Features

Do we really have to be what others think we should be? A rather bossy girl and a peculiar looking wolf explore the question in a story for children by Paul Beavis.

Nick Bollinger delights in the lush folds of a fairytale concept album by Clean founder Hamish Kilgour, but fails to follow the storyline. Audio

Songwriter Lawrence Arabia is releasing a series of singles this year for what he calls "Singles Club". He chats to Jesse Mulligan and plays a couple for us. Video, Audio

Native trees could help clean up lakes and rivers and provide a solution to New Zealand's nitrogen and effluent problem.

Two hundred litres of tea and over 2000 chapatis is how one South Auckland Sikh temple starts every Sunday morning. Video

As the compact disc goes the way of the wax cylinder, box sets of music on CD are - curiously - getting bigger. Nick Bollinger looks under the lid.

“[Dana] came up to me and went ‘You look interesting'. I breathed out this sigh of relief and went 'There you are'" – musician and self-proclaimed bogan Jon Toogood on his Sudanese wife Dana Salih. Video, Audio

The Country Life team visit the Catlins town of Owaka in the first episode of Undie Fivehundy –​ a new series about rural communities with populations under 500. Audio

This 10-piece band hail from Brazil, and named themselves for a multi cultural São Paulo neighborhood which is a melting pot of music, cuisine and culture. They deliver a fusion of instrumental Latin and Brazilian sounds. Audio

Luxury British carmaker Aston Martin has unveiled a three-seater aircraft at the Farnborough Airshow and hopes to have a flying version ready for the next show in 2020. Video, Audio

Nick Tipping celebrates 100 episodes of Inside Out with a look back at some of his favourite tracks, including tunes by Hank Mobley, Dave Holland, Dog, and Ben Wilcock. Audio

Elliott Childs lends an ear to Noonday Dream, the third album from the British experimental folk musician. Audio

Lawrence Wong, Tony Chen and Lixin Zhang compete for a place in the finals of the Wallace National Piano Competition.

Rodney Bell left Aotearoa to dance in the US - with his wheelchair - and spent years homeless in San Francisco between lavish tours in Hawaii or New York, and says the Māori perspective helped him get through. Video, Audio, Gallery

A smart room created for the Blind Foundation has been called "game-changing" by its Dunedin clients.

This week we discuss the Super Rugby quarter finals, upsets and intrigue following the FIFA World Cup, what and former Kiwis captain Mark Graham's induction into the NRL Hall of Fame. Audio

Nick Bollinger discusses the 'fourth world' concepts of electronic adventurer Jon Hassell. Audio

The frontman of The Mockers and intrepid sailor Andrew Fagan joins Trevor Reekie for an hour of chat & six of his favourite songs. Audio

A selection of live music performances from some of NZ's favourite musicians, including Bic Runga, Neil Finn, Tiny Ruins, David Dallas, Ladi6, Dave Dobbyn and the Phoenix Foundation.8:30 pm each Friday, during Nights with Bryan Crump.

The New Zealand-raised astronomer and cosmologist has been given an obituary in the New York Times as part of their 'Overlooked' series. You can listen to our series The Stars are Comforting based on Beatrice Tinsley's letters here.

The qualities that make a good scientist, attention to details, slave to facts, willingness to work with white mice in windowless rooms, often make them the worst people to explain science, Dr Paul Offit says.  Audio

Councils across the country are asking the government to increase the fee for dumping rubbish in landfills. Audio

Human Rights Watch says asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island should immediately be evacuated.

Most of the 150 Niuean men who enlisted had never left the tiny Pacific nation before, and had no immunity to European disease. Within months of serving abroad more than 80 percent had been hospitalised.  The story is captured in Margaret's latest book, Niue and the Great War. Audio