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.
Colombia has elected its first left wing president in the country’s history. Gustavo Petro, an ex-rebel fighter, will step into the country’s top job, winning 50.5% of the vote over millionaire and construction magnate Rodolfo Hernández. Christina spoke to Alejandra Jaramillo Aristizabal, an education student from Colombia, about Petro’s victory.
This Friday Aoteroa will be celebrating Matariki as a public holiday for the first time. To mark the occasion Jack spoke to Māori Studies professor Dr Dan Hikuroa from the University of Auckland about the significance of the holiday.
AUT Professor Allan Blackman joined Christina live in studio for Dear Science. This week, they discussed light therapy as a cancer treatment, the origin of the Black Death, and carbon and nitrogen levels in the sun, as well as a quick detour into astrology and marmots.
Aneeka had her weekly chat with the National Party's Dr. Shane Reti, where they discussed emergency department wait times and Matariki.
Jack also spoke to Dr Dan Hikuroa, a Māori Studies lecturer from the University of Auckland, about Matariki.
Christina spoke to Alejandra Jaramillo Aristizabal, a University of Auckland education student originally from Columbia, about the recent presidential election that saw a left-wing president elected for the first time in the country's history.
Because it is World Refugee Day, Joe speaks to the World Vision National Director, Grant Bayldon, about New Zealand working harder to meet its refugee quota. He also speaks to Dr. Nic Rawlence from the Paleogenetics Lab at the University of Otago about New Zealand celebrating its prehistoric past through fossil emblems.
Trishil speaks to Jessie Stanley from Friends of Pakiri Beach for our segment in collaboration with OurActionStation, they discuss calls to stop sand mining on Pakiri Beach. He also speaks to Lisa Woods from Amnesty New Zealand about Aotearoa Justice Watch and a new platform for reporting systematic prison issues. He also looks at the Worsening Mental Health in the Construction Industry, and speaks to Mates in Construction CEO Victoria McArthur.
On this week’s regular segment in collaboration with OurActionStation, we’re discussing sand mining. Jessie Stanley, creator of the Stop Sand Mining On Pakiri Beach petition, spoke with Trishil today about the petiton, greenpeace's support, and how the ecosystem is threatened by this move
Aotearoa Justice Watch is a new initiative designed to allow individuals that have experienced the prison system to tell their stories of human rights abuse. The initiative has been driven by various organisations as a response to the harms caused in the current criminal justice space.
Trishil spoke with Amnesty NZ Campaign Director Lisa Woods about the initiative to learn more about it's potential use.
A new study conducted by MATES in Construction has revealed that mental health rates have continued to decline for construction workers, owing to covid delays, supply issues, and employment opportunities drying up.
Trishil spoke to the CEO of MATES in Construction, Victoria McArthur, about the survey results, and their efforts to assist struggling individuals.
What are Fossil Emblems? Originating in America, other countries have in recent decades started adopting fossil emblems (alongside animal, floral, marine and mineral ones) that epitomise the natural history of each region.
Joe spoke to Dr. Nic Rawlence, the Director at the Paleogenetics Lab at the University of Otago, to find out more about fossil emblems and how New Zealand could adopt them.
World Vision is calling for New Zealand to work harder to meet its refugee quota in the wake of a new report which shows that life has deteriorated significantly in the past two years for refugees in 11 countries.
The new report, titled 'Hungry and Unprotected Children: The forgotten Refugees', surveyed refugees and internally displaced people from countries such as Syria, South Sudan, and Venezuela. Joe spoke to the World Vision National Director, Grant Bayldon on the matter.
On the Seventeenth of June, 1972, a group of burglars working underneath staff of the Nixon administration broke into the Democratic National Committee office in the Watergate Complex.
This began the defining political scandal of the 20th century, as Richard Nixon and his colleagues continuously tried to cover up their involvement.
This led to Nixon's impeachment and subsequent resignation in 1974, marking a major event in US history that set a precedent for how we can hold politicians to account across the world.
On the fiftieth anniversary, Liam spoke to University Of Canterbury Professor in American History, Peter FIeld, on the impact of Watergate and its presence in the current conversations on the January Sixth Capitol Riots.
Consultation on Auckland Council’s proposed changes to Auckland’s dog rules opened on Monday and close on the 23rd February. Additionally, over the weekend, a large vegetation fire broke out on the slopes of Auckland's Māngere Mountain.
Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
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.
For their Weekly Catchup, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March about the Cabinet reshuffle and the implications it may have for the healthcare sector and economy.
They also discussed the government’s new free speech legislation for Universities and the ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Force.
Aotearoa has recently faced multiple wildfires across the motu, from West Auckland, all the way to Bulls.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to Tom Rutherford about these recent blazes, and what needs to be done in the future to mitigate these events.
As well as this, they also discussed the country’s second highest ranking police officer: Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, being suspended amidst an investigation, as well as the recent ceasefire in Gaza.
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, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!
The Eaton and Palisades fires, the two major fires making up the Los Angeles fires, are now the two most destructive wildfires in Southern California history.
The fires have sparked significant debate about insurance in high-risk natural disaster areas as thousands of Californians lost their home insurance not long before the fires.
And president-elect Donald Trump has returned to the centre stage of United States foreign policy in the weeks leading up to his inauguration.
Trump has threatened to annex Greenland and Canada as well as reclaim the Panama Canal for the United States.
For States of the States this week Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
As part of its submission on a Local Government New Zealand issues paper exploring electoral reform, Auckland Council has expressed its support for a four-year electoral term.
In exploring local government reform, the LGNZ paper also looks at public understanding of local government, public awareness of candidates and policies, and voting methods for local elections, raising questions about who’s responsible for improving these areas and what the future of local government voting might look like.
For the first interview of 2025, producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about Council’s LGNZ submission as well as Council’s general plans for 2025.
Submissions on the controversial Treaty Principles Bill were set to close last week, when on the final few days of submissions the portal to submit suffered technical difficulties.
Due to this, many people were unable to send in their submissions on time. Parliament made the decision to extend the submission period to make up for the issue. With thousands also handing their submissions in person.
The bill is estimated to have had more than 300,000 submissions prior to the original deadline, making it the most highly submitted on bill in history.
For the weekly catchup with the Green Party Evie spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about the submission process.
They also talked about the contested Regulatory Standards Bill which has also recently come into the spotlight.
The submission period for the Treaty Principles Bill was due to close last week, however, due to mass amounts of last minute submissions leading to software issues, the deadline was extended to 1 pm on Tuesday, 14th January.
Similarly, the submissions for the consultation period on the regulatory standards bill ended yesterday, another bill primarily pushed by David Seymour and the ACT party that would change how the government processes legislation.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor spoke to him about these bills and how the party plans to operate in 2025.
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