RNZ: Saturday Morning

Mihingarangi reports live from the Northcote Saturday Market and sampling the best festive foods on offer.

Whatever Christmas means to you, there is no doubt that the way we celebrate it looks very different to the way it was celebrated a generation or two ago. 

Mihingarangi reports live from the Northcote Saturday Market where they are using recycled materials to build a miniature town centre. 

Chanelle Moriah is a neurodivergent author and illustrator whose latest workbook, I Am Dyslexic, lays out what it's like to live with dyslexia. 

Looking for a good book to get stuck into these summer holidays? Claire Mabey shares her reckons for kids, teens and adult readers. 

Nikki Moss is the founder of Womenzshed in Auckland, which runs workshops for women who want to learn how to use the tools needed to get the DIY done. 

A Different View is a new exhibition coming to Wellington fusing centuries old art with new tech to show off over 50 masterpieces.

One future solution to the shortage of care workers is the use of care robots - robots with the ability to perform everyday personal and household tasks. 

On Thursday the latest GDP numbers gave cause for cautious optimism. 

Spreadsheets are some people's idea of organisational heaven. For others they are hell. But who knew spreadsheeting is a competitive e-sport? 

Two high profile resignations in two days hit the world of sport this week. 

Christmas budgets will again be stretched this year as the high cost of living continues to be a concern for many. 

As many people head off to the beaches for summer, a group from a far north hapū are trying to educate those who drive on the beach and in the dunes. 

President Trump has ordered the suspension of the green card lottery, which allows up to 50 thousand people into the US through a random selection process. 

With the festive season in full swing, the government is proposing to allow restaurants with on-site retail spaces to sell take-home booze. 

Rob Thorne is an internationally renowned Māori taonga pūoro musician and anthropologist, at the forefront of the revival of traditional Māori instruments. 

Vasanti Unka is an award-winning writer, designer and illustrator, her newest children's book PukaPuka is a celebration of reading and the role library's play in our communities. Vasanti was also awarded the Arts Foundation Mallinson Rendel Laureate Award for Illustration in 2021. She speaks to Mihi Forbes about her journey into the world of children's books, South Asian voices becoming part of New Zealand's landscape, and the importance of libraries for the young.

Chef Del Holland is back to show us how to whip up something impressive, without breaking the bank this Christmas. 

Locals claim K'Rd's Malaysian Restaurant, Sri Penang is the best Malaysian food spot in Auckland but owner Ange Siew and her chef husband Kun are calling it a day.

The founder of storytelling platform Nuku has published a book to normalise discussion around a young woman's first menstrual cycle. 

At 50, Katherine Leamy packed her bag and headed off on a big international trip with nothing more than a backpack weighing 5 kgs. 

They're especially useful for communicating with people who've lost the ability to speak or move their body. At the extreme, one brain-computer interface prototype can decipher imagined sentences, and comes with password protection to avoid revealing private thoughts. To understand more, Mihi is joined by University of Auckland Professor of Psychology Anthony Lambert.

We all love to receive gifts - especially at this time of the year - but there is joy to be had in giving too. And the latest results from a study of over 200 children suggests that that joy can be experienced from a very young age. Professor Annette Henderson, director of the Early Learning Lab at Auckland University joins Mihingarangi to explain what this can mean for children and their parents.

Aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford Smith's plane disappeared on a flight from England to Australia. What happened has remained a mystery – until now. 

Wellington is playing host to the stars of Tinseltown, with the third Avatar movie Fire and Ash having its Australasian premiere there tonight. 

The southern hemisphere has had no shortage of aviation pioneers. In New Zealand we celebrate the exploits of Richard Pearse and Jean Batten while Australia has Sir Charles Kingsford Smith - the first person to pilot a flight between our two countries. This year marks the 90th anniversary of Kingsford Smith's disappearance on a flight from England to Australia. While some wreckage later washed up near Burma, now known as Myanmar, what happened to Kingsford-Smith and his co-pilot has remained a mystery - until now. Award-winning Australian film maker Damien Lay spent over twenty years scouting for wreckage and presents his account of why and how their plane, The Lady Southern Cross went down, in his book Of Air and Men. He talks to Susie Ferguson about his mission to uncover the truth.

At 97, Maureen Maclean is one of several seniors to sign up for a 31-day New Year yoga challenge at their local studio in Hamilton. 

Investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr's recent TED talk This is What A Digital Coup Looks Like is the most viewed of the year. 

Twelve-year-old golfer, Javier Rogers-Pou is a Kaikohe kid with his eye set on the prestigious Masters Tournament. 

In the United States, San Francisco's City Attorney is suing 10 major food manufacturers over what's known as Ultra-processed Foods, or UFPs. 

This week the government announced significant changes to the Resource Management Act. 

Experts are warning there could be further drownings at notorious black spots this summer. 

This week Syrians took to the streets to mark the one-year anniversary since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. 

The NZ Bravery Awards were announced this morning. Among the recipients, Detective Sergeant Heath Jones, for his actions during Cyclone Gabrielle. 

Christmas is fast approaching, and if you're looking for a gift for the gardeners in your life, Hannah Zwartz might just have the answers. 

Many of our beloved feline pets love a good, long, lazy snooze. But there are quite a few across the country who have jobs, which they take pretty seriously. 

The History of Sound is the award-winning book by Ben Shattuck, set to hit the big screen this month with its highly anticipated film adaptation. 

For many, conversations about menopause and its effects are difficult, perhaps none more so than with your boss. But now a new guide for employers aims to make employees feel more supported. 

The ring of fire is more than just a Johnny Cash song, and it affects us here in the Pacific. But what is the Pacific Ring of Fire and what drives it? 

Turning her caustic gaze to the moral delima of reporting on someone else's misery, is journalist and writer Phoebe Greenwood. 

The award for Best Film at the New Zealand Screen Awards went to a small Maori film company, whose historical account of the battle of Orakau took the prize in a pool of audience favourites. The movie, Ka Whawhai Tonu, set inside a fighting pa, tells the story of the last stand in the Waikato war told in te reo Maori, using multiple dialects to represent the different iwi and hapu who came to fight the Crown. Ka Whawhai Tonu producer Piripi Curtis speaks with Mihi Forbes.

Acclaimed British author and ancient Rome nerd Elodie Harper has turned her attention to Boudicca and her daughters in her latest novel.