Nights for Thursday 13 November 2025
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Thinking deeply about deepfakes
9:25 PM.Deepfake technology seems to be flooding online spaces and as AI-generated gets more sophisticated, the challenges will grow. Dr Yuki Watanabe from the University of Otago studies interdisciplinary… Read more Audio
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How kids' TV consumption has changed in 10 years
8:40 PM.Senior writer and head of audience at The Spinoff Anna Rawhiti-Connell joins Emile to talk about NZ On Air’s latest research on children’s media use - the third iteration of the study. Anna and Emile… Read more Audio
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Myth Takes: The Roman soldier
8:30 PM.Classics educator and enthusiast Ben Jackson talks to Emile Donovan what it took to run the Roman army. Read more Audio
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How prepared are we for solar storms?
8:10 PM.Last night, stargazers were treated to a spectacular show as the Southern Lights lit up the skies in the south. Thanks in part to Dr Daniel MacManus from the University of Otago, our infrastructure… Read more Audio
8:10 How prepared are we for solar storms?
Last night, stargazers were treated to a spectacular show as the Southern Lights lit up the skies in the south. Meanwhile, Transpower issued a grid emergency notice yesterday afternoon because of a severe geomagnetic solar storm - the same one that lit up the aurora australis. Back in May last year, the largest solar storm in modern New Zealand history hit.
But thanks in part to Dr Daniel MacManus from the University of Otago, our infrastructure got through it unscathed.
He's on the NEMA Space Weather Science Advisory Panel, and his PhD research is now part of the official procedure for dealing with major solar storms. He speaks to Emile.
A photographer's camera setup is seen as the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on 11 May, 2024. Photo: Sanka Vidanagama / AFP
8:20 The House
Tonight, on The House, Louis Collins looks at the four government bills that received their third readings this week.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
8:30 Myth Takes with Ben Jackson
Classics educator and enthusiast Ben Jackson talks to Emile Donovan what it took to run the Roman army.
Emperor Constantine was responsible for making Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. Photo: Jean-Pol Grandmont CC 3.0
8:45 How kids' media use has changed over the last decade
Senior writer and head of audience at The Spinoff Anna Rawhiti-Connell joins Emile to talk about NZ On Air’s latest research on children’s media use - the third iteration of the study. Anna and Emile also look back at the golden age of kids' television, when those with Sky TV could tune in and watch iconic shows on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
Photo: Supplied
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. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the run goes in the draw for a weekly prize.
Photo:
9:25 How we can tackle the challenges posed by AI deepfakes
Deepfake technology seems to be flooding online spaces and as AI-generated gets more sophisticated, the challenges will grow. Dr Yuki Watanabe from the University of Otago studies interdisciplinary perspectives to examine the profound impacts of deepfake technology. She says we should be proactively shaping the future of this technology with human-centered approach. Dr Watanabe speaks to Emile Donovan.
Photo: 123RF
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.
10:17 The Detail
Tonight on The Detail, space terrorism is no longer relegated to sci-fi movies: it's happening already, and one legal expert warns we're far from prepared
The remnant of a supernova that was was recorded by early astronomers in 1054 and was visible in daylight for 23 days. File picture Photo: Science Photo Library via AFP
10:45 The Reading
Tonight's reading is Graffiti by Virginia Fenton read by Peter Daubé and produced by Steve Danby for RNZ.
Bookshelf. Photo: 123RF
11:07 The Mixtape
Kara Rickard is joined by Mike Hall and Milan Borich from the band Pluto who share some of their favourite local artists.
Pluto, in a 2005 EMI publicity shot: left to right - Tim Arnold, Michael Franklin-Browne, Milan Borich, Matthias Jordan and Michael Hall. Photo: Rob Trathern
