Features

Students, staff and contractors have been left bewildered, shocked and out of pocket with the sudden closure of a Pacific college in Auckland - with many now struggling to find work and pay the bills just before Christmas.

The signs are there for a reason – it doesn't take much for a mutt to get wind of a kiwi bird, says a predator control operator in Whale Bay. Audio, Gallery

Alan Perrott helped compile a collection of NZ funk, soul an disco from 1973 to 1983. He takes Jesse through a tour of the funky music scene from 40 years ago featuring artists like Dalvanius, Collision and Tina Cross. Audio

Nick Bollinger dips into a disc of out-takes and ephemera from Amer-indie artist Angel Olsen. Audio

Sia's anthemic pop songs and pre-recorded videos didn't quite come off in the half-empty Mt Smart Stadium last night, writes Ellen Falconer.

Milford Sound's tawaki, or Fiordland crested penguins, are breaking all the penguin rules. Audio

New Zealand is stuck in an austerity model for health and it's about time doctors spoke out about it moving to an investment model, the founder of the Canterbury Charity Hospital says. Audio

Before they created Transparent, writer-director Jill Soloway made an indie film about an upper-middle class woman tiptoeing into a world of sexual transgression. Dan Slevin found it intriguing but not essential.

Life is an "affliction" so it's best not to have children, says 'anti-natalist' philosopher David Benatar. Audio

The new head of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Benny Wenda, says the organisation's agenda will not change.

It's been 45 years since Rawiri Paratene delivered a petition to Parliament aimed at saving te reo Māori. Video

The Australian pop star delivers an interesting, fresh concept for a pop concert, but it would have been better suited to somewhere more intimate like Spark Arena, than a half-empty Mt Smart Stadium.

The "visual cleansing" of Auckland city for the 2011 Rugby World Cup obliterated a lot of street culture that hasn't been seen since, say two graffiti artists who are part of a live painting event in Avondale this weekend. Audio, Gallery

Our Filipino communities are surprisingly diverse and the third fastest growing Asian population in the country. Voices talks to some who have made New Zealand home. Audio

This week, four inmates from Auckland's Paremoremo prison will graduate with a certificate in apiculture – or beekeeping. Their instructor is Brian Alexander, a volunteer and veteran bee-whisperer. Audio, Gallery

Nick Bollinger listens to Morrissey's latest and wonders who the singer is taking revenge on now. Audio

In the '60s, Ian Magan and his fellow 'Good Guys' started pirate radio broadcasts from a small ship in the Hauraki Gulf – a station which became Radio Hauraki. Audio

"That heady rush when it lands on the colour that you bet on and the low gut-punch feeling you feel when you lose your bet … I didn't really care about much else."  Audio

Sax and pedal steel duo Peter Brötzmann and Heather Leigh are serving up 'mind-melting' improvisation to New Zealand audiences. Video, Audio

Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google aren't just four of the biggest companies on the planet, they are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, according to an American academic. Audio

A move by the United States Interior Department to give islanders displaced by US nuclear weapons tests complete control of a multi-million dollar trust fund has sparked a leading US Senator to intervene to reverse the decision.

Nick Bollinger dives into a collection of local soul, funk and disco - including some delicious obscurities Audio

“There are hardly any jobs … we can apply to New World, but they’re quite picky.”

An ambitious plan has been unveiled to run an Orient Express-style luxury train through New Zealand. Video