RNZ: Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan

The only bear in New Zealand lives at Wellington Zoo. Her name is Sasa and she's not a panda, brown, or polar bear, but the smallest of the eight bear species: a Sun Bear.

Let's talk about gardening now, our green thumbed guru Lynda Hallinan is with me to share some seasonal tips and tricks.

Let's talk food now because Connie Clarkson, the manager of Auckland Council's The Kitchen Project is with me, with a great sounding duck breast recipe.

Afternoons film critic Kate Rodger joins Jesse to review Ryan Gosling's latest offering Project Hail Mary and to preview the Oscars.

One of our favourite comedians Chris Parker has just announced his latest tour, "Take a Good Hard Look at Me" Jesse gets the inside word about what to expect.

It's time for Freaky Friday, your home for spooky stories and eerie coincidences, if you have an experience to share or maybe you have a scary campfire story that you tell so well it belongs on the radio get in touch on 2101 or email me at jesse@rnz.co.nz and one of the Afternoons team might give you a call. Today we're speaking to Jack about a couple of his ghostly encounters.

Tomorrow is a big day for the capital, with the grand opening of the new Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library. The central library was one of Wellington's most beloved public spaces until structural concerns forced its closure in 2019.

Earlier this week we saw a headline that piqued our interest, it said New Zealand is losing faith in the internet. The Newsroom article is based on a survey by InternetNZ which showed that one in five of us don't see the internet as a "net positive" for society. Here to talk us through what's driving those statistics and what else the survey revealed, Newsroom reporter Fox Myer joins me.

Animaia Payne has won major squash titles including the Oceania Junior Championships, the New Zealand Juniors, and a gold medal at the Aims Games.

Last night SYOS Aerospace won Business of The Year at the Tauranga Business awards, recognised for its "rapid growth and global relevance".

The world can be a scary place for kids, especially when it comes to recent global events. Sometimes it feels like watching the news should almost come with a warning. So as parents and caregivers, should we be trying to shield our kids from following these events or is it important they do know what's going on? For advice on this, Jesse is joined by neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis.

As British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once said, a week is a long time in politics, and that's a sentiment that will no doubt be resonating with Prime Minster Christopher Luxon right now. Whether he will, or won't, stay on until the election in November might be up for debate, but the history of changing leaders in midterm is not, Dr Grant Morris joins Jesse with his insights.

This is our regular segment where we like to solve some problems, this week Dave Armstrong joins Jesse to discuss some Wellington woes.

Time for A-Z of Aotearoa, and we've finally made it to the tricky end of the alphabet! Today we're taking on Q for Queenstown. Queenstown - known for its dramatic alpine scenery - sits nestles on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. It hosts a population of around 50,000 permanent residents, supplemented with - literally - millions of tourists It's one of New Zealand's luxury destinations, but it hasn't always been that way. We chat to locals and historians.

It's time for group chat with Kate Rodger, Culture 101's Perlina Lau and Afternoons' Senior Producer Olivia Wilson. This is our regular segment where we discuss the stories that won't lead news bulletins but will fill up your social media feed.

When a natural disaster strikes and the relevant council deems a building unsafe, those buildings often sit dormant for a long time, and in many cases, later get completely demolished. But is that the best use of these structures? Auckland University's Architecture department decided to investigate and has been looking into turning houses wrecked by cyclones into a sustainable resource. Associate Professor of Architecture Mike Davis chats to Jesse.

It's a landmark day at Auckland University, and "landmark" is a fitting word as they're celebrating the centenary of their iconic ClockTower. The tower is now registered as a Category 1 historic place. It's been the backdrop for all the balls, graduations, cap-tossings, and now its history is featured in an exhibition. It's called 'Standing tall: a century of the ClockTower', and it's running now at the university library until late June. William Hamill is Team Leader of He Mara Mahara Cultural Collections at the University of Auckland.

Women in Film and Television New Zealand - also known as WIFT- is a not-for-profit organisation that now has over 1300 members. Its purpose is to celebrate and support women working in film and television in New Zealand. Tonight the WIFT NZ Awards are taking place, here to talk us through the finalists is the chair of the judging panel Jill McNab.

With no end in sight for the Middle East conflict, more and more conversations are turning to oil supplies. While our leaders have been quick to reassure New Zealanders that there is no need to worry about supplies running out, surely it would be prudent to consider what steps can be taken should we need to? As many of you will remember carless days were in a thing in the late 1970s but what else can we do to make sure we keep the country running? Dr Matt Boyd is an independent researcher in global catastrophic risk and one of the brains behind the Aotearoa New Zealand Catastrophe Resilience Project.

Dopamine is known as the brain's "happiness chemical". It's what we blame when we eat a whole bag of chips, a block of chocolate or doomscroll on social media, but that's not quite right

This week author Josie Shapiro joins Jesse. Her bestselling and much-loved debut novel 'Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts' won the inaugural Allen & Unwin Commercial Fiction Prize, she followed it up with her novel 'Good Things Come and Go' last November which has had fans and critics raving. Josie will be taking part in two events at the Auckland Writers Festival in May.

Kelly Gibney shares some Easy Eats with us, this week it is hoisin beef with broccoli sesame rice. Beef mince is a crowd-pleasing, economical protein and it becomes a very tasty and quick weeknight meal here.

Time for Heading Off, this is our chance to share in your travel adventures without leaving the house. Today we join Tess Woolcock on her trip to Mexico.

