1:20 Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre secures funding for part of its upgrade

The popular Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in Blenheim has just secured part of the funding needed for a planned 5 million dollar expansion.

The centre hopes to develop their WWII display to include a collection of original New Zealand aircraft used in the war - it would essentially double the centre's size.

Council has agreed to partial funding, but they'll need more to make the plans a reality. The centre's chief executive, Jane Orphan talks to Jesse.

A Nieuport on static display at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre -

A Nieuport on static display at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre - Photo: James Orphan

1:30 Update on Whangārei's running-ball clock project

A major step forward for Whangārei's "world-unique" running-ball clock project today.

The clock was placed onto its foundations this morning by crane at the Whangārei Town Basin in preparation for its official launch on 7 April. 

Project manager Warren Thomas has been working on this long-running project since 2013. He joins Jesse for an update.

Whangarei's running ball clock

Whangarei's running ball clock Photo: rollingballclock.co.nz

1:40 Dog walking industry being infiltrated by 'cowboys'

There are concerns the unregulated dog walking industry is being infiltrated by 'cowboy' operators looking to make a quick profit without any proper training in animal welfare or safety.

Gabby Mansbridge owns Pack Social in West Auckland and she talks to Jesse about her concerns with rogue dog walking operations and the danger they pose to themselves and their canine clients. We spoke to her after she appeared in The Spinoff airing her concerns.

Dog walking

Dog walking Photo: (Matt Nelson)

1:50 Will Smith apologises, the world responds

Actor Will Smith has issued a formal apology for his assault on comedian Chris Rock at yesterday's Academy Awards Ceremony.

His actions have overshadowed the event after he reacted violently to a joke Chris Rock made about Smith's wife.

RNZ World Watch editor, Perlina Lau, talks to Jesse about the apology and the worldwide reaction to what happened.

US actor Will Smith slaps US actor Chris Rock onstage during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022.

US actor Will Smith slaps US actor Chris Rock onstage during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022. Photo: AFP or licensors

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Photo: Penguin

2:10 Book Critic: Anna Rankin

Today writer, journalist and filmmaker Anna Rankin talks to Jesse about  Masha Gessen: Ester and Ruzya: How My Grandmothers Survived Hitler's War and Stalin's Peace and two books from Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich, The Unwomanly Face of War and Seconhand Time.

2:20 Composing Banjo music for The Power of the Dog

The Banjo plays a feature role in a particularly unsettling scene in Jane Campion's Oscar-winning western psychological drama The Power of the Dog.

The man tasked with bringing it to life was New Zealand composer and musician David Ward. He was the banjo tutor, advisor, arranger and composer for the film that was shot in Otago.

David joins Jesse to talk about the instrument and what it was like teaching Benedict Cumberbatch to play.

Musician and composer David Ward plays the banjo

Musician and composer David Ward plays the banjo Photo: Joanna Forsberg

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Photo: supplied

3:10 Modern fiction heroines have morphed into anti-heroes

Women on TV  are not all  spirited and spunky like Jess from New Girl. Female characters are ditching traditional females roles to play angry, selfish, and very unlikeable, like devious Cersei Lannister from The Game of Thrones or filterless  Fleabag. The  new female antihero is a sign of how much television has changed say professors Sarah Hagelin and Gillian Silverman. They explain why the rise of strong, although sometimes evil  norm-defying female protagonists on prime-time television is a good thing for women everywhere .

3:30 Spoken Feature: BBC Wintess

In April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in what was then Soviet Ukraine, causing the worst nuclear accident in history. Thirty-one people died in the immediate aftermath of the blast but it's predicted that the eventual number of early deaths from radiation sickness will run into the thousands.

Sergii Mirnyi was in charge of a monitoring unit which measured radiation levels in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl plant. He spoke to Dina Newman in 2016.

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Photo: bbc.co.uk

3:45 The Panel with Verity Johnson and David Farrar