Radio features from different parts of the world looking at subjects not often discussed at length in the media. These programmes are provided by overseas broadcasters so audio is not usually available on the RNZ website for copyright reasons.
Originally broadcast 2012 - 2014.
Monday 31 December: Changing Burma
A guide to Burma’s extraordinary year. What are the challenges for 2013? James Menedez and Soe Win Than present Changing Burma.
See the BBC website for this programme
Tuesday 1 January: Life in 2030
Robots that fight fires, cars that drive themselves, clothes that prevent illness the stuff of science fiction novels? Or, are they closer than we think? Life in 2030, a one-hour special from The Engineers of the New Millennium, explores the latest advances in science and technology to give listeners a glimpse of what life may be like in the not-too-distant future.
See the PRX website for this programme
Wednesday 2 January: Evolution: The Real Genesis
'Geogeneis: The Emergence of the Earth' by Sir Lloyd Geering, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University.
Thursday 3 January: The Age of Reason - Dr Alice Rivlin
Dr Alice Rivlin is an economist who has seen every boom and bust since World War II. Now aged 81 she is one of President Obama's advisors on debt. It's her job to come up with solutions to America's financial crisis. She was a child during the Great Depression and as a young woman she worked on The Marshall, helping rebuild Europe after the war. She speaks to Jenni Murray about the challenges of being female and wanting to be an economist – rejected from some universities, and even forbidden from taking out library books because she was female.
See the BBC website for this programme.
Friday 4 January
Huronia Regional Centre was an Ontario home for the mentally disabled. It opened in 1876, but didn't close until 2009. Parents were told their children would be cared for and that it was the best thing for them. It's now coming to light that this was not the case. For the first time, adults who grew up in these places are telling harrowing stories of abuse and neglect.
See the CBC website for this programme
When the psychologist, Donald Broadbent died in 1993 he left a legacy which still influences our understanding of how we process the complex information in the world around us.