There's been plenty of commentary around a Bill that's before Parliament which seeks to make English an official language of New Zealand. It's part of a coalition deal with National and New Zealand First, putting English alongside Maori and Sign Language. That got us thinking about "official" languages and how they get such status, for more on this Dr Andreea Calude joins Jesse.

The programme for the 2026 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tamaki has just dropped, and it's looking to be a star-studded line-up for book lovers. The programme is compiled by artistic director Lyndsey Fineran, who joins Jesse.

You might recall that this time last year we spoke to someone from Wellington's South Coast whose house had been inundated by 100s of Portuguese millipedes; in the bathtub, climbing the walls, even in bed! To give us the latest we're joined by Victoria University pest control expert Professor Phil Lester.

How much petrol, diesel and jet fuel we have in the country depends on who you talk to it seems and whether it includes so called "stock on the water" which are supplies that have been shipped but haven't arrived yet. To try to answer that question Jesse is joined by Richard Edwards, a motoring journalist and managing editor of EVs & Beyond.

Most of us agree that it takes a village to raise a child, but that village should keep going way past childhood says Gillian Morris. The style of living that goes beyond the nuclear family, is called going supernuclear. For more than 10 years, Morris has lived with other people in a form of communal housing. Right now, she and her friends co-own a set of four apartments in Puerto Rico. She's the co-author of the Substack online publication, Supernuclear. It provides a guide to people who want modern living to be a little more old fashioned with a return to multigenerational homes and living with other people rather than living alone. Gillan Morris joins Jesse.

Every Tuesday we present an issue and get your thoughts on how to resolve it. This week we're looking at friends and what lengths people should take to keep a friendship alive. Let us know your thoughts on 2101.

Afternoons Podcast Critic Jemima Huston joins Jesse to share what she's been listening to. Sick to Death by The Australian The Birth Keepers by The Guardian

If any pop group in history had the knack for making a hit, it was ABBA. In less than 10 years, they had 25 top 40 hits in the UK, and 9 number-ones. This year marks the 50th anniversary of their album 'Arrival', their highest regarded album. To take us through it all is the one and only Lou'ana.

Catherine Ross is the Director of Library at Auckland Grammar School and she always has great picks to share for younger readers. Here is her list today: For Ages 10+ Dr Zeus By James Patterson (co-authored by middle grade author Chris Tebbetts) Published in January 2026 For Ages 11/12+ The Experiment By Rebecca Stead Published in September 2025 For Ages 13+ No Escape By M.A. Bennett Published in September 2025 For Ages 14+ Gone for Good Sarah Crossan (verse novel) Published in February 2026

It's time for Mayoral minutes, our new segment where we speak with a local mayor about the challenges they're facing, how they're working to solve them and what makes their community special. Today we're heading to the Central Otago District where Mayor Tamah Alley joins Jesse.

The heyday of disco will make its long-awaited return to New Zealand when 'Boney M Featuring Maizie Williams' arrives next month. Maizie was an original member of Boney M, a band that helped define the disco-era and sold over 150 million records in the process. She chats to Jesse.

A new report analysing more than 6,000 charitable grants in Canterbury has found a significant gap between what funders say they prioritise and where their money actually goes. The research by Fundsorter shows some causes receive only a fraction of the funding promised. To explain further Co-founder and Chief Executive of Fundsorter Lani Evans joins Jesse.

Across the March and April school holidays, a theatre production called 'Swimming with Sharks' will be running at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The show is a collaboration with renowned puppet theatre company 'Erth', artistic director and shark puppet master Scott Wright is with Jesse.

Wastewater analysis from PHF Science shows the number of cases are currently at the highest rate for more than six months. It's been six years since New Zealand saw the rise of Covid-19, but experts suggest the country's collective immunity is waning. So, why are cases increasing and what can be done to reduce the risk? To answer these and other questions Jesse is joined by University of Auckland Associate Professor and Vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris

To find out what is says, and what we can learn from NZ's response, Professor Marc Wilson from Victoria University's school of Psychology chats to Jesse.

Nuclear energy is having a moment. There are influencers on social media and platforms like YouTube explaining why they think nuclear energy is better than burning fossil fuels. Nuclear-free New Zealand, meet nuclear influencer Kyle Hill. He's a science educator with nearly three million subscribers on YouTube. His videos don't just explain nuclear energy, which he calls spicy rocks making steam. But his most popular content centers on his trips to nuclear power plants, as well as disaster sites like Fukushima and Chernobyl. He was also a social media ambassador for the Dogs of Chernobyl that live in the radioactive zone. He says his goal is to get people to look at the science of nuclear power and nuclear waste before deciding whether it's good or bad.

TV Producer and Afternoons TV Critic Philippa Rennie joins Jesse to review the following: Riot Women (TVNZ+) Being Gordon Ramsay (Netflix)

It's time for our expert feature, and today we're taking a closer look at cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic procedures are growing in popularity here in NZ, lower costs, easier access, the influence of social media, and less stigma around having work done are all factors contributing to the rise. Dr Zachary Moaveni joins me for the next 30 minutes, he's an expert in both aesthetic and reconstructive surgery, specialising in facial procedures Dr Moaveni runs a private practice in Remuera and is also a consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at Middlemore and Starship Hospitals So please get your questions in for Doctor Moaveni, text us on 2101 or email jesse@rnz.co.nz

Every Monday Jesse hits the clubs. If you've got a club we need to know about, be that a Jigsaw puzzle club, pug club, or stamp society get in touch. Jesse@rnz.co.nz on the email or text 2101. Today Mike Wilson joins us from the Pre-Vintage Car Club.