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.
A large blob of warm water off New Zealand's east coast is causing drought conditions in South America. A recent report says that the blob emerged naturally in the 1980's, but has warmed much faster due to climate change.
Louis was joined by Victoria University of Wellington's Dr Kyle Clem to talk about the blob, how it was caused, and the impacts it is having.
Ilena had a chat with Councillor Shane Henderson about the welfare options being offered by Council during this lockdown, and the effect of the lockdown on the public finances of Council.
This morning, Ilena spoke with Ilze Ziedins, an associate professor at the University of Auckland, who has been involved in an experiment called ‘Safe Blues’ at the university. The experiment uses Bluetooth to provide near-real-time information on the simulated spread of viruses, particularly Covid-19, and how the virus behaves in response to safety measures such as lockdown.
Ilena talked to Laura Revell, a senior lecturer in Environmental physics at the University of Canterbury, on the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent announcement that New Zealand will be phasing out its use of methyl bromide by 2033. She talks about how New Zealand stacks up against the rest of the world in the use of this toxic fumigant and what alternatives might be available.
The New Zealand Bar Association has backed the call made by the International Association of Women Judges for Afghan women judges and their families to be provided safe passage out of Afghanistan. The NZBA wants the New Zealand Government to answer this call. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to NZBA President Paul Radich about the call and how possible it really is to achieve with so many people seeking evacuation from Afghanistan and the danger threatening women there.
Today on the Wire, Jemima Huston is in hosting in studio while Conor Head-McCarthy produces from home in his bubble.
Jemima speaks to Virginia Oakly, the Early Childhood Representative for NZEI Te Riu Roa, about the government’s support package for early childhood educators during Covid-19 restrictions.
On Neighbourhood Watch Conor speaks to Zoe Kounadis about the latest Covid-19 news in Australia and a new coral discovery in the Great Barrier Reef.
Jemima chats to Susan Thorpe, the Cultural Projects Manager at the Hokotehi Moriori Heritage Trust, about reviving the Moriori language and the five e-books published by the Ministry of Education written entirely in ta rē Moriori
Conor interviews NIWA scientist Dr. Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher about climate emissions during lockdown and the future of climate change efforts for New Zealand.
Finally, Jemima speaks to Paul Radich, the President of the New Zealand Bar Association, about NZBA's call for the government to provide safe passage for Afghan women judges and their families to escape the Afghanistan crisis.
Ta Rē Morori is the language of the Moriori people who, according to oral history, travelled to Aotearoa New Zealand hundreds of years ago from Eastern Polynesia and settled in Rēkohu - the Chatham Islands. The last fluent speakers of ta rē Moriori passed away in the very early 1900s but a lot of work has been done to preserve the language.
Last week, the Ministry of Education published five e-books written entirely in ta rē Moriori on their website. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston heard about this project and wanted to speak to someone about how it came about.
Jemima interviews Susan Thorpe, who is the Cultural Projects Manager at the Hokotehi Moriori Heritage Trust about how the e-books were created. The interview becomes a broader conversation about the efforts that have been made in the past and the present to revive ta rē Moriori, as well as the battle to have the history of Moriori recognised and better understood by people in Aotearoa and across the world.
If you are interested in reading or looking at the ta rē Moriori e-books, please head to the Ministry of Education website here.
Even though we are in lockdown, Climate Change is still impacting New Zealand. But are human factors lessened because of lockdown? Conor investigates by speaking to NIWA scientist Dr. Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher. They discuss 2020's lockdown figures, and use that data to examine this lockdown and the future of climate change both nationally and globally.
Yesterday, Minister for Education Chris Hipkins announced that early childhood teachers and support staff will be able to access three confidential one-on-one counselling sessions for free, to support them while COVID-19 restrictions are in place. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston talks to Virginia Oakly, the Early Childhood Representative for NZEI Te Riu Roa about whether this policy provides enough support for the sector which constantly struggles with pay parity, support for relief staff and widespread feeling of being under valued.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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