First Up Podcast Options

5:34 AM.Tasty, sustainable, protein rich, healthy for your gut...sounds like the perfect snack. But what if I told you that yummy sounding treat was a cricket? A group of New Zealand researchers have just… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.That's the sound of a healthy coral reef. But many these days don't sound like that. Coral reefs across the world are suffering. Years of warmer temperatures and environmental stress has driven away… Read more Audio

5:12 AM.Wet and windy. That's the weather most of New Zealand's experienced over the last 24 hours. In East Waikato a "wall of wind" struck - breaking windows and bringing down trees. Jenny McGiven, who lives… Read more Audio

5:08 AM.To the UK now where the government is to add a new clause to the Brexit bill to rule out any extension to the transition period beyond the end of next year. The UK is set to leave the EU on 31… Read more Audio

5:58 AM.What were they waiting for? That's the question a grieving mother has for Pharmac - after her 27-year-old son died while switching to a generic version of his epilepsy medication called Logem. It's… Read more Audio

5:44 AM.Rescue officials will this morning announce whether divers will return today to continue the search for two missing people from the Whakaari/White Island eruption. Rob Gatt is currently the Executive… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.Dozens of residents from the South Auckland suburb of Ōtara say they've been taken advantage of by a Māori social housing trust building a development for those recovering from mental illness and… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.TradeMe is, of course, the go-to site for collectors and hoarders and never more so than at Christmas. This week's interesting auctions include a number of festive fundraisers and a curious Coca-Cola… Read more Audio

5:54 AM.Music makes up a large part of how many of us feel about Christmas - carols and modern songs are pervasive everywhere as we go in to the build up to the season. That goes too for classical music… Read more Audio

5:38 AM.After being fed up with stories about multiple shootings, streetfights and crime in South Auckland, 11 local school kids decided they wanted to tell a different story about their community. So they… Read more Video, Audio

5:23 AM.We head to the fruit and vege markets now where we're joined by our mate Glenn Forsyth. Prices going up just in time for Christmas, November prices and top 10 produce buys for this week. Audio

5:07 AM.The first Global Refugee Forum will take place in Geneva tomorrow and it comes at the end of a tumultuous decade in which refugee numbers has risen to over 25 million people worldwide. Guled Mire is a… Read more Audio

5:50 AM.A forensic dentist says people should be patient as teams work to identify the bodies recovered from Whakaari-White Island, because speed is dangerous. Dr David Antunovic says Interpol will have been… Read more Audio

5:38 AM.A man who suffered burns to twenty-percent of his body after a go-kart accident says the victims of Whaakari-White Island face a long, hard road. Roger McKernan was just 13 when he recieved… Read more Audio

5:08 AM.The Department of Conservation have paid tribute to conservationist David Bellamy, saying the department was built on the shoulders of his work. Dr Bellamy passed away aged 86 on Wednesday. A well… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.Each week we speak to those leading our local communities around the country. Today we go to the smallest district council in the country, Kaikoura, and joined by Mayor Craig Mackle Audio

5:42 AM.Some of the survivors of the Whakaari / White Island eruption have suffered burns to all but the equivalent of four palm-sized areas of skin. Medical staff are working around the clock to treat the 29… Read more Audio