RNZ: Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan

Money Expert Mary Holm joined Jesse to discuss all things debt.

In today's installment of A-Z of Aotearoa Ian Mune, Lauren Whitney and Hoani Hotene joined Jesse to remember kiwi icon Billy T James.

Ximena Smith joined Jesse to review Missing in the Amazon - a new 6-part investigative series from The Guardian about journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous rights advocate Bruno Pereira who went missing in the Amazon three years ago. She also reviewed Heavyweight a podcast by Jonathan Goldstein, which returns after being cancelled by Spotify in 2023. The show helps people deal with moments from their past they wish they could change - funny, emotional, and thought-provoking without being naff.

If you were at a particular public pool in Melbourne this week you may have seen an unusual sight. Saturate, is an underwater musical experience staged as part of the city's Rising festival. It involved around 60 people together in a public pool listening to the music, underwater. Saturate is the brainchild of sound artist Sara Retallick, who joins Jesse from Melbourne.

There are certain materials we just can't go without, and one of them is concrete. Unfortunately, the production of cement leaves a large carbon footprint - it's estimated it's responsible for between 5 an 8 percent of global CO2 emissions. That's why my next guest has spent nearly 7 years trying to develop a sustainable alternative, and to do it, he's combining materials and practices traditional in both Roman and Maori engineering. Dr Enrique del Rey Castillo is a lecturer at the University of Auckland's faculty of Engineering and Design.

2020 saw the start of two global pandemics. Covid-19, of course, but also H5N1 bird flu, which has since swept around the world leaving millions of dead wild birds in its wake.  It has reached everywhere – except Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.  On Our Changing World today, Alison Ballance has been finding out why this strain of bird flu is so deadly, and why scientists are keeping an eye out for gannets with unusual black eyes. 

Don't worry, this won't hurt. When has that ever turned out to be true? Parents may try to ease a child's anxiety about a medical procedure with a white lie. But lies that mislead children about their experiences are not white lies, says Allison Sweet Grant. She endured terrible pain as a child from surgery to correct one leg that was shorter than the other. In her debut novel for young adults, Grant explores themes of agency, trust, and betrayal through a 19-year-old character facing the same medical trauma she did and learning how to heal. The book is called I am the Cage.

It was almost 10 years ago that Chris Parker first came on 'Bookmarks'. Back then he'd just won Best Newcomer at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. It's safe to say he's no longer a newcomer. Since then, he's rarely been off our screens. He's featured regularly on 7 Days, Taskmaster NZ, appeared in films like Baby Done and The Breaker Uppers, and won the prestigious Fred Award for his stand-up. He's just kicked off his latest tour, 'Stop Being So Dramatic!', which still has 8 more stops around the country.

Gretchen Lowe's take on her mum's slow-roast classic uses a faster, high-heat method for crispier skin and a fresh, vibrant parsley stuffing to balance the richness.

It's a country known for its vibrant culture as well as its complex political history. But there's got to be more to it than vintage cars and cigars - what is it actually like to travel there?

The work of volunteers - valued at $6.4 billion a year - is being highlighted for Volunteer Week.

Morris Pita is the co-chair of Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust and speaks to Jesse about the honour.

It may seem unfair that some people can eat anything without putting on weight, get by on just a few hours sleep and age ever so gracefully. It's just biology and the science of adaptation says Dr Herman Pontzer, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. Dr Pontzer invites us to embrace human diversity and focus on how and why we differ as a way to better understand how our bodies work so we can all stay healthy. His new book is called Adaptable: How Your Unique Body Really Works and Why Our Biology Unites Us. He joins Jesse.

Our Australian correspondent brings us the latest news from across the ditch.

Claire Mabey joined Jesse to celebrate Maurice Gee's legacy and share her book recommendations. 1. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden 2. A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan 3. A Dim Prognosis by Ivor Popovich

Finding forever homes for former farming dogs is getting harder. Local charity 'Retired Working Dogs' has rehomed 18 thousand pups over the past ten years... but they have noticed a large decline in people able to adopt.

VerTech managing director Dan Watson joins Jesse to discuss the website Top Map which uses interactive topographic map of New Zealand, the benefits of touch screen capable work gloves and a bill by Act Party MP Laura McClure to protect New Zealanders from modern forms of digital abuse.

A Scottish curling club in Glasgow is credited for creating the first indoor bowling green in 1845. Fast forward, and the sport continues to flourish, in fact a growing number of young New Zealanders appear to be taking to the bowling green. The broad appeal of indoors bowls in this country was illustrated at the recent Indoor Bowling Nationals in Ashburton. The oldest champion was Bernard Bennett who attended his first nationals in 1955 and was a member of this year's winning Masters Triples team aged 91. The youngest champion crowned was 24-year-old Matthew Farquhar. Matthew joins Jesse.

Aotearoa will soon have a big decision to make - and on an issue where emotions run high. Governments around the world are weighing up whether to allow mining of the ocean floor for metal ores and minerals, and that includes New Zealand. Senior Lecturer in Law at Auckland University of Technology Myra Williamson believes seabed mining could become one of the defining environmental battles of 2025. She joins Jesse to discuss the issue.

Genius is in the eye of the beholder. You can tell what a society values by who it calls a genius says Helen Lewis, acclaimed Atlantic staff writer and podcast host for the BBC. Too often the title has served as a tool to legitimize eccentric and harmful behavior that would otherwise be condemned. Lewis challenges ideas about creativity and innovation and who gets credit for inventions that might just be inevitable in her book, The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Breakers.

