Nights for Thursday 27 February 2025

8:15 Pacific Waves

A daily current affairs programme that delves deeper into the major stories of the week, through a Pacific lens, and shines a light on issues affecting Pacific people wherever they are in the world. Hosted by Susana Suisuiki.

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8:30 Dunedin auction house helping out family who can't return home

A Dunedin auction house is running a special auction to lend a helping hand to a family struggling to return to their red-stickered home.

Following the city's October floods, Krystal Bren’s Clyde Hill home was red-stickered after the land beneath it slipped away.

She needs to raise around $140,000 to fix the issue and return home.

When Dunedin auctioneer Ronnie Proctor heard about Krystal's situation, he did what he does best — he offered to organize an auction to help.

To find out more Mark Leishman speaks to Ronnie.

8:45 The Reading: How to Walk a Dog

Written with wit, wisdom and heartbreaking poignancy, How to Walk a Dog is a story anyone who has ever owned or loved a dog will relate to.

Tonight we'll hear about the many and varied ways that we play with our dogs.

9:07 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Mark Leishman as he dons his quizmaster hat.

If you get an answer right, you move on to the next question. If you get it wrong, your time in the chair is up, and the next caller will be put through. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the run goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

9:25 Why is this concrete wall in Christchurch captivating people?

Christchurch is a city full of stunning architecture.

From the Arts Centre to the new Convention Centre—and even the earthquake-damaged Cathedral—the South Island’s largest city takes great pride in its buildings.

But one structure that might not make the city’s must-see lists has captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of people online.

The building in question? A 28-metre-high concrete wall with the entrance to the TimeZone video arcade at the bottom… and not much else.

Senior writer at The Spinoff, Alex Casey, was so baffled by this slightly dystopian-looking building that she decided to investigate.

She speaks to Mark Leishman about what she found.

9:35 Celebrating 40 years of New Zealand rock history

Our next story takes us back to 1985.

David Lange was the Prime Minister, TV One hosted Telethon, Keri Hulme won the Booker Prize for The Bone People - and 'For Today' from the Netherworld Dancing Toys was topping the charts.

It also featured a little known New Zealand songstress at the time, called Annie Crummer, and was to become one of our great Kiwi anthems.

Nick Sampson co-wrote 'For Today' - which turns 40 this year!

He joins Mark Leishman.

10:17 New stats show one in six New Zealanders are disabled

The 2023 Household Disability Survey has found 10 per cent of all children and 18 per cent of adults are disabled, reaching a total of 851,000 people.

But that's a drop from the equivalent data in 2013, which identified one in four people.

That's because the standards used to identify disability have changed, and with us to talk through those changes is Jonathan Godfrey.

He's a Massey University statistics professor and a disabled person himself, currently serving as the president of Blind Citizens NZ.

10:30 Call for stricter animal welfare enforcement

New Zealand needs to tighten up enforcement of animal welfare rules, says an Auckland University law professor researching our rules.

As part of a doctorate with Alberta University, Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere has compared our rules with theirs and found several shortfalls.

The SPCA, MPI and Police all play a part in enforcement, but overlapping responsibilities and under-resourcing of each agency means the mistreatment of animals goes undetected, according to Marcelo's research.

He speaks to Mark Leishman.

10:45 Survey seeks men's experiences navigating HIV risks

A survey is calling on all men who have sex with men to share their experiences navigating HIV risks.

The SPOTS survey is run by the University of Auckland in collaboration with the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa.

New Zealand is committed to eradicating HIV transmission by 2030, and with rates of syphilis on the rise and the threat of mpox outbreaks, researchers say the survey is vital to understand the gaps in our sexual health care system.

Tony Sriamporn is with the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland and part of the SPOTS team, and he speaks to Mark Leishman.

11:07 The Mixtape

Every week, RNZ Music invites guests to compile a collection of their favourite songs and talk us through their selections.

This week on the Mixtape Artist Dick Frizzell has been revisiting his years in Hastings, the subject of a new memoir. He picks the tunes from that period of his life.

You can catch the Mixtape on Saturdays at 4pm on Music 101 and Fridays at 11pm on Nights, here on RNZ National or listen to past episodes of The Mixtape by heading to rnz.co.nz.