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Nights for Thursday 5 June 2025

8:10 Six months on, is the gang patch ban working?

University of Canterbury sociologist and gang expert Dr Jarrod Gilbert joins Emile Donovan.

Police monitoring gang activity.

Photo: Supplied / NZ Police

8.30 The House

Tonight on our Parliament show - The House - Phil Smith reports on the week's aims and outcomes.

8:35 Philosophy Now: Disrespecting the flag

It's time now to delve into the cerebral side of life with Dan Weijers senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Waikato. 

Tonight, he's asking if moral repugnance is a good guide to what is morally right or wrong - like walking on the national flag.

An artwork of a flag stencilled with the words “Please Walk On Me” has angered the local RSA who has labelled it an “insult” to veterans.

An artwork of a flag stencilled with the words “Please Walk On Me” has angered the local RSA who has labelled it an “insult” to veterans. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey

8:50 The Kiwi aiming to break the land speed out of his Mangatāwhiri garage

It's just like a modern-day Burt Munro story. Dave Alexander has spent almost nine years building a turbo-charged Lakester from his Mangatāwhiri garage.

And In August, the 72-year-old will head to the US to the Bonneville Salt Flats as part of a mission to break the land-speed record.

Dave speaks to Emile about his ambitious goal. 

Description of Dave Alexander and team in front of vehicle

Photo: Dave Alexander

9:05 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Emile Donovan 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. At the end of the run, the person with the most correct answers goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

9:25 Dr Harold Hillman: Living with passion and purpose

As a member of a special task force commissioned by then-US President Bill Clinton, Dr Harold Hillman sat in the room while his peers debated whether gay people should be allowed to serve in the US military. He heard them say how sick and twisted they thought gay people were. Little did they know, a closeted gay man was sitting among them.

Harold is a clinical psychologist who grew up in the projects of Washington DC, studied at Harvard and served as an officer in the United States Air Force. He came out at the age of 42, and has lived in Aotearoa since 2003. For decades, he has coached CEOs and businesses on leadership, empathy, and celebrating difference.

He is the author of six books, with his latest, Passion & Purpose: Leading and Living Life with Greater Fulfilment, on shelves now.

He speaks to Emile Donovan. 

Harold smiles at the camera. He wears a grey suit jacket with a black and white polka dot tie.

Photo: Supplied

9:45 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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10:17 The Detail: New Zealand's invisible children

For the undocumented, NZ-born children of overstayers, life ends when they turn 18. Sharon Brettkelly reports.

10:45 The Reading: In the Palace Gardens

The final of our reading, 'In the Palace Gardens', by Sarah Quigley read by 

11:07 The Mixtape

Maggie Tweedie speaks to electronic dance DJ Chris Cox, aka Frank Booker on the RNZ Mixtape. Frank chatted to Maggie off the back of an Australian tour and supporting Chaka Khan at her show at the Civic just this April.

Booker grew up in Ōtautahi Christchurch, where a formative love of jazz and funk informed his lifelong passion for DJing. Let's find out what Frank listens to.