Jessica Halliday is an architectural historian and director of Te Putahi Centre for Architecture and City Making. She also launched the Open Christchurch festival, to showcase that cities exceptional architecture. She joins Jesse to talk about architectural and answer listeners questions.

Jesse rings a random information centre across the motu to find the best things about their region.

TV reviewer Dom Corry joins Jesse to look at some recommendations. 

The menu has been reimagined through the contemporary lens that head chef Max Gordy has become known for. He spoke to Jesse.

Associate Professor Laura Revell spoke to Jesse about the research.

Critter of the week is the New Zealand Backswimmer! This week's critter is a common inhabitant of ponds. You may have seen them before, swimming under the surface upside down! The New Zealand backswimmer is cute little bug shaped like a boat with oars for legs. They are voracious predators, eating anything they can get their straw like mouthpart in to suck up the juicy insides. Males will court females by singing to them, using a special part of the foreleg which they drag on a part of their mouth to create a chirping noise. How romantic!

Gardening guru Lynda Hallinan brings along some tips for being outdoors this weekend.

Alice Taylor is a trained pastry chef & former Masterchef contestant. She shares her Nana's recipe for Fijian Chicken Curry.

Our film regular Dom Corry reviews Australian shark and serial killer thriller Dangerous Animals, romantic drama Materialists starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, and live action remake How to Train Your Dragon, all three of which are new in theatres this week.

Each week, we ask you the listeners to tell us about your strange, unexplainable, and coincidental experiences. 2101 is the text number if you have a story of your own, or if it requires a bit more detail you can email afternoons@rnz.co.nz. Today stand-up host Perlina Lau speaks to John who has a friend that relayed a strange night in the Otago town of Saint Bathans.

Who knew that the world's only artificial gut manufacturer was based in Auckland? When we found out, we just had to learn more. Garth Sutherland is CEO at The Insides Company and tells Perlina Lau all about prosthetic intestines.

Daniel Rankin runs one of New Zealand's most successful baking Instagram pages - Man Can Cook. He takes an Only Fans approach...Mixing recipes with shirtess photos, pouring stuff over his abs, and cute photos of his pug Fraser. And for the next month he's bringing those skills to the Starship Hospital's Big Bakeoff. Daniel speaks to Perlina.

Sixteen-year-old Tyler Parkinson was always going to be a firefighter. Throughout his childhood, Tyler would spend time admiring his firefighter parents Nicole and Tony and their colleagues at Taradale Fire Station in Napier. Since qualifying in March, year 12-student Tyler has already attended to emergencies with his parents. Tyler and Nicole Parkinson speak to Perlina Lau.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence has gone from strength to strength. We are now at the point where it is threatening to displace whole occupations and take over many tasks from humans. But how did we get to this point? Today, Jesse and Grant discuss the history of AI.

It's another instalment of Solving the World's Problems, where Dave Armstrong gives their reckons on the issues of the day in today's edition.

New Zealand rugby lost another great this week with Stu Wilson dying at the age of 70. For most of his career, Stu served as a winger, playing 85 games for the All Blacks and almost 200 for Wellington. He scored 19 test tries in that time. Off the field he was known for his colourful sense of humour and was later praised for his match commentary. Following his death, Stu's one-time teammate Murray Mexted said he "lived life with a smile on his face". Sports journalist and broadcaster Phil Gifford joins Jesse to look back at Stu Wilson's career.

RNZ newsreader reviews Lost Boys and Bush Deep!

Rather than being cognitive extensions of our minds, our smartphones are parasites devices designed to steal our, money and data - says a team of Australian philosophers. A recent paper in the Australasian Journal of Philosophy argues smartphones pose unique societal risks to humanity - all while benefiting technology companies and advertisers. Rachael Brown Director is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Australian National University. She co-authored the research and says when viewed through the lens of evolution, our phones aren't much different to head lice, ticks, fleas and tapeworms.

South Westland Salmon Farm on State Highway 6 is surrounded by mountains, rivers and valleys. Whoever buys the farm from the Monk family will get an off-the-shelf salmon farm business complete with cafe with a commercial kitchen, gift shop and office space. The current owner is Ben Monk and he joins Jesse.

Yesterday morning, the National Library of New Zealand began the process of destroying half a million books and says they're going to be shredded and fed back into the recycling system. The library claims they've been trying to re-home them since 2018, that there's no demand, and that most haven't been requested in decades. Book dealer and Hard To Find Books owner Warwick Jordan disputes this. There is a demand, he says. In fact, he wants them himself, and says he's already made several offers. Warwick Jordan and National Library director of content services Mark Crookston speak to Jesse.

Late last year an unprecedented number of green sea turtles, or honu, washed up on New Zealand's coastline. Many were nursed back to health and released back into the wild – and some were returned carrying special hardware that could help change the way we care for these ocean taonga On Our Changing World today, Liz Garton meets with the people behind the project…

Revenge is front and center in American politics as the world witnesses the bitter break up of Elon Musk and US President Trump. Revenge is an addiction says Dr. James Kimmel Jr who knows the impulse to get your own back having spent 20 years in what he calls the business of revenge as a lawyer. Now as a professor in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, he studies revenge and his new book The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World's Deadliest Addiction and How to Overcome It is out now. James Kimmel Jr speaks to Jesse.