It has been two years since the Supreme Court of the United States decision to overturn Roe v Wade. This effectively reversed a recognised constitutional right for Abortion in the United States, paving the way for states to set up bans.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to the University of Auckland’s Liz Beddoe about what the impact in the United States has been, and if there still could be potential ramifications here in Aotearoa.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about polling numbers two weeks out from the election and former Radioactive host Tom Unger about the threat of political extremism this election.
Donald Trump, inaugurated nearly two weeks ago, launched his own meme coin, a cryptocurrency that originates from a personality or internet culture. The coin was launched on January 17th, two days before his entering into office, and has now accumulated close to 100 million in trading fees over this time.
The coin reached 14.5 billion dollars overall market value, now falling by two-thirds its original value. Questions have been raised about conflicts of interest, and intersection of business and government.
Sasha spoke to Professor of Law and Business at The University of Auckland, Alexandra Andhov, about the Trump Crypto Launch and the wider influence of meme coins and cryptocurrency.
Public hearings as part of phase two of the Royal Commission into COVID-19 took place in Auckland this week.
The second phase of the inquiry has a stronger focus on lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and the impact of the Covid-19 response on business and the economy.
And yesterday, an independent reference group set up by the Ministry of Environment shared their recommendations for climate adaptation legislation.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Arena Williams about both of these topics.
Recent tensions within Te Pāti Māori, which exploded into the light last month, have culminated in the expulsion of two rogue MPs: Mariameno Kapa-Kingi of Te Tai Tokerau and Tākuta Ferris of Te Tai Tonga.
Despite this, much remains unresolved, and controversy lingers over the preceding actions, the manner in which they were communicated online, and how the expulsion was handled by the party leadership.
Wednesday Wire Producer Manny spoke with Jason Mika, Professor of Māori Management at the University of Auckland, to get his perspective on the expulsions.
Labour has reshuffled its portfolios ahead of the election this year.
The Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid-19 has released its final report for phase two of the inquiry.
And the Education and Workforce Select Committee has released its final report on online harm and young people.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, I spoke to MP and member of the Education and Workforce Committee Shanan Halbert about all of these topics.
The self-proclaimed “first McKenzie Friend Specialist” in New Zealand, Vinay Deobhakta is a former lawyer setting up a training programme aimed at producing professional McKenzie Friends. McKenzie Friends are support people for self-represented litigants in court - they are not lawyers, but can sit with litigants in court to support them. However, Deobhakta did not leave the law profession out of choice - he was in fact struck off for misconduct in 2014. 95bFM journalist Caitlin McIlhagga speaks to Deobhakta to try understand how he is reconciling his past with his current work setting up the McKenzie Friends training programme.
To learn more about the relationship McKenzie Friends have with the Family Court, check out the other interviews Caitlin did with two experts in family law here.
“Reward Work Not Wealth”, that is the title of Oxfam’s newest wealth and inequality report.
According to the report, 82% of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half got nothing.
Oxfam NZ adds that the situation in New Zealand isn't much better: Of the wealth created last year, the richest 1% own 28%, while the poorest 30% of the population received less than 1%.
Reuben McLaren spoke to Rachael Le Mesurier to find out more.
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