Afternoons for Wednesday 14 February 2018

Short Story Club

Tomorrow we will talk about 3 of the poems featured in a special NZ issue of the international magazine, Poetry

Identity Politics by Tayi Tibble

The Truth about Palmerston North by Tim Upperton

I come from Palmerston North by James Brown

1:10 First song: Thompson Springs

Chicago band Thompson Springs are in NZ for a short tour, and perfom live in our Auckland studio. You can find their tour details here.

1:15 The National Party leadership battle

We get the latest on who has thrown their hat in the ring to replace Bill English, and who has ruled themselves out, from RNZ's Deputy Political Editor, Chris Bramwell

1:20 The Prime Minister's Science Prize

Yesterday the Prime Minister handed out one million dollars worth of science prizes. The top prize of $500,000 went to a team from Plant & Food Research, for its work fighting the kiwifruit disease PSA.

Today we talk to the winner of the 2017 Science Communication Prize, Damian Christie, a lawyer-turned-journalist, who says he will use the $100,000 prize money to establish New Zealand's first science video news agency, called the Aotearoa Science Agency.

He describes it as "pure science journalism... because there's so much amazing stuff happening out there that people have just no idea about."

1:25 Cycle Speed Dating

The wheels of love are being set motion today in Queenstown - Cycle Speed Dating is back!

If you're looking for that special someone to ride tandem with you through life this could be your chance.

Paul Earnshaw from Cycle Higher is playing match-maker and joins us to tell us what is involved.

1:35 Sound Archives: Te Papa opens - and a historic day for NZ cricket.

Today is Valentine's Day and also the 20th birthday of our national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, which opened its doors on Feb 14, 1998 on the Wellington waterfront.

Today in our visit to the sound archives of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision,  Sarah Johnston is going to take us back to the first day of "Our Place "  - and we will also hear about a historic anniversary in New Zealand cricket from 1978.

1:40 Great album: Toto: 40 Trips around the sun

2:20 Bookmarks: Ruth Paul

The very creative Ruth Paul is in for our Bookmarks interview.

She's a Wellington-based writer and illustrator with 15 published titles including The King's Bubbles and Stomp.

Ruth talks to Jesse about her decision to pursue creativity instead of finishing a law degree and how she takes inspiration from essays on science and nature.

3:10 Jonathan Franzen: why birds matter

Literary luminary Jonathan Franzen has spent the first part of his life writing award winning novels. The second half, he says, he will dedicate to birds. How we treat birds, he says, is a barometer of how we are treating the planet.     Jonathan Franzen makes the case for Why Birds Matter in the cover story for the January issue of National Geographic magazine.

3:35 Science and environment stories

Stories from Our Changing World.

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

4:05 The Panel with Ali Jones and Ganesh Nana