Features

The folly of awarding the 2019 Rugby World Cup to Japan has been brought into sharp focus, writes Hamish Bidwell.

Analysis - The government positions itself for an election year spend-up, Winston Peters claims credit for a hard-line immigration policy and the cabinet pushes the Greens aside. Audio

Two works from Orchestra Wellington here - Mahler's 'Adagio' and Schubert's 'Symphony No 9', known as The Great. Both would be excellent candidates for 'Settling the Score' voting.

Often it can be hard to kick our instant gratification habits and consider the result of our actions on long-term goals. Bina Venkataraman, who was a climate adviser to President Obama, explains why we struggle with this phenomenon. Audio

The number one driver of mental illness is isolation, parenting commentator and educator Nathan Wallis says, and it’s therefore especially important for children to in the first three years of their developing life to form healthy attachments. Audio

Green Rush - Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in conversions of farmland to forestry after a rural backlash. Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton report.  Video

The NZSO recently played all nine Beethoven Symphonies over four consecutive nights. The series was captured by RNZ's recording teams and is now available for listening again.

Near Jamie Wall's hotel in Tokyo is a statue of Godzilla, but pretty soon a more destructive force will blow through the Japanese capital.

While there are many professional New Zealand rugby players and coaches plying their trade in Japan, there aren't many Kiwi teens like Warner Dearns doing it too. Video, Audio

Praised by the New York Times as "a singer with a strong and luscious tone and an amiably regal presence on stage", Alicia Olatuja and her band perform at the 2019 Wellington Jazz Festival. Audio

There’s still many who doubt climate change is real, despite scientific consensus that the climate is changing and the proof behind it. Professor Marc Wilson explains why, if it's so obvious, are there still so many sceptics. Audio

Widescreen - New Zealand director Justin Pemberton’s adaptation of Capital in the 21st Century opens in cinemas this weekend. Dan Slevin spoke to him about turning a dense economics textbook into a fast-moving doco entertainment.

Pacific Island nations are "sick" of the status quo and are calling on World Rugby to do more after Fiji, Samoa and Tonga all failed to qualify for the Rugby World Cup knockout rounds.

The Detail looks at the transparency of the food supply chain focusing and how confident consumers can be that their food is not being produced by slave labour. Audio

Stacey Rose put his nomination in at 9am on the day the election nominations closed and by 2pm that day, he was a councillor. Audio

More than a year after the MV Butiraoi broke apart and sunk in Kiribati, killing 95 people, grief and anger still run deep on Nonouti, the island from which that fateful voyage departed.

Analysis - When Max Towle read about how the body of student Mason Pendrous lay undiscovered for weeks at the Canterbury hall of residence Sonoda, he thought it was tragic, but he wasn't surprised.

Music journalist Ben Westhoff spent four years immersed in the shadowy world of designer drugs, becoming the first reporter to get an inside look at a Chinese laboratory where, he claims, this powerful drug has been made to order. Audio

Green Rush - The countess breached overseas investment rules while buying an iconic farm station, but was allowed to keep the property and was fined just a fraction of the purchase price. Kate Newton and Guyon Espiner report. Video

Review - Joker is the latest outing of the popular Batman villain – but this time more a gritty character study than an action thriller, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro. Video, Audio

New Zealand's beloved pāua shells may be at risk of surviving if the sea's conditions continue changing due to climate change, researchers have found. Audio

It’s not only what you sing but whom you sing with. William Dart tests out that hypothesis using new highly collaborative albums by Sheryl Crow and Iggy Pop. Video, Audio

British violinist Anthony Marwood joins the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra for the NZ première of Thomas Adès' Violin Concerto 'Concentric Paths'.

Ageing brains means older men become less able to recognise emotions in other people, says University of Otago psychology professor Ted Ruffman. Audio