RNZ: Saturday Morning

It's day two of auditions at the New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards in Gore. Jenny Mitchell won the senior competition in 2017. She's back this year as both a showcase performer and volunteer helping out on stage - because that's just what you do! A highlight of the Tussock Country festival, Gold Guitars launched her country music career - one that has taken her to Tamworth and Nashville. Now based in Melbourne, Jenny was mentored by Dame Jools Topp who sadly passed away earlier this week. Jenny talks to Susie about her audition picks so far and how Jools shaped her as both a musician and a person.

Poet, performer and award-winning author, Tusiata Avia has forged her own path as a Pasifika voice on themes like racism and identity delivered with humour, honesty and courage. The 2026 International Institute of Modern Letters Writer in Residence for the Academy of New Zealand Literature, her latest work is called Giving Birth to My Father. A collection of poems, it is an exploration and expression of grief and acceptance. She speaks to Susie about loss, life - and getting into trouble.

Our regular gardening expert Hannah Zwartz is back with more advice for the green and not so green fingered amongst us! Today she talks to Susie about why we prune in June and she has her top tips for planting - size, spacing and why sprinkling seed is a good alternative to mulch.

Being ordinary or doing ordinary things isn't usually something people aspire to - but Dr Nadine Levy says we should. 

Sam Cox turned his obsession with doodling into a global art sensation. But at one point he believed he really was his alter ego, Mr Doodle.

Most of us have a song at some time or another we just can't get out of our head. It's called an earworm - and you can get rid of them!   

After decades of conflict, it's hard to imagine a peaceful Middle East. But Maoz Inon, an Israeli and Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian believe it is possible. 

Concerned that their dairy farm was both financially and environmentally unsustainable, the Hogg family decided to return to their organic roots. Sam Hogg led the farm's conversion to permaculture - and increased their profits by a staggering 500%. He talks to Susie Ferguson about how he did it!

Would you date an artificial intelligence companion? James Muldoon did. 

The Doubtful Sounds choir is all about making beautiful noise. Directed by RNZ's very own Bryan Crump, the award-winning community choir performs live for Saturday Morning.

It's a massive night tonight for footy fans, with Auckland FC facing off against Sydney FC in the A-League Grand Final at Go Media Stadium. CEO Nick Becker speaks about the club's explosive rise in just two seasons as momentum builds to the main event.

Our resident reader Kate de Goldi is back with her latest picks - an American novel The Gossip Columnist's Daughter by Peter Ormer and a New Zealand picture book You Can't Pat a Fish by Ruth Paul. Kate's a novelist, Arts Foundation Laureate and the Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador. She talks to Susie Ferguson about why these are must haves for any bedside table.

Rachael King is one of New Zealand's best-known children's authors and former Director of the WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival. Her work combines Scottish folklore with New Zealand sensibilities. Rachael's novel Secrets at Red Rocks has been adapted into the Emmy award-winning TV series, filmed in Wellington. She's back with her latest offering Song of the Saltings - a folk horror for young adult readers. Rachael speaks with Susie Ferguson about where her ideas come from - and her turn as a contestant on the new season of The Traitors reality TV show.

How good is your travel etiquette? Lonely Planet's Jessica Lockhart, the Destination Editor for Oceania, shares her top tips - and also how travellers in the Pacific are responding to the global fuel crisis.

Around one out of every ten women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. But it wasn't the news Lindsay Bartels was expecting to get at the age of twenty-six. Faced with her own mortality and the impact cancer treatment could have on her fertility, Lindsay had to deal with yet another revelation. She tested positive for the BRCA 1 gene meaning her risk of cancer was higher and this could be passed onto any children she might have. Lindsay, who shares her experience in her memoir Imogen in Waiting, speaks to Mihingarangi about the choices she had to make - including one that wasn't as clear cut as she expected.

Jonathan Creek star and resident QI panelist, Alan Davies is coming to New Zealand in July with a brand-new standup show Think Ahead. In the show, Alan speaks about some confronting experiences, including sexual abuse by his father. It's a decade since Alan's been behind the stand-up mic. He speaks to Susie about why he's back now, after so long.

The number of suspected Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has breached the 600 mark. But the World Health Organisation fears the disease was spreading in the community for up to two months before being detected. The WHO's Head of Emergency Preparedness for Africa is Dr Dick Chamla. He explains to Mihingarangi Forbes that the outbreak is evolving extremely fast in an area of the DRC where parts of ground zero - Ituri province - are run by militia.

Christine Dawood's husband and 19- year-old son died on board the doomed Titan submersible. Today she refuses to blame anyone for the tragedy. She tells Susie Ferguson the whole story.

With high rates of youth unemployment and ongoing global uncertainty over oil prices, the country is braced for what is likely to be a challenging Budget later this month.

What's the worst career advice you've ever received? 

One of Ireland's best loved writers, Roddy Doyle is in NZ for the Auckland Writer's Festival. He pops into the studio to speak with Susie ahead of his first appearance this afternoon. From his breakthrough novel The Commitments, which was adapted into a major film, to his Booker Prize-winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Roddy brings working class Ireland to life. Last year he crossed over from Booker Prize winner to Chair of the Booker Prize Judges. His latest book is Life Without Children.

Five years ago San Diego-based housewife Jen Sherman changed her family of four's diet completely. She swapped ultra processed foods for health benefits, which include more energy and weight loss, a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and other serious health conditions in the long-term. Jen stocked up on fish, meat, cheese and fruit and started making graphs and keeping spreadsheets to chart progress and money spent. She writes about her progress on Substack and talks to Susie about the power of individual choice to make a difference.

