Today on the Wednesday Wire, Felix speaks to Marcus Jones on Dear Science about covid vaccines, quantum computers and disappointment in the search for life on venus.
Bronnie spoke to deputy leader of the Act party - Brooke Van Velden about the party’s criticisms of both the government’s response to COVID-19 and the housing crisis.
Felix reported on Facebook’s role in democracy and some of the controversies they’ve faced recently.
Karanama spoke to Nick Thomson, Director of Financial Capability for the Commission for Financial Capability, about the Sorted in Schools programme.
With Australian goverment to debate law this week, Facebook and Alphabet, Google's parent company, could soon have to be paying for news to be on their platforms. With heavy oppoistion from the two companies, James discusses with Richard Pamatatau, a journalism lecturer at Auckland University of Technology, a range of possiblities that could stem from this situation.
Doctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford, Paula Larsson, has written an article titled The inherent racism of anti-vaxx movements. Paula is currently researching the history of vaccination, and in this article writes about how vaccinations came to be, where anti-vaxx movements stemmed from, and what the repercussions of these movements mean for our future health and safety.
With the Government urging everyone in Aotearoa to get the vaccine, Zazi thought it would be interesting to talk to Paula Larsson about anti-vaxx movements. Yesterday afternoon they discussed Paula’s insights, as well as her views, on the racism within anti-vaxx organisations.
Zazi began by asking Paula to talk about her research, and how she came to write her article.
Justin spoke to Health Minister Andrew Little about a health equity report he received, National's COVID plan, and results of the mental health stocktake.
He also spoke to National's Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop about their plans to reopen New Zealand, and talked to Anu Kaloti of the Migrant Workers' Association on the government's new residency programe for temporary visa holders.
Neighbourhood Watch reports on SA banning spit hoods, traditional guardians of a QLD world heritage-listed rainforest getting back ownership, and Facebook running adverts of a controversial federal MP despite banning him.
Producer Trishil Kyle Dahya reports on the experiences of people who are on the autistic spectrum and autistic burnout.
On their weekly chat Justin and Health Minister Andrew Little talked about the government's mental health policy.
The government changed the Kiwisaver Act to allow people with life-shortening conditions to access their Kiwisaver earlier, Ayana and Justin spoke to activist Timothy Fairhall, IHC Director of Advocacy Trish Grant, and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr David Clark.
Neighbourhood Watch reports on the further fallout from former parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins' rape allegations, criticism of the federal government small benefits raise, and Facebook reversing its ban on Australian news.
Sam Clark spoke to Wendy John, Co-founder and project manager of Nga Ringa o Te Auaunga/Friends of Oakley Creek about a new restoration project that focuses on removing harmful weeds. Wendy John says Te Auaunga is relatively healthy for an urban creek, but there’s still lots of work to be done. She says Te Auaunga is a ‘combined sewer/stormwater catchment’ – which means wastewater flows into the creek when there’s heavy rain and storms.
The restoration sessions are every Tuesday 9:30am-12pm. https://www.facebook.com/OakleyCreek
New Zealand media has recently come under the spotlight with staff strikes at media outlet Stuff, where journalists and workers demanded more pay. The office of the minister of broadcasting and media has recently announced that the government plans to introduce legislation that would make large news aggregator sites like Facebook and Google reach formal agreements with local news outlets before being able to re-post or link to their news.
Arno spoke with Professor James Hollings of Massey University to find out more.
On the 29th of July this year, three children were killed in a mass stabbing incident in the town of Southport in the United Kingdom. Following the killings, riots broke out across the United Kingdom, after the attacker was falsely identified as a Muslim refugee on social media platforms such as Facebook and X, formerly twitter.
The riots have been lead by members of Far-Right British organisations such as the English Defence League, who have targeted Mosques, Muslim owned businesses and members of the Muslim community.
Oto spoke to Dr Neal Curtis, a professor of media and political theory in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, to discuss the cause of the UK riots and the rise of the British far right.
New technologies have always been announced and marketed as ways to advance society and push humanity forward. This past couple of years the hot new technology seems to be generative AI, which from its inception now sees use across almost every sector. From digital marketing to google to facebook, no part of the internet seems exempt from artificial intelligence.
The mass use of artificial intelligence has, however, raised alarm bells for some, who say its use and spread may disproportionately affect some groups of people. Wire host Castor spoke to Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information and Technology in Monash University in Melbourne, Jathan Sadowski, about how new technology, particularly AI, seems to always benefit those on top.