On this week's Spaced Out, Smashton and Big J are joined by Rain from Te Whatu Stardome to talk about Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori and space

We learnt about the happenings at Te Whatu Stardome this week, the Māori word of the day and which phase the current Maramataka is in. 

Thanks to Te Whatu Stardome. 

This weekend, the City Rail Link opened. A culmination of years of planning, funding, and building, the completion of the project marks a time to evaluate projects like it. 

Last week saw Auckland Council feud with the central government over fast-track laws, as fast tracked housing developments inundated the council with projects that they had to fund in part, in a far greater quantity and speed than anticipated, leading to the government promising a change to the way the council interfaces with these projects.

And last week also saw New Zealand join the UK, Canada,and other countries in condemning illegal israeli settlements in the west bank. However, the government stopped short of joining those countries in applying punitive trade measures against the settlements.

Host Alex spoke to National MP Ryan Hamilton about these topics.

This week for Dear Science, we chat with our experts, Professor Sebastian Leuzinger & Dr Syrie Hermans, about Plants! More specifically, whether or not they can hear, see, or think.

For Dear Science this week, we chat with our experts, Professor Sebastian Leuzinger and Dr Syrie Hermans,, about plants and their senses.

For our Weekly Catchup with the National Party, Host Alex speaks with MP Ryan Hamilton about the CRL, Auckland Council’s troubles with Fast-Tracked developments, and NZ’s condemnation of Illegal Israeli Settlements

Producer Thomas chats to Public Service Association National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons about an internal review into Ministry of Social Development errors, and how they may have been caused by cuts to the workforce.

Thomas also talks to University of Auckland Associate Professor Helen Petousis-Harris, about New Zealand’s flu vaccination rates being critically low.

And this week we have a City Rail Link special. News director Castor and Producer Liam caught the very first train on the opening day and interviewed members of the public. Liam also interviewed Viv Beck from Heart of the City and Bevan Assink from KiwiRail about how significant this moment is for Auckland.

Kia ora koutou!

This edition of Tuesday Morning Glory is a soulful mix to commemorate the arrival of spring in Tāmaki Makaurau. We begin with folk music, working our way through to electronica later in the show.  

Featuring new releases from: Bonobo & Nilüfer Yanya, Alex Albrecht and Actress.

Made possible by The Tuning Fork!

This year New Zealand has seen a particularly bad flu season, with multiple Emergency Departments across the country being overloaded with sick patients and running well above capacity.

With an aging population the flu is becoming an increasingly serious illness for the country, but despite this only 58% of over 65 year olds, and a quarter of the total population have been vaccinated.

To discuss the impacts of a low flu vaccination rate and how New Zealand can improve its numbers, producer Thomas talked to University of Auckland Associate Professor Helen Petousis-Harris.

Rosetta chats to Claire Hewitt, who is currently undergoing her PhD in the Faculty of Business, who's research is in rāhui, a Māori mechanism to regulate our behaviour with the environment, looking at this from a marketing angle.

Thanks to The University of Auckland! 

Rosetta catches up with our political commentator, Lara Greaves, to discuss recent polling, ACT revealing their party list, and the ongoing controversy surrounding MBIE. Whakarongo mai nei!

Many will likely remember Sunday 13 September as the day that Auckland's city rail link opened. After nearly ten years of planning and construction, Auckland finally has an underground rail line, and many hope this will lead to a renaissance in the city. 

News Director Castor and Wire Producer Liam went to the opening of the CRL and caught the very first train departing at 4:57 AM from Ōtāhuhu. The passion was palpable on the day, everywhere one looked one could sense the passion of a lot of people passionate about trains and public transport. We interviewed members of the public to gauge people’s feelings and hopes for the future. 

Liam also spoke to Viv Beck, Chief Executive for Heart of the City, about what the CRL will mean for businesses in Auckland, and to Bevan Assink, Chief Metro Officer for KiwiRail, about how the opening day went from an operational perspective and what the CRL will mean in the context of Auckland’s wider rail system.

Here is their report...

Last week a review into a number of Ministry of Social Development payment errors over the past few months were released. It found more than 30,000 social welfare payments were wrongly suspended.

Many were directly caused by a mistake made in legislative change meaning pensioners missed out on Winter Energy Payments, but others were from a subsequent processing backlog causing large workloads.

The Public Service Association has said a lot of these mistakes could have been avoided if the MSD was properly staffed. This government has cut more than 700 roles, or almost 10% of the workforce.

To discuss the review, and impacts of low staffing in the MSD producer Thomas talked to PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.