The Wire with Joel

Sam speaks with Bridget Chappell - a Melbourne based audio-activist and artist who explores the ways in which police use sound to influence and control populations. Their work invites people to imagine a future where we organise ourselves differently without police holding a monopoly of violence and power. They are currently adapting audio technology and engineering to build devices which phase cancel police sirens. 

Following this conversation with Peter Crampton about the Deprivation Index, Lillian wanted to know more about the actual issues in housing and health. She wanted to know whether the old housing stock is to blame, the way we construct our houses or even the typology. She wanted to know what effect damp and mouldy housing actually has on people in their everyday lives. And she wanted to know why this is still a problem. Philippa Howden-Chapman is a professor of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington, she runs a research group He Kainga Oranga on housing and health. Lillian started by asking whether Philippa thought it was good that the damp and mouldy factor had been added to the Deprivation Index.

Image by Nirvana Haldar.

On today's episode of The Wire...

On Dear Science with Allan Blackman we cover a Harvard lecturer who was arrested over funding issues, the retraction of a faulty coronavirus paper, and further research on cancer.

Felix brings us an update on the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report, and spoke to Social Policy Director Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Hutson.

Lillian spoke with Professor Peter Crampton about the Deprivation Index from the University of Otago and how damp and mouldy housing has now been added as a factor.

Following that conversation Lillian also spoke with Philippa Howden-Chapman from the University of Otago about the correlation between the state of our housing and people’s health.

On February the 5th, the government released Labour market statistics for the December 2019 quarter. 

The statistics provide a picture of the New Zealand labour market, including unemployment and employment rates, demand for labour, and changes in wages and salaries.

There were numerous findings in the statistics, but most notably were the kiwis earning more, and female Kiwis specifically earning at a rate higher than male kiwis.

I spoke with Andrea black, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions policy director and Economist about these finding’s implications and what they potentially outline for the future of New Zealand’s labour sector, as well as certain trends I myself noticed in my analysis of the statistics

I started off by introducing some of the big findings and then asking - 'if these quarterly wage increases for the average kiwi offset the rising living costs of New Zealand'