Features

Action sports like skateboarding and parkour have helped young people come together and rebuild resilience in places like Gaza, Christchurch and New Orleans. Audio

Nick Bollinger reviews a typically eccentric, sometimes spellbinding set of songs from Tori Amos, where politics and pantheism are cunningly interlinked. Audio

Brother and sister Angus and Julia Stone only made their last album together because music icon Rick Rubin forced them into it. On the new album Snow, the pair refound their groove by going back to their roots. Video, Audio

How will a generation that can unlock an iPad before they can walk spend their spare time as adults? Megan Whelan looks to the future of leisure in the latest episode of Great Ideas. Video, Audio

Garden designer Dan Pearson loves each of the four seasons, but his least favourite is summer. Pearson's new book Natural Selection: A Year in the Garden draws from 10 years of his Observer columns. Audio, Gallery

RNZ Music producer Yadana Saw looks at some of the lesser known categories in this year's APRA Silver Scroll Awards, which take place tomorrow night in Dunedin. Audio

Earlier this year, Aotea/Great Barrier Island became an official Dark Sky Sanctuary – it’s one of only three in the world and the only island to have the status. Video, Audio

When Jack Trolove isn't painting, he teaches people working with LGTBI youth to talk about what he calls “tricky stuff”.

With her sisters, writer and photographer Kelly Wilson made wild Kaimanawa horses a household name on Keeping up with the Kaimanawas. Now she says it's time Australians began to love their Brumbies. Audio, Gallery

Rugby professionals have stepped up in an effort to improve the treatment of Pacific rugby players contracted to European teams. Video, Audio

Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges is in the country for the first time. Bridges who started as a 17-year-old is well-known from TV shows Would I lie to You? and stand-up appearances on Live at the Apollo. Audio

A skipping rope can help people re-learn the 'primal skill' of running without shoes, says Ted McDonald, aka Barefoot Ted. Video, Audio

George Block from consumer.org.nz reviews shower domes – the plastic covers designed to keep the moisture inside your shower and your bathroom dry. Audio

Nadia Reid talks about the heartbreak that led to writing her Silver Scroll nominated song 'Richard'. Video, Audio

Skittishness, outgoingness, dominance, spontaneity and friendliness are the five feline personality traits, a new study has found. Audio

The Closed Circuits compilation is a good survey of what Aussie pop’s more inventive artists were doing with synthesisers in the early 80s. Audio

Claims that this year's election pitted town against country were strongly echoed in the media – especially the rural press. Audio

Kurt Andersen finished his book Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire six months before Donald Trump's inauguration. The idea that opinions are as facts dates back long before 'fake news', he says. Audio

New Zealander Aaron Bertelsen is head vegetable gardener and cook at The Great Dixter – a historic house and garden in East Sussex. He talks about the value of good soil and shares a fennel and a kale recipe. Audio

The Pacific has presented a united front at the UN General Assembly in New York in calling for global action on climate change. Audio

The stress of being one of NZ's most successful touring DJs and a father of two, has led Charlie Brown, aka Optimus Gryme, to retire. He talks to Tony Stamp about calling it a day on his music career. Video, Audio

Bachelor of Arts graduates will be better equipped and more employable in an uncertain future, an academic says. Audio

Grove Roots' Noel Woods takes the pulse of Māori music at the 10th annual Waiata Māori Music Awards in Heretaunga. Video, Audio

Two occupational therapy students set up a sensory room in a disused shed last month. It was so popular that next year it'll become a permanent space. Audio, Gallery