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.
In the lead up to U.S President, Donald Trump’s second term in office, the United States has been in what academics, and observers are calling a state of “permacrisis”.
Since Trump’s inauguration, decisions such as the appointment of Cabinet members, the pardoning of convicts involved in the January 6th Capitol attack, and the signing of executive orders targeting immigrants, and transgender people, have uprooted political conventions, and normalised chaos as a daily occurrence.
Producer Athena spoke to Director and Associate Professor of Global Studies at the University of Auckland, Dr Chris Ogden, about how, and why Trump and his followers weaponise chaos, and manufacture crises.
Last week in a speech from ACT party leader David Seymour which he described as his own “State of the Nation” speech, he called for the privatisation of government assets. Seymour noted recent issues in public sectors such as health and housing, proposing that private organisations would manage operations better than the government.
The Public Service Association says the privatisation of the health sector will lead to the prioritisation of profits over health outcomes for individuals. Countries like the United States where the health system is almost entirely private see those with or without insurance rejected from hospitals, unable to pay for life-saving treatment.
Wire host Castor to National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons, about how a private health system would work in Aotearoa.
For Dear Science this week, our expert Professor Allan Blackman chatted with us about good old Ernest Rutherford and why his mug is on our 100 dollar bills.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about National’s recent cabinet reshuffle and Christopher Luxon’s state of the nation speech.
They also spoke to National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons, about ACT party leader David Seymour’s calls for privatisation of Aotearoa’s health sector.
Producer Athena spoke to Director of Global Studies at the University of Auckland, Chris Ogden, about how and why Trump weaponises chaos.
The inauguration of Donald Trump has taken place, meaning he is officially President of the United States.
Many tech giant were at the event, including SpaceX and Tesla’s Elon Musk who appeared to do a nazi salute during his speech.
On his first day in office, Trump signed a series of controversial executive orders, including ordering the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organisation and Paris Climate Agreement.
For States of the States this week Wire Host Caeden spoke to Yale Daily News’ Andre Fa’aoso about the inauguration and Trump’s first few days in office, as well as the short-lived Tiktok ban.
And Producer Sofia spoke to honorary academic at the University of Auckland Faculty of Science and climate scientist Dr Kevin Trenberth about Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement and what this says about his administration’s policy for climate change
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden speaks to Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni about the first political poll of the year and National’s cabinet reshuffle.
For State of the States this week they speak to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about President Trump’s inauguration and the short-lived Tiktok ban.
And they speak to Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa’s John Minto about the ceasefire in Gaza.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia speaks to Councillor Shane Henderson about new proposed restrictions on dog walking and the Māngere fires from over the weekend.
Also for State of the States this week, she speaks to honorary academic at the University of Auckland Faculty of Science and climate scientist Dr Kevin Trenberth about President Donald Trump withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement.
A ceasefire ending Israel’s 15 month war on Gaza went into effect on Sunday.
However, top government Israeli officials have stated they reserve to resume the war if they feel they need to.
Israel has also ramped up attacks in the Palestinian West Bank, which is not included in any ceasefire terms. Ten Palestinians were killed in a recent raid in Jenin, and an additional dozen, including medical staff, were wounded.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa’s John Minto about the ceasefire and subsequent Israeli military activity.
On New Years Eve, the government announced a ‘free vape kit’ initiative to combat tobacco usage rates, as a part of Smokefree 2025 plans.
Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, says those involved with the initiative will be provided with a vape device and a one month’s supply of nicotine pods each month for a three month period, with additional support from an anti-smoking service.
Costello says vaping has had a "key role," in lowering smoking rates, and that the government is in support of this initiative, as she says that "vaping is far less harmful than smoking cigarettes."
However, the advocacy group for doctors working in general practice; General Practitioners Aotearoa, have expressed concerns about this vaping kit, as they say the government is funding this initiative without strong scientific evidence to back up their claims.
The group referred to a study of individuals undergoing a 'vape to quit' programme, with findings showing that only 16% of participants fully quit both smoking and vaping.
News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Chair of General Practitioners Aotearoa, Dr Buzz Burrell, about the ‘free vape kit’ initiative, and using vaping as a cessation tool for tobacco usage, as well as whether this move takes into account communities disproportionately affected by nicotine consumption.
They started off by asking him about how much evidence there is that vaping is an adequate method to limit one’s tobacco addiction.
This podcast has been edited to take out the claim "…so if you inhale nicotine through a vape you've got an equal chance of developing lung cancer. So you're not reducing the lung cancer risk at all," as well as mentions of 'vape lung' (EVALI) regarding consuming nicotine from vapes. Despite ongoing research into these claims, there is not currently adequate data to back these points.
For their weekly catch up, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez March about the National party’s recent cabinet reshuffle, as well as the government’s changes to free speech legislation in Universities and the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Force.
He spoke to Michael Swanson, PhD Candidate in New Zealand Politics at the University of Otago, for a follow up kōrero on National’s cabinet reshuffle.
He spoke to Amanda Larsson from Greenpeace to discuss newly elected US President Donald Trump’s exit from the Paris Agreement.
And he spoke to Chris Ogden, an Associate Professor Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland, to discuss Trump’s claims of annexing Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada.
Joel spoke to the Chair of General Practitioners Aotearoa, Dr Buzz Burrell, about the government’s ‘free vape kits,’ and the organisation's concerns surrounding using vaping as a cessation tool for smoking.
Yesterday marked the inauguration of the newly elected President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
Trump’s election marks the second non-consecutive term for any US president, with him winning both the popular vote AND electoral college, contrasting his previous election victory in 2016.
However, despite running on one of his campaign slogans of ‘ending all wars’, Trump frequently made promises to annex a number of territories in North and South America, namely Greenland and the Panama Canal, and made comments about turning Canada into America’s 51st state.
Oto spoke to Associate Professor in Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland - Chris Ogden, to discuss the validity of these claims, why Trump was making them and what military expansion during his presidency could hypothetically look like.
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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