Afternoons for Monday 25 July 2011

1:10 Best Song Ever Written

Throw Your Arms Around Me by Hunters & Collectors, chosen by Peter Battell from Taupo.

1:15 8 Months To Mars - Ian Brodie

What would well-known people do on an trip to Mars?

2:10 Winter weather strands motorists

More than 200 motorists stranded by severe snow storms have been sheltering at Waitati Hall and Marae, after State Highway 1 north of Dunedin closed last night. The icy blast has crept up the South Island and into the North Island this afternoon, with the possibility of snow  for the hills around Auckland. Among those forced to taker shelter at Waitati Marae is Frances Singleton from Christchurch, who was heading to Invercargill with her husband when they got stuck.

2:30 Reading: Joe Bennett reads from his book Where Underpants Come From (Part 1 of 12)

Joe decides to travel to China to trace his underpants back to their source.

2:45 Feature Album: Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics

3:12 Author Melanie Benjamin

Melanie Benjamin with her new historical novel The Autobiography of Mrs Tom Thumb. Mrs Tom Thumb was Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, a small woman who lived a large life. She was 32 inches tall and just 29 pounds when she stopped growing. She became one of America's first celebrities as part of PT Barnum's travelling circus.

3:35 Our Changing World - Flame Organ

In the sleepy coastal town of Taeiri Mouth, Alastair Galbraith has built a very strange instrument. Harnessing the power of thermo-acoustics, his Flame Organ uses Rijke tubes to produce sound. To hear the organ's eerie music, and tease out some of the science behind it, Ruth Beran visits the musician at his home.

4:06 The Panel with Duncan Webb and Jane Clifton