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A recent study has discovered that there is production of oxygen on the bottom of the ocean. Almost eight-hundred marine scientists have signed a petition highlighting the importance of the discovery and for a pause on seafloor mining. The oxygen is produced by metallic nodes underneath the ocean, containing metals which are commonly mined for batteries. This oxygen could potentially support fragile aquatic life.

Sasha spoke with Juressa Lee, a deep sea mining campaigner from Greenpeace about the new discovery, as well as steps that are being taken to reduce ocean floor mining.

Just this week, US President Joe Biden announced his exit from the US general elections and abandoned his candidacy, amidst concerns from his own party regarding his age and cognitive abilities and a disastrous debate performance against his political adversary, republican nominee Donald J Trump. 

After making the announcement, Biden announced his support for Vice-President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the democratic candidate and urged his contemporaries within the party to do the same. 

But with a mere 3 months until the finale of the US general elections, many commentators are discussing the next steps for the democrats, and whether or not they have the ability to compete with Trump’s branding and unanimous support from the country’s right-wing.

Oto spoke to Dr Edward Elder, Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, to discuss the next steps for the democrats and the role of party branding in the outcome of the US general elections.

Former Green Party MP Darleen Tana has been under investigation and public scrutiny after allegations of migrant worker exploitation emerged at E Cycles, a business owned by Tana’s husband.

After the allegations surfaced, Tana was dismissed from the Green Party, but maintained her innocence, saying she had limited involvement in her husband’s business and that the allegations made against her were false.

In response, an independent investigation into the allegations and Tana’s involvement in her husband’s business was launched, which the Green Party released an executive summary of last week. 

For their weekly catch-up, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez-March to discuss the executive summary, it’s findings, as well as Tana’s response.

For their regular catch-up, Oto speak to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s executive summary of the independent investigation into former MP Darleen Tana.

He spoke to Peter Reynolds, CEO of the New Zealand Disability Support Network to discuss staffing shortages in disability care in wake of the Disability Commissioners report on abuse in disabled care.

He spoke to Edward Elder, Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, to discuss the US general elections and the role of party branding in the potential outcome.

And he spoke to John Minto from Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa to discuss the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Sasha spoke to Gehan Gunasakera from the University of Auckland about last week’s Global IT outage and the data sovereignty implications that should be expected of tech companies.

And he spoke to Juressa Lee from Greenpeace about a recent study which confirms production of oxygen on the ocean floor from metallic nodules and the importance of ending sea mining.

Hot techno against chill lo-fi

Desley Simpson on Auckland Transport + Jon Toogood on his new album + Associate Professor Stephen Winter on abuse in state care.

Associate Professor Stephen Winter visits the bFM studio to speak about The Royal Comission's report into Abuse in State Care.

Thanks to The University of Auckland

For Dear Science this week, our expert Professor Allan Blackman spoke to us about plants not holding as much carbon as we thought, tea tasting worse due to air pressure, and previously extinct giant millipedes.

On Wednesday the 17th of July, the government opened submissions on the second Emissions Reduction Plan.

The Emissions Reduction Plan outlines the steps the government intends to take to meet its emission budgets.

This second Emissions Reduction Plan will lay out the government’s climate plans from 2026-2030.

The plan includes initiatives such as setting a target of 10,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030, investigating carbon capture and storage, and improving organic waste and landfill gas capture.

However, the draft has received criticism from climate experts for not being ambitious enough in it’s initiatives to reduce emissions.

Producer Josef spoke with Ralph Sims, Professor Emeritus of Sustainable Energy and Climate Mitigation at Massey University, about the draft plan and how he thinks the plan will impact Aotearoa’s emissions reduction efforts.

For more information on the plan and to have your say, you can go to consult.environment.govt.nz, submissions close on the 21st August 2024.

During Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United States, he spoke to several leaders and figures about New Zealand’s relationship with the country. Particularly, he spoke about further aligning and the potential for Aotearoa to join AUKUS. 

In response, former Prime Minister Helen Clark and her political rival Don Brash released statements criticising the move, particularly for its potential impact on Aotearoa’s relationship with China.  

Wire host Castor spoke to Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland and Director of the China Studies Centre in the New Zealand Asia Institute, Stephen Noakes, about Aotearoa’s relationship with each of these countries, their value, and how it can be preserved moving forward.