Nights for Monday 1 December 2025

8:10 Chef Al Brown on surviving the restaurant “silly season”

It is the busiest season of the year for hospitality.

Christmas lunches, Christmas dinners end-of-year thank-you work parties: this time of year is financially make or break for businesses, so if you're heading out, how do you be a good patron, and where should you be making your bookings?

Al Brown is an Auckland restaurateur and businessman, the owner of Depot Oyster Bar, Federal Delicatessen, and Best Ugly Bagels. He formerly ran Wellington restaurant Logan Brown.

He speaks to Emile Donovan about what it takes to run a restaurant at this time of the year and come out on the other side.

8:30 Little Histories 

Every Monday, we take a moment to look back with our resident historian, Emma Kay.

Emma runs Small Histories of New Zealand, where she digs up curious stories, funny articles, and lost treasures from our past and shares them on social media.

Tonight she's talking about how the newspapers reported the 1893 election, the first time women voted in Aotearoa.

8:35 Sports with Jamie Wall

RNZ sports journalist Jamie Wall talks with Emile Donovan about the biggest stories in the sporting world.

8:50 BBC World Service Lookahead

Rob Hugh-Jones from the BBC World Service joins us to talk about the international news stories making headlines.

Tonight, he’ll discuss the deadly flooding in Asia, the latest negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, and the upcoming draw for next year’s World Cup.

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.

9:25 Sheila Fitzpatrick: The death and lasting legacy of Stalin

Joseph Stalin is one of the most notorious and influential figures of the 20th century. 

He led the Soviet Union for 25 years, a period during which the country rapidly modernised into a world power and played a decisive role in defeating Nazi Germany.

At the same time, millions of Soviet citizens were killed under his rule, earning him a reputation as one of history's most notorious mass murderers.

Sheila Fitzpatrick, Emeritus Professor at the Australian Catholic University, is one of the world's leading scholars on the history of the Soviet Union. 

Her latest book, The Death of Stalin, examines both the immediate aftermath of the dictator's death and his surprising influence in contemporary Russia.

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

On The Detail - An HIV diagnosis used to be a death sentence, but that hasn't been the case in years - so why hasn't the stigma changed with the science?

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10:45 The Reading: Cotton-Eyed Joe

A 14 year old New Zealand girl in 1964 is twiddling with her transistor when she happens upon an arresting sound which shakes her to the core.

Michele Amas reads the first of a four-part story 'Cotton-Eyed Joe' written by Susy Pointon.

11:07 Nashville Babylon

Every week on Nashville Babylon Mark Rogers presents the very best in country, soul and rock 'n' roll.

On this week's show there's live tracks from Emmylou Harris and BB King, classic R'n'B courtesy of H Bomb Ferguson, blues from Hound Dog Taylor plus ska from the Harry J All Stars.