Saturday Morning

Kulaiwi & Kaumakaiwa is a collective of award-winning Hawaiian performers in Aotearoa right now for Auckland's Art Festival.

Dr Laura Jean McKay is the first New Zealand-based author to win one of the world's top science fiction prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, for her novel The Animals in That Country.

Eden Hore held one of one of the most significant high fashion collections of its kind in Australasia in a tractor shed on his high-country farm in the Māniatoto.

Laila Lalami is the author of five books, and her latest work, The Dream Hotel is a gripping speculative mystery about the seductive dangers of the technologies that are supposed to make our lives easier.

New six part podcast Levittown shares the stories of dozens of young women in small town America, who discovered photos of themselves had been stolen from their social media accounts, manipulated and posted on a pornography site. Kiwi, Olivia Carville is an investigative reporter in New York.

This week whanau from Wairewa, Lake Forsyth have been working hard to ensure tuna, long and short finned eels can complete their lifecycle.

In just a few generations, many New Zealanders have become disconnected from growing kai in their backyards, these days being completely reliant on big corporations who control the flow of food. The good news is there are communities trying to change the narrative and the practice. Jessica Hutchings and Jo Smith have co-authored a new book Pataka Kai highlighting the work small scale indigenous food growers across New Zealand and the Pacific are doing to create a sustainable food ecosystem and take back control. Mihi speaks with Jessica Hutchings.

An upcoming conference is examining the different ways people hear sounds in their heads - from a music earworm, to a loved-ones' voice, to hearing nothing at all.

This year, for the first time, New Zealand Rugby will field an under 18 team against Australia. But that's started a growing debate.

Experts are worried that lessons learnt during the Covid pandemic are being ignored and too many people are getting sick and dying after catching the virus in healthcare settings.

Excellence was celebrated this week with the announcement of the new Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year. Professor Bev Lawton (Ngati Porou) is a pioneer in women's health.

In defending the renewed bombing campaign Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu blamed Hamas and said it was rearming itself. In turn Hamas, in the past 24 hours has launched rockets at Tel Aviv - and has blamed Israel.

A drought has been declared in the Northland, Waikato, Horizons, Marlborough-Tasman, and Taranaki regions. Our reporter Alexa Cook has been out and about in the central North Island.

The complete shutdown of one of the world's busiest travel hubs is estimated to cost tens of millions, according to experts.

Said to be one of the most talked-about folk bands of the 21st century, Scottish band Talisk have been ripping up stereotypes and redefining folk music for the last ten years.

Pukekohe local Liam Lawson is competing for the first time as a permanent driver for Red Bull Racing at the Australian Grand Prix.

Our next guest is someone with an incredible story of how farming turned his life around. Ben Purua is a finalist for Kiwibank's Young New Zealander of the Year.

Maori-Samoan R&B artist, Raglan-based Jordyn Rapana, aka Jordyn with a Why, is a making her mark with soulful, dynamic performances.

British musician, composer and producer Nitin Sawhney CBE is a formidable talent across many genres.

Journalist turned number one New York Times best-selling author and screenwriter, Jojo Moyes, is back with a new book. She speaks with Susie Ferguson about the importance of middle-aged women seeing themselves in literature and films, and keeping on keeping on - even after her first three books were rejected.

Star of the global dancehall-reggae scene, from Trinidad and Tobago, Queen Omega has been blazing a trail for over 20 years, performing at some of the world's biggest reggae festivals. Her 2023 recording of No Love was a phenomenal international success, capturing the imagination of a new generation and attracting more than 53 million views on YouTube. Queenie speaks with Susie.

Dr Simon Talbot is a pioneer in hand and arm transplantation, the Director of the Upper Extremity Transplant Program at the world-renowned Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and an associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Simon's corrective transplant surgeries are incredible feats of modern medicine. But in many other areas, the world of healthcare is not only falling behind but failing to protect the very people that keep it running. Moral injury is an injury to someone's moral conscience, for example having to make a decision or witness something that goes against a personal moral code. It's an area close to Simon's heart, affecting thousands if not millions of workers in healthcare systems around the world. Simon is campaigning for a systematic change and speaks to Mihi.

