B-Side Stories

"Alongside being a quiz mistress, it's actually my dream job". Luana Scowcroft is a candidate in the Motu Kairangi ward in the upcoming Wellington City Council elections. She talked to Sadie Coe about what motivated her to run for council, and told us about some of her achievements to date, including painting an anti-nuclear banner for the Rainbow Warrior as a young child, building an eco-resort at the age of 24 (this was not even her first business), and working for governmental and non-governmental organisations. Luana also spoke about how her Cook Islands upbringing strengthens her value system, and her passion for building relationships and putting people and communities at the centre of conversations about our city's future.

Tyler Smith from the Compassion Soup Kitchen. mp3 by B-Side Stories

Peter Clayworth takes us on a fascinating tour of the sites of struggle in the 1913 General Strike - industrial power struggles, machine guns and horses on the streets of Wellington. You won't see your city the same afterwards! (note - it gets a bit windy in the middle but worth listening through the wind as there are some really interesting bits in there!)

"We're writing from the point of view of people who are 'it', about things that we're actually dealing with": Check out our interview with local writers Al Gray and Erin Donahue about the problem with fairy tales (and much more!).

Feeding bellies, not bins: Jack Rainey, the Manager of the Dixon St Everybody Eats, tells B Sides all about the concept and the practise of running a pay-as-you-feel restaurant in central Wellington

Kanikani* enthusiasts Sofia, Thomas and Lauren talk to B Sides about why they spend an evening a month dancing in the dark in a room full of strangers (or is it a room full of friends? hard to tell in the dark). Some great dance tracks included! *Kanikani means dance in te reo Māori. The monthly event is called Kanikani - dancing in the dark!

An interview with Shuari Naidoo, CEO and Founder of Moraka Mentsrual Cups and President of the Victoria University Feminist Organization.

An interview with the co-founders of Community Comms Collective, giving a free communications boost to community organisations.

An interview with Emma Beattie, content writer and board member at Regenerate Magazine. Regenerate offers employment opportunities to people affected by homelessness and poverty in Wellington.

Vivian Lyngdoh, co-Chair of Wellington Pride, spoke to David about the Festival and being intersectional and inclusive. Kia ora Vivian! www.wellingtonpridefestival.com

Julie and Heidi from Volunteer Wellington came into the studio to talk about their role as community connectors - matching volunteers to programmes, supporting and developing people who manage volunteers, and their employee volunteering programme.

Joel and Freya talk to Perrine and David about creating audience-led theatre... and what happens when people get really into it.

Fiona Prestidge, Manager of Strathmore Community Centre discusses her mahi.

David spoke with Arihia Latham – writer, educator and rongoā Māori practitioner based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Find our more – https://linktr.ee/Arihia

Ruth talks to Perrine about her life as a musician and teacher in the lead-up to the Wellington jazz festival [poor quality audio is only for first minute]

"There's a deep sense of satisfaction...manipulating things in the universe into useful harmony...and then the working together, the social aspect and feeling part of a loving community. You come away feeling replenished". Debbie McGill, Simon Cosgrove, and Derek McDonald tell Sadie Coe about the flourishing community at Granville Flats, where The Fixery empowers tenants to fix broken items and to create new things, from artworks to face masks to jam and relish.

Seamus Johnson from Wellington band Sea Mouse chats to Perrine and performs some wicked songs live in the studio - including a possible new B Sides theme song!

Perrine talks to Nicky Boughtwood from Kaibosh about their mammoth efforts to redistribute food for social justice. We catch up on how COVID has changed their work, hear about the cool places that the kai goes to, and chat about their important role Kaibosh have in keeping Wellington tick!

Ash Holwell talks to Perrine about community-building in central downtown Wellington, based around new collaborative space two/fiftyseven

"New Zealand has given me a massive opportunity to be something completely different". Mount Vic Hub coordinator Patricia Given came to Wellington with decades of experience in the fashion industry, and swiftly became a hugely respected community leader. Trish is passionate about making things happen in the community and last year was awarded an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Award for her contribution to a long list of organisations including Cycle Wellington, Wellington Irish, the Innermost Gardens, Predator Free Wellington, and many more. She's often seen around town on her bike Olive, towing the hublet: a mobile community centre. Here she chats in the studio with B-Sides host Sadie Coe and City Councillor Laurie Foon.

"Amazing Wellingtonians doing incredible things". B-Sides founder and Wellington City Councillor Laurie Foon talks about why she became a councillor, her vision for the city, and what the key decisions are facing us in the long term plan, in conversation with Patricia Given and Sadie Coe. ...And why is poo so central to all this?

Home Ground creates space for women in the justice system to pause, nurture hope, activate social change and create better lives for themselves and future generations. On a Home Ground project, artists (inside and outside of prison) make creative works using dance, performance, photography, writing, painting and music to address the issues women and whānau face in the justice system. Jacqui and Hazel came onto B-Side Stories to talk to Sadie Coe about the collective strength of women honouring the wisdom of their lived experience, and the power of creativity. https://www.homegroundnz.com/ Photo credit: PM with support from Fraser Crichton B-Side Stories is broadcast with help from NZ on Air.

Julia Marshall of Gecko Press is a children's book publisher and advocate for the magic of reading. She spoke with David about how it takes a village to make a book https://geckopress.com

Helen and Trish talk to Perrine about Crip the Lit, a group of great local writers who identify as disabled.

Ben talks to Perrine about the work Unions Wellington do to support working people in Pōneke, the links between unions and activism, and how the union movement changes with the times

Housewitches by B-Side Stories

Laura interviews Lily Lewis from Make it 16 NZ - the incredible youth-led organisation advocating for a lower voting age in Aotearoa. They've taken their case all the way to the High Court of New Zealand.