Kate Bowler wants us to stop trying to be happy. She's a Duke University professor, bestselling author and host of one of America's most loved podcasts on grief, faith, and meaning. After being diagnosed with stage four cancer at just 35 years old, Kate began questioning the cultural obsession with positivity, success and the idea that everything happens for a reason. Her new book Joyful Anyway explores a different possibility - that joy isn't something we achieve once life is perfect but something that can exist alongside grief, uncertainty and disappointment. She speaks with Mihingarangi about how we can all find joy.

It's day two of the WSL (World Surf League) in Raglan and someone who knows the Manu Bay swells very well is multi-national title holding surfer Daniel Kereopa. Daniel has dedicated his life to pushing the limits, riding all types of waves in a variety of ways. He's mana whenua and along with his partner Renee, Daniel runs DK Surf School in Raglan. He talks to Mihingarangi about why the WSL is so important to their tightknit community.

The push for a ban on social media for under-16s has been paused despite both National and Labour supporting it. Several other countries are moving to restrict young people's access to social media, following Australia's lead. Meanwhile, new research shows children who spend more than three hours a day on social media are more likely to develop depression and anxiety as teenagers. Dr Chen Shen from Imperial College's School of Public Health manages this large-scale Study of Cognition in Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) and joins Susie Ferguson from London.

Cult expert Dr Christine Marie found herself in the unique position of becoming an FBI informant and taking down a cult leader - somewhat by accident. Alongside her filmmaker husband, they documented the process in the Netflix mini-series Trust Me: The False Prophet. But long before the documentary, Christine was herself a survivor of cult-based human trafficking. She talks to Mihingarangi Forbes about how that experience went on to shape her groundbreaking research into victim-blaming, public shame and media trauma.

Considered one of the most influential voices in contemporary literature, Rebecca Kuang's latest novel draws on her lived experience.  

New family drama Caterpillar explores the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship. It's the feature film debut of star Anais Shand.

Citizens of the World Choir includes refugees from around 30 different countries and showcases the power of music to unify and create positive change.

Scientists are now forecasting hazards on timescales from decades ahead to literally minutes before impact. But how accurate can those forecasts really be and how do you prepare for events that are inherently uncertain?

Could you survive 804 days in an Iranian prison? Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert did after being detained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard while trying to leave Tehran. Now she's warning that state hostage-taking - often called "hostage diplomacy" - is on the rise and says governments need to take a much tougher, more coordinated response.

Award-winning play Playfight explores the difference between rough sex and sexual assault - inspired by the Grace Millane case.

Why do some people think it's okay to talk and eat loudly during a movie? Or to call out during a performance? 

Dame Valerie Adams is a five-time Olympian, mother of two and ambassador for the annual Jammies for June campaign, giving a voice to those who need it most.

Sam Wild is a passionate hunter, award-winning spear fisherman and underwater cameraman who says everyone should be brave when it comes to wild food!

Award-winning journalist Eugene Bingham tells two stories - Te Pahi's story and his own! Te Pahi is the extraordinary true tale of the first influential Maori leader to cross the Tasman. Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi's curiosity about the Pakeha world forged alliances, saved lives and ultimately cost him his own. Eugene is one of Aotearoa's most respected investigative journalists and an internationally acclaimed podcaster. He's an athlete too! Eugene has completed dozens of marathons and ultra-marathons. Nowadays, though, he's more likely to be at the start line of a 5km parkrun. Since 2021, he's been learning te reo Maori, mostly at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, with the goal of re-introducing the language to his whanau. His book is The Chief and the Empire and he talks to Susie about why stories like this are so important today.

Could you survive on a desert island? Award-winning writer Francesca de Tores did just that - except it was by choice, doing research for her new book, Cast Away. She put herself in the shoes of marooned Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) who was abandoned by his own shipmates on a remote, uninhabited island with only wild goats and cats for company. Cast Away asks the question - who are you when everything is stripped away? Francesca tells Susie what the experience taught her about herself.

What is it about history's wicked women that is so riveting? Why should difficult and different instantly mean dangerous? Irish-Indian poet Nikita Gill is taking back the fairy tales, Greek and Hindu myths, challenging our ingrained fear of the 'difficult' woman as hard and callous, not nurturing or maternal. Instead she's giving them a shift of perspective to bring some of literature's most maligned or underwritten female characters out of the shadows. She talks to Mihingarangi about how powerful women would be if we only protected and helped each other and why "softness" in women is often another way of men telling them to be quiet. Nikita has nearly 850,000 Instagram followers worldwide for her work and has written seven poetry collections and two novels. Her latest book is Hekate which she'll discuss at the Auckland Writer's Festival.

Australian single mum Catie Gett explains how to feed your family well on an ever-stretching budget.

In just a matter of weeks stalking will officially be a crime in New Zealand. Roughly one in five women and one in fifteen men are victims. 

Médecins Sans Frontières' Head of Programmes is calling on the New Zealand government to do more to protect the international rule of law. 

James Hayes is on the cutting edge of medical technology innovation but he doesn't describe himself as a tech expert. Instead he says he's an educator at heart and so he makes some of his company's software 'open source', meaning it is free for anyone in the world to use. The Christchurch based former physics teacher speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes about how he's helped thousands of midwives through virtual reality and how his latest project will give hospitals another option to use instead of CT scans.