The idea of non-monogamy has long been a controversial one, linked with heartache and promiscuity. But polyamory's gaining traction, including online in the last few years, with influencers normalising the lifestyle and its benefits. Dr Jaime Grant is an activist, researcher, and sex coach who has taken workshops around the world to help people understand their sexual desires. She's the host of the Just Sex podcast and has had a polyamorous lifestyle for over 40 years. She's also the author of a how-to guide, Polyamory For Dummies which does exactly what it says on the cover - explaining, from start to finish, how non-monogamy works in the real world.

47SOUL is a Palestinian Shamstep group. In fact they founded the genre! The musical collective formed in Jordan in 2013, and take their influence from hip-hop, electronica and R&B - and melded it with the sounds of Dabke, a traditional folk dance, and other Shaa'bi roots music from the Levantine region. 47SOUL has a big following across Arab countries, the global Arab diaspora and beyond. Band members Tareq Abu Kwaik - known by his stage name El Far3i, and Ramzy Suleiman, known as Z the People speak with Susie.

Having Long Covid can be an extremely isolating experience, patients may not look unwell, but they have debilitating symptoms like shortness of breath, muscle pain or extreme fatigue. Sufferers say it's hard to explain what's happening, but now there's another language to help them communicate. It's called "body mapping" and is bringing positive results to Long Covid patients. Oxford University research fellow Maaret Yokela-Pansini teamed up with colleague Professor Beth Greenhough to use body mapping for their project Visualising Long Covid, with the help of charity Long Covid Support.Former professional rower turned Long Covid advocate, Oonagh Cousins, says body mapping allowed her to reflect on how the illness is experienced in different parts of the body. Maaret and Oonagh speak to Mihi.

CEO of the Taranaki Arts Fetival Trust, who puts on Womad, and Event Director, Suzanne Porter speaks to her about putting the event together.

Tariffs on steel and aluminium came into effect on Wednesday, what impact is that expected to have on NZ? Plus the Government's investment summit, and where do we sit on the misery index? New Zealand Herald business editor-at-large Liam Dann unpacks what's on the economic horizon.

Silicones are used for everything, from bakeware, to life-saving medical equipment, to the prosthetics in the film industry. But they're incredibly hard to recycle - until now.

Today Prime Minister Christopher Luxon jets off on his latest diplomatic effort, heading to India while his Deputy Winston Peters prepares to go to the US.

Representatives of more than 100 companies, from 15 countries have been in Auckland this week for the government's Infrastructure Investment Summit.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of dragging out the ceasefire process.

Anjum Rahman, from Inclusion Aotearoa Collective Tahono, and former spokesperson for the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand reflects on six years since the Christchurch mosque attacks.

The 13th Hawkes Bay Food and Wine Classic festival is set to get stomachs rumbling with the inaugural Hastings Meatball Festival.

The Scottish Ballet is sharing the stage with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, making its first visit to the South Pacific for performances in Wellington and Auckland.

From Polynesian navigators to contemporary business, Mana Moana documents the remarkable story of Maori fishing.

Autumn is a season of fruitfulness - but it's also the season for blights, mildew, rust, shield bugs and passion vine hoppers.

Malia Johnston is a renowned director and creative. Her latest work Belle - A Performance of Air is a mesmerising melding of lights, aerial performance and theatre at the Auckland Arts Festival this month.

Beloved Kiwi indie rock band The Beths are set to headline the main stage at WOMAD next weekend, ahead of their upcoming Australian tour.

This weekend, Pasifika Festival returns to Auckland's Western Springs park in all its vibrancy. Mihi speaks with RNZ Pacific reporter Coco Lance who's there for the whole event.

World leaders have started to pick up the pieces after a trade war started by the US, and a shock showdown in the Oval Office between Zelensky and Trump.

Following a sell-out West End run and UK tour, Ruby Wax's critically acclaimed show I'm Not As Well As I Thought I Was is coming to New Zealand in April. Based on her bestselling book, Ruby shares her deeply personal journey trying everything she can to help manage her mental health and subsequent breakdown.

Prize-winning nature writer Andrew Darby takes us on an island odyssey to discover the world's oldest surviving trees in his latest book The Ancients.

Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning producer Nigel Marchant (Downton Abbey) is back with his latest mini-series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth starring Colin Firth leading a dogged investigation after Britain's worst terrorist attack, the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people.

A waka discovered on Rekohu / Chatham Islands has been described by one expert as the most important discovery in New Zealand, possibly Polynesian archeology.

RNZ's explainer editor Katie Kenny explains what's been happening with the new gene technology legislation, announced by Judith Collins last year.

