Afternoons

An opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald by Steve Maharey caught our eye and we wanted to know more. Steve writes that Kiwis have champagne taste but a beer budget ... and it's not working for us. This election is being described as a cost of living battle .. and the word tax is frequent on the campaign trail .. but what seems to be less discussed is vision for the future .. and how we generate more cash so we can pay for the champagne lifestyle we all enjoy. Steve Maharey is a former minister in Helen Clark's Labour-led Government, former lecturer and Vice-Chancellor of Massey University, and now an independent director ... he's with Jesse to share his ideas.

Wallace Chapman and Jesse Mulligan star in the shortest show on radio, where they show they really can make something out of nothing, join them to be part of their delight, or to simply despair. Wallace will also preview what's on The Panel tonight.

It's one of the defining debates about childhood today, the role smartphones and social media play in the youth mental health crisis. Some researchers point to them as a major source of anxiety, depression and lost childhood. Governments, including our own, have responded with proposed social media bans. But psychologist Dr Peter Gray argues we need to look at the bigger change that happened before smartphones. Children have lost independence, unsupervised play and the chance to work things out for themselves. In his new book, he argues that social media may be more a symptom than cause, and that restricting screens alone won't restore what children have lost. The book is called Restoring Childhood: How to Set Kids Free in the Age of Anxiety.

We've got a segment on Afternoons we like to call Roadie Songs ..we want to know the songs you love to turn up loud when you're on a road trip. If you have a song and a story you'd like to share, send your suggestion to 2101 along with your phone number. We love hearing your picks and why.

Sarah Tuck from Dish magazine joins Jesse to share a recipe and talk about the new cookbook - Dish Chook Book. The recipe is  HERE!

It's time for Heading Off.. where we hear all about your travel adventures, think of it as a 2026 version of a slideshow. If you have an interesting story to tell.. please get in touch on 2101 or email me at [email protected] Last month marked 50 years since my next guest Maggie set off on an adventure of a lifetime ... travelling overland from London to Cape Town in a former British Army snub-nosed Bedford.

Our Changing World's Ayana Piper-Healion joins Jesse to talk about the Bird of the Year, the Karure, Chatham Island Black Robin.

Political commentator Dr Claire Robinson joins Jesse to reflect on last night's Leaders' Debate and discuss what both leaders might do differently next time.

A new space has opened just north of Auckland in Whangaparaoa for neurodivergent people and their whanau. It's called Whare Wairua, and it's the latest project from Xabilities, a neurodivergent-led organisation founded by Tamara Grant. To tell us more about it, Tamara was with Jesse in the Auckland Studio.

Ahead of the hotly anticipated Indian tour of New Zealand .. it seems all is not well behind the scenes at NZ Cricket One of the sport's most famous names, Sir Richard Hadlee, has come out against the organisation - citing concerns around loss of staff, poor morale and a lack of transparency when it comes to a Deloitte report about the future of the sport. And he's not alone .. Former player and NZC president Lesley Murdoch has also raised concerns. So what exactly is going on with New Zealand Cricket? Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the New Zealand Herald and he joins Jesse to discuss.