The Wire with Castor

United States President Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 Presidential race. This came after repeated calls from supporters, who were worried that they would lose the election if Biden was the Democratic nominee.

The presumed replacement for Biden has been current Vice President Kamala Harris, and supporters have rallied to support her this week.

Wire Host spoke to Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Dr Timothy Fagden about Biden stepping down and the support shown to Kamala Harris so far.

A recent study has discovered that there is production of oxygen on the bottom of the ocean. Almost eight-hundred marine scientists have signed a petition highlighting the importance of the discovery and for a pause on seafloor mining. The oxygen is produced by metallic nodes underneath the ocean, containing metals which are commonly mined for batteries. This oxygen could potentially support fragile aquatic life.

Sasha spoke with Juressa Lee, a deep sea mining campaigner from Greenpeace about the new discovery, as well as steps that are being taken to reduce ocean floor mining.

A recent report detailing complaints to the health and disability commissioner about disability support services revealed that the sector suffered from inadequate care standards, poor management of resources and the abuse of those in care. 

One of the suggestions made in the report was that better funding and staffing was needed to improve standards in disability care, based on complaints from workers in the sector that understaffing was impacting their ability to provide adequate care.

Oto spoke to Peter Reynolds, CEO of the New Zealand Disability Support Network to discuss staffing shortages in disability care, and the solutions needed to address it. 

Just this week, US President Joe Biden announced his exit from the US general elections and abandoned his candidacy, amidst concerns from his own party regarding his age and cognitive abilities and a disastrous debate performance against his political adversary, republican nominee Donald J Trump. 

After making the announcement, Biden announced his support for Vice-President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the democratic candidate and urged his contemporaries within the party to do the same. 

But with a mere 3 months until the finale of the US general elections, many commentators are discussing the next steps for the democrats, and whether or not they have the ability to compete with Trump’s branding and unanimous support from the country’s right-wing.

Oto spoke to Dr Edward Elder, Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, to discuss the next steps for the democrats and the role of party branding in the outcome of the US general elections.