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The Wire

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.

New Zealand Graylings and the Mysterious Adzebill w/ Dr Nic Rawlence

New Zealand Graylings and the Mysterious Adzebill w/ Dr Nic Rawlence New Zealand Graylings and the Mysterious Adzebill w/ Dr Nic Rawlence, 31.18 MB
Thu 23 Jun 2022

Joe had the privilege of having a conversation with Dr Nic Rawlence from the Palaeongenetics Lab at the University of Otago about how the New Zealand Grayling went extinct and the Mysterious Adzebill. Two long lost species which used to roam Aotearoa. 

Eurovision w/ Cameron Adams

Eurovision w/ Cameron Adams Eurovision w/ Cameron Adams, 19.03 MB
Wed 22 Jun 2022

Aneeka takes over Eurovision from Frances this week, speaking to European correspondant Cameron Adams. They cover an update on the war in Ukraine, the French election, and more.

Mental Health of Transgender Communities in Aotearoa w/ Kyle Tan

Mental Health of Transgender Communities in Aotearoa w/ Kyle Tan Mental Health of Transgender Communities in Aotearoa w/ Kyle Tan, 21.42 MB
Wed 22 Jun 2022

It’s pride month, and there has been extensive coverage of events in the rainbow community recently. Stella spoke with Kyle Tan from the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa about the landscape of accessibility to healthcare and mental health of Aotearoa’s transgender youth.

Shifting The Line w/ Kris Taylor

Shifting The Line w/ Kris Taylor Shifting The Line w/ Kris Taylor, 28.24 MB
Wed 22 Jun 2022

Aotearoa’s culture of masculinity and gender is notoriously troublesome in a lot of ways. Projects are arising to combat such rigid roles, such as Shifting the Line, from the University of Auckland. Its first round of workshops started way back in 2017, and those findings are still relevant today. I spoke to Kris Taylor, one of the researchers, about what’s happened in the interim, where we go from those results, and the intricacies of the project.

The Wire w/ Stella 22 June

The Wire w/ Stella 22 June The Wire w/ Stella 22 June, 116.63 MB
Wed 22 Jun 2022

Welcome to another Wednesday Wire with Stella! This week, Alex chats with ACT Leader David Seymour about the Tauranga by-election and New Zealand’s foreign policy in the Pacific. 

Stella speaks to Kris Taylor from the University of Auckland about the ever-relevant project Shifting The Line.

Stella talks to Kyle Tan from PATHA about the mental health of the transgender community in Aotearoa.

Aneeka talks to European correspondent Cameron Mulgan on this week’s episode of Eurovision.

 

 

Sexual violence statistics in education w/ Viv Whyte: June 21, 2022

Sexual violence statistics in education w/ Viv Whyte: June 21, 2022 Sexual violence statistics in education w/ Viv Whyte: June 21, 2022, 8.32 MB
Tue 21 Jun 2022

A recent OIA request has found people reporting incidents of sexual assault in schools of universities are up 70% since 2015. Christina spoke to Viv Whyte, the national coordinator for Thursdays in Black, about this statistic.

The Wire w/ Christina: June 21, 2022

The Wire w/ Christina: June 21, 2022 The Wire w/ Christina: June 21, 2022, 102.54 MB
Tue 21 Jun 2022

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.

Matariki w/ Dr Dan Hikuroa: 21 June 2022

Matariki w/ Dr Dan Hikuroa: 21 June 2022 Matariki w/ Dr Dan Hikuroa: 21 June 2022, 24.73 MB
Tue 21 Jun 2022

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.

National's Dr. Shane Reti: June 21, 2022

National's Dr. Shane Reti: June 21, 2022 Shane Reti: June 21, 2022, 17.21 MB
Tue 21 Jun 2022

This week, News and Editorial Director Aneeka Moheed discussed emergency department wait times and Matariki with Dr Shane Reti from the National Party in their regular segment.

Colombia's presidential election w/ Alejandra Jaramillo Aristizabal: June 21, 2022

Colombia's presidential election w/ Alejandra Jaramillo Aristizabal: June 21, 2022 Colombia's presidential election w/ Alejandra Jaramillo Aristizabal: June 21, 2022, 22.86 MB
Tue 21 Jun 2022

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.

AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson

AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson: 3rd April, 2025 AT parking price increase & the Eden Park redevelopment project w/ Councillor Shane Henderson: 3rd April, 2025, 19.24 MB
Thu 3 Apr 2025

Auckland Transport has announced another parking fare increase, pushing up parking across AT-managed lots 50 cents per hour. 

They justified the increase as necessary to cover ‘rising operational costs’ and to cover the Auckland Council’s increased resource commitment to supporting Aucklanders with “issues like blocked driveways, footpaths, and clearways”.

As well, Auckland Council have voted to endorse the redevelopment of Eden Park, in favour of a new waterfront stadium — bringing the latest development in a long-standing discussion about the best approach to attract tourism and financial productivity to Auckland.
All they need now is the government to pitch in $100 million dollars to fund the project.

Producer Sara started her interview with Shane Henderson by asking why raising parking prices was the preferred option for covering council operational costs

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025

Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025 Weekly Catchup w/ The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March: 2 April, 2025, 25.71 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

Just recently, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister, Brooke Van Velden, announced sweeping changes to health and safety regulations for businesses that she described as “low-risk”.

Some of the changes involved: narrowing the focus of the Health and Safety at Work Act to risks only causing death, serious injury or illness, creating a hotline for the public to report “overzealous” road cone placement and reducing "tick-box and safety activities" such as psychosocial harm policies for small businesses. 

Around this same period of time, Greens MPs Tamatha Paul and Benjamin Doyle received intense media and political scrutiny for comments they made at a university panel and on social media respectively, with the backlash towards Doyle forcing them to abstain from parliament this week.

The Greens recently issued a call to the government to scrap their proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, which involve recognising qualifications other than early childhood teaching qualifications, removing up to 74% of ECE licensing criteria and removing requirements for regular updates and family.

In their weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about the party’s take on all of these issues.

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025 The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025, 11.36 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

BirdCare Aotearoa is a wild, native bird hospital that works to rehabilitate sick and injured birds back into the wild.

For their upcoming event: ‘Bird Heros,’ a part of EcoFest 2025 on the 6th of April, the workshop will look at the best practices on rescuing wild native birds, and will include a tour of their bird hospital, which is not usually open to the public.

For this week's Green Desk, Producer Leilani spoke to the Hospital Manager at BirdCare Aotearoa, Pooja Dorle, about the rehabilitation processes of birds within their hospital ahead of their next workshop.

Fellow Green Desk Producer Liam, and News and Editorial Director Joel, went to the previous workshop over the weekend, and spoke to the Chair of the organisation, Kevin Furgeson, and volunteer Marina, and had a tour of their facilities. Thanks EcoFest!

BirdCare Aotearoa also has a fundraiser running to shed light on seabirds affected by street lights and brightly lit buildings across the city, affecting their migration patterns and causing birds, such as the protected Petrels, Shearwaters, and Prions, to fall and injure themselves. To support their clinical rehabilitation practices, you can support their campaign on givealittle.

Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025

Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025 Get Action! Protect Public Safety and Psychology in New Zealand w/ Dr Kumari Valentine: 2 April, 2025, 28.55 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

For a number of years, Aotearoa has been dealing with a shortage of psychologists and similar professionals to deal with the growing mental health needs of the wider population, with estimates suggesting that an additional 1,000 more psychologists are needed to fill gaps in the profession.

In response to the country’s growing mental health needs, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced a new Associate Psychologist role, consisting of recent post-graduates, to work alongside fully trained Psychologists.

However, a number of Psychologists and experts have criticised the introduction of this new role, saying that these associate Psychologists may be expected to take on the responsibilities of clinical Psychologists despite being underqualified.

For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Dr Kumari Valentine, a clinical psychologist based in Dunedin, who’s launched a petition calling on the government to roll back the introduction of the new Associate psychology role and look to other methods of filling gaps in the Psychology profession.

