Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Castor Chacko, Alex Fox, Emmanuel Orange, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
For our weekly catch up with the ACT party, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about critiques he’s received for ‘mansplaining’ period products, the Destiny Church pride protests and the Director General of Health’s resignation.
News and Editorial Director, and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to the Co-Director at the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education and Social Work, Professor Jay Marlowe, about a recent report, which is a collaboration between the University and the New Zealand Red Cross, which expresses concerns into the country’s seven-year backlog of the family sponsorship system.
They also speak to vaccinologist and Professor in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Dr Helen Petousis-Harris, about the concerns with prominent anti-vaxxer, RFK Jr, being appointed as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
And Matt Hart joins us in studio to discuss fandoms and micro-fandoms, following on from Laneway the week before last.
The US government is cutting or limiting rafts of funding for science and health research.
Some of the executive actions from President Donald Trump include freezing federal loans and grants, capping maintenance costs for labs (a move that has been temporarily blocked in court), and specific cuts targeting health and climate agencies.
Sofia spoke with co-President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists and Principal Investigator in Te Pūnaha Matatini Centre of Research Excellence, Troy Baisden, about this decision, and the potential implications it could have in the United States as well as globally and in Aotearoa New Zealand.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden speaks to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about Waitangi Day and the new ‘State of the Nation’ report from the Salvation Army.
And for the inaugural International Desk, 95bFM’s new segment focused on breaking and under-reported news from around the globe, they speak to Brock University’s Dr. Jordan House about California’s use of incarcerated individuals as firefighters.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia catches up with Councillor Fairey about further criticism regarding Auckland Council’s proposed restrictions on dog walking, as well as further criticism on the decision process to move the Western Springs speedway to Waikaraka Park.
And she speaks to co-President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists and Principal Investigator in Te Pūnaha Matatini Centre of Research Excellence, Troy Baisden, about US President Donald Trump cutting and limiting rafts of funding for science and health research and its implications.
The recent wildfires in Los Angeles drew attention to the hundreds of firefighters who came from California’s prison system.
The California Department of Corrections has claimed their “Fire Camp Program” is voluntary but this has come into question by prison reform advocates and ex-incarcerated individuals.
Advocates have called for stronger protections for incarcerated workers, especially as climate change creates a need for an expanded labour force to respond to natural disasters.
For our inaugural International Desk, 95bFM’s segment focused on breaking and under-reported news from around the globe, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Brock University’s Dr Jordan House about this programme and its potential in other jurisdictions such as Canada.
Last week's Waitangi Day had a notable absence, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Instead, he chose to spend the day with Kāi Tahu. The move drew some criticism, particularly as all other political leaders were present at Waitangi.
It comes after National Minister Tama Potaka overhauled the Waitangi Tribunal earlier this year. Eight members of the tribunal were replaced with controversial new appointments.
And the Salvation Army has released their latest State of the Nation report. The report showed an increase in families struggling with the cost of living, forcing them onto the benefit in record numbers.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden spoke to Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about both of these topics.
On the ninth of February, the government announced its plans to incentivise migrants to invest in New Zealand. Foreign investment refers to when an individual, company or government invests money in businesses in another country. Foreign investment can bring economic benefits such as job creation, increased capital flow and access to new markets, which New Zealand is severely lacking.
The government aims to welcome more people to contribute to Aoteroa and make it easier to do so. The new “Invest NZ” agency is modelled off the success of Ireland’s Industrial Development Agency and Singapore’s Economic Development Board.
Sasha spoke to the University of Auckland’s Burt Burmester about the government’s foreign investment strategy. He claims that incentivising foreign investment from sovereign wealth funds does not grant New Zealand access to highly sought-after industrial knowledge. We also spoke about alternatives to foreign investment strategies and how to increase New Zealand’s capital. Here is that interview.
For their weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about US President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza. We also spoke about the Overhaul of the Public Works Act and The government's plan to change climate reporting laws for companies.
And, for this week’s Get Action! He spoke to Brenda Leeuwenberg, a resident of Ruakākā who started a petition to stop a sand mining proposal in the Bream Bay Area by the McCallum Brothers.
Sasha spoke to Burt Burmester, from University of Auckland Business School, speaking to us about the government’s foreign investment strategy.
And Amani spoke to Dr Joel Rindelaub, Senior Lecturer of Chemical Sciences at the University of Auckland, about the prevalence of microplastics in the human body, especially in brain tissue.
A recent study at the University of New Mexico has found that there could be a spoon’s worth of microplastics in the human brain.
The study found that the extent of the harm to human health is unclear, although an increased inflammation and risk of future adverse cardiovascular events is likely.
Producer Amani spoke to Senior Lecturer of Chemical Sciences at the University of Auckland, Dr Joel Rindelaub, about the prevalence of microplastics in the human body, and what its impacts might be.
