Just this week, 38 year old pilot New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens was released from captivity after being held hostage for more than a year by milliants the West Papua Liberation Army, also known as TPNPB.
While many in Aotearoa are celebrating the safe release of Mehrtens and return to his family, discussions have also been started about the TPNPB and the struggle of the people in West Papua for independence from Indonesia.
West Papua is a province in Indonesia that was formerly ruled by the Dutch empire before being controlled by Indonesia in 1962. The calls for independence are mainly coming from West Papua’s native Melanesian people, who allege that the Indonesian government have committed human rights abuses against the native population and exploited the region’s natural resources.
Oto spoke to Dr Chris Wilson a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of Auckland, to discuss the implications of Phillip Mehrtens release and the most recent developments of the conflict in West Papua.
For Daylight Saving Sunday, Def Jim presents a bodyclock-soothing (not!) stew & brew of jazz tempos, from the urgent Young Turk jab'n'parry of the New York Contemporary Five via funky grooves from Joey Baron to Dojo-calm meditations from Quest. And that ain't the half of it.
Featuring a Lecture Me thanks to Blue Hills Bookson P-Hacking with Eli, Plausible Deniability with Stella and listen in to Dear Finn to hear solutions on life's most sticky problems.
The Eaton and Palisades fires, the two major fires making up the Los Angeles fires, are now the two most destructive wildfires in Southern California history.
The fires have sparked significant debate about insurance in high-risk natural disaster areas as thousands of Californians lost their home insurance not long before the fires.
And president-elect Donald Trump has returned to the centre stage of United States foreign policy in the weeks leading up to his inauguration.
Trump has threatened to annex Greenland and Canada as well as reclaim the Panama Canal for the United States.
For States of the States this week Wire Host Caeden spoke to Andre Fa’aoso from the Yale Daily News about both of these topics.
Following the pandemic, hybrid remote and in office work has become more prevalent. According to data from StatsNZ on the September 2024 quarter, more than 40% of businesses offered a work from home option, while 898,700 people worked from home.
In 2023, 5 academics (and work friends) published a study on the nature of workplace friendships in the absence of physical presence. The study indicated several benefits of having work friends, as well as revealing foundational elements to maintaining these friendships.
Producer Athena spoke to Senior Lecturer Dr Stefan Korber, from the University of Auckland Business School, about the benefits of having work friends, and the ways workplace friendships can flourish.
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.
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.
Def Jim returns from his extended Summer break with a total blast of a Jazz Shown featuring a track from each of three brand new releases from the likes of Steve Coleman & 5 Elements, Ava Mendoza and Emily Remler. The latter (which opens the Show) is particularly noteworthy, being a taste of the first previously unheard set from the sadly deceased guitarist Ms. Remler released for 25 years. Naturally there are plenty more delights to be savoured in this Show, such as a piece by 70's UK fusion pioneers Nucleus taken from a multi-CD set released a couple of years ago which exhaustively documents their recording sessions for UK public broadcaster the BBC. Warmly recommended.
New or new-ish releases from Jeff Parker, Tim Berne, Julian Lage and John Zorn's New Masada Quartet feature in Def Jim's latest Jazz Show. Mr. Parker is back with another set from the band that recorded Mondays At The Enfield Tennis Academy a while back, this time on a better-distributed label (and available from Real Groovy on vinyl at last check). Otherwise the Show is graced with the usual miscellany of carefully-chosen album tracks new and old from the modern jazz canon. Don't miss it!
The government has reduced staff and funding at the National Geohazards Monitoring Centre by 25%
This comes despite the siesmic activity expierenced throughout the country and the rising frequency of natural disasters, not only in New Zealand but around the world.
The Wire producer Samantha sat down with PSA organizer Claire Nickson to discuss the implications of this move and its affects in the public.
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