University of Otago, for a follow up kōrero on National’s cabinet reshuffle.
He spoke to Amanda Larsson from Greenpeace to discuss newly elected US President Donald Trump’s exit from the Paris Agreement.
And he spoke to Chris Ogden, an Associate Professor Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland, to discuss Trump’s claims of annexing Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada.
Joel spoke to the Chair of General Practitioners Aotearoa, Dr Buzz Burrell, about the government’s ‘free vape kits,’ and the organisation's concerns surrounding using vaping as a cessation tool for smoking.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a major reshuffling of ministerial portfolios within the National party.
Among the most notable portfolio changes was handing over Dr Shane Reti’s role as minister of health to Transport Minister Simeon Brown and the appointment of Nicola Willis as Minister of the newly created portfolio of Minister of Economic Growth, a title formerly known as the Minister of Economic Development.
The cabinet reshuffle has led to concerns about the fate of Health NZ and Aotearoa’s healthcare sector, noting that Shane Reti had over 20 years of experience working in medicine, whereas Simeon Brown has none.
The reshuffle also comes shortly after a recent poll by the Taxpayers Union showed that National’s approval rating had fallen below 30%, the lowest rating they’ve received while in government since 1999.
Oto spoke with Michael Swanson, a PHD candidate in New Zealand politics at the University of Otago, to discuss why National made the decision to shuffle their portfolios at this point in time and the impacts of the portfolio changes for the wider economy, particulary for the healthcare system and constituents in the South Island.
One of Trump’s first measures after taking office was to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that requires it’s signatories to set their own emissions reductions goals and to report regularly on their progress.
Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement makes the United States one of only four countries in the entire world who are not signatories to the Paris Agreement, with the other three non-signatories being Iran, Libya and Yemen.
Oto spoke to Amanda Larsson from Greenpeace Aotearoa to discuss the implications of Trump’s exit from the Paris agreement, and how Aotearoa should adjust its own climate targets in response.
In November of 2024, Te Whatu Ora declared whooping cough an epidemic, and epidemiologists are expecting it will be the most challenging Aotearoa has seen.
Whooping cough is a respiratory infection caused by a bacteria, and is dangerous for babies and toddlers. However, infection can be prevented by vaccination during pregnancy.
Producer Athena spoke to epidemiologist, and Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Hannah Chisholm, about the circumstances that led to the epidemic, and the necessity of vaccinations.
Following the pandemic, hybrid remote and in office work has become more prevalent. According to data from StatsNZ on the September 2024 quarter, more than 40% of businesses offered a work from home option, while 898,700 people worked from home.
In 2023, 5 academics (and work friends) published a study on the nature of workplace friendships in the absence of physical presence. The study indicated several benefits of having work friends, as well as revealing foundational elements to maintaining these friendships.
Producer Athena spoke to Senior Lecturer Dr Stefan Korber, from the University of Auckland Business School, about the benefits of having work friends, and the ways workplace friendships can flourish.
Recently, across the motu, we have seen a variety of fires, most recently being the fire on Māngere Mountain, which had resulted in smoke warnings for 40 kilometres, reaching all the way to Piha in West Auckland.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the Victoria University of Wellington, and Fire Ecologist, Dr Nicola Day, about our susceptibility to wildfires amidst the climate crisis, and what needs to be done to better prepare for events such as these recent bouts of blazes in the future.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Dr Cushla McGover chatted to us about lost photos being unveiled of a giant horned dinosaur, analysing for the restoration of a 2100 year old Alexander the Great mosaic, and cartilage similar to bubble wrap, thanks to MOTAT.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News and Editorial Director, Joel, speaks to MP Tom Rutherford about the recent wildfires across the motu, Deputy Police Commissioner, Jevon McSkimming being suspended amidst investigations, and the ceasefire in Gaza.
Joel also speaks to Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the Victoria University of Wellington, and Fire Ecologist, Dr Nicola Day, about Aotearoa’s susceptibility to wildfires.
Producer Athena speaks to Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland business school, Dr Stefan Korber, about the important of establishing workplace friendships.
And Athena speaks to Epidemiologist and Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Hannah Chisholm about the current whooping cough epidemic
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, Producer Evie speaks to Simon about yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle, the Regulatory Standards Bill, and the technical issues with the Treaty Principles Bill submissions.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to a Lecturer in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Otago, Dr Olivier Jutel, about the US TikTok ban, and whether he believes there are any bases for this ban in the United States.
Joel also speaks to 95bFM’s own Sam Ashton, aka ‘Smashton;’ co-host of the Top Ten, who is also a TikTok content creator with over 307k followers, about his thoughts on the US TikTok ban, and whether he believes this will create implications for New Zealand-based content creators.
