Afternoons

Chronic pain is one of medicine's oldest puzzles and most stubborn problems. About one in five people worldwide live with it, and don't really know why. Dr. Sanjay Gupta says it doesn't have to be that way. A neurosurgeon, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, and host of the podcast Chasing Life, Gupta turns his attention to pain why we experience it, what really helps, and how people can take back control. His new book is called It Doesn't Have to Hurt: Your Smart Guide to a Pain-Free Life.

Kelly Gibney joins us with a fritter recipe that sounds delicious!

Steve Braunias joins Jesse to announce the winners of what he calls the strangest writers residency award in New Zealand. Now in its ninth year, The Surrey Hotel writers residency award celebrates writers who need a little extra support to get their literary idea off the ground.

For six decades the APRA Silver Scroll has been considered the most prestigious songwriting award in New Zealand. This year's event will take place at Christchurch's Isaac Theatre Royal on Wednesday 29 October, with artists including Marlon Williams, Aaradhna, Nadia Reid competing for the top prize. But someone has to run the show, and today APRA announced that singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, visual artist, and previous Silver Scroll nominee Delaney Davidson will be the musical director. He chats to Jesse.

At the start of this year Hamilton's Herman Jagpal set himself an ambitious goal - to share 365 days of kindness. Each day he asks someone at random to help him with a fun task, that could be handing out flowers or inviting strangers to dinner. He documents the whole process on Instagram as "Daily Rejection". Where he noticed a regular comment was "This would only work in New Zealand" So, to see if that's true, today he sets off on a 30-day world tour.

The 58 year old author was best know as a broadcaster, clinical psychologist, and parenting expert. Helping many families to navigate life better Including his work as an ambassador for the charity "Kenzie's gift". A charity which helps tