First Up Podcast Options

5:32 AM.If you've ever been interested in the origins of, now is a great time to be alive, as the world's most powerful telescope, the James Webb, shows us lightbeams from billions of years ago -- and in full… Read more Audio

5:21 AM.Each Wednesday the First Up plane touches down in Doha - joining Nathan Rarere from there is our correspondent Alex Baird. Audio

5:08 AM.Across the Tasman now - where Prime Minister Albanese is off to Fiji to join leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum - Nathan Rarere spoke with our Brisbane correspondent Pam Corkery. Audio

5:54 AM.A system under pressure but not a crisis is how Health Minister Andrew Little described the current state of our health system. But an astonishing 93.5 per cent of doctors who participated in a… Read more Audio

5:50 AM.A band of wet and wild weather is moving across the country this morning with warnings it could lead to flooding and slips. Heavy rain warnings and watches are in place for much of Aotearoa with… Read more Audio

5:46 AM.The 51st Pacific Islands Forum is into its second day after getting off to a rocky start with Kiribati's surprise exit from the group. This is the first in-person meeting of the forum in two years… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.Now it's time to hear about the concerns of our main opposition party with National's deputy leader Nicola Willis. Nathan Rarere started by asking about leader Christopher Luxon's policy-finding trip… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.We head to Gisborne Tairawhiti now which has been found to have the highest rate of hazardous drinking in the country. Nathan Rarere discussed the findings with Local Democracy Reporting Programme… Read more Audio

5:12 AM.Across the Tasman now, where thousands of people affected by this month's floods have a mammoth cleanup on their hands after returning to their badly damaged homes. Meanwhile, latest figures show… Read more Audio

5:06 AM.We begin this morning in the UK, where things are heating up..politically and temperature-wise. Staying out of the sun is our UK correspondent Ellie Jay. Audio

5:51 AM.Japan is a nation in mourning after the assasination of its longest serving Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Mr Abe died in hospital on Friday morning after being shot while speaking at a political… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.New Zealand's only airworthy Catalina Flying boat is up for sale and a group of volunteers is trying to raise money to keep it in the country. The plane - built in Canada in 1944 - has been in New… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.In Fiji, Pacific nations are gathering for the Pacific Island Forum with climate change and China's increasing presence in the region expected to feature prominently on the agenda. But getting things… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.To the fresh produce markets we head, with his Monday report, Nathan Rarere was joined by our Minister of Fruit and Veggies Glenn Forsyth. Audio

5:15 AM.Sri Lanka's President is set to resign after the country's economic crisis literally hit home. Protestors swarmed the Presidential Palace - demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister… Read more Audio

5:07 AM.To the USA now, where a couple of BIG names are set to testify in front of the January 6th committee, joining Nathan Rarere is our correspondent Anna Burns-Francis. Audio

5:50 AM.There was panic in Auckland's North Shore yesterday when five schools went into lockdown after reports of a gunman on the loose. Takapuna Grammar, Belmont Intermediate, Belmont Primary, Bayswater… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.New South Wales fruit growers are facing years of recovery after 'unrelenting' floods have forced thousands of people from their homes- some for the fourth time in just 18 momths. The floods were… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.Torrential rain is on the way, New Zealand! Philip Duncan from WeatherWatch tells us what's in store. Audio

5:17 AM.Fresh fighting has broken out between the forces of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan rebels and inflation is hitting hard throughout the continent, forcing one government… Read more Audio

5:12 AM.Skipping across the Atlantic now, the fallout from the 4th of July mass shooting continues with the gunman being charged and stories of his runs-in with authorities come to light.. Joining Nathan from… Read more Audio

5:05 AM.We begin this morning in the UK, where Boris Johnson is to step down, but not yet. Joining Nathan from London is our correspondent Ellie Jay. Audio

5:49 AM.With 10-thousand new cases reported yesterday it's appears that we're at the start of another wave of Covid-19. It's being driven by new sub-variants of Omicron and especially the highly transmissible… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.In the United States, supporters of reproductive rights are mobilising en masse to fight back against the Supreme Court's ruling that abortion is not a constitutional right. As many as 26 states could… Read more Audio

5:15 AM.To Europe, where the Eiffel Tower is rusting and the King of Cocaine has arrived in Italy to face charges after decades on the run.. Joining Nathan from Sweden is our correspondent Anita Purcell… Read more Audio