Afternoons for Monday 17 November 2025

 

1:10 Horse instead of beef? How your diet can affect climate change

We all know the climate is in strife, and something needs to change. 

We've talked at length on Afternoons about Government, council and individual action and how it can make a difference, but what about our diets?

In his Climate Matters Substack, Lindsay Wood posed the question: "would we all be better off eating horse instead of beef or lamb?" He joins Jesse to discuss. 

1.20 How does asbestos get into sand? 

Concern is sweeping the country today amidst a possible asbestos contamination of coloured play sand.

First detected in Australia a number of products have also been recalled here. 

So far more than 120 schools and early play centers have contacted the Ministry of Education with concerns. 

To find out how worried we should be I'm joined by asbestos expert Professor Terri-Ann Berry 

She's the co-director of the Environmental Innovation Centre and joins Jesse. 

1.25 Find out how AI is helping identify bird song. 

Last week we spotted an invitation to an event in Hamilton that had us intrigued; it was a conversation about how artificial intelligence can help identify the birds singing around us.

We hear so much about how terrible AI is, we wanted to learn about how it could be used for good. 

 Dr Andrew Lensen certainly thinks it can be, he's a computer scientist leading MBIE-funded “AI for good” work, including using computer vision to recognise individual kākā and related projects on kiwi call recognition.

1.35 Putting traditional building techniques into modern use

Mīmiro is an ancient Māori building technique that sees wooden supports fastened together using joints similar to tongue and groove and then the whole structure is fastened to the ground with rope. 

It's an example of building techniques that architect and academic Professor Anthony Hōete says could and should be used more in construction. He speaks to Jesse. 

1:45 One long song

Not for the first time, today's long song has been described as "Dylanesque"

It's not by Bob Dylan though, it's by a band who were the first to release an album on CD. 

This is our chance to celebrate songs that are over seven minutes - to play them as they were meant to be played, in their entirety. 

2:10 Television Critic: Actor Michelle Langstone shares her picks

Let's talk what to watch on the box now and who better to tell us what's good right now, than actor Michelle Langstone.

Film Club (Three Now)
Educators - Season Four (TVNZ)

2:20 Jesse Goes Clubbing!

We're trying something new here on Afternoons, we've decided Monday is club day, a chance for Jesse to hit the clubs. 
If you have a club you'd like Jesse to join for the day please get in touch at afternoons@rnz.co.nz

Today, we're starting Jesse's clubbing adventure with Barbara Preston from Auckland based choir Stimmung.

2.30 Feature Interview: What exactly is "workslop?"

You know it when you see it. An email from a co-worker or marketing pitch from a company that lands in your inbox, but you know it was written by artificial intelligence. AI promised to make work faster, smarter, and more efficient, but sometimes those emails take time to unpick and fix. There’s a word for that, “workslop”. It’s content that masquerades as meaningful but requires others to interpret. Dr. Kate Niederhoffer is a social psychologist and vice president of BetterUp Labs. She co-authored a new study and says workslop is becoming a growing source of frustration in the workplace. 

3:10 Expert Feature: How do you navigate a divorce or separation?

It's time for our expert feature and today we're talking about navigating divorce & separation

Alongside the death of a loved one, separation and divorce can be one of the most painful and difficult periods of someone's life.  

Divorce and separation coach Kimberlee Sweeney joins Jesse for the next 30 minutes to answer all your questions

 

3:35 Here Now

Adriana Litchfield is a self-published children's author, a salsa dancer who found herself in the Bay of Plenty 13 years ago, in that time she has worked hard from the factory floor to Kiwifruit Orchards. In that time she has built a strong community around her, she shares her story with Justine Murray.  

3:45 The pre-Panel

Wallace Chapman previews tonight's instalment of The Panel.