Features

There is something special about attending a cricket Test - and watching it at the Basin Reserve is probably as good as it gets in New Zealand, Barry Guy writes.

Opinion - Queen Victoria presumably never would have been amused, but, almost as predictably, neither was Education Minister Chris Hipkins, writes David Cohen.

A tour operator on Papua New Guinea's famed Kokoda track says the government should use the current off-season to settle issues with landowners.

Tonga is hoping its climate resilience can be improved by becoming the 29th member of the Global Green Growth Instit

Australia's opposition Labor Party has announced that it will support Papua New Guinea's bid to have a team in the National Rugby League Competition.

Popular singer Silika Isaia from Papatoetoe High School, one of the winners of the Stand Up Stand Out school singing competition is back covering a Stevie Wonder song for the festive season. Video, Audio

The team at RNZ - both on air and off - pick their favourite songs of 2018 and tell us what they're up to over summer.

Nick Tipping delivers variety, including tunes from Lionel Loueke, Conrad Herwig and Charles Mingus, and a number from Renee Rosnes inspired by the KT Boundary- the transition between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. Audio

Analysis - This assessment may surprise you coming from someone who spends his professional life criticising and critiquing politicians: Over the past 20 years we have been among the best-governed countries in the world.

2018 saw a 'significant birthday' for Gareth Farr. He reflects on some memorable moments and achievements, with David Morriss. Video, Audio

Black Sheep podcast - Bully Hayes' image today is as a swashbuckling rogue, and his story has inspired several books and a hollywood movie starring Tommy Lee Jones - but those stories usually skip over his nastier side.  Audio

Having Fiji's electoral system tested in court will benefit the country, according to an academic

A Papua New Guinea opposition MP says the tide is turning against prime minister Peter O'Neill within government ranks.

Anti-violence campaigners in the Pacific say a programme which uses men as role models is best practice and should be shared with the rest of the world.

Review - Shania Twain's first ever New Zealand show at Auckland's Spark Arena last night was an absolute banger. Our reviewer Susan Strongman had the time of her life.

The leaders of Anglican churches in New Zealand and four Pacific Island countries are calling for an end to human rights abuses in West Papua.

New Horizons - Inevitably, William Dart reaches the end of the year and there are a number of tracks that he couldn't include in previous programmes. Now's the time to make amends. Video, Audio

There were once three species of bat in New Zealand: one, the greater short-tailed bat, became extinct in the mid-1960s and there are only two left - the lesser short tailed bat and the long-tailed bat. Audio

Shania Twain's first ever New Zealand show at Auckland's Spark Arena last night was an absolute banger. Our reviewer Susan Strongman had the time of her life.

Widescreen - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the perfect palate-cleanser between the heavier offerings of TV’s ‘golden age’, according to Dan Slevin.

An exhibition at the new South Pacific WWII Museum in Luganville in Vanuatu is to feature the contribution to the war effort by the legendary aviator, Charles Lindbergh. Audio

It's time to revisit some of the music that stood out for reviewer and writer Nick Bollinger over the past twelve months. There was plenty, and a lot of it came from somewhere not too far from home... Audio

Conductor, broadcaster and ex-King's Singer Brian Kay, presents a selection of some of his favourite non-sacred music for the festive season. Audio

Mark Rogers spins some of his favourites from 2018 - including tracks from Holly Arrowsmith, Courtney Marie Andrews and the Cowboy Junkies; Plus the Blazers, Boz Scaggs and Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong. Audio