The Grammys were held yesterday. The annual music awards which seek to honour the achievements of musicians for the previous twelve months. However, this year, questions were raised about how diverse the awards are and whether they are indeed still culturally relevant. Artists such as Kanye West and Drake did not show up to the ceremony in protest, even though they were nominated, while Frank Ocean wrote on Tumblr that the awards are culturally biased. Reporter Sam Smith spoke to Auckland University ethnomusicologist Dr. Kirsten Zemke about the Grammys.
New Zealand’s rivers and lakes are under increasing pressure, according to the latest national report from the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ about the state of freshwater.
bFM’s Harry Willis speaks to Forest and Bird’s, Annabeth Cohen about the report, the problems with the way data was presented, and how the report is shifting our focus from Agricultural to urban land although urban environments make up at 1% of land use and pastoral use is at 40%.
Reporter Sam Smith speaks to anthropology Professor Cris Shore about his new book "Death of the Public University?" and the neo-liberalization of higher education.
We speak to Thomas Mattern, a research scientist with the Global Penguin Society from the University of Otago who talks about the latest report on climate change and the threat of extinction to the yellow eyed penguin. The report outlines the factors contributing to the endangered species. It say the due to a number of human and climate factors, the Yellow Eyed Penguin will be extinct by 2060. We speak to Thomas about the report here.
A new book on submarine cables explores their influence on the world, through communication flows, economic forces and environmental impact.
Maritime lawyer Douglas Burnett is the author of The Cloud Beneath the Sea, which examines all this within an international legal framework - reporter Mack Smith spoke with him about the new book.
The New Zealand Educational Institute says the government’s decision to replace the decile system with targeted funding is only "shifting the deckchairs on the Titanic".
Education Minister Nikki Kaye made the announcement yesterday, which will push funding towards “at risk” children, beginning in 2019 or 2020.
Reporter Mack Smith spoke to NZEI President Lynda Stuart, who says unless schools receive a huge funding boost, the removal of the decile system won’t fix the problems facing the education sector:
Mack then spoke with Education Minister Nikki Kaye about changing the system and NZEI's concerns.
On Joel's weekly chat with Green Party leader James Shaw, they discussed the National party’s new youth offending policies which include a military style bootcamp for serious offenders. They also discussed the rebranding of the Green Party and how the party will get on without Metiria Turei.
A new study shows fish might be eating plastic waste in the water because they mistake it for food. This in itself doesn't sound like a revelation - we've known for ages that sea animals eat plastic debris, which then has massive implications for marine ecosystems. But this new research suggests it's, in fact, the smell of the debris that confuses the fish - the scientists found fish respond to the smell of the plastic waste in the same way they respond to the smell of their food. News Director Ximena spoke to lead author of the study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Matthew Savoca, to learn more.
The whole country’s waiting on tenterhooks for Winston Peters to decide who will lead the next government.
But the New Zealand First leader’s promised to keep his mouth shut for the next week and a half, until the special votes are delivered to parliament and we know the final vote count.
Joining us is the Number three on the party’s list, Tracey Martin who is about to head into a caucus meeting with the kingmaker.
On The Wire for Monday the 9th of October, Joel Thomas is joined with Producers Sam, Jack, and Leonard.
Jack Marshal had a chat to Astro-Biologist Petra Shweta about her studies on bringing bacteria onto spacecrafts as well as other planets. Instead of James Shaw we chatted to the newest Green Party member Golriz Ghahraman. We are had a wee panel about the recent article Duncan Garner made where he complaining about immigration and Kmart lines. We also had a report on the dropping rates in tertiary enrolments where we spoke to the general public as well as Jonathan Gee from the NZUSA.
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