Earlier this week, the United States struck three of Iran’s nuclear sites, marking the first time that the United States had directly struck Iranian soil. Although a ceasefire between Israel and Iran was recently achieved, the monumental change in the US's approach to the fighting between Iran and Israel, leading to speculations about regional tensions that almost instantaneously affected fuel prices and the stock market.

Oto spoke with Stephen Hoadley, a retired associate professor from the University of Auckland about the US strikes on Iran and their potential impacts on fuel prices and the global economy.

This week the boys discuss urban planning.

This week on Dear Science, our expert, Dr. Cushla McGoverin, chatted with us about the early human subspecies of Denisovans, plants having an extra set of even deeper roots, and sea spiders farming their own bacteria.

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

A homage to A State of Trance 2008, (re)mixed. 

Last week, Statistics Minister Shane Reti announced plans to scrap the nationwide census moving forward. The census is the largest statistical survey done in Aotearoa, and provides the bulk of population data used in research and decision-making. Reti says the census is “no longer financially viable” and will be replaced with a combination of smaller annual surveys and administrative data. 

While the change looks good on paper, there are concerns around how the change in data collection could affect representation of marginalised and minority groups. Census data tends to be more protected from bias than administrative data and smaller surveys, meaning there are more opportunities for misrepresentation. Some statisticians are particularly concerned about the potential exclusion of marginalised rural communities. 

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked him about the census decision and its implications on marginalised and minority groups.

Oto and Jaycee played 2 hours of the latest releases by independent artists from Asia and the diaspora abroad.

No words left...just tunes

Last week, Statistics Minister Shane Reti announced plans to scrap the census moving forward. The changes have raised concerns around gathering data on marginalised groups and communities. Lower sample sizes and differences in the method of data collection can expose the data to biases and could lead to poor representation of marginalised and minority groups. The collection and use of administrative data also raises concerns around data sovereignty and increased state surveillance.

To discuss these concerns, Wire host Castor spoke to Associate Professor of Politics at Victoria University and Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Statistics at the University of Auckland, Dr. Lara Greaves. You can find more information about Te Mana Rauranga here.