Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news & current affairs show, The Wire. Your hosts Jessica Hopkins, Jemima Huston, Frances Wright, Zazi Hewlett, Justin Wong and Noah Ferguson-Dudding focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere, in independent-thinking bFM style. Weekdays 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Today, Ilena spoke to Professor Howard Fallowfield, from all the way over at Flinders University in Adelaide. They talked about research that he has co-led that looks into creating a sustainable wastewater recycling program that can harvest material to use in biofuels, a renewable fuel alternative to fossil fuels.
They spoke about the advantages of this method of harvesting material for biofuel, and whether the findings of this research could be extrapolated to places like NZ and bigger cities to help reach carbon neutral targets.
Ilena talked to the National Party spokesperson for social development, Luise Upston, about the government rejecting advice to fund Whānau Ora to have a strategic role in the vaccination rollout for Maori and Pasifika. They spoke about what Whānau Ora do, how the vaccination figures for Maori and Pasifika are looking like as we enter the group four vaccination phase, and the efficacy of the approach that the government has had so far in engaging these communities.
The third of September is National Merchant Navy Day, commemorating those who served in the Merchant Navy during the World Wars of the twentieth century.
While in-person ceremonies were disrupted by Covid-19 this year, the New Zealand Maritime Museum are still holding an online service.
Justin Wong spoke to director of the NZ Maritime Museum, Vincent Lipanovich, about the day of commemoration.
Another lockdown Friday Wire – presented by Jemima, made by Noah, Ilena and Justin.
Noah speaks to National's Christopher Luxon, Dr Raymond Nairn about Māori in the media, and Suzanne Loughlin about foreign aid in Afghanistan.
Ilena speaks to Professor Howard Fallowfield about sustainable wastewater recycling, National's Louise Upton about Māori vaccination, and finally councillor Pippa Coom.
Finally, Justin from the Thursday Wire brings us a story about the merchant navy.
The Level Four Lockdown has had a huge impact on Auckland's central city businesses - they have lost an estimated 45 million dollars in consumer revenue alone, according to business association Heart of the City. Conor speaks to the association's chief executive Viv Beck on what can the government do to support businesses during this time.
Climate change is not going away anytime soon, as outlined by the recent IPCC report. The 1.5 degrees celsius warming target is to supposed to be met by 2030, which in the scale of climate change, is just around the corner. What actions can New Zealand take to meet this target? Conor speaks to University of Auckland's Professor David Noone, looking at what New Zealand can do for the future of climate change. This interview is leading on from discussions from last week with Dr. Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, which can be found here.
Justin and Health Minister Andrew Little talked about the government's Covid-19 response, Parliament sitting despite being under alerts level 3 and 4, backlogging surgeries under lockdown, and vaccinations for healthcare workers and the Māori and Pasifika communities.
On their weekly chat, Justin Wong and Health Minister Andrew Little talked about Parliament sitting under high alert levels, surgery backlogs, and vaccinations.
Auckland businesses say they need more government support to stay afloat during the lockdown - Producer Conor Head-McCarthy talked to Heart of the City's Viv Beck.
Justin also chatted with journalist Lillian Hanly about about the inherited neurodegenerative condition Huntingdon's Disease.
Conor spoke to the University of Auckland's David Noone on New Zealand's potential actions on climate change.
Would you get tested for a fatal disease that you have a fifty percent of inheriting from your parents?
It is a decision that journalist (and bFM's former news director) Lillian Hanly has to make.
The disease in question is Huntington's Disease, a genetic neurodegenerative condition that passes on from an affected parent. The probability for their children inheriting the disease is fifty percent and it does not skip generations.
The condition affects part of the brain from working properly over time, impacting movement, behaviour, and cognition. It will become harder to walk, talk, reason, and swallow for those who have the condition, and it is incurable.
Lillian is now facing the question in her new documentary Fifty Percent as her grandfather, the New Zealand artist Pat Hanly, and her biological mother all have the disease.
On Dear Science this week Frances Wright talked with AUT Professor Allan Blackman, celebrating the life of Ernest Rutherford the week after what would have been his 150th birthday, discussing why Pluto is no longer considered a planet and the unlikely discovery of the world’s northernmost island.
Noah Ferguson-Dudding caught up with National MP Christopher Luxon for their weekly chat. They discussed what Luxon would like to see the government to do around their recent Three Waters proposal. They also touched on a recent poll which has put National at 21.3%, and the controversy around Judith Collins' criticism of Siouxsie Wiles.
Today, Pippa and Ilena talked about how Auckland Council will be helping local businesses move down through alert levels- in particular, how the Council can help the hospitality industry with licensing requirements so that they can do trading on the footpaths and allow more space between customers.
They also talked about Vision Zero, an ethics-based transport safety approach that was developed in Sweden and is now being implemented in Auckland. The vision states that there will be no deaths or serious injuries on our roads by 2050. Ilena asked Pippa about how realistic this goal is, what concrete steps have already been taken to make our roads safer and what future plans are in place.
Justin talks about the Canadian federal election with Professor Daniel Béland of McGill University. The election will take place on September 20 after Prime Minister and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau called a snap election in August.
Justin spoke to Health Minister Andrew Little about New Zealand's Covid-19 strategy post lockdown and the vaccine bus to boost vaccination rates in Auckland.
Justin talked to Victoria University's Professor Robert Ayson on the new Ausuk defence pact between Australia, the US, and the UK. Part of the pact would see Australia acquire its first nuclear-powered submarines to replace its aging fleet with the US and UK sharing technology.
On this week's Dear Science, Frances Wright was joined by AUT Professor Allan Blackman. They began by talking about the serious but hilarious Ig Nobel Prizes and then moved onto research on toilet training cows from the University of Auckland. They finished up by talking about the food scientists who have found the key to perfectly smooth chocolate.
This week Zazi spoke to Brooke about the Māori Party's petition to to change New Zealand's official name to Aotearoa as well as John Tamihere's comments in a Newshub interview yesterday.
Zazi asks Brooke about the Māori Party's petition - whether she supports it, thinks it’s important, or believes official titles don't make much of a difference.
In the second half, Zazi and Brooke talk about comments made by Māori Party's John Tamihere, saying that ACT members contacted him, appalled and apologetic of Seymour’s Māori priority vaccine tweet, posted last week.
The Māori Party's co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer also spoke with Zazi about the Aotearoa petition in today's Wednesday Wire show. If you would like to listen to that interview as well, click the link here.
In another week of level four lockdown, Isla and Stella look into how intermittent isolation could be affecting young kiwis. They chat with Maria Corkin from the University of Auckland about her research on 'technoference' and its influence on child development, executive functioning in kids, and the differences in outcomes depending on input.
Noah Ferguson-Dudding caught up with National MP Christopher Luxon for their weekly chat. They discussed the government's potential plans for booster vaccines against Covid-19, Auckland's ongoing Level 4 lockdown, and the National Party's identity given the current strength of the government.
This week, Ilena spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about what he calls the ‘week from hell’ for West Auckland. The week started with extensive flooding and ended with a terror attack at the LynnMall Countdown, all while the region was in level 4 lockdown. He gives some updates on where flooding emergency and support efforts are at now, and how West Aucklanders are coping.
On another note, Ilena and Shane also talked about bin tags and how a proposal to streamline Auckland’s rubbish service might look like.
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