First Up Podcast Options

5:50 AM.Should Uber drivers be entitled to the minimum wage and holiday pay? Well, according to the United Kingdom's highest court, the answer to that question is a resounding YES In a landmark decision, the… Read more Audio

5:43 AM.Heart of the City says Auckland's businesses have their fingers crossed that the city goes from level 2 to level 1 later today. Cabinet is schedule to meet this afternoon to decide whether it's safe… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.Luna Rossa have won the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series finals with a 7-1 demolition of Team UK. The Italian's won yesterday's decider by 56 seconds after finishing the day's first race 1… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.Joining us from the Monday produce markets - he's more of a Munch Bunch guy than a Muppet man, our Minister of Fruit and Vegetables Mr Glenn Forsyth, answering a listener's question about the keeping… Read more Audio

5:13 AM.The iconic tv programme The Muppet Show is now available on television for the first time since repeats in the 1980s. The legendary variety show ran for five seasons between 1976 and 1981 hosting the… Read more Audio

5:07 AM.To Sweden where we're joined by former RNZ reporter Anita Purcell-Sjölund, talking about Covid numbers in Scandavania and Norway is to decriminalise recreational drugs. Audio

5:51 AM.After a protracted battle with the Australian Government, Facebook will no longer share content from professional news sources. The tech giant made the extraordinary move in response to new laws that… Read more Audio

5:46 AM.It's time again for our animal segment where we catch up with an animal sanctuary who are doing their bit to protect wildlife here in Aotearoa. NZ Bird Rescue is an Auckland based charitable trust… Read more Audio

5:27 AM.Joining us from the Friday markets is New Zealand's healthiest man, our Minister of Fruit and Veges, Glenn Forsyth who talks apples and how the Auckland markets reacted to Level 3. Audio

5:19 AM.This year marks the 25th anniversary since one of Shortland Street's most famous characters was admitted to a psychiatric facility after attempting to murder her sister. Then she was gone. Carla… Read more Audio

5:14 AM.Last year the pandemic impacted the arts sector to no end, with shows cancelled across the globe. And now the latest level three lockdown in Auckland has interrupted both the Pride and Fringe… Read more Audio

5:08 AM.We cross to the United States to our Washington correspondent Simon Marks who tells us about the winter storm cutting power to large parts of Texas and conservative talkback host Rush Limbaugh has… Read more Audio

5:51 AM.Nathan Rarere discussed the alert level changes with University of Otago professor of Epidemiology Dr Michael Baker. Audio

5:48 AM.The alert level change was met with relief - and a bit of anxiety - on the streets of Auckland, as our reporter Ella Stewart found out. Audio

5:36 AM.The Pike River Recovery Agency has reached the furthest point that it plans to go to in the mine re-entry operation. On Tuesday, recovery workers reached the roof fall - 2.26 kilometres up the mine… Read more Audio

5:31 AM.We have heard a lot lately about the collapse of international tourism and the impact of that on the West Coast glacier towns of Franz Josef and Fox - which relied on it. Franz is still waiting to… Read more Audio

5:22 AM.James Wenley is a lecturer in Theatre at Victoria University of Wellington but this week he's putting down the white board marker to be on stage himself. The academic has been working on an… Read more Audio

5:14 AM.This week's new MP is Labour's Northcote representative, Shanan Halbert. Mr Halbert took the Northcote seat off National's incumbent Dan Bidois in the 2020 General Election and says it was a hard… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.Nathan caught up with our Vienna, Austria correspondent Catherine Walbridge where Austria's neighbour is closing its borders. Audio

5:52 AM.We'll find out later today when Auckland will come out of Level 3 lockdown. A 4.30 this afternoon the Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will hold a press… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.The Finance Minister Grant Robertson has said that the Government will set up a new Resurgence Support Payment for businesses affected by any resurgence of COVID-19. They say businesses that can show… Read more Audio

5:38 AM.For the second day in a row there were no new community cases of Covid-19 in the country yesterday, despite a testing blitz which saw over 15-thousand people swabbed in the previous 24 hours. We'll… Read more Audio

5:32 AM.If you would like a job in space then have we got great news for you! The European Space Agency is looking for new astronauts. Hopefuls have 8 weeks to apply on thet Agency's website from the 31 March… Read more Audio

5:25 AM.We're continuing to get to know some of the innovative and creative small businesses New Zealand has to offer. This morning we'll hear from Hollie Hales-Whitaker and her growing business which sells… Read more Audio