Saturday Morning

7:07 Latest from Gaza

A UN-backed body has confirmed there is famine in Gaza City. UN chief Antonio Gutteres has described it as a "failure of humanity" and "a man-made disaster".

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification or IPC identifies hunger levels around the world. It says more than half a million people across Gaza are facing "catastrophic" conditions.

The report has been labelled an "outright lie" by Israel.

Jesse Rosenfeld reports from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.  

7:15 Fonterra's multi-billion dollar deal 

Yesterday Fonterra announced plans to sell its consumer businesses to global dairy giant Lactalis. The sale price? $3.845 billion.

Fonterra is the world's largest dairy exporter and this sale has been described as the biggest structural change in the company's history.

But the deal needs the approval of Fonterra's shareholders and if it goes ahead, it will include Mainland, Anchor, Kapiti ice cream and milk powder brand Anlene. 

Dairy sector commentator and General Manager of Agri-Women's Development Trust, Julia Jones speaks to Susie Ferguson.

7:22 Youth homelessness on the rise

Youth homelessness advocates are calling for more to be done to help vulnerable young people who don't have safe, stable accommodation.

In Auckland, the council says there was a 90% increase in homelessness since last September. It's hard to know exact figures but by some measures about half of all homeless are under the age of 25.

It's a complex problem but one advocates say has been compounded by changes to the emergency housing criteria last year.

Māhera Maihi is CEO of Mā te Huruhuru Charitable Trust which runs two youth housing whare with a specific kaupapa Māori approach.

She talks to Mihi about the need to be solution focused. 

7:33 Social media ban for under 16s

An Auckland-based criminologist is concerned New Zealand's proposed social media ban for under-16s won't address on-line misogyny.

The National led government proposed the ban earlier this year after Australia announced it would be the world's first country to do so. 

Dr Claire Meehan, a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Auckland, explains to Mihi why she doesn't think a ban here - or anywhere - is going to work.

7:39 Capturing space through a Kiwi lens   

A team from Otago University have created a unique type of radio telescope - born out of failure. 

When New Zealand and Australia missed out on hosting the world's largest radio telescope in 2012, Dr Tim Molteno decided to build his own!

Now there are ten of his radio telescopes in place, mostly in Southern Africa.

The telescope is unique because it takes a big picture look at space. Dr Molteno talks to Susie about their surprising discoveries.

7:50 Kendra Cocksedge on the Women's Rugby World Cup

Now, what's better than winning one World Cup? How about three!!!

That's how many Black Fern legend Kendra Cocksedge has under her belt and she's alongside our national team as they seek to defend their title at this year's Women's Rugby World Cup which kicks off in the UK this weekend.

International Women's Player of the Year in 2015, Kendra joins Mihi from York.

8:11 The Tesla Files - Sönke Iwersen 

Sönke Iwersen is Head of Investigations at German financial daily Handelsblatt, and co-author of the groundbreaking book The Tesla Files - a tell-all of the world's most powerful businessman, Elon Musk and the rise and fall of his empire. 

Iwersen and Michael Verfürden's analysis of a 100GB-leak of confidential Tesla and court documents reveals an unusually high number of workplace accidents in Musk's factories, dangerous errors in Tesla's autopilot software, a culture of fear and deception, and countless broken promises, told through first-hand accounts of employees, customers and their bereaved families. 

Sönke Iwersen speaks with Susie.

8:33 Skinny's trending, what happened to body positivity?

Unless you're a nudist, most of us wear clothes. Yet, the fashion industry has largely remained an exclusive club for the rich, beautiful, and most of all - skinny. 

In the early 2000's the body positivity movement gained traction through social media, and this was reflected on our screens, runways and magazines with diversity in shape, size, age and colour finally being represented. Cut to present day, with weight loss drugs like Ozempic readily available and industry insiders have noticed a sharp swing back to the old days of idealising the unattainable size 0. So was the body positivity movement just a trend? 

Isabella Moore is a Samoan New Zealander, a classically trained opera singer and a curve model who's walked in fashion weeks around the world, and fronted national campaigns. Based in London. Isabella is now the subject of a new doco series Cutting the Curve which explores the backlash against body diversity in fashion and the wider implications this has on society.  

Cutting the Curve is a 6-part short documentary series produced by Notable Production and is out on Monday the 25th.