Evie speaks to Chief Executive of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Paul Goulter about Simeon Brown replacing Dr Shane Reti as Minister of Health.
And Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio to discuss part-time jobs and summer jobs.
Last week finance minister Nicola Willis announced a budget cut of 25% to the reserve bank. The cut follows criticisms of the reserve bank staffing numbers, which have risen significantly since 2018.
Also last week education minister Erica Stanford announced $100 million of new classroom developments across the country, with one large development in Massey. The move has been well received, though some have pointed out the continued impacts of overcrowding in the school system, particularly due to housing intensification in parts of the country.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, starting with reserve bank budget cuts.
Kilmar Ábrego García, a man legally in the United States, was wrongly deported to a maximum security prison in El Salvador earlier this month.
The Trump administration refuses to bring Ábrego García back to the United States despite a Supreme Court ruling stating that Trump must “facilitate” this process.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Associate Professor Jean Lantz Reisz from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California about Ábrego García's removal from the US and what this means for the rule of law.
Earlier this week, Wayne Brown shared an opinion piece offering a case for council amalgamation.
He discusses his experience in the Upper North Island Strategic Alliance, stating that discussions on local issues can be inefficient because of the number of members, and arguing that some sort of council amalgamation would be more beneficial in terms of efficiency, and providing better representation for New-Zealanders in this region.
As well, ahead of this year’s local elections, Auckland Council has posted an advertisement on LinkedIn for “passionate Aucklanders” to throw their hat in the ring for an Auckland Council position. They have said they are hoping to draw in a ‘diverse range of community leaders’ to help represent Auckland within local governance.
Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson this morning about both these topics.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters recently completed the last leg of his trip across the Pacific in Hawai’i, having hosted a number of meetings with US military and political leaders in the American Indo-Pacific territories.
Winston Peters said that this portion of his Pacific trip was aimed at strengthening New Zealand’s partnership with the United States and our shared strategic objectives in the Pacific, additionally saying that “Our Pacific links with the United States are more important than ever”.
The week before, the Greens recently made a renewed call for Visa waivers to be granted to Pacific Nationals looking to travel to Aotearoa after the government announced that visitors from Pacific Islands Forum countries may be eligible for a multi-entry visa, into Aotearoa from July onwards.
And the government recently released their annual child poverty statistics, which showed an increase in the number of Tamariki experiencing material hardship, rates of food insecurity and the number of children in households receiving a main benefit.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez-March about all of these issues.
Have you ever thought about what happens to all the food, which, while perfectly edible, simply doesn’t make it to the table? This week, the Green Desk delves into the growing issues of food waste, food insecurity and social isolation, and discusses how they can all be remedied by making better use of the perfectly good food that would otherwise end up in the bin.
Everybody Eats is an organisation founded in 2017 which rescues surplus food items from charities and businesses and converts them into restaurant style food. They have a pay-what-you-can mode, with the aim of making this food accessible to all.
Ahead of Earth Day 2025, Green Desk Producer Liam spoke to Amanda Butland, the Systems and Support Manager at Everybody Eats, about the current food waste crisis and what we could all learn from the Everybody Eats ethos.
The Treaty Principles Bill was officially put to bed last week, as it was voted down in parliament by all parties besides ACT. The bill spent a long time in the public spotlight and has been met with extensive criticism from across the political spectrum. Now that it’s done, Wire host Castor asked Nancy Lu about whether the bill met the government’s expectations and whether they’d explore something similar in the future.
Last week, we also saw a report released about the harassment of female MPs. The harassment levels have been concerning to many, especially given targeted campaigns and posts from some members of parliament or political parties encouraging this harassment.
In our weekly catchup with the National party, Tom Rutherford was absent this week, so Castor spoke to Nancy Lu about these issues, beginning with the Treaty Principles Bill.
Last week, the controversial Treaty Principles Bill was voted down in its second reading.
The bill received 112 votes against the bill, with only the ACT Party voting in favour of the bill with 11 votes.
Since the inception of the bill, the bill has faced significant backlash. Te Pāti Māori MPs, Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, Rawiri Waititi, and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, protested the first reading of the bill by doing the haka in Parliament. The bill also resulted in what many believe is one of the largest hīkoi the country has seen, with the bill also receiving over 300,000 public submissions, 90% against the bill.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the second reading of the Treaty Principles Bill voting the bill down.
As well as this, following the bill being voted down, Te Pāti Māori announced they will be running candidates in general seats.
They also discussed this, and why the party has decided to run candidates in general seats.
But first, they discussed the Treaty Principles Bill being voted down.
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