Nights for Tuesday 17 February 2026

8:10 Update on storm and flooding

It's been another day of wild weather across the country.

We update the latest information.

8:15 The drive to get New Zealanders living abroad to vote

One sixth of New Zealand voters are overseas, and as crucial a demographic as they may be for political parties, many of them don't vote.

In 2023, just over seventy-five thousand votes came in from overseas -- a fraction of those eligible.

Tracey Lee is one of those many New Zealanders living abroad and is the founder of Every Kiwi Vote Counts, an initiative to drive up overseas voting.

She joins Emile Donovan.

8:30 The House

Tonight on our Parliament show, The House Phil Smith brings a few highlights from the set-piece debate that began Parliament's year. 

8:35 Generational portrait project captures how we age

How often do you look in the mirror and think - when did I get that old?

A Canterbury photographer has been taking time lapse portraits of people to reveal what time has changed about that person, both above and beneath the surface.

And he's looking for new subjects, with an open day at his studio next week.

The artist is Charlie Fox and he joins Emile Donovan.

8:40 Shower Thoughts: Can bugs can survive in the vacuum cleaner?

Have you ever been standing in the shower, when suddenly, the noise in your brain clears and, in its place, appears the perfect thought?

That's a Shower Thought, and RNZ's Nights is aiming to answer those unshakeable questions lurking in the back of your mind.

Tonight's question:  Can bugs can survive in the vacuum cleaner?

Dr Jenny Jandt is a Senior Lecturer in Zoology at the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka and joins Emile Donovan to answer our Shower Thought question.

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.

For each question answered correctly, a quizzee gets their name put in the draw for the weekly prize: the coveted Nights mug.

9:25 The remarkable story behind the NZ Liberation Museum 

The small French town of Le Quesnoy has never forgotten New Zealand. 

On November 4, 1918, Kiwi soldiers carried out a remarkable feat to liberate the town, in one of the final actions of the First World War.

Today that shared history lives on at the New Zealand Liberation Museum, Te Arawhata. 

Designed with major pieces by Wētā Workshop, it has become a permanent fixture in Le Quesnoy and a place where New Zealanders and locals alike come to remember what happened there.

Jacob Siermans from the New Zealand Liberation Museum joins Emile Donovan.

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

Today on The Detail - It hasn't been ratified yet but the terms of New Zealand's free trade deal with India have been agreed on, even though the details are somewhat mysterious

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10:45 The Reading

Goneville is a rock'n'roll coming of age story by Nick Bollinger, who was just 18 when he went on the road with the band Rough Justice and its smoky-voiced, charismatic leader Rick Bryant. 

School ends for Nick in the reading today.  He leaves home, gets a flat and follows the beat. Life however throws up some sobering shocks forcing him to grow up fast in today's episode of Goneville, 

11:07 Worlds of Music

Trevor Reekie hosts a weekly music programme celebrating an eclectic mix of trans global music, fusion and folk roots.