RNZ: Saturday Morning

Literary festival director and music aficionado Kiran Dass plays some favourite tunes and shares what it's like running WORD Christchurch.

A group from the Lake Ōmāpere Trust in the Far North led by 93-year-old kuia Ani Martin, will present their plan for restoring its ecological health at the World Lake Conference.  

Auckland is known for its volcanic cones - and while an eruption is very unlikely to happen, the volcanic field is technically still active.

Three deaf couples navigate love, parenting, and identity in the deeply personal documentary A Quiet Love - their stories all told in Irish Sign Language. 

Space may be the final frontier, but it is also an increasingly viable one for New Zealand as our scientists partner with NASA to engage in mutually beneficial research. 

"Can you ever really know your kids?" That's the question at the heart of Sameer Pandya's new novel Our Beautiful Boys. 

Chicago is coming to Auckland with its celebrity cocktail of murder, media and music. 

Excavators have begun work at St. Mary's Mother-and-Baby Home in Tuam where unmarried pregnant women were sent to give birth from 1925 to 1961. 

Emojis are the world's newest language - but where did they come from, where are they going, and what do they mean? 

Tauranga based Trimax Mowing Systems is Exporter of the Year for the Bay of Plenty. Their designs are used on PGA golf courses and even at Windsor Castle!

It's Wills Week and a Taupo mum and her 13-year-old son have created a list of wishes to help families have those difficult conversations before it's too late.

One of New Zealand's oldest European artifacts, an anchor from a French ship, has been found in Doubtless Bay. Its captain's actions are another story.

A week on from last week's devastating storm and locals in Nelson Tasman are still cleaning up and beginning to count the cost. 

 On the ground in Gaza, Médecins Sans Frontières - Doctors Without Borders, describes the situation as "human carnage".

Education Minister Erica Stanford has said after years of government flip-flops it will now only build single-cell classrooms. 

Nowadays the word Diva likely conjures up someone who's difficult to work with; but the term was traditionally used to describe renowned and celebrated performers. Women who were fabulous both on and off the stage. Auckland Museum's DIVA exhibition, explores some of the world's best-known divas; from opera goddesses and silent movie stars to Hollywood legends and today's global megastars. Performers who have shaped culture, challenged norms, and captivated audiences worldwide.

There's no better time than the weekend to dig into a good book. Kate de Goldi is a novelist, children's writer, Arts Foundation Laureate, and the recently announced Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador. Kate shares what her new role entails as well as the latest books she's loved. This week she's read: Under a Fire-Red Sky by Geraldine McCaughrean; Homework by Geoff Dyer; and Broadsword Calling Danny Boy by Geoff Dyer.

International bestselling author for middle-grade readers Stacy Gregg's latest book The Last Journey was inspired by the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods.

Dr Ian Schipper has combined state of the art tools with a traditional double-hulled waka to reach remote and under-studied active volcanoes. 

Toitu Toiora was the landmark exhibition held at the Auckland Art Gallery in 2020. It endured a number of obstacles before opening night, including Covid 19 and the public resignation of its Maori curator, Nigel Borrell. The exhibition is a major survey of contemporary Maori art from the 1950s to the present day and is the largest exhibition the Auckland Art Gallery has ever undertaken. It featured over 300 artworks by 110 Maori artists; the idea was to introduce the audience to new ways of approaching and engaging with Maori art. Award winning producer and director Chelsea Winstanley returned home from Hollywood to make a behind-the-scenes documentary and found herself at the centre of modern day stand for sovereignty. The result is TOITU Visual Sovereignty, is showing at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

John Burke and his family have taken what was considered the most environmentally degraded farm in the Western Bay of Plenty and turned it into an award-winning environmental farm. 

The life and literary legacy of Aotearoa's internationally acclaimed writer Dame Fiona Kidman has been captured in the documentary: The House Within. 

Fatal Watch is an investigation into the global trade in tuna and the deaths of several fisheries observers who were monitoring illegal fishing. 

At the height of her cricket career, White Fern Amelia Kerr called time out and opened up about her struggles with mental health. 

It's finals weekend at Wimbledon. Sports broadcaster Michael Weadlock joins Paddy Gower from London with his predictions and to discuss the big upset of the week in Formula 1.

Toxic fungus has been in the headlines this week - Australian woman Erin Patterson was found guilty of murdering her three in-laws by poisoning them with death cap mushrooms. But there's a toxic fungus that researchers have been able to use to fight cancer. The same mould that has been linked to deaths, in the excavations of ancient tombs - has the capability of fighting leukemia cells. Dr Sherry Gao, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes about the significance of this discovery.

