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.
It’s been almost two weeks since republican candidate Donald J Trump was announced victor of the 2024 US presidential elections.
One of the promises of the president-elect was that he would introduce tariffs on all imported goods coming into the United States.
With the US being the third largest trading partner of Aotearoa New Zealand, Trump’s tariff policy poses serious implications for our economy and relationship with the United States.
Oto spoke to Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Auckland Jane Kelsey, to discuss Donald Trump’s Tariff proposal and it’s implications for Aotearoa, New Zealand
For Dear Science, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman chats to us about how mining old data from NASA’s Voyager two has solved a variety of mysteries about Uranus, lizard spit being able to detect a rare pancreatic tumour, and elephants turning a hose into a showering tool, thanks to MOTAT.
For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the Treaty Principles Bill passing its first reading in Parliament, the haka in protest of this, and Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon considering joining Pillar 2 of the AUKUS agreement.
Tuesday Wire Host, Castor, spoke to acting head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ, Jessica Walker, about scamming in New Zealand for Fraud Awareness Week.
Producer Athena spoke to Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, Alexandra Andhov, about frameworks being implimented to combat scamming, also in light of Fraud Awareness Week.
And Athena spoke to Buy NZ Made Executive Director, Dane Ambler, about the concerns regarding overconsumption during the upcoming Black Friday shopping season, and how consumers can be mindful during this period.
This week is Fraud Awareness Week, bringing to light the issue of scamming in Aotearoa and what the government can do about it. Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly announced yesterday that the government is looking into addressing the issue with a coordinated response.
This response will focus on improving relationships between industries and international partners, however Consumer NZ sez this may not be enough. Tuesday Wire host Castor spoke to acting head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ, Jessica Walker, about scamming in general and what more can be done.
You can check out Consumer NZ's scams and how to avoid them page here.
As it is Fraud Awareness Week, the government has announced its plan to tackle the issue of scamming in Aotearoa by collaborating with the public and banking sectors.
Producer Athena spoke to Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, Alexandra Andhov, about why this step is welcome, while also indicating a broader issue of Big Tech companies having unregulated influence over social media users.
With the Black Friday shopping season approaching, the anticipated consequences of overconsumption in Aotearoa have prompted the company, Buy NZ Made, to encourage New Zealanders to reconsider their participation in Black Friday sales.
Producer Athena spoke to Buy NZ Made Executive Director, Dane Ambler, about the effects of overconsumption in Aotearoa, and how shoppers may be conscious of their spending during the Black Friday period.
Currently there's 99,000 children in persistent poverty according to newly released official statistics NZ definition which was released on Friday.
Producer Yesenia spoke to Child Poverty Action Group researcher Harry Yu Shi about the new statistics regarding persistent poverty being prominent in children lives and how new-long term approaches have been proposed to combat the 99,000 in poverty.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Global Innovator, Matt Hart, about grappling with moving back home, in a new segment beginning on the show.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Joel also speaks to Simon Court about the hīkoi mō te tiriti, the Treaty Principles Bill passing its first reading, and the haka protesting this.
Producer Yesenia speaks to Professor in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland, Alex Sims, about the concerns regarding facial recognition.
Joel speaks to Senior Lecturer in the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences at the University of Canterbury, Sally Gaw, about a study published in Science discussing global plastic waste.
And Yesenia speaks to Child Poverty Action group Researcher Harry Yu Shi about newly released statistics showing there is currently 99,000 New Zealand children in persistent poverty.
Facial recognition has been on the rise within technology, and so has our dependency on said technology. However, concerns have been raised with such risks regarding this.
Producer Yesenia spoke to Professor in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland, Alex Sims, on the concerns facial recognition has posed for today's technology, and the various alternatives people can use with dealing with sensitive information online.
Starting off our weekly chats with Global Innovator, Matt Hart, News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to Matt about moving back home, after previously flatting for a while.
The Australian government has announced plans to implement legislation that would ban under 16 year olds from social media, with Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, saying the bill will be introduced to Parliament within the next few weeks.
This move has been criticised, including by the The Australian Child Rights Taskforce; an organisation made up of 100 academics and 20 civil society organisations, which have written to the Australian government opposing the bill, rather calling for the government to impose “safety standards” on social media.
However, Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Dr Samantha Marsh, supports Australia’s move, and is calling for New Zealand to implement similar restrictions.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to her about Australia’s move, and why she supports it.
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
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