First Up Podcast Options

5:44 AM.In June, Rachel Jordan was photographing a wedding in Canterbury when the helicopter she was in suffered a mechanical failure and crashed to the ground. The bride and groom, the pilot and Rachel were… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.Joining Nathan Rarere for the fresh produce markets is our purveyor of pumpkins and Minister of Fruit and Veges Glenn Forsyth. Audio

5:13 AM.It's election day eve in Canada - with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling a snap election in the hope of securing a bigger share of seats in Parliament. But that tactic seems to have come back to… Read more Audio

5:05 AM.New Zealand Cricket's decision to pull the Black Caps out of Pakistan, just two days before the opening match in Rawalpindi, has been met with fury by the host nation's fans AND at top levels of… Read more Audio

5:19 AM.To the fresh produce markets now - beaming in from his palace of potatoes, peas, parsnips, Packham pears and high on a hill over Lake Taupo .. parked at the business end of a peck of pickled peppers… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.We first talked with India-based Kiwi teacher Claire Pirini back in May, when she was waiting confirmation of a place in MIQ. She had been in India for only a few months when a surge in covid-19 there… Read more Audio

5:06 AM.We begin this morning in the USA where we're joined by our correspondent Bevan Hurley. Audio

5:55 AM.The search for a King Country man and his three children missing since the weekend will continue this morning. Thomas Phillips and his three children Jayda, Maverick and Ember aged 8, 6 and 5, have… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.Nathan Rarere asked the Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson the Level 4 essential items issue. But they began by discussing the half-a-million doses of the Pfizer vaccine that arrived in New Zealand… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.If all goes well and Covid-19 case numbers continue to drop, the Government has announced Auckland could move to Alert level 3 as early as next Tuesday. Until then non-essential businesses around the… Read more Audio

5:25 AM.Now it's that time of the week where we take a look round the country and check in with our Local Democracy reporters. Today we're in Rotorua with Felix Desmarais. Audio

5:15 AM.Older New Zealanders who are stuck abroad and unable to book MIQ spots fear that their pensions will stop being paid if they don't make it home within six months. This includes Rotorua couple Eddie… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.We head to Fiji now where it appears the chief executive of the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, Kemueli Naiqama, has been given the sack for publishing ... statistics. To help us get to the bottom of this… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.While Aucklanders have been in lockdown for over a month now, spare a thought for the university students who came back for the holidays only to find themselves stuck in the city and unable to return… Read more Audio

5:48 AM.Nathan Rarere spoke with Infometrics economist Brad Olsen. Audio

5:44 AM.Over the past couple of weeks we've been speaking with businesses up and down the country about how they've been managing in lockdown or at Alert Level 2. Some have managed to adapt - and indeed quite… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.Spring is almost upon us - and it's been a while since we talked "meat without feet". Nathan Rarere spoke with Brett Sellers, Seafood operations manager with Foodstuffs. Audio

5:26 AM.Every so often we have a look around the small businesses and this week we're talking to the founders of AweAo. Aweao are Laurie and Sebastian who make macrame, carved Jewellery, sculptures and wall… Read more Audio

5:17 AM.Almost 400 refugees who fled Afghanistan in last month's takeover by the Taliban have arrived in New Zealand. Some have already completed their mandatory two weeks in managed isolation only to find… Read more Audio

5:07 AM.To Australia now, where Nathan Rarere spoke with our correspondent Pam Corkery.. Audio

5:54 AM.While Tamaki Makaurau remains in an Alert Level four lockdown, schools across the motu also remain closed. Approximately 100,000 secondary students will continue to learn online, as end of year exams… Read more Audio

5:50 AM.While Auckland remains in Alert Level 4 until at least next Tuesday, the rest of the country also remains at what the Prime Minister is calling Delta Level 2. Just to remind you - under the Delta… Read more Audio

5:37 AM.Nathan Rarere spoke to National Party deputy leader Shane Reti about yesterday's Alert Levels announcement. He asked whether he's had a chance to get out to any coffee outlets at Alert Level 2. Audio

5:32 AM.For six generations Russell Smith's family has been in the locksmithing trade. But lockdown has meant his central Auckland business is calling it a day. After 33 years the family business on Ponsonby… Read more Audio