Afternoons for Monday 4 December 2017

1:10 First song: Baby It's Cold Outside

The New Zealand Army Band has just released its Christmas Album and Major Graham Hickman, the band's director of music introduces one of the their songs, Baby It's Cold Outside

1:15 The Russia Probe for Dummies

The investigation into Russian interference in the US election gained some real traction over the weekend, with the announcement that Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn is now cooperating with the inquiry.

For those not following this closely it can start seeming a bit murky. So we thought we'd do a bit of a re-cap of exactly how the Russia probe came about, who the main players are and how significant these latest developments are

Otago University is professor of politics and director of international studies, Robert Patman talks us through how we got to this point, and what might happen next.

1:25 Acupuncturists making misleading medical claims

Some acupuncturists in New Zealand may be breaching sections of the Medicines Act by making misleading claims on their websites, a new study has found.

The study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, calls on officials to crack down on these false claims.

Mark Honeychurch, the Secretary for the Society for Science Based Healthcare, tells us more.

1:35 Art in the park

Dancing around tied with bungee cords doesn't sound like it has much to do with a park but it's exactly what a kiwi artist has dreamed up after spending weeks living at Long Bay regional park in Auckland.

It's part of the council's annual residency programme where artists come up with a new way to show off what the city's parks have to offer.

We speak to current resident artist Chloe Loftus ahead of her weekend performance.

1:40 Great album

2:10 Television Critic Jane Bowron

Jane has been watching Agatha Raisin and Witness for the Prosecution on Prime and the new TV2 show Imposters

2:20 NZ-born Bishop spreading the word through Twitter

Richard Umbers is the youngest Bishop in Australia. The Auckland-born man has been back in the country for the Catholic Youth Festival and has become known as the Bishop of Memes because of his social media activity.

2:30 Expert feature: Dr Jim Faed on spinal cords

Our expert today is Dr Jim Faed and the topic will be around spinal cords.

We're going to discuss typical injuries and the modern medicine - that is stem cells - being worked on to fix spine problems. Jim wears a number of hats: he's a senior lecturer at the University of Otago and he's the blood transfusion medicine specialist covering the southern region of New Zealand.

Spine injuries can't often be cured - only treated. If you have any spinal cord related questions - text us on 2101 or email jesse@radionz.co.nz.

3:10 The darkside of "The Big Four"

Big doesn't even come close to defining the size and impact of four companies that have unprecedented influence over our attention, our loyalty and our personal data.

There's a dark side to  Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook says NYU professor Scott Galloway. He calls the companies the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and says they're avoiding taxes and killing jobs.

Galloway dismantles the strategies behind the giants in his new book The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google.

3:35 Voices

3:45 The Pre-Panel Story of the Day and One Quick Question

4:05 The Panel with Heather Roy and Matt Nippert