Laura's full unedited conversation with Abe Gray about the history of the movement to legalise cannabis in Aotearoa. Abe is botanist, a science communicator and an activist, who has been fighting for nearly 20 years to make cannabis legal. Visit www.yeswecannabis.org.nz to join the calls for legalisation in 2020. Or if you need to read more, Abe recommends the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor: https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/topics/cannabis/

There was going to be a School Strike 4 Climate march event in September, but new Covid-19 uncertainty has led to its cancellation. Laura spoke to The Wellington Regional Secretary for SS4C, Rhiannon Mackie, about why the climate movement is still so important and what it's like to be involved in SS4C.

Playcentre is a unique parent cooperative model of early childhood education created right here in Wellington, New Zealand, back in 1941. The kaupapa of Playcentre is "Whānau tupu ngātahi — Families growing together".  Playcentre members Jesse Pirini and Kate Mitcalfe spoke to B-Sides host Sadie Coe about what it feels like to be part of a community of adults and children sharing learning alongside each other, and the joys and challenges of that shared commitment and input.  We learned about how their Playcentre experience informs Jesse and Kate's adult lives, about the organisation's commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi, and, most of all, about the fundamental wellbeing that comes from the connections made at Playcentre.

David spoke with Jackson Nieuwland – a genderqueer writer, editor and librarian from Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Their debut poetry collection 'I Am A Human Being' was published last month and is available from Compound Press.

Caroline from Sustainability Trust talks to B Sides about community gardening in Wellington, being a late bloomer with gardening, and her top tip for snail eradication!

Dr Marion Leighton talks to B Sides about the long-term health gains from active transport and micro-mobility, and why doctors are promoting active and safe transport in Wellington.

Tam talks to Laura in the studio about the Covid-19 response in Wellington, fixing the city's pipes and water systems, and about some of her recent media appearances including about 'private council briefings'. She gives a good insight into how she's finding being a City Councillor, and talks about her efforts to get more community connection and engagement in political issues. Tam is encouraging those interested in helping with the Covid-19 response to support isolated people to reach out to the Wellington Student Volunteer Army, or the VUWSA on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/WellySVA/

Writer and performer Freya Daly Sadgrove spoke with David about her new book 'Head Girl', line breaks and making live poetry performances events to remember.

Perrine headed along to Wellington Curtain Bank's 10th birthday party to hear about the difference that upcycled curtains are making to people and the environment in Wellington.

Tyler Dunkel tells B Sides about the Wellington Pride Festival - what makes our festival so special and how this great rainbow of events all fit in together!

Tim McDougall tells Perrine and Laura about raising hell and raising funds for the Owen Street skatespot. With music by Stalker, Ayn Randy,Total Ruin.

Author and performer Eamonn Marra came on to talk to David about his debut book '2000ft Above Worry Level' – available now at your favourite independent book store. Image courtesy Unity Books

Daniela Fuenzalida, one of the Aro Valley community coordinators, talks to Katia about what is coming up in the 2020 Aro Fair and why it is great to volunteer.

Rose Lu joins Laura and Sadie in the studio to chat about her new book of essays: All Who Live on Islands. It's a book about being a Chinese New Zealander, working in tech, family, friends, mental health, sex, travel, food, and much more! Rose will be speaking in the New Zealand Festival of the Arts on 8 March 2020.

Science communicator, scientist, author and campaigner Laurie Winkless spoke with David Klein about her work. You can find Laurie on Twitter – @laurie_winkless

Murdoch talks to Perrine and Laura about life in a local publishing collective - creating their place in the literary scene through biting satire and flirting with all the wrong people.

Gabriella Jimenez Rojas from Women in Urbanism Aotearoa talks to B-Side Stories about this urban design movement, which aims to amplify the voices of women, girls, and non-binary people in order to transform our towns into beautiful, inclusive, and safe environments.

Miriame Barbarich talks to Katia about ĀPŌPŌ, Wellington's first indigenous CreativeTech programme, hub and co-working space.

Seeds to Feeds is a new food festival in Wellington from 16-22 March 2020. It's an amazing initiative to celebrate community gardens, and making healthy, local food together! More than just a meal, growers are encouraged to come together to locally source the ingredients. Elza van Boxel spoke to Laura and Perrine about the importance of local food, for the health of our bodies, minds, and spirits. To find out more, or get involved, find Seeds to Feeds on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seedstofeedsnz/

Maia Douglas Baker came into the studio (with her awesome support crew) to tell B Sides some entertaining and devastating stories from our city's past. She also tells us what motivates her and how she connected to Wellington as mana whenua who wasn't born here.

Again Again is a cup lending system operating in Wellington that aims to eliminate single use waste in the caffeine world. David Binstead tells us how the scheme works, why it's good for the planet, and how Again Again are encouraging psychological shifts in coffee drinkers.

"We want to inspire people to grow food, giving them the tools and the experience and the connections". Josie Sligo-Green and Katherine Silvester, from GrowSpace Wellington, talk to Sadie Coe about connecting to nature through growing food, and about their efforts to turn excess areas of land around Wellington into productive gardens.

Back in September, School Strike 4 Climate New Zealand organised their biggest event ever. A general strike across the country, involving everyone, young and old, in the movement for climate justice, and meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An estimated 170,000 people took part around Aotearoa. Listen to Laura's conversation with strike organiser Hugo Olsen-Smith about planning the event, why the movement is important to him, and hope for a better future. Sorry for the delay in posting - still an incredibly important conversation!

CEO and co-founder of Sharesies Brooke Roberts came in to talk financial literacy, start up life and pineapples.