RNZ: Nights

Music curator at the Alexander Turnbull Library Michael Brown undertakes a thorough study in his new book Eyeliner's Buy Now. 

Dr Chris Ogden, director of Global Studies at the University of Auckland, joins Emile Donovan to explain the ratcheting tensions between India and Pakistan.

We welcome back a friend of Nights, Professor Bryan Fry, aka Venom Doc because of his passion for studying venomous creatures.

Dr Liz Allen is a demographer from Australian National University in Canberra and she speaks to Emile Donovan.

As part of a world-wide celebration marking the achievement of the first person to cycle around the world on a Penny Farthing, Don Speden cycled 110 kilometres from his home - and back!

A new book from one of New Zealand's most celebrated social historians looks at the ideas that built our nation - and concludes that neither Maori nor Europeans remained unchanged following their earliest interactions. 

Is there a mathematical formula? Is someone walking every track and reporting back how long it takes? We pull back the curtain on DOC signage.

To celebrate four decades of cinematic survival, Alice in Videoland, now known as Alice Cinemas and Film Specialists, are throwing a month-long movie party.

We cross over to our friends at the BBC to take a look at some of the events making headlines internationally, including the Pope selection process underway, a crucial vote in the German Parliament, and the possibility of a ceasefire in Russia's war against Ukraine.

New Zealand's Chief Censor, Caroline Flora, says the self-rating system is working well, and that rating content is more important than ever.

Professor of human nutrition Michael Zimmermann from the University of Oxford joins Emile Donovan to demystify the world's most common micronutrient deficiency, affecting up to one in four people globally.

For New Zealand Music Month, Emile Donovan speaks to legendary musician and producer Dame Hinewehi Mohi.

One wedding planner has said the average cost of getting hitched in New Zealand is $87,000. But Fallon Broadley says in her experience, it's closer to $40,000, and there are secrets to cutting costs.

Featuring new music from Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist Paul Cathro, American rock band Model/Actriz and experimental jazz collective Neptunian Maximalism.

The Guardian Australia reporter Nino Bucci joins Emile Donovan to recap the first week of the trial of Erin Patterson, who is accused of murdering members of her extended family by mushroom poisoning.

Nights' resident screen critic reviews some selections from the Italian Film Festival touring New Zealand from now until January, Japanese action-thriller Bullet Train Explosion (2025) streaming on Netflix, and Local Hero (1983) streaming on Tubi.

Tonight we're heading to Waiuku where Nelson man Phil has headed every year for the start of duck shooting season.

NZCTU president Richard Wagstaff joins Emile Donovan to share the history of May Day, a historic workers' rights commemoration, after 5,000 salaried medical professionals striked for 24-hours today.

Newsroom.co.nz national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva joins Emile Donovan to explain why rare earth minerals have become such a valuable and strategic asset in foreign affairs.

Emile Donovan crosses to the MetService for an updated forecast for Friday and the weekend.

Mayor Sam Broughton joins Emile Donovan for an update after a day of serious flooding and home evacuations in the Selwyn District.

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the Welsh club Wrexham four years ago. They're expected to tour to Wellington mid-2025.

Nick James joins Emile Donovan from the capital where MetService have warned of a threat to life from flying items and falling trees.

Financial journalist and host of the podcast Making Cents Frances Cook joins Emile Donovan to go over what kids need to be learning about money - and what she wishes she had been taught when she was in school.

Rachel Graham gives Emile Donovan the latest news on the severe weather in Christchurch after the city declared a state of emergency earlier this evening.

New Zealand is not the wealthiest country in the world. But it has one of the top-performing sovereign wealth funds anywhere. Chief economist for the NZ Super Fund, Mike Frith, joins Emile Donovan.

The case was brought into the spotlight by the RNZ and Stuff podcast Gone Fishing back in 2018. Co-host Adam Dudding reflects on the impact it's had on the case's outcome.

Two Australian cookbook authors are in a dispute over claimed plagiarism of recipes for caramel slice and baklava. RNZ cookbook editor Kathy Paterson weighs in.

The annual Vegan Chocolate Awards took place last night in Auckland, inviting chocolatiers from across the country to duke it out to see who can craft the best tasting chocolate without using a single drop of dairy milk. Comedian and Judge Tom Sainsbury joins Emile.

Amid tensions with their southern neighbors, Canadians have voted to return the Liberals to govern. Ashleigh Stewart discusses where to from here.

Andrea Vance joins Nights to discuss Tory Whanau's mayoralty and the challenges that face Wellington City in the upcoming local council elections.

Caroline Girdlestone speaks with Emile Donovan on what it takes to train animals for the big screen.

Since being recovered from the Stockholm Harbour in 1961, Vasa has garnered over a million visitors annually. And recently, a four-year project to preserve the hull of the ship was announced. Emile is joined by Director of Research at the Vasa Museum, Doctor Fred Hocker.

An amateur rocket, Meraki 2, launched from the grounds of Canterbury reaching space earlier in April. Its voyage marks many firsts including the first amateur rocket in the country to reach space. Dean Spittle from the NZ Rocketry Association recounts what it was like to see its launch.

We cross over to our friends at the BBC to take a look at some of the events making headlines internationally.

Bryan Waddle joins Nights to talk sport.

Emile Donovan talks to Dr Delia Baskerville, an Honorary Research Associate at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Education and an expert in the area of truancy. 

University of Auckland PhD students Robin Milward Cooney and Arne Bruns join Emile Donovan.

Chef Joe McLeod (Ngāi Tūhoe)  joins Emile Donovan to share a whakataukī-a Māori proverb-that's meaningful to him.

Chief Warrant Officer Andres Navarro from the Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band joins Emile Donovan.

He's back, and no doubt ready to inform, educate and entertain us with an array of eclectic music.

Jock began working on war memorials in the 1980s and has been fascinated by the subject ever since. On the eve of Anzac Day, he joins Emile Donovan.