Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Sara Mckoy, Max Micheel, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Blood glucose levels are traditionally measured by the finger prick method.
A device will take a drop of blood from your finger between six to ten times a day and will measure the glucose level in the blood.
However, a new technology called a continuous glucose monitor will allow people with diabetes to go about their lives without having to stop multiple times a day to test their glucose levels.
David spoke to Otago University Professor Ben Wheeler about the technology.
Joe speaks to Greenpeace’s James Hita, who confronted a deep sea mining ship off a Mexican coast last week. He also speaks to Dr Nick Munn, a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy from the University of Waikato about justifying lowering the voting age.
95bFM’s News and Editorial Director Jess Hopkins speaks to White Ribbon Day Ambassador Floyd Ormsby about teaching and role modelling ‘healthy masculinity.’
Daniel looks at a project from Waka Kotahi which will look at lowering the speed limit. He talks to Professor of Human Geography Simon Kingham. He also speaks to Anita Azeem from the University of Otago about why gender stereotypes can be problematic in children's movies.
Finally, David speaks to Otago University’s Ben Wheeler about a lifesaving diabetes treatment.
'Power to the princess: This princess is brave, bold and needs no prince'
This is the title of a study showing that children movies often enforce gender stereotypes, but they also hold the power to quickly shift them.
Daniel spoke with Anita Azeem who explains how some disney movies carry strong messages about gender roles and how children are affected by these messages. She also talks about her research thats shows how gender stereotypes can be changed.
Daniel talks about this question with Simon Kingham. Across the country there are plans to lower the speed limits. These plans are part of the Road to Zero project which assigned local councils to envision a plan with zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads. According to Professor of Human Geography Simon Kingham this is the right thing to do.
OraTai-ao, the NZ Climate and Health Council have joined the Free Fares Coalition – the Aotearoa Collective for Public Transport Equity.
News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Dermot Coffey, a Co-Convenor of the Climate and Health Council, who represents health workers and students around the motu, about why they are joining the call to make public transport free and accessible for all.
Last week Greenpeace activists peacefully confronted a deep sea mining ship off the coast of Manzanillo, México as it returned to port from the Pacific.
Joe spoke to James Hita, Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner on the matter, to get some insight into the impact of deep sea mining.
This week the Supreme Court has made a judgement on lowering New Zealand’s legal voting age.
The court has accepted the claims made by members of the Make It 16 campaign that the current voting age limit of 18 is inconsistent with section 19 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Essentially, preventing 16- and 17-year-olds from voting discriminates against them on the basis of their age.
The decision means parliament now has to defend the 18 age limit if it wants to keep it.
Joe spoke to Dr Nick Munn, a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy from the University of Waikato on the matter.
Since the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack, the Labour Government has been looking to expand our hate speech laws.
Under the Human Rights Act, people in Aotearoa are protected from hate speech on the basis of colour, race, ethnic or national origins.
The Government initially proposed extending this to other groups who are vulnerable to harmful speech, including women, disabled people, and queer people.
But the government announced this week that they will only make one amendment to hate speech laws to include religious communities and are seeking broad support across parliament.
95bFM News & Editorial Director spoke to Activist Shaneel Lal about the changes.
New reports have recently revealed that, despite the government's investments into mental health, there are the same number of acute mental health beds available in Aotearoa as there were five years ago.
This report has also come as new ministry of health figures have shown some improvements to the general health sector since 2017, as well as new possibilities for pharmacists to treat minor ailments.
All that and more was covered in Tuva's chat with Health Minister Andrew Little for this week.
The COP27 summit has recently concluded, resulting in some more plans to tackle climate change being put in place but less effort on wide scale action with the urgency needed.
The international conference took place in Egypt, and saw a new focus on implementation and the way climate change disproportionately affects developing nations.
Liam had a chat with Climate Minister and Green Party Co-leader James Shaw about his outlook after attending the conference, and the current state of climate policy in NZ.
On Sunday, “Block the Ban” held a protest against the government’s decision to ban new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.
The United Nations’ committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination has released a report warning that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights.
And last week, the government rejected the recommended methane emissions targets.
This is despite officials warning against the government doing so, stating that lowering methane emissions targets could increase New Zealand’s contribution to global warming.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
Safety measures on public transport are of growing concern this week following the fatal and unprovoked attack that took place on route 76 in East Tāmkaki on Monday night.
Earlier this week there were also multiple critical incidents that occurred simultaneously across Auckland’s West Coast beaches and waterways, seeing an unusually high deployment of emergency services and surf lifesavers for this early in the summer.
Swedish home and furniture retailer Ikea opened in Sylvia Park a week ago today, drawing huge excitement for many.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics.
Last week was scrutiny week, where Parliament focuses entirely on holding government agencies and ministers to account, to check-in on how well the Government is performing.
Many of the questions surrounding scrutiny week have been focused on climate change, with many recent reports highlighting the Government’s questionable decision-making.. The biggest headline was that the coalition had chosen to reject all three of the climate change commission’s recommendations to strengthen New Zealand’s emissions targets.
Along with this, the United Nations released a new report, where they’ve warned that New Zealand is at serious risk of weakening Māori rights and entrenching disparities for the indigenous population. In the 14-page report, the UN expressed concerns over multiple government policies affecting Maori, including the disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority, cuts to public funding for Maori services, and minimising the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Wednesday Wire Host Max spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March about the report released by the United Nations, but first they discussed Scrutiny Week and the Government’s recent climate change decisions.
The government is pausing the new prescriptions of Puberty Blockers to gender diverse and transgender young people from the 19th of December onwards, following a similar move by the UK after the results of the NHS’s Cass Review.
Wire Producer Flo spoke to activist Lauren Craig about the effects of the legislation, her petition “Reverse the decision to deny transgender and takatāpui young people access to puberty blockers” against the changes and the wider political motivation for the policy.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here
With the rise of fast fashion outlets like Shein and Temu alongside the wider mainstream options available that contribute substantial amounts of clothing waste to landfill, experts are calling for an urgent response on a governance, business, and individual level.
Wire Host Sara spoke to Mindful Fashion Chief Executive Jacinta Fitzgerald about the problem, and the industry response to sustainability, as well as University of Auckland Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the importance of ethical consumption.for individuals.
First, is the interview with Fitzgerald, where she begins by talking about the organisation Mindful Fashion.
Following this, Sara spoke to Marketing Professor Mike Lee about the research he has undertaken around consumerism.
The biannual Scrutiny Week took place in Parliament last week, with meetings across select committees and government departments focussed on scrutinising the outcomes of government work.
These include hearings on ministries like Health, Housing, Environment and Justice.
Wire Host Sara spoke to National MP Carl Bates about Scrutiny Week, firstly by asking him to talk about the meetings he was involved in
The government has recently rejected all of the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations regarding strengthening the country’s methane targets recommendations.
The commission’s recommendations include strengthening the county’s 2050 methane emission targets, continuing lowering emissions after 2050, and that international shipping and aviation, which represents 9% of the county’s total emissions, should be included within targets.
Despite the commission saying that there would be upfront costs, many of the changes would result in cost savings over time, however, the government rejected this claim.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about the government rejecting these recommendations.
Tāmaki Makaurau’s council budget is among those impacted by the proposal of a rates cap, considering Tāmaki’s average 5.8% annual rates increase across the 25/26 financial year.
Youth homelessness is a growing concern as discussions continue around “move on” orders for those without housing in Auckland’s CBD.
And the Skycity Convention Centre is set to open in 2026, with high hopes for what it may bring for Tāmaki Makaurau after its prolonged development.
Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Counsellor Fairey about these topics.
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