The Wire with Caeden

For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March the party’s new emissions reduction plan.

He spoke to Professor Guhan Gunasekara - an Associate Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland, to discuss an independent evaluation of the trial usage of facial recognition technology in security cameras at Foodstuffs outlets.

And he spoke to Nicola Gaston - A professor in the department of Physics at the University of Auckland, to discuss cuts to humanities and social science programs in the Marsden fund.

Sasha spoke to  Dr Julie Douglas, National President of the Tertiary Education Union, about the recent cuts to humanities and social sciences from the Marsden Fund.

And he spoke to Thomas Dowling, Environment Lecturer and a co-lead on a new earth observation lab launched in collaboration with the University of Auckland.

Just one week ago, science, innovation and technology Minister Judith Collins announced cuts to the Marsden Fund, specifically for humanities and social sciences, reinforcing the government's clear initiative to focus on rebuilding the economy and putting business first.

Following this announcement came major backlash from professors, researchers and mainstream news, which claim to shrink the already small percentage of allocated funds towards humanities to an even smaller number. The cuts will also disproportionately affect Maori researchers, cutting the existing 13% of funded research to a proposed 5.5%.

Many argue that social sciences and humanities are important for understanding societies’ and the science which will be applied to it. However, another viewpoint to consider is the millions of taxpayer money which has been going to silly projects, something which needs to be discussed in further detail.

So Sasha spoke to Dr Julie Douglas, National President of the Tertiary Education Union, who believes that the government is making a shortsighted decision for cutting humanities and social sciences from the Marsden Fund.

For Dear Science this week, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about what latrines teach us about people, climate variation affecting Chinese dynasties, and invasive species becoming threatened. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about the government’s police staffing targets and changes to national insulation standards. 

They also spoke to Associate Professor Steve Hoadley about the geopolitical consequences of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. 

Producer Athena spoke to Medical Director at the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand, and Professor at the University of Otago, Bob Hancox, about Pharmac’s decision to fund respiratory medicines: pali-vizu-mab, and a new triple inhaler.

And they spoke to the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand's Chief Executive, Ah-Leen Rayner about Pharmac’s decision to fund a new breast cancer drug, Enhertu

Pharmac has announced its decision to fund the drug, Enhertu, used for slowing the advancement of the HER2-positive form of breast cancer, beginning on the 1st of January, 2025. Alongside this funding, two eligibility restrictions will be removed.

HER2-positive breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer, where the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein is present, and encourages the growth of cancer cells.

Producer Athena spoke to Chief Executive at the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand, Ah-Leen Rayner, about how Enhertu compares to other breast cancer medicines, the removal of eligibility restrictions, and how the Breast Cancer Foundation pushed for this change.