Features

Watch the NZSO playing Beethoven, with guest pianist Diedre Irons.

Georgina Landemare, was so important during the war years that she was one of only 11 people deemed crucial to Prime Minister Winston Churchill if he were evacuated from London in the event of invasion. Audio, Gallery

The Detail - Methamphetamine - or P - has been demonised as the destructive drug associated with violent crime. But that shameful label could be stopping addicts from seeking help.  Audio

Researchers in British Colombia have spent the last two decades studying the "cultural evolution" of the white-throated sparrow song. Audio

The South Island New Year's Eve music show was the first of the big summer festivals to release its lineup for 2020/21, based around the idea "let's keep it simple, let's promote New Zealand acts". Audio

Mark Rogers brings the very best in Americana, alt country and blues music - this week featuring John Lee Hooker, Aretha Franklin, C.W Stoneking, Bob Dylan and more. Audio

Why do some diseases spread while others fail to take hold? Adam Kucharski studies the mathematics of contagion: predicting patterns of transmission for outbreaks, including Ebola, Zika and now Covid-19. Audio

Voices - Akiko Crowther is New Zealand’s only Grandmaster in Japanese calligraphy - it's a title bestowed in Japan and earned through years of dedication to this very meditative practice.  Audio

Tolaga Bay locals fear lives could be lost at sea as forestry detritus litters their shoreline and fishing grounds. Audio, Gallery

Joseph DeAngelo, AKA the 'Golden State Killer', admitted to 13 murders and myriad other crimes in court last week in a plea deal designed to spare him the death penalty. Journalist Paige St. John has made a podcast about the case. Audio

Just like the Ten Tenors, but much, much cooler. We check out ten tenor sax players you need on your playlist. Featured artists include Nathan Haines, Colin Hemmingsen, Ben Webster and Sonny Stitt. Audio

Fi Greig specialises in raw, vegan and vegetarian dishes at her Sunday Cantina cafe on the Kapiti Coast. She'll show you how to make warming broths, breads, risottos and pimped-up salads at her sell-out cooking classes. Audio

Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer whose credits include the Westerns that made Clint Eastwood a star, has died in Rome. He "could make an average movie into a must see, a good movie into art, and a great movie into legend".

Stuff's move to cease all activity on Facebook has raised eyebrows in the media, but the company is backing up its new owner's fighting talk.

RNZ Music is proud to present the new video from Lil’ Chief Records co-founder and former Tokey Tones member Scott Mannion. ‘Juniper Tree’ is the last single from his debut solo album Loving Echoes, which came out last year.

Children from more than 20 schools are helping to rid Rotorua's lakes of the aquatic pest, catfish.The introduced species is an environmental threat preying on small native fish, and stirring up sediment. Audio, Gallery

Loading Docs documentary - A science superhero with pink hair wages war on Covid-19 to convince an entire nation to lockdown.

Journalist Maureen Callahan has covered the Ghislaine Maxwell story from the start. She says she it "was the best kind of shock" learn Maxwell was finally in custody. Audio

There’s evidence vitamin D can stave off respiratory tract infections and possibly help people recover quicker from Covid-19, an expert on the substance says. Audio

Justine Murray meets the remarkable women behind the Rotorua-based charitable trust Aratika, which runs wellness retreats and meditation sessions for cancer survivors and their whānau. Audio

In this episode of Black Sheep, William Ray uncovers the stories behind some of New Zealand's most problematic monuments - and looks at different ideas of what should happen to them next.  Audio

First person - There's a lawn shot through with sunbeams, designer chickens wandering and freshly baked sourdough cooling in the kitchen of an impossibly pretty cottage, writes Sharon Stephenson.

New Horizons: William Dart takes in a curious new tribute album - composer Michael Daugherty's celebration of Dust Bowl songwriter Woody Guthrie. Audio

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Mediawatch - There are now more than 10 million Covid cases around the world and climbing - but there have been long, loud calls in the New Zealand media to open our border. Audio