Features

This festival was created to give early-career NZ musicians a performance opportunity during COVID. In this concert you’ll hear music by violinist Hazuki Katsukawa, viola player Zephyr Wills, and cellist Begonia Chan.

While meteor showers are not uncommon, Tuesday night's event promises to be unique. Audio

Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs said the US pop icon was "the rare person who is both the writer and hero of her own story", adding that Swift had "found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light".

Is it really possible to enjoy the delights of the festive season without compromising your health? Yes, says nutritionist Claire Turnbull, but it takes planning, preparation and breaking old patterns. Here's how to do it. Audio

LISTEN: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and French cellist Victor Julien-Laferrière perform Dvořák, the bracing Concerto for Orchestra by Witold Lutosławski and a gorgeous work for strings by American composer George Walker.

American band The Royal Guardsmen's song has been loved in Aotearoa since 1967 when it first topped our music charts. But what is it's particular appeal to kiwis? Emma Ricketts asks the question that has baffled many for decades. Audio

Our Changing World goes behind the scenes at the National Geohazard Monitoring Centre, where a team of analysts are on alert 24/7 for earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsunamis and landslides. Audio

The Old Oak is 87-year-old director Ken Loach's latest film about a clash of cultures in a northern English village, it's one of the best films of the year, writes Dan Slevin. Audio

Bryan Crump speaks with pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi ahead of his stint judging and performing in the Lewis Eady International Piano Festival. Video, Audio

 Bach's 'The Art of Fugue' is an incomplete work written in the last decade of Bach's life, the culmination of his experimentation with the form. His development of musical ideas influenced composers for centuries after his death.

Rebecca Priestley’s new memoir explores the complications of living in a world under threat across two parallel timelines, writes Sam Finnemore.

Peter Adams, a stalwart of the Dunedin music scene, is retiring as Music Professor at Otago University after more than 30 years with the institution. Audio

Aucklander Eve de Castro-Robinson is Orchestra Wellington's Composer-in-Residence for 2024, and she won't even have to move south, she tells Bryan Crump. Video, Audio

Aucklander Eve de Castro-Robinson is Orchestra Wellington's Composer-in-Residence for 2024, and she won't even have to move south. Video, Audio

Explainer - The approaching holiday season is a time of joy. But it also involves a few tricky questions. From family gatherings to avoiding Covid and even navigating grief, RNZ is here to help. Audio

Widescreen - Up from number 54 to 38 in the 2022 Sight & Sound 2022 Top 50, Hitchcock's Rear Window is almost flawless entertainment, says Dan Slevin.

The Sampler - The Tāmaki Makaurau pair reveal a sonic landscape on new release Aquaries that alternates between spiky and smooth, writes Tony Stamp. Video, Audio

Our Aotearoa is an animated documentary that speaks to immigrants’ personal experiences living in Aotearoa, exploring themes of racism, discrimination, loss, loneliness, and maintaining cultural ties.

Turning the creative taps back on was like "the sweetest liquid you've ever tasted", Strawpeople singer Fiona McDonald says. Video, Audio

Country Life - Frank Erceg was victim of New Zealand's first helicopter hunting accident, but now his story, and that of the deer culling industry has come to life through his niece, Louise Maich. Audio

Three decades after the publication of global best-seller Birdsong, British author Sebastian Faulks is back with a new book inspired by a tweet. Audio

Arts media coverage is teetering on the brink of collapse, a new report commissioned by Creative New Zealand says. The authors talked to Culture 101 about what has gone wrong and why we need arts journalism. Audio

Brother and sister duo Sam and Ellie Studd's new book The Best Things In Life Are Cheese aims to help us understand and appreciate cheese in all its many forms. Audio

Charm, colour and brilliance are on offer in this concert of a trio for oboe, bassoon and piano by French neo-classicist Jean Françaix, a work by New Zealand composer Salina Fisher for string trio, a charming work for oboe and strings by Mozart, and the dazzling Piano Quintet by Robert Schumann.