If you're interested in signing this petition, you can find it here:

Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025

Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025 Police and Public Safety w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 1st April, 2025, 18.03 MB
Tue 1 Apr 2025

Last week the Green Party’s Tamatha Paul made comments about police presence in Wellington, particularly how increased police activity made some feel unsafe. She also noted some discriminatory and harmful behaviour from police officers towards Wellington’s homeless population. These comments, presented at a panel hosted by the University of Canterbury’s Greens and Peace Action Ōtautahi, were Paul restating feedback she had received from her constituents in Wellington central. 

The response to Tamatha Paul’s comments was extremely critical from all sides of the political spectrum, involving feedback such as “insane” from prime minister Christopher Luxon, “unwise” and “stupid” from Labour leader Chris Hipkins, and “just weird” from ACT leader David Seymour. The comments and their responses lead to a series of articles across all major New Zealand news networks. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the substance of Tamatha Paul’s comments and whether the seemingly disproportionate reaction is appropriate.

Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025

Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025 Dear Science w/ Doctor Cushla McGoverin: 1st April, 2025, 32.04 MB
Tue 1 Apr 2025

This week on Dear Science our expert Dr. Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about various April Fools pranks in the world of science, including the 'Sheep Albedo Hypothesis' from here in Aotearoa. 

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025

Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025 Supermarket duopoly developments, Green MP, Tamatha Paul’s comments about the police, and Te Pāti Māori’s calls for mandatory police body cameras w/ Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp: 31 March, 2025, 6.86 MB
Mon 31 Mar 2025

On Sunday, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, announced plans to combat the supermarket duopoly between Foodstuffs and Woolworths. This could include breaking-up or restructuring the current chains, with Cabinet also announcing a formal request for information, or RFI, into the matter.

For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel,  spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about this announcement, and whether she, and the party, thinks this will be enough to address food accessibility in Aotearoa.

We also discussed the comments made by Green MP, Tamatha Paul, about the police, and whether she believes these comments have become sensationalised.

Finally, we discussed the party’s calls for mandatory police body cameras.

But first, they started off by asking Kemp about how the party are feeling about Nicola Willis’ most recent announcements into the supermarket duopoly.

RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025

RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025 RMA Reforms and Concerns about Health and Police System w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 31 March, 2025, 7.25 MB
Mon 31 Mar 2025

Last week, the government announced its plans for reforming the Resource Management Act, or the RMA, introducing two acts to replace the current RMA. The plan is to bring the two acts before the select committee next year, passing them just before the next election. 

For our weekly catch up News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about this reform, working with the opposition, and the lack of a Treaty clause.

We also talked about concerns that the health and police system in Aotearoa are failing, following an 11-year old being misidentified as a 20-year old by police and being administered antipsychotic drugs.

But first, we touched on the RMA reform.

NZ First’s “war on woke”, proposed RMA reforms, and New Zealand’s support for Palestine w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 27 March, 2025

NZ First’s “war on woke”, proposed RMA reforms, and New Zealand’s support for Palestine w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 27 March, 2025 NZ First’s “war on woke”, proposed RMA reforms, and New Zealand’s support for Palestine w/ Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni: 27 March, 2025, 8.99 MB
Thu 27 Mar 2025

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave a “State of the Nation” speech last weekend where he strongly criticised Labour and announced his party was declaring a “war on woke.”

The government has announced a new replacement for the Resource Management Act, looking to pass it before the next election.

And Labour Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Parker has criticised the government for not condemning Israel in the context of recent military action and the blocking of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics. 

International Desk: The Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally texted war plans by top US security officials w/ Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso: 27 March, 2025

International Desk: The Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally texted war plans by top US security officials w/ Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso: 27 March, 2025 International Desk: The Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally texted war plans by top US security officials w/ Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso: 27 March, 2025, 11.23 MB
Thu 27 Mar 2025

Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat with top United States security officials who were discussing military plans for strikes on Yemen.

The group chat discussed operational details, and officials, including the Vice President JD Vance, seemed unaware of Goldberg’s presence. 

Jeffrey Goldberg initially left out some of these sensitive details in his article on the group chat but has released more specific information after the Trump administration downplayed the situation and said no classified information was shared.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about this issue.