The Wire with Sara

Joe talks to High Performance Mental Health Coach David Niethe about the importance of mental wellbeing in elite athletes.

Today on the Wire, Joe Wickins speaks to University of Waikato Director of the Transgender Health Research Lab, Dr Jaimie Veale, about some of the issues surrounding the reaction to Laurel Hubbard's participation in the women's weightlifting event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. They go on to discuss how this impacts the wider LGBTQI+ community.

Jemima Huston reports on the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, which was introduced by the Government last week. 

Tomorrow’s World is back! This week Isla and Stella dive into the world of microplastics. Drawing on interviews with Dr Shinji Kihara from the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Auckland, they discuss how nanoplastics affect human cellular function, and how prevalent they are in Aotearoa. 

Joe talks to Mental Performance Coach David Niethe, who works with elite athletes, about the issue of the mental wellbeing for athletes and how this impacts the young people. 

Jemima wraps it up with an interview with Stephen Stockwell, who is the station manager of community radio station 4ZZZ based in Brisbane Australia. They speak about how the stop-start lockdowns taking place in Australia, due to the Covid-19 Delta variant outbreak, are impacting the creative industries across the country. 

Last week the New Zealand Government introduced the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, which outlines the legal changes that will be made to penalise those who practise conversion therapy in New Zealand. News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston reports on how the Bill came to be, what criminal offences and civil redress it covers and when the Government expects the Bill to be brought into law. 

Over the weekend, New Zealand's first mass vaccination event took place in Manukau. The event saw over 15,000 people receive vaccines, with second doses planned for mid-September. 

Louis spoke to the event's lead organiser Alex Pimms, as well as Manukau Ward Councillor Efeso Collins, who has voiced concern over the event's communication.