Features

Internet company Voyager sponsored this year's media awards. Its head Seeby Woodhouse told Mediawatch he's been spooked by what he's seen in the US and wants New Zealand's media to up its game. Video, Audio

Young poets and composers were called up for military service along with everyone else in World War One. Kate Kennedy and Roger Smith look at some of their stories. Audio, Gallery

Nine to Noon's music reviewer shares tales and tunes from his day job behind the counter at the venerable Wellington music store Slow Boat Records. Video, Audio

To celebrate the 11th International Record Store Day, Slow Boat Records' Jeremy Taylor shares his stories and songs from life behind the record shop counter. Video, Audio

Sam Mccarthy has already been in two high profile NZ bands - Goodnight Nurse, and dance pop outfit Kids Of 88. Sam has now relocated to Los Angeles where he makes music as Boyboy. He joined us in the RNZ studio for a catch up, and to play a few songs. Video, Audio

Spreading a layer of mulched vegetative material over the soil is the single best thing you can do for your garden, according to enthusiast Paul McLaren. Audio

Mass whale strandings are relatively common in New Zealand, but we don't yet know enough about what happens to the marine mammals when we intervene, says expert Dr Karen Stockin. Audio

Garth Cartwright is a New Zealand-born, London-based music and arts writer. He has a new book - Going For A Song: A Chronicle of the UK Record Shop, in which he traces the history of the record store through more than a century of unprecedented social, cultural and technological change. Audio

Nick Bollinger reviews new sets from itinerant troubadour Delaney Davidson and modern-day mambo kings Orquesta Akokan, while Tony Stamp digests new sounds from eclectic Afro-Scots trio Young Fathers. Audio

A Wellington sex worker says she used to receive at least five enquiries a day via the classifieds website New Zealand Cracker – a subsidiary of US website backpage.com. Since the FBI shut both sites, she's lucky to receive two a week from elsewhere.

Bits+Bytes looks at whether Amazon's Prime will come this way any time soon, and assesses the international cybersecurity accord. Audio

Award-winning NZ composer Salina Fisher, now studying in New York, is home for the première of her new work Tupaia. She tells Clarissa Dunn about the meanings and challenges of the commission. Audio

Roy Courlander was captured by the Germans in 1941, and sent to a Nazi camp. He turned traitor, becoming a founding member of the British Free Corps, an offshoot of the notorious Waffen-SS. Audio

The world's largest live entertainment company, Live Nation, has bought a controlling interest in Gisborne's annual three-day music festival. Audio

Aprila Wayar this month published her third novel, Sentuh Papua, which covered human rights issues and the effects of Indonesian transmigration in Papua. Audio

Chief justices from around the Pacific met in Auckland last week to consider ways to improve the rule of law and good governance in their judiciaries. Audio

New Zealand violinist Kate Oswin and cellist Ghislaine McMullin talk to Eva Radich about their feisty approach to music making. Video, Audio

An Australian woman who has been restoring graves on the coast of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, says her work there will continue for some time. Audio

The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting wrapped up at the weekend with a commitment from the Commonwealth's 53 nations to protecting the oceans. Audio

"My favourite moments in life are very anonymous, private moments ... conversations with people on the street, and sitting in cafes with a glass of wine, writing lyrics or reading books." Audio

Czech Kiwi kids can connect to their European heritage with a new bilingual book Annie and Johnny’s Diary: A Year in New Zealand. Audio, Gallery

Simon Easton has a 60-hectare apple orchard in the Tasman region. He says every year it gets harder to find fruit pickers, but this year takes the cake. Audio