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.
Recently, the Trump Administration has cut 90% of funding to USAID; the largest international aid organisation.
This move has received wide condemnation regarding what this will mean for those reliant on the support provided through the initiative.
At the same time, in his opinion piece on Newsroom, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, Ritesh Shah, analyses the current international aid structure with the substantial funding cuts to USAID, and calls for international aid agencies to redirect what he says are their vested interests
News and Editorial Director, Joel, started off by asking him should other prominent aid agencies, including the New Zealand Agency for International Development, reevaluate how foreign aid is delivered.
Caitlin spoke to Nicole Wedding about Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton saying some racist shit about Lebanese immigrants, the Grattan Institute releasing economic modelling regarding a sugar tax, and the theory that koalas could be saved if Queensland were to implement daylight savings.
The ongoing issue of rape culture in New Zealand has been brought to light following misogynistic comments made online by two male students of Wellington College. Big Buddy, an organisation that mentors fatherless boys, believes that for boys to understand consent, they must be taught by male role models in their lives. Producer Jess Smith speaks to the organisation's CEO Richard Aston to learn more about this issue.
A movement is arising, one which plans on abolishing current political and economic systems. The Zeitgeist Movement, which aims to remove the need for a monetary economy, and establish an economic model based upon the communal sharing of global resources. bFm Reporter Adam Jacobson spoke in studio with Coordinators of The New Zealand Zeitgeist Movement, Sam Mentink and Wiri Te-Moni about how the group plans on achieving this, and touched upon upcoming Z-Day events.
The Green Party said yesterday that the Government’s weak strategy for cleaning up fresh water won’t undo years of abuse, unless we change our farming model and take a hard long look at how we develop land in this country. bFM reporter Ambrose O’Meagher spoke to Green MP Catherine Delahunty about this issue, earlier yesterday morning.
Dr. Maria talks to Mikey about the new documentary on John Casablancas (Elite Model Agency founder, record label honcho and father of Julian 'Strokes' Casablancas), Casablancas: The Man Who Loved Women.
Dr. Clark is at the forefront of attempts to computer model the human body in the name of science. Dr. Clark lets Mikey in on the world of her team's computer-based, virtual lungs and how they can be used predict a person's response to illness and/or treatment. How on earth are they developed? What else could they tell us and how could they be utilised in the future?
A new not-for-profit public health model is advocating for the legal sale of recreational cannabis in New Zealand, drawing inspiration from elements of the Gambling Act of 2003. Wire producer Harry Willis reports.
A decision by the Accident Compensation Corporation to use computer-based risk prediction models has a group of experts at Otago University concerned. 95bFM talks to one of them, Dr James MacLaurin:
95bFM