Sex-bias in healthcare and research has long been a prevalent issue for women, as clinical trials occurring as recently as 2023 have excluded women, in favour of testing men as “the average person”.
This has had consequences such as women being more likely to experience negative side effects to certain drugs, due to important differences in female bodies being unaccounted for in research.
As today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, producer Athena spoke to Associate Professor, Dr Kelly Burrowes, at the University of Auckland Bioengineering Institute, about the historic and current gender inequities in healthcare and clinical research, as well as The FemTech Revolution.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted to us about cooking an egg perfectly, how fear works in the brain, and which gender tends to talk more.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the government’s commitment to Te Tiriti in light of Waitangi day last week.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Kaiwhakahaere of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Kerri Nuku (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki) yesterday, about the organisations urgent calls for more Māori nurses in the country’s workforce.
Producer Athena spoke to Associate Professor at UoA, Dr Kelly Burrowes about gender inequity in healthcare and research.
Despite a tenuous ceasefire, the fuel crisis - resulting from the US and Israel bombing of Iran, and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz - drags on. Prices have remained high, hitting low-income households hard, and while fuel stocks in or on-the-way to the country sit comfortably above a month’s cover, approaches to conserving fuel remain front-of-mind for many.
One strategy that New Zealanders have been urged to adopt is switching to public transport, which would put fewer cars on the road. However, access is often dependent on location and affordability.
Over the past few years, the Ministry of Education has reviewed numerous rural school bus routes, cancelling some, cutting off students from ready access to their education.
For this week’s Get Action, producer Theo spoke to Alicia Hall from Parents for Climate Aotearoa, on their petition to restore rural school bus routes and make public transport free for children, and students under 25.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here.
Last week, the Green Party leaders, Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick, hosted their state of the planet address, where they launched their call to electrify the nation.
On top of that, events this week have led the party to criticise the government. The first critique, instigated by the floods that swept the nation, hitting the Coromandel and causing a state of emergency in the Wellington Region, led the Greens to question the government's decreased funding of flood responses as harsh weather increases.
The second critique came with a cabinet paper this week that shows the government is planning on moving ahead with reforms to legislation that will see references to the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Tiriti o Waitangi redefined, in what the government sez is about ‘standardisation’ but what the Green Party sees as dishonouring Te Tiriti.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, we discuss their criticisms of the government but start with a discussion of their electrification policy.
Last week, fuel stocks in the country went down by three or four days across each fuel type. The government recognised this as not enough to change to phase two in the national fuel plan, drawing some concerned comments from the political opposition around the state of our stocks, and when the government plans to actually move up phases.
Following a week that saw both Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon comment on the state of the Strait of Hormuz, and the way the United States has handled the ongoing conflict, Willis also travelled to the US to meet with White House advisors.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these fuel crisis developments, and what the government’s approach going forward may look like.
To start our discussion, however, we spoke briefly about the confidence in Christopher Luxon’s Leadership.
Earlier this week, Councillor Julie Fairey moved a resolution to investigate Auckland Council’s involvement with companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
And this week, Auckland Council launched an AI virtual assistant to report issues such as graffiti, roaming dogs, and noise complaints.
For City Counselling, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown announced the signing of a new ‘City Deal’.
The deal will see closer partnership between the central government and Auckland Council, coordinating planning in areas such as infrastructure and transportation.
The deal will see a long-term partnership between the government and council, with regular meetings and cooperation on strategies for innovation and transportation, with reviews of sporting venues such as Eden Park and the Auckland Tennis Centre.
However, the deal has been critiqued by some as being a collection of promises without any new funding.
So for our weekly catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, he and producer Theo discussed the signing of the Auckland City Deal, and how the Green Party would work with Auckland Council on issues such as transportation and infrastructure.
Last week, the Ministry for the Environment together with Stats New Zealand released Our Freshwater 2026, a major report on the state of Aotearoa’s freshwater systems based on decades of data. The report highlights both long-term improvement and deterioration of waterways nationwide, with particular focus on groundwater sources and the impacts of agricultural land use and the climate crisis on water quality.
I spoke to Troy Baisden, co-president of the New Zealand Association of Scientists and Adjunct Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, about what the findings of this report mean and also about the strengths and limitations of freshwater reporting.
Last week, the Government and Auckland Council agreed on the ‘Auckland City Deal’, which seeks to enhance co-ordination between the two bodies to enable better investment in the city to get the most out of what Mayor Wayne Brown has called the ‘Engine’ of the economy. This will see better communication between the mayor and prime minister, co-operation on certain legislation, and funding.
The weekend also saw Cyclone Vaianu hit the country, with parts of the country facing damage and flooding. The government now has the job of responding to the damage, and deciding what needs to change, looking forward to future cyclones.
This week, Host Alex spoke with National Party MP Ryan Hamilton about each of these topics.
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