Billie makes a non-alcoholic margarita and chats with HALFQUEEN about all the epic screenings coming up at the Hollywood Avondale over the next month. Plus a discussion of '90s kids' films spurred by a screening of Free Willie. Whakarongo mai nei!

Kia ora, it's Emma Gleason hosting Morning Glory today on a wet, grey Thursday, playing some good vibes and listener requests to get you through to lunch time.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Arena Williams about Phase Two of the Covid-19 inquiry and advisory group recommendations on climate adaptation legislation.

For International Desk, they spoke to Charles Hunt from Boise State University about United States President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill”. 

For this week’s City Counselling, Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about Mayor Wayne Brown’s recent council body reforms, as well as concerns around homelessness in the CBD this Winter

Regarding Phase Two of the Covid-19 Inquiry, she spoke with both Restaurant Association Chief Executive Marisa Bidois, and public health expert Sir Collin Tukuitonga

United States President Donald Trump’s mega-spending bill passed its final vote in the House of Representatives and is now set to become law.

Despite its controversy and universal opposition from the Democrats, the bill has been supported by the vast majority of Republicans.

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Associate Professor of Political Science at Boise State University, Charlie Hunt, about the bill and Republican support.

This month, a number of council body reforms have come into effect in the Auckland Council, fulfilling Mayor Wayne Brown’s promise to address issues and implement community feedback into the council’s format.

The three new divisions in the Auckland Council to improve organisation include the Auckland Urban Development Office, the  Property Department, and an Economic Development Office, each of which are intended to make decision making more effective and accessible to the public.

As well, with the persisting cold temperatures and rainy weather hitting Auckland this Winter, I wanted to discuss the topic of homelessness in Auckland’s city centre, and to what extent the council is working to support those rough sleeping in the CBD

David finally clocks the reference in the Political Commentary introduction and discusses how former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern may be called in front of the Royal Commission investigating New Zealand's Covid-19 pandemic to give evidence on the government's response, as well as the discourse in the political and media sphere.

The Southerner was a passenger express train in the South Island running between Christchurch and Invercargill from 1970 to 2002.

The train was eventually closed due a decline in passenger numbers and subsidies, although it was briefly revived in May this year for four days as part of a tourist experience.

Recently, a group of campaigners from Save our Trains launched a petition calling on the government to restore the Southerner train route as a more accessible form of travel for South Islanders.

Wednesday Wire Host Oto spoke with Dave Macpherson from Save Our Train - Southern, to discuss his petition and why the Southerner should be restored.

Recently, a study was conducted by researchers at the University of Southampton which uncovered a shift in the circulation of the Southern Ocean.

The study showed that the shift would draw up more salt water from the deep ocean, subsequently accelerating the loss of ice in the Antarctic and leading to an increase of sea levels and global heating.

The week before, the government allowed the terrorist designation given to the far-right ‘Proud Boys’ group to expire, effectively decriminalising the act of funding or openly supporting the group here in Aotearoa.

And, just yesterday Finance Minister Nicola Willis confirmed a number of changes to Family Boost which she said would help families with the cost of living.

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, News and Editorial Director Joel spoke with MP Ricardo Menendez March to get the party’s take on all of these issues.

Brought to you by NZ On Air Music, with thanks to Big Pop's Drake Street Studios!

At a recent summit in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a number of options for New Caledonia’s potential statehood, following island-wide unrest last year over voting reforms that led to 14 deaths.

One of the options proposed by Macron involved granting New Caledonia “associated statehood” status, where the island would be largely self-governing while still being linked to the French state.

Wednesday Wire Host Oto spoke with Gordon Nanau, co-head of Maori and Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland, about Macron’s proposal to grant New Caledonia associated state status, and what this would mean for the Island’s indigenous Kanak population who have largely been seeking independence from France.