Saturday Morning for Saturday 4 October 2025

7:08 Toitu Te Tiriti’s split with Te Pāti Māori

Te Pāti Māori says it will not enter into any battle that drives wedges between its people and movements in a statement that followed allegations its leadership is a dictatorship model and is toxic.

A leader of the Toitu Te Tiriti movement, Eru Kapa-Kingi delivered the scathing assessment of Te Pāti Māori's inner workings in an interview where he announced the movement was severing its ties with the political party.

Kapa-Kingi, who led the Toitu Te Tiriti hikoi last year, accused the party of operating with no tikanga, saying the movement is for the people, owned by the people and not political parties.

The hikoi was the largest ever seen in Aotearoa, with tens of thousands of New Zealanders from all walks of life joining in to protest the coalition's policies which many said diminished the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.  

Eru Kapa-Kingi speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes.

7:19 Latest from the Middle East

US president Donald Trump has given Hamas a deadline of noon on Monday New Zealand time to accept his peace deal or face "all hell".

He presented the 20-point plan with backing from several nations in the Middle East earlier this week.

Meanwhile four Italian activists are among the first to be deported by Israel after being captured as part of the Sumud Aid Flotilla that was trying to get aid into Gaza.

Our correspondent Jesse Rosenfeld joins Susie Ferguson live from Ramallah.

7:27 Climate change: how is NZ doing?

This week the first ever Overshoot Conference was held in Austria to discuss the likelihood of the earth warming by more than 1.5 degrees celsius.

In the Paris Agreement the 1.5 degree target is the mark whereby the deadliest effects of climate change are reduced.

But global warming has regularly exceeded that target since June 2023.

James Renwick, a former climate change commissioner, is a professor in the School of Geography and Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University.

He talks to Susie about the significance of the conference – and how New Zealand is tracking.

7:36 Game changing research on childhood asthma attacks

Researchers say millions of children around the world with asthma could benefit from a new study led by Kiwi scientists.

The study which has just been published in the Lancet medical journal, is one of the first of its kind into treatment for children.

Given that we have one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the world, their main finding, that 1 in 2 inhalers can reduce asthma attacks in kids by 45% is something of a game changer.

Senior author of the report Richard Beasley, Director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, has just come back from presenting the paper in Amsterdam and joins Susie in the studio.

7:45 Much Ado About Tilly

AI-generated actor Tilly Norwood has sparked heated controversy across the film industry.

Her creator, Dutch comedian Eline Van der Velden, has referred to Norwood as a 'work of art'. Van der Velden says she hopes Norwood will be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.

Hollywood names such as Emily Blunt, Melissa Barrera and Mara Wilson have spoken out against it, calling the situation 'terrifying'.

Allan Cameron, Professor of Humanities at the University of Auckland, talks to Mihingarangi about the implications of AI-generated actors in film and the way we engage with art.

7:54 Netball stand off continues

The Farah Palmer Cup final is on this afternoon in Hamilton with the defending champs Waikato on their home ground against Canterbury. 

And the rugby championship wraps up this weekend with the All Blacks playing Australia tonight and South Africa taking on Argentina.

But this morning we're going to zero in on netball.

After a week of meetings to try and break the deadlock, the fate of coach Dame Noeline Taurua is still up in the air.

RNZ sports correspondent Bridget Tunnicliffe has the latest.

8:11 James Laughlin: Seven principles for success

Success can mean different things to different people but it's fair to say that while most of us strive for it - not everyone achieves it. 

According to James Laughlin however, it doesn't have to be that way.

Host of the popular podcast Lead on Purpose, James is a high-performance coach who has worked with elite athletes and titans of industry all over the world. He says people at the top of their game all have several behaviours in common. 

James details these - and the 27 principles for success that underpin them - in his new book Habits of High Performers. 
 
He talks to Mihingarangi about the seven truths that always ring true.

8:32 Thant Myint-U: The forgotten Peacemaker

U Thant was the United Nations' longest-serving Secretary-General and ranked the sixth 'most admired man' in America in 1971. So why he is largely forgotten today?

His grandson, writer and historian, Thant Myint-U, is now sharing the integral yet forgotten roles his grandfather played in some of the twentieth century's most critical crises. Thant's intimate biography Peacemaker covers his grandfather's battle with white supremacist mercenaries in the Congo, mediating a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and ensuring the ceasefire held after the 1967 Six-Day War.

Peacemaker traces U Thant's rise from schoolteacher in a small Burmese backwater in 1947 to being a celebrity at the centre of global of politics just two decades later. It also chronicles a golden age of diplomacy and is a tribute to hope and individual actions in times of uncertainty.

Thant Myint-U speaks with Susie Ferguson about his grandfather's extraordinary legacy.

