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.
Last week, multiple flights were delayed, due to an eruption, dubbed by scientists as “minor eruptive activity,” of Whakaari / White Island.
This comes as GNS Science discovered a new vent in the volcano, as the volcano has been experiencing ongoing volcanic activity since the beginning of this month.
News and Editorial Director and Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland and Geologist, Phil Shane, about this new vent and the disruption Whakaari has caused to air travel, and whether this should be viewed as a concern.
The findings of the Understanding Policy Delivery report have recently been released, which has shown that the NZ Police found “bias” and “structural racism,” targeting Māori individuals.
The report says that Māori are ELEVEN percent more likely to be persecuted compared to Pākeha, despite the same variables, and Māori are disproportionately more likely to be stopped and tasered by officers.
News and Editorial Director, and Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Criminology Lecturer and the University of Auckland, and spokesperson for People Against Prison Aotearoa, Emmy Rākete (Ngāpuhi), about these findings, and what can be done to mitigate these statistics.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie speaks to Simon Court about the ACT Party's absence from the Māori King’s Koroneihana, questions about the ministry of regulation and changes to the the Fast Track Approvals Bill
For our weekly catch up with Te Pāti Māori, News and Editorial Director and Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about the increase in Māori vaccination rates, comments PM Christopher Luxon had at Koroneihana at Tūrangawaewae, report into Māori being disproportionately targeted by police.
Joel also spoke to Criminology Lecturer at the University of Auckland, and spokesperson for People Against Prisons Aotearoa, Emmy Rākete (Ngāpuhi) about the recently released Understanding Police Delivery report, which shows that Māori are disproportionately more likely to be persecuted by police.
Evie speaks to Socio-Cultural Teaching Fellow in Physical Education, Sport and Exercise sciences at The University of Otago, Sebastian Potgieter about Israel’s place in international sporting competitions.
And finally, Joel speaks to Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science, and geologist, Phil Shane, about a new vent being discovered at Whakaari / White Island, which has resulted in various flights being delayed, and what this means for the volcano.
The International court of justice has found Israel guilty of implementing discriminatory racial segregation between Palestinians and Israelis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This year, Russia and Belarus were banned from the Olympics as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Despite this International Court of Justice decision Israel didn’t receive the same consequence.
This sparked backlash and questions surrounding Israel's participation in future international sporting events.
Currently, FIFA is set to make a decision on whether Israel will be allowed to compete in international football by the end of this month.
Producer Evie spoke to Socio-Cultural Teaching Fellow in Physical Education, Sport and Exercise sciences at The University of Otago, Sebastian Potgieter about what he expects from this decision. As well as why Israel was allowed to compete in the Olympics - and why their participation in sporting events has such a big political impact.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire host Caeden speaks to Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni about Labour MP’s Greg O’Connor’s comments on benefit sanctions and the funding cuts at Whaikaha, the ministry for disabled communities.
For States of the States, our segment focusing on the US election, they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the Democractic National Convention, including former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s panel, and Trump sharing AI generated images of Taylor Swift endorsing him on his social media.
And they speak to Layba Zubair about the upcoming candlelit vigil Thursdays in Black at the University is hosting to honour Dr Moumita Debnath, who was murdered earlier this month.
For City Counselling, our weekly catch up with Auckland Council, this week, Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about Auckland Council's Provisional Local Alcohol Policy and crime rates in central Auckland.
The Democratic National Convention is taking place in Chicago this week. The event is where Minnesota Governor Tim Walz officialy accepts the nomination for Vice President.
Former Aotearoa Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke on a side panel at the convention, organised by progressive think tank the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The panel also featured former prime minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson, MPs from Germany and the Netherlands as well as some US political figures, including prominent Democratic strategist Patrick Gaspard.
Republican candidate Donald Trump is under fire for posting AI generated images of pop star Taylor Swift on his social media platform “Truth Socials.” The images were of Taylor Swift wearing American red, white and blue while endorsing Trump for president. He captioned these photos “I accept.”
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about the DNC and Trump sharing AI images.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden spoke to Carmel Sepuloni about Labour MP Greg Connor’s comments on benefit sanctions and the dismantling of parts of the Whaikaha.
Trigger warning: The following story deals with sexual violence.
Earlier this month Moumita Debnath, a trainee doctor in Kolkata in India, was raped and murdered on her campus. Evidence suggested she was violently assaulted by several men after completing a 36 hour shift.
The murder has sparked protests across India.
The University of Auckland branch of Thursdays in Black, a student-led grassroots campaign against rape and sexual violence, are hosting a vigil for Dr Debnath.
The candlelight vigil is being hosted at 5pm today, Thursday 22nd of August, outside the University of Auckland General Library.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to organiser Layba Zubair about why they’re hosting the vigil.
Most scientific framings of sleep problems often disregard Maori perspectives on spirituality and wellbeing, however recent research by Deanna Haami from Massey University has shown wairua is an important link to having a more holistic approach to health. The implications for physiological, mental and spiritual health from this study are important as sleep plays an important role in our daily life, including dreams and their relation to our health. Sasha spoke to Deanna Haami from Massey University on her recent study linking Wairua, sleep and health.
A council-proposed alcohol ban after nine-pee-em will be voted on and most likely go through in December. The idea behind the ban is to prevent preloading of alcohol before events, and further reduce drunkenness on Auckland streets. Supermarket corporation Foodstuffs and Woolworths have been lobbying against the proposed ban for several years, spending millions of dollars to be able to continue to sell alcohol after nine-pee-em, however the council will be voting on this decision in December. Sasha spoke to professor of population health Peter Adams from the University of Auckland about the implications of the council-proposed alcohol sale ban.
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 