The second phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand's Covid-19 response, got underway this week in Auckland. The first phase was last year when Commissioners concluded that vaccine mandates were "reasonable" but were applied "more broadly than envisaged". RNZ reporter Victor Waters speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes about what came out of this week's discussions which focused on Auckland and Northland.

More than 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora have voted to strike for 24 hours. The Nurses Organisation says the strike is due to Health NZ's failure to address safe staffing concerns. Health NZ is offering a 3 percent pay rise over two years, plus two payments of $325. But the union said the agency was refusing to provide safe staffing levels in its latest contract offer. NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter talks to Paddy Gower about what it would take to resolve their concerns.

Overnight Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian drone attack has hit a maternity hospital in the city of Kharkiv, injuring several women. The UN's Human-Rights-Monitoring-Mission in Ukraine says June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed. It comes against the backdrop of some landmark court rulings against Russia and increasing concern Ukraine will be split-up under a future peace plan. Vitaly Shevchenko, the BBC's expert on Russia and Ukraine, joins Mihingarangi Forbes from London.

Oscar Shiviti talks to Paddy Gower about the Nelson Tasman forecast for the rest of the weekend and what other parts of the country can expect.

A state of emergency remains in place in Nelson Tasman after more heavy rain. RNZ's Mary Argue is on the ground in Riwaka just outside of Nelson and she talks to Mihingarangi Forbes about how locals are coping in the face of more evacuations.

Private chef Hercules Noble is the man behind the 'Will it Sourdough' series where he takes a random dish and sees if he can transform it into a loaf of sourdough. Think tiramisu, carbonara, or earl grey tea flavoured loaves. He shares his sourdough secrets with Paddy Gower and Mihi Forbes.

After a major garden renovation at home, NZ Gardener editor Jo McCarroll decided to make the bottom of her section a no mow area. She answers listener questions about switching up lawns. 

Running an orphanage and an ambulance service is no easy feat, but when you're also right next to a civil war, there are a lot more complications. Catherine Riley-Bryan is a New Zealander and founder of Bamboo School, located in a village called Bong Ti in western Thailand, right next to the Myanmar border.

Human sensory systems are almost as good as they can get, but memory is pretty fallible. We often misremember or downright can't remember. Ours can't hold a candle to artificial memory. But, there are plus sides to this, related to creativity, as explained by Auckland University Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Anthony Lambert.

The 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory to investigate both traditional Aboriginal life and the tropical environment, was at the time the biggest scientific expedition in history. Despite this, it's largely been forgotten, until now. In his new book, 'Clever Men' award-winning historian and documentary filmmaker, Martin Thomas uncovers the secrets, scandals and unlikely achievements that unfolded as the worlds of scientific hubris and the world's oldest surviving cultures collided.

Set in one of the harshest corners of Earth, a new documentary follows three women from different generations as they explore a hidden world underneath the Antarctic sea ice. Director Vanessa Wells and expedition leader Dr Natalie Robinson join Mihi.

The world's most prestigious international magic convention, known as FISM, is set to take place in Italy later this month. Basically, it's the Olympics for magicians. Canadian Chris Ramsay is one of the presenters this year, he's a world-renowned magician, YouTuber, and puzzle creator.

The Wellington Tattoo Convention is taking place this weekend at the Old Dominion Building in Wellington. There are 120 tattoo artists from all around the motu.

There's a massive weekend of rugby ahead with the All Blacks' first international of the year - playing France at Dunedin at the Forsyth Barr stadium. And it's already a bit controversial with France deciding NOT to send its top tier players. Also today - the Maori All Blacks are playing against Scotland in Whangarei - marking 25 years since the two sides last met AND the Black Ferns have one of their last games here before the World Cup. We're joined by RNZ Sport's Joe Porter

We may think of rubbish as something to throw away, burn or bury - but what if we could turn waste into fragrance, food flavouring or medicine? Well, Professor Stephen Wallace from the University of Edinburgh and his research team has been able to do just that. They've just published a new study into genetically programming bacteria such as E-Coli to turn plastic bottles into paracetamol.

This week notable New Zealand poet and academic, Selina Tusitala Marsh has been named as the very first Commonwealth Poet Laureate. The position will involve Marsh crafting original poems for flagship events like the Commonwealth People's Forum and Ministerial and Heads of Government Meetings. It's already turning out to a very big year for Selina, who was awarded the Katherine Mansfield Residency in Menton in the South of France.