Features

Analysis - The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is undertaking a level of crowd-control and logistics that may never be replicated, Coen Lammers writes.

With the year's end in sight it feels like a good time to update you on what's been happening, and to look forward to what 2023 will offer RNZ Concert listeners.

Irish novelist Colm Tóibín’s latest is 2021’s Folio Prize winning The Magician, a fictionalised account of the life of Thomas Mann. Audio

On this week's Nashville Babylon Mark Rogers has birthday tunes for Tina Turner and Jimi Hendrix, blues from BB King and Jimmy Reed plus a classic courtesy of the Handsome Family. Audio

The Detail - In private hands, iconic New Zealand treasures can be sold off, hidden away, or even destroyed.  Audio

Seeing the first fresh asparagus of the season land in the supermarket is a treat for most of us, but it's labour-intensive, a million spears are handpicked each day in Waikato alone, says grower Andrew Keaney. Audio

This week's Mixtape is all about dinner parties. Audio

Our guest has picked the best music to play – and will share the worst too.. Audio

And what better person to have on is the editor of the new RNZ Cookbook David Cohen. Audio

The House - Parliament Journalist Phil Smith has a crack at making a submission to MPs. Here is why you should bother, how you do it, how you really shouldn't, and how his went. Audio

This interview marked the 80th birthday of “one of the most naturally gifted of all New Zealand composers”. Jenny McLeod died this week aged 81. Audio

Qatar’s ‘sports-washing’ World Cup has taken the heat off FIFA - football’s corrupted governing body. Mediawatch talks to a FIFA whistleblower who became a journalist and publisher to get her story out. Video, Audio

Celebrated writer Witi Ihimaera describes how hearing The Rite of Spring, by Stravinsky, changed his understanding of what classical music could be. Audio

For some time netball was the only female team sport in New Zealand that would pay its elite players, writes Bridget Tunnicliffe.

At 16, budding photographer Josh Cheuse used his school payphone to call The Clash at the Electric Ladyland Studios to ask if he could photograph the band. It was the start of a lifelong friendship with musician Joe Strummer. Audio, Gallery

Get the latest on the UN climate change summit, disputes over historic huts in Te Urewera, how the government determines the legal voting age and more from The Detail.

French auteur Claire Denis won the Grand Prix at Cannes for this romantic thriller set in Africa, yet Simon Morris finds it vague and meandering. Video, Audio

Six years ago, Kelly Francis chucked in her corporate job, North Shore apartment and ambitious fiance for a life of "gumboots and mud". Audio, Gallery

Critics of Mongrel Mob life member Harry Tam's drug rehabilitation programme claim its high rates of relapse amount to failure. Mediawatch investigates whether that's fair.  Audio

If you're a threatened species, does being cute improve your odds of survival? Farah Hancock finds out.

William Dart looks at SJD's new album, Sweetheart, a summation of the obsessive studio ingenuity of Sean Donnelly in the service of thinking person's pop. Audio

Former gang member Phil Paikea talks about going towards and then away from violence after an abusive childhood. Audio

When life gives you cheap avocados... Audio

Our goal is to stop human-induced extinctions by 2025. But soon many of our native creatures could exist only on souvenir tea towels, writes Farah Hancock.

A case of Covid-19 One is probably on the Christmas wishlist of zero New Zealanders. Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker has advice on how to steer clear of the virus. Audio

The season of Advent begins today – a time of waiting and expectation leading up to Christmas. Sing along to favourite Advent hymns including O come, Emmanuel and Come, thou long-expected Jesus. Audio