Georgina Beyer, a landmark figure for LGBTQ+ rights in New Zealand, passed away earlier this week. She was both the world’s first transgender mayor and transgender MP, and campaigned relentlessly throughout the course of her life. I spoke to Gresham Bradley, head of the Rainbow New Zealand charity, about her life, and ongoing legacy.

Rod Oram dials in to speak to Rachel about the Auckland Council's proposed Budget, and discusses the discourse around mitigation and adaptation. Whakarongo tonu mai!

Pickle Darling chats to Rachel about their upcoming trip to America for South by Southwest, and their new single. Whakarongo tonu mai!

Pete from Surf Friends comes into the studio to chat to Rachel about their new single Woohoo ahead of their album's release (Sonic Waves is out next week!)

For their weekly interview, News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to ACT’s Karen Chhour about the Health NZ chair being sacked, the government's tourism workforce plans, and School Strike 4 Climate.

Drag Queens Erika and CoCo Flash from Rainbow Storytime NZ discuss the importance of drag storytime events in Aotearoa. 

For Action Station, Producer Daniel Teunissen speaks to the Area Manager of the Citizens Advice Bureau Auckland City, Kate Anderson, about Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposal to cut its funding for the service. 

Our Europe correspondent Cameron Adams reported on the 'Art is a Weapon' festival in Berlin.

And Daniel interviewed Paul Callister, from the Institute of Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, about why restoring long-distance passenger rail should be a part of Aotearoa's strategy to lower its climate emissions.

Fire alarms, new producers, great tunes- Wednesday brings it all. On The Mind Trench, Rob Bollix improves our lives by telling us which habits improve cognitive function. Billie from the Hollywood Avondale comes up with Louisa Nicklin to chat to Rachel about the Hollywood Avondale's special screening of Meet Me in the Bathroom. The Auckland Arts Festival joy continues as Eric Beauchesne, Associate Artistic Director of Revisor, comes into the studio to talk about the show's history and opening night (tomorrow!). Whakarongo tonu mai!

Japan says it is revising an action plan on the release of radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean this year. However, many in the Pacific as well as globally have opposed this move, which seeks to dump one million tonnes of water into the pacific. 

The University of Auckland’s Dr Karly Burch is a lecturer in sociology who has been researching the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power disaster for the past 12 years. Arno spoke with her to find out more. 

He started by asking what Japan was planning to do with the nuclear wastewater Japan has been using to cool the overheated nuclear plant. 

Keepin it groovy and fun this episode, where I try to give away movie tickets as well as convince people not to switch to The Edge and stay on bFM.

Vaping is currently the subject of a debate with certain clinicians suggesting vape sales should use a prescription-only model. Arno spoke to Associate Professor Kelly Burrowes from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute about the ongoing debate on whether or not vaping should be made prescription-only in Aotearoa. 

This is a change that some countries, including Australia, have already made. 

Arno started off by asking if the government was already planning to make vaping prescription-only.

Last week, a library in Avondale was forced to stop a drag story time event because of protestors. 

This comes as drag story-times have become the target of religious groups and right-wing extremists, particularly in the US, with Republican legislators moving to ban drag in several states.

I spoke to Drag Queens Erika and CoCo Flash from Rainbow Storytime NZ about the misinformation surrounding what drag storytimes are, and discussed and why they are important.