09:05 SUV and double cab ute advertising targeting urban dwellers

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Photo: Ford Advertising

Shifting advertising strategies towards larger, more polluting vehicles is being blamed for a boom in the number of SUVs and utes on New Zealand roads. An environmental sociologist says the rising number of light trucks can be attributed to a combination of strong marketing and weak regulation. Car advertising is New Zealand's second largest advertising sector and internationally, the automobile industry is putting huge budgets into advertising light trucks. In New Zealand, we now have 430,432 registered off-road vehicles, up 34 percent since 2010. Dr Kirsty Wild, an environmental sociologist at the University of Auckland says this boom has wiped out the environmental gains made by more fuel efficient cars coming onto the market.  

09:20 New Zealanders' sense of wellbeing in a pandemic 

9912221 - young woman lying in hammock in a garden and reading a book. shallow dof. focus on a left shoulder

Photo: mihtiander/123RF

A new report on wellbeing has found New Zealanders remain satisfied with their lives, despite the major impact Covid-19 has had on the country. Stats NZ says New Zealanders were tested by "extraordinary events" last year, but are mostly happy, resilient and not affected by loneliness.

However it did find that some groups were less likely to be satisfied with their lives, particularly unemployed people and sole parents. Stats NZ looked at data from June 2020 to March 2021, to get an overview of New Zealanders' wellbeing during the pandemic. Wellbeing and housing statistics manager at Stats NZ Dr Claire Bretherton joins Kathryn. 

09:45 USA correspondent Susan Davis

Susan talks to Kathryn about the Biden administration’s efforts to hit vaccination targets by going door to door and also, how that is being weaponised by the right.  

US President Joe Biden speaks about the 50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine shot administered in the US during an event commemorating the milestone in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington DC, February 25, 2021.

Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP

Susan Davis is a congressional correspondent for NPR and a co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast.

10:05 Identifying opportunities to play and have fun

Alexandra Bonham

Alexandra Bonham Photo: book cover/


How often have you looked around where you live to identify new ways have fun. Alex Bonham has just written a book Play and the City - How to create places and spaces to help us thrive. She is also working on a PhD thesis looking at ways to use play to make a city better.  Alex speaks to Kathryn about what play opportunities she sees when glancing around Auckland's CBD and beyond.

10:35 Book review When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham

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Photo: Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand

Louise O'Brien reviews When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham, published by Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand   

10:45 The Reading

Eleanor Meecham with part 2 of 'Llamas and Empanadas' - her account of  cycling through South America. 

11:05 Business commentator Rod Oram

Rod talks to Kathryn about Silver Fern Farms' vow to make its meats net carbon zero. Also, the climate commitments of most G20 countries stilll falling short of the UN's 1.5c degree goal.

Rod Oram

Rod Oram Photo: RNZ/Dru Faulkner

11:25 What are the new rules for job hunting? 

 Being humble is a bit of a national personality trait, but a recruitment expert says Kiwis need to put it to one side when it comes to the job hunt. Author Tom O'Neil has worked in recruitment and HR for decades, and runs his own career and life coaching company, careercoach.nz. He was a contributing author to the best-selling book 'What Colour is Your Parachute' and he's just released a new book, co-authored with his mother Gaynor O'Neil - also a recruitment specialist - called The New Rules for Job Hunting. It's a guide for navigating the tricky process of selling yourself to prospective employers - but also includes how Covid has impacted on the job market, and some things would-be employees need to consider before they apply for a job.

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Photo: Supplied

11:45 Media commentator Andrew Holden

Andrew looks at the broad question of public broadcasting and where it might go. The BBC is touting its success, with 90% of UK adults accessing its content each week. And Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi is talking about the TVNZ/RNZ "merger" allowing for an expanded role for state-owned media. 

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Andrew Holden is a journalist for more than 30 years including five as Editor of The Press (in Christchurch) and four as Editor-in-Chief of The Age in Melbourne.