9:07 Opetaia Foa'i - Lifetime Achievement Award

Founder of Polynesian band Te Vaka with over three decades championing Pacific languages, culture, and storytelling through song, Opetaia Foa'i is an influential cultural and musical ambassador.

His collaboration with Walt Disney, alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina brought the heartbeat of the Pacific to millions globally through Disney movie Moana. 

Opetaia received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Pacific Music Awards this week.  He speaks with Mihi.

9:31 Gwyneth: The Biography

Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the most influential, aspirational and polarising celebrities of the last thirty years: her influence spanning entertainment, fashion and wellness.    

After winning an Oscar at just twenty-six years old, Paltrow's immense privilege turned her into a target of backlash. She channeled that interest into valuable endorsement deals and film roles and eventually the founding of her controversial wellness company, Goop.  

She has participated in hundreds of carefully managed interviews, but the real Gwyneth - her unrelatability, privilege, motives, strengths and faults - has never been fully revealed until now. 

Bestselling author Amy Odell takes us inside her world with Gwyneth: The Biography.   

Based on in-depth conversations with more than 215 sources, including close current and former friends and colleagues, this deeply researched biography provides insight and behind-the-scenes details of her relationships, family, friends, films and tenure as the CEO of Goop. Gwyneth offers a definitive look at how she got to where she is today and how she has managed to impact culture - for better and worse - for so long. 

10:06 Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright, Paula Vogel

Paula Vogel's Mother Play is an absurd, funny, and unflinching exploration of family, identity, and the ties that both bind and break us. In its Broadway debut (which starred Jessica Lange), Mother Play earned four Tony Award nominations in 2024, won two Drama Desk Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award, and has already been heralded as a new American classic.

Paula Vogel's play How I Learned to Drive earned her the playwright Pulitzer Prize in 1998, and made her the first openly gay woman to win the award. 

One of the most esteemed playwrights of her generation, Paula speaks to Susie Ferguson. 

10:25 Kura Te Ua - Haka theatre

Next week Auckland will come alive with Autaia, now in its 5th year. Autaia gives rangatahi a chance to explore their creativity by coming up with a story they want to tell, and working out how to tell that tale through haka, dance and theatre.

The theme this year is Hawaiki Hou - Hawaiki is the ancestral home of Māori and hou means 'new' - so it's about acknowledging the past while looking forward - fitting for our young people!

The students are being guided by choreographer, Kura Te Ua who first explained audiences can expect a feast for the eyes, and the soul.

10:38 Prevalence of prolapse: Liz Childs 

Pelvic organ prolapse is common for women, but seldom is it openly talked about.

In New Zealand about 50% of women experience some degree of prolapse in their lifetime, though only about a quarter have symptoms.

Wellington-based pelvic health physiotherapist Liz Childs thinks there should be more education around prolapse prior to birth and checks made afterwards.

She joins Susie to looks at its prevalence, causes, surgery and recovery.

11:06 Garden design with Hannah Zwartz

The time for seed sowing is almost upon us, and it'll determine what your garden will look like for the months to come.

Whether you want a garden refresh or a complete overhaul - our resident gardener Hannah Zwartz is back, this time to share how to go about planning your garden design.

Hannah has over 30 years' experience gardening professionally, including looking after the herb and succulent areas at Wellington Botanic Garden and running community market gardens in the Hutt Valley,

She answers your gardening design questions - text 2101 or email saturday@rnz.co.nz

11:20 Haley Cohen Gilliland: A Flower Traveled in my Blood

Journalist Haley Cohen Gilliland's book A Flower Traveled in my Blood documents the incredible determination of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo - a group of Argentinian grandmothers who banded together to find their lost children and grandchildren following a series of kidnappings by the military junta in the late 1970s.  

Haley speaks to Susie Ferguson about why this was a story that she just had to tell. 

11:44 Donovan Bixley - picture books for good readers 

Author and illustrator Donovan Bixley is one of New Zealand's most acclaimed picture book creators and believes that illustrated books can be ageless.

He is most well-known for his bestselling pre-school books, The Wheels on the Bus,The Great Kiwi ABC Book, and his colourful and humorous re-tellings of The legends of Māui.

His work is nothing if not varied, from illustrated biographies of Shakespeare, Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci to the hilarious hijinks of pussycats in planes in his Flying Furballs series which is being adapted into a film series.

His latest book is Leonardo's Dragon.