Afternoons for Thursday 7 August 2025

1:15 How to find work in a challenging job market

New Zealand's unemployment rate has risen to 5.2 percent - the highest level since 2020 - which means it is pretty grim out there for job seekers.

So we asked the CEO and founder of Integrity recruitment Ingrid Osborne to join us with her advice for workers who are struggling to find work or even get a response to an application.

1:25 Tips and tricks to avoid falling victim to a scam.

Internet scams are getting more and more sophisticated, and new research has shown more of us are falling victim to them. 

Trend Micro is a global leader in cyber security, and its study reveals two-thirds of New Zealanders have been targeted by an online scam, and a third have fallen victim to one. 

Maybe the most concerning discovery was that almost a third of the victims only realised they'd been targeted after suffering significant financial loss or not receiving items they paid for. 

So, how are these scams targeting people and what do you need to look out for? 

Ashley Millar, director of consumer education at Trend Micro, spoke to Jesse.

1:35 Creating sustainable potatoes.

The finalists for the 2025 KiwiNet Awards have been announced. 

If you're not familiar, these awards celebrate not only scientific discovery, but the application and execution of those discoveries to solve real-world problems. 

Samantha Baldwin, Science Group Leader at Plant & Food Research, is nominated for the AJ Park Commercialisation Impact Award for a new variety of potatoes. 

Samantha's with Jesse to tell us about her spuds. 

1:45 Great album: Shihad"s Love is the New Hate turns 20!

Shihad's Love Is The New Hate turns 20 this year, and for the first time it's coming to vinyl. 

This album saw the band in a pretty fired up mood - with classics like Alive and All the Young Fascists.

2:10 Group Chat: Sydney Sweeney; Love later in life and Kim Kardashian's latest innovation

The topics dominating your group chats .. today Kate Rodger and Olivia Wilson are here with a veritable buffet of issues from the continuing fallout over American Eagle's Sydney Sweeney ad, some romance for the over 50s, to the latest addition in Kim Khardashian's Skims line

2:30 NZ Sporting History: Grant Elliot aka the Hairy Javelin

The enduring image of Grant Elliott hitting a six to send New Zealand into their first ever One Day Cricket World Cup Final in 2015 - brought many New Zealanders to tears.

Also making headlines in the aftermath of that historic victory - the sportsmanship he displayed in extending a hand to the South African bowler he had just dispatched - Dale Steyn - as he lay devastated on the ground. 

Nicknamed the Hairy Javelin, Grant began his cricketing career in his native South Africa. But a move to New Zealand would set up him up for an international career that saw him compete in all formats of the game.

He chats to Jesse.

3:15 Solving the World's Problems: Artistic licence with artist's impressions

When projects in Wellington get mooted, there are often artists impressions of the project showing Wellington on a brilliantly sunny day, with well-dressed joggers going past, sober teenagers discussing world issues and no homeless anywhere. The reality is different and council's artists impressions - with roofed bus stops and fences that aren't actually what will go there are being called into question.

Dave Armstrong talks to Jesse about this and other issues he says need solving. 

3:20 History with Dr Grant Morris: How many lawyers is too many?

New Zealand has one of the highest number of lawyers per capita in the world.
But it certainly wasn't always the case. 

Today our resident professor, Dr Grant Morris explores how and why we have so many lawyers.

3:35 Spoken Feature BBC Witness

Twenty five years ago the longest rollercoaster in the world opened in an amusement park in Japan. 

Steel Dragon 2000 is just under 2.5 kilometres long, BBC Witness spoke to its designer Steve Okamoto.

3:45 The pre-Panel 

Wallace Chapman previews tonight's instalment of The Panel.