9:07 World Space Week: Ask an Astrobiologist

It's World Space Week (4-10 October) and this year's theme is Living in Space.  

Hari Mogosanu is an astrobiologist and Executive Director of the New Zealand Astrobiology Network, currently celebrating 10 years since its inception. 

In her role leading the network, Hari connects educators, researchers and communities across the motu to explore big questions about life in the universe, our place in it and the future of humanity in space. 

She's joined by Dr Graeme Lau from the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, who's currently taking part in a series of speaking panels around the country. Graeme hosts the Ask an Astrobiologist programme for NASA.  

They'll answer your listener questions about space and life beyond! 

9:32 Trent Dalton: Gravity Let Me Go

Trent Dalton is a journalist and Australia's #1 bestselling author. He's best known for his 2018 semi-autobiographical novel Boy Swallows Universe which was adapted into an award-winning Netflix series last year. The show became Netflix's most successful Australian-made show, ranking #5 globally and #1 in Australia within its first few weeks.

Now, Trent's back with a new book Gravity Let Me Go. It's a novel about the stories we want to tell the world, those we shouldn't and how the stories that we keep locked away are so often the stories that come to define us.

Trent speaks to Susie Ferguson ahead of his appearance at the Auckland Writers Festival event, An Evening with Trent Dalton on the 15th of October, and his upcoming stage play Love Stories which starts on the 16th of October and is exclusive to Auckland.

10:06 Minimising the impact of grey divorce  

News this week that Nicole Kidman has filed for divorce from Keith Urban, her husband of almost 20 years, has put the incidence of grey divorce back in the spotlight.

It goes without saying that relationship break-ups affect more than just the couple involved - they share two teenage daughters - but with a growing number of divorces occurring between people aged in their 50s and older, adult children are being impacted in a way that is less well understood.  

Bruce Fredenburg is a Marriage, Family and Child Therapist who was himself confronted with the prospect of his parent's divorce when he was in his early 30s. A licensed practitioner for over 40 years, Bruce co-authored a book called Home Will Never Be the Same Again: A Guide for Adult Children of Gray Divorce. 

He is also a divorce coach and joins Mihingarangi from Southern California with advice for parents - at all stages of life - on how to divorce "well" - and how to tell their children when they want to start dating again! 

10:25 Graham Leonard: The science of warnings

Volcanologist and Earth Sciences New Zealand principal scientist, Graham Leonard is back this week looking at the role of social science in the delivery of disaster warnings.

ESNZ has a Joint Centre for Disaster Research with Massey University of Psychology and together over the last 20 years they have been researching human behaviour related to volcano, tsunami, earthquake, landslide and flood warnings.

Graham explains to Mihingarangi what they've learnt - and what we still don't understand.

10:35 Melissa Leong: No Guts, No Glory

Food and style icon and MasterChef Australia's first female judge, Melissa Leong is laying it all on the plate in Guts: A memoir of food, failure and taking impossible chances. 

In the book, Melissa talks about the abuse she's experienced in the hospitality industry, racism, her mental health and of course - some "bloody good" food.  

She speaks with Susie about inviting readers to consider their own limiting self-beliefs and to instead create the life that they truly want for themselves.

11:06 Tāmati Rimene-Sproat: Counting the Beat  

Did you know that Westport is the most fertile place in the country - for babies that is - or that we own more cats than dogs? 

Counting the Beat is a new four-part series that tells New Zealander's stories - by the numbers.

Hosted by Tāmati Rimene-Sproat, it explores what the latest data tells us about our finances, relationships, communities and health.

Tāmati interviewed everyday Kiwis up and down the country - each one representing a particular data set - including his wife and mum. He talks to Mihingarangi about the insights he gained - not only into Aotearoa but his own relationships and family history. 

11:25 Del Holland: From scraps to staples

How do you turn food scraps into pantry staples? Del Holland has the answers. 

Del has over 20 years' experience working in world-class kitchens and as a private chef. Now she follows her real passion - teaching others how to make easy, delicious, low-cost food through her social media channels, Dishes with Del. 

Del shares her recipe for a customisable veggie tart and answers listener questions. 

11:44 The art of growing cut flowers

Olivia McCord is a self-taught gardener based in Tauranga. She used to run an edible flower business but now specialises in cut flower seeds. 

Her passion for growing flowers has culminated in the writing of The Floral Dream: A guide to growing cut flowers in New Zealand. 

The book features advice, seasonal tips and simple techniques for foraging, cultivating healthy soil and sowing seeds that flourish in Aotearoa's climate.  

Olivia speaks to Mihingarangi about the art of growing cut flowers.  

 

Music played in this show

8.29 - 'Imagine' by John Lennon

10.21 - '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover' by Paul Simon

11.22 - 'Counting the Beat' by The Swingers