Afternoons for Wednesday 4 February 2026

 

1:10 Why has wine gone out of flavour for many of us?

Vineyards around the country are approaching harvest time, and while it is still too early to tell how the vintage will go, if it's anything like last year's, thousands of tons of grapes could be left to rot on the vine.

The reason for that - we're not drinking as much wine as we used to, in fact in 2024 global consumption was the lowest for more than 6 decades

So, what can wine growers do to combat a change in taste?

Kim Thorp - owner of Black Barn Vineyard in Hawke's Bay - chats to Jesse. 

1:20 Using wool to try and stop an invasive weed 

Woollen mats are now being trialled to smother an invasive oxygen weed threatening to take over some of New Zealand's lake floors. 

To explain how, Northland Regional Council Biodiversity Manager Lisa Forester chats to Jesse. 

1:30 An insight into Waitangi Treaty Settlements

For many New Zealanders, Treaty settlements are an aspect of our history that is shrouded in mystery & misunderstanding. RNZ podcast The Negotiators takes a closer look at the conversation through seven of the lead negotiators. Host of the podcast Moana Maniapoto joins Jesse to discuss. 

Click here for a link to the podcast

1.45 Stories from Our Changing World

In Our Changing World, the RNZ podcast, Dr Claire Concannon follows scientists into the bush, over rivers, back to their labs and many places in-between to cover the most fascinating research being done in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Every fortnight she also joins us here on Afternoons to chat through her latest discovery, today she joins Jesse to talk about insects and how they communicate.

2.10 Heading Off: Driving from Sri Lanka to the UK

It's time for heading off and today we're heading back in time to 1973 when a group of young travellers loaded two vintage Model A Fords onto a boat in Auckland bound for Sri Lanka from where they planned to drive to the U.K.

Listen to find out what happens next.

2:20 Easy Eats: Making the most of barbecue season!

An economical cut of steak can be transformed into something very delicious after 4-24 hours in a crowd-pleasing marinade, before being cooked to smoky perfection on the barbecue.
Kelly Gibney joins Jesse to share her recipe for barbecued rump steak with cucumber and avocado salad.

Click here for the recipe

2:30 Bookmarks with Elisabeth Easther

It's time for Bookmarks - where we invite an interesting person onto Afternoons to share some of their favourite things to read, watch and listen to. 

 Today Jesse is joined by actor, playwright, television presenter and journalist Elisabeth Easther 

Elisabeth has appeared in everything from Shortland Street to The Brokenwood Mysteries, Outrageous Fortune to Funny Girls. She's also written her debut novel 'Seed' - adapted from her award-winning play of the same name.

Books 

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield 

The Overstory: Richard Powers 

Commonwealth: Anne Patchett 

Birnam Wood – Eleanor Catton 

 

Films/TV 

Utu 

Big 

Truly Madly Deeply

Madmen

Sex in The City (early seasons)

Breaking Bad

Better Call Saul

Luther

The Righteous Gemstones

 

Audio Books

Yellowface - Rebecca F. Kuang

Daisy Jones the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Green Dot - Madeleine Gray 

Hagstone - Sinéad Gleeson

Rodham - Curtis Sittenfeld

  

Music 

Queen: Bicycle race 

Beautiful South - I’ll sail this ship alone 

Randy Newman - You’ve got a friend in me 

Herbs - E Papa

Christine Lavine – The love you never recover from

Greg Johnson - Don’t Wait Another Day

Willie Nelson – Home Motel  

3:10 Music Critic: Find out if Beck's latest album is worth a listen

 Simon Sweetman is one of our regular critics on Afternoons, and today he's diving into the latest from 8-time Grammy Award winner Beck. 

Beck's latest album is called 'Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime'.

3:30 Feature interview: The winner of the Game of Wool

Knitting has entered its cool era. Once dismissed as an old-fashioned pastime, creating hats and jumpers and even swimsuits from wool is now prime-time TV entertainment. Last year, ten amateur knitters competed on Game of Wool, a TV show hosted by Olympic diver Tom Daley, who is a passionate knitter himself. SPOILER ALERT!! The winner of Game of Wool is becoming a knitting superstar now too after creating everything from a seafood ramen bowl to a traditional German stocking cap. Jesse speaks to the winner. 

3:45 The pre-Panel

Wallace Chapman previews tonight's edition of The Panel.