The Wire with Joel

Justin spoke to the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand's chair Deb Hart about International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

He also talked to the Rotary Tree's Trust chair Russ Ballard about their North Shore tree-planting project being mowed down.

Producer Joe chatted to the University of Auckland's Karen Waldie on the relation between pre and post natal depression and mental health.

He also talked to Ruth McManus of Canterbury University on green burials.

Today on the Wednesday Wire, Christina Huang brings us Dear Science with Allan Blackman. They chat about the surprising magnitude of the Tonga eruption, a generational link between smoking and body fat, and a 150 year old maths problem that might have finally been solved!

Jemima Huston speaks to ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden about the government’s new mask regulations under the red setting and the upcoming news about rapid antigen testing for Covid-19. 

Christina talks to Dr Arindam Basu about rapid antigen testing and Aotearoa’s Omicron response. 

Finally, Christina speaks to Carlos Calderon from Oxfam Aotearoa about their work with a Kiwi company to turn seawater into drinking water in Tonga.

Yesterday the government announced that face masks worn in the red setting must be medical, surgical or three-layer cloth masks rather than scarves, t-shirts or other face coverings. They are also expected to announce the next two phases of their Omicron response, including incorporating rapid antigen tests (RATs) more into New Zealand's testing strategy. 

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden about the government's latest change to mask mandates under the red setting and bringing in the more regular use of RATs.

Following the government’s announcement that Aotearoa would move to the red setting of the traffic light system on Monday 24 January, a number of events were forced to cancel or postpone. This is yet another massive blow to the music, arts and events industry, whose artists and workers have spent the last two years of the pandemic struggling to find consistent work and promoters have had to cancel or change the dates for their events multiple times. 

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston reaches out to a few people working in the performance art sector who have been impacted by the red setting. Firstly, Jemima speaks to Director of Splore John Minty, Director of Freqs Out East Dan Hesson and Director of The Others Way Mathew Davis, who are all promoters for summer festivals that have had to cancel or postpone due to the shift to the red light setting. They discuss how the pandemic has affected events and whether the exisitng events support schemes are enough to get the people involved in the industry through the Omicron outbreak. 

Secondly, Jemima chats to artist and musician Jazmine Mary who says there is no support available for artists who have effectively lost their jobs under the red setting and cannot access the wage subsidy. Jazmine has penned a letter to the Prime Minister and submitted a parliamentary petition request to call for support for artists and musicians in Aotearoa unable to work under 'red'. They explain what sort of financial support is needed and how the public can help their call for action from the government. 

To check out the follow up podcast on this issue, click here.