Afternoons

Author Catherine Robertson joins Jesse to chat about books she thinks are worth reading: The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume 3 by Philip Pullman (David Fickling Books) 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin) James by Percival Everett (Mantle)

Evie Ashton is here to talk podcasts, and she's got two pretty different offerings this week, one based on history, while the other is more about feminism - and not strictly speaking a podcast. Noble Blood - wherever you get your podcasts Lily Allen - West End Girl

Despite having the technology to connect to friends and family 24/7 - social isolation and loneliness are issues that are becoming more prominent .. not just for the elderly - but also for young people. So Melinda Wong has come up with a solution.. friend making events .. hosted get togethers where strangers can meet and get to know one another in a safe environment. Melinda runs Time & Place .. organising private dinners and public picnics in an effort to help people connect.

The conversation around phone screen time - and how much is too much - usually centres around children and teens. But new research has highlighted the impact of phone use by another group - new mums. Any tired parent will tell you that screen time can be a welcome source of distraction, but it turns out it can also interfere with parent/child bonding and a baby's development. Dr Miriam McCaleb from the University of Canterbury is lead researcher on the study, she talks to Jesse.

From today, Wellington City Council will start to remove the temporary fencing around the waterfront. The fencing was put up in 2023, after a death in the harbour.. that was the seventh drowning since 2006. A coroner's report in March called for urgent action in high risk areas of the waterfront .. but in August, Wellington council voted against a proposal to put up permanent fences. For more on this Wellington Mayor Andrew Little speaks to Jesse.

The owners of a well-known Hamilton shoe shop are hanging up their boots after 43 years. Ann and Grant Collins have been running Collins Footwear since 1982... serving generations of customers. They'll be finishing up at the shop - that has a big orange boot on top of its shopfront - next month.

The Pre Panel for 3 November 2025

Every family has its own way of talking. They share weird phrases, inside jokes, and made-up words that no one else would understand. Georgetown linguistics professor Cynthia Gordon has spent over 20 years studying how families actually talk to each other. She asked them to record ordinary moments, dinner conversations, car rides, chores and found something she calls "familylect": the secret language that makes a family feel like a family. Share your own familylect by texting 2101 or emailing us at [email protected]

Today in our expert feature we're talking to Master Builders. We'll cover choosing a builder, going through the process, what happens if you're not happy afterwards and anything else you want to know. So, get your questions into 2101. Even if it's one of those questions that's "more of a comment" we want to hear from you. To answer them - Jesse is joined by Ankit Sharma from Master Builders.

Let's talk about what's good to watch on the small screen now, TV critic Dominic Corry is with me and has two very different shows to recommend: I Love LA - Sky/Neon The Last Frontier - Apple TV+