Features

Gavin Wong and Claire Crofton were having way too much fun hearing about their single friends' dating stories not to turn them into a podcast. The London-based couple tell us how they make the show. Audio

When the Te Reo Māori Society gathered support for the Māori Language Petition they faced threats of violence, people set their dogs upon them, and they were pushed and shoved, as founding member John McCaffery remembers. Audio

Before women got the vote, before all men got the vote, before Māori got the vote, weirdly, gold miners got the vote, with electorates just for them.  Audio

Mediawatch - The media have been warned that intense coverage can be counter-productive and restraint is required. How did they respond when one of their own was involved? Audio

In Depth - Axed over Christmas, told to be out by lunchtime - this is redundancy in NZ, where there's no mandatory notice period or compensation and little support for those searching for work. 

Many think the contraceptive pill contains oestrogen and progesterone, but those hormones break down too fast. The BBC's Zaria Gorvett investigates the pill, from its bizarre yam-based inception, to new findings about women's brains.

Simon Morris gives his verdict on the head-scratcher that is Zama – an Argentinian arthouse film about an unheroic 17th-century Spanish magistrate stuck in a dead-end job. Video, Audio

Drummer-producer-painter Julien Dyne gives us a masterclass in his most influential jazz, krautrock and rare groove tracks on the RNZ Music Mixtape. Video, Audio

Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan orchestra includes both Arab and Israeli musicians. At the Proms they play a work for soprano and orchestra called Looking for Palestine by British composer David Robert Coleman.

Tagaloatele Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop's philosophy is that there is always work to be done. Audio

Insight - France has moved to legally ban mobile phones from schools, and as Teresa Cowie finds, while Kiwi students aren't keen on such a ban, there is support for some limitations.  Video, Audio

Julien Van Mallearts is a multi award winning opera singer - he's New Zealand for New Zealand Opera's La Bohème and joins us in the studio to perform a song and tell us about his career so far. Audio

Watch, Listen, Read - Te Toki Voyaging Trust waka hourua Haunui, which practises celestial navigation techniques used by Polynesian ancestors for centuries, is set to sail to Norfolk Island from Aotearoa.  Video

Clint Meyer grows New Zealand's hottest chillies for the award-winning Fire Dragon Chillies range. Audio

The first equal-billing album from the Finn father-and-son is a colourful and playful fifty minutes of music, says Nick Bollinger. Audio

Māori and Pacific communities are more likely to be problem gamblers than any other group, and advocates say they're being specifically targetted. That's prompted calls for government intervention. Audio

Progressive rock is a term that's been used widely for 50 years. But it can still be difficult to pin down what it actually is. Associate Professor Rob Burns from Otago University has written a book on the genre, Experiencing Progressive Rock. Video, Audio

In the future, humans will have to leave the Earth and digital versions of us may be beamed to other planets, says theoretical physicist Michio Kaku.  Audio

Analysis - The Simon Bridges expenses leak, claims that Meka Whaitiri "manhandled" a press secretary, Claire Curran's fall, and dropping business confidence are raked over by Peter Wilson.

Drummer-producer-painter Julien Dyne gives us a masterclass in his most influential jazz, krautrock and rare groove tracks on the RNZ Music Mixtape. Video, Audio

This large-scale concert work by Berlioz for soloists, chorus and orchestra is loosely based on Goethe’s re-telling of the Faust legend. It's not strictly an opera but the NZSO with star guest soloists and NZ Opera Chorus give a powerful performance.

The Queen of Soul had the power to turn TV studios and vast arenas into places of secular worship, says William Dart. Video, Audio

William Dart gives us his tribute to the recently departed Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and plays tracks from throughout her 50+ year recording career. Video, Audio

Review -  The 'humans and fantasy figures in Los Angeles' trope has been done better, funnier, and with more enthusiastic R-rated bad taste before, so Happytime Murders is underwhelming despite its cast, writes Simon Morris. Video, Audio