Books

Wellington-based physicist and author Laurie Winkless is on a mission to get a copy of Angela Saini's 2017 book Inferior in to every secondary school in New Zealand.  Audio

France's Empress Josephine,  wife of Napoleon, had a very colourful life.  She also created a garden filled with plants and animals she gathered from across the globe, the subject of a novel by… Audio

Harry Broad reviews Tohora: The Southern Right Whale by Ned Barraud. This book is published by Potton & Burton. Audio

An interesting article in The Spinoff by one of the leading lights of the New Zealand literary scene, Lloyd Jones. He argues that our literary culture is being slowly eroded. Audio

What's your favourite New Zealand book, and why? Audio

Peak book buying time continues around the country as people trek to their local bookstores ferret out presents But what do you get for the tricky to pick for people in your life? RNZ producer Robert… Audio

Focused - A Life Behind the Lens, is a visual feast of photos taken over the forty year career of the Otago Daily Times photographer, Stephen Jaquiery. Stephen joined the ODT in 1979 as a teenager… Audio, Gallery

Writer and reviewer Pip Adam looks at where independent publishing sits within the Aotearoa literary scene and how communities are built up around the publications. Audio

Lisa Finucane reviews Afakasi Woman by Lani Wendt Young, which is published by OneTree House. Audio

After almost 30 years, literary journal New Zealand Review of Books has been forced to close down after Creative New Zealand declined its funding application. Audio

Catriona Ferguson with a round-up of three of the best 2019 crime fiction releases. Audio

When pregnant 17-year-old Phyllis Symons's body was found buried in the construction site of Wellington's Mount Victoria Tunnel in 1931 her death and the subsequent trial of her boyfriend for murder… Audio

Melanie O'Loughlin from Unity Books reviews Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum, which is published by Serpent's Tail. New Year's Eve 2008, and Bunny, a successful writer under the spell of… Audio

Jane Westaway reviews Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume 1 1978-1986 by Helen Garner. Published by Text Publishing. Audio

Sociologist Anthony Elliott - AI is not so much the future as a revolution already well underway, albeit one which is unfolding in complex and uneven ways across the globe. Audio

Chris Tse reviews Queer Objects by Chris Brickell and Judith Collard (Eds). Published by Otago University Press. Audio

Robert Kelly looks at Christmas classics and has some really great ideas about some great books to buy for Christmas gifts. Jesse and Robert also take listener queries and try to help people out with… Audio