bCasts

Guest track selections from Pōneke-based Lucy Beeler, whose most recent release under the alias Fèng has been a a favourite of ours up here at bFM! Lee chats to Fèng about the new album archive for humble stones and emotional music. The What's Cooking tracks this week are:

Cindy Lee - I Don't Want To Fall In Love Again
A.G. Cook - Lifeline
astrobrite - pinkshiny
Fèng - Heaving

Kraus performs Alien Soundtrack live in the bFM studio. 

This week on the Tuesday Wire...

For Dear Science, our expert, Professor Allan Blackman chats with us about false eating reports, fluoridated water, and the Sodom comet. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the government’s plans for prisoner voting rights. 

They also spoke to Professor James Russell from the University of Auckland about a recent case where some tuatara were potentially poisoned with rodenticides. 

Producer Faith spoke to criminology lecturer from the University of Auckland, and press spokesperson for People Against Prisons Aotearoa Dr. Emmy Rākete, about her concerns with the blanket ban on prisoner voting.

She also spoke to the chief executive from Asthma Foundation NZ Letitia Harding about a new study showing the link between vaping and a lung disease.

This past week the government announced plans to reinstate the prisoner voting ban. The ban was altered in June 2020 by the Labour led coalition government in a change which allowed prisoners serving a sentence of less than three years to vote in elections. This change followed a recommendation from New Zealand’s High Court, which found a prisoner voting ban was inconsistent with New Zealand’s Bill of Rights.

In 2025, the government is now looking at repealing the bill and reinstating the ban. The National Party has argued that there are certain responsibilities that members of society must uphold, and that those who do not fulfil these responsibilities will have their rights taken away. Asked about human rights concerns and the High Court ruling on the bill, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said “I do not care what anyone else says about it.” The bill is set to join others as part of this government’s “tough on crime” approach. 

In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about the prisoner voting ban and how the change would benefit the general public.