Features

As we swelter in the summer heat, no doubt we'll be busting out the fans and cranking up the ACs - but when was the last time you cleaned them? And how often do you need to?

For 75 minutes on Monday night, Auckland's Spark Arena was transformed into a euphoric nightclub experience for the closing night of Troye Sivan's Something To Give Each Other Tour.

Bad news - there's poop in the water all the time. Audio

If you feel like there are fatter, more frequent flies buzzing around your home in New Zealand this year, you're not wrong. Audio

It was 4am on a Sunday morning, and Darryl Jones had just been rattled awake when he noticed something peculiar outside his window.

WATCH: Our new documentary film showcases the true antipodean flavour of New Zealand pipe-banding, as Kiwis from all walks of life show what it takes to make it to Scotland and compete at the World Pipe Band Championships.

Why does it feels so satisfying? And - importantly - is there a polite way to switch from yes to no when end-of-year obligations overwhelm?

Figuring out the juiciest and best of the summer fruit bunch can be tricky - growers and produce sellers share their knowledge.

Giving to charity and being generous can increase our perception of attractiveness of a person, regardless of their physical appearance, a researcher says. Audio

"When a community is in trouble, financially or whatever, what sustains people, all of us, and people through sadness and all sorts, is the being together and cooking," chef Peter Gordon says Audio

For Dana Margolin, the hopeful spirit of her band Porridge Radio's new album is captured in words she doesn't remember writing. Audio

Filling up on tasty stuff with the very low nutritional value doesn't serve our brains, researcher Julia Rucklidge tells Saturday Morning. Video, Audio

Many children do not find traditional school to be a nurturing enough learning environment, the director of a new documentary series says. Video, Audio

Figuring out the juiciest and best of the summer fruit bunch can be tricky - growers and produce sellers share their knowledge.

Professor Mark Henaghan is calling for New Zealand law to better protect children's need for stability when their parents break up. Audio

Nic Watt shares the recipe for a fresh Chinese-inspired salad from the menu of his new Auckland restaurant Cāntīng. Audio

To invite native insects into their greenhouse, Anthony and Angela Tringham nurture a nearby flowering meadow.

"You wake up and there's one pink Croc and you put it to the side. Then you wake up the next morning and there's the other Croc." Audio

"I was trying to talk to people like my uncles who don't really care about the Treaty that much" - Riana Te Ngahue (Ngāti Porou).

With four programmes to go in the Countdown to the end of New Horizons, William Dart can't resist the spurring on of Daniel Beban's terrific new book, Future Jaw-Clap, to investigate the wild and wonderful musical world of Wellington's Primitive Art Group and the Braille Collective. Audio

Tony Hitchcock "falls into a wonderful state of mind" while crafting Anglo-Saxon-era vegetable baskets from untreated willow.

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

We're looking good for berries this summer with supply up 10 percent on last year - but remember prices will surge in the days before Christmas.