This week European leaders scrambled to respond to unprecedented moves by the new administration of US President Donald Trump.

An apology and the launch of a nationwide investigation were needed this week after a child received second degree burns from an over-heated school lunch.

Hamas has rejected threats by Trump - saying it will only free hostages in return for a lasting truce. The BBC Middle East correspondent Sebastian Usher explains.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is bearing down on Moreton Island just off Brisbane, with gale force winds are now lashing the area and up to 800 millimetres of rain expected.

Julian Wilcox and Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira join us from finals day at Te Matatini o Te Kahui Maunga, from the Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth.

Snails, locusts and huhu grubs are just some of the delicacies that will be available at next weekend's Wildfoods Festival in Hokitika.

Veteran investor Rowan Simpson's new book How to be Wrong: A crash course in startup success draws on two decades at the heart of New Zealand's most successful technology companies, to create a masterclass on embracing uncertainty and transforming mistakes into fuel for success.

In March the Himalayan Trust holds one of its biggest fundraisers for Himalayan people: The Summit Challenge. Sir Edmund Hillary's grandson, Alexander Hillary, is the General Manager of the Himalayan Trust, as well as an adventurer in his own right.

Getting your circadian rhythm right can help you sleep better, feel happier and improve your overall health. Science journalist Lynne Peeples shares her findings.

We often think of bacteria as germs that can make us sick, but there are trillions of different bacteria in our gut producing molecules that help us.

Australian chef, food author, restaurateur, and food manufacturer, Maggie Beer has made it her life's mission to raise the bar for food in aged care across Australia.

On the foreign affairs agenda again this week, Chinese ships in the Tasman and the Cooks' deal with China. RNZ Morning Report presenter Corin Dann explains.

A rare discovery in the UK, an Iron Age burial site in southern England has revealed that the ancient community was centered around the female line.

Frankie Guzman is the Senior Director at the National Center for Youth Law in California where he leads a team of attorneys, policy advocates, and community organisers to transform the youth justice system.

After travelling the country to find the best of the best, Aotearoa's finest have one last showdown in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, before the new winners are crowned.

A menopause awareness advocate says women need to be better informed and GPs better trained to treat menopause.

A study of over 300 women in the US is adding to research suggesting a link between pregnant women who take paracetamol and the prevalence of ADHD in their children.

On Thursday this week the Trump administration cut its HIV programme. South Africa, where almost eight-million people live with the condition, was the biggest beneficiary.

Up to 100 firefighters will be on the ground today - about double the number yesterday. Fire and Emergency says it will be a significant day for firefighting efforts.

Donald Trump has publicly scolded Ukraine's leader at the White House, telling him he needs to be thankful and accusing him of gambling with World War 3.

By her own admission, BAFTA award winning actress Miriam Margolyes didn't know anything about New Zealand before coming over on a road-trip.

On the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle, GNS Science principal scientist and friend of the show Graham Leonard joins Mihi to talk about landslides.

Miki’s feature directorial debut Tinā follows a Samoan teacher at a private school and he speaks to Susie about the film and his career.

Professor Smitha Vishveshwara is known for combining her love of quantum physics and art, working with circus troupes and theatre productions to communicate science.

Michelle Zauner is the front woman of Grammy nominated indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. She speaks to Susie about their new album.

If you're a mum drowning in admin tasks you're not alone. A study has found women are 1.6 times more likely to take on digital communication tasks than men.

UNESCO predicts the global community will lose as many as 3000 indigenous languages by the end of the century. Scottish Gael sociolinguist Dr. Paul Meighan-Chiblow speaks to Mihi.

For some, the relationship between Christianity and Maori atua (gods) is very complex. But Te Hira Paenga sees the two as complementary.

There have never been more products or trends to help with our hygiene - but are they all necessary?

Dr Ururoa Flavell is a lead rider for a Smear your Mea campaign where a team have cycled nearly 800km from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to New Plymouth.

A series of walks to raise awareness about Motor Neurone Disease are happening across the country this morning. Dr Natalie Gauld shares her personal experience.

A massive wakeup call or a hatchet job? Associate professor of politics Lara Greaves breaks down the inquiry into Manurewa Marae and the data collection.

Overnight there were signs the relationship between the US and Ukraine could be thawing slightly, AP International affliliate correspondent Philip Crowther is in Kyiv.

Former Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta gives analysis on just how significant those three Chinese warships off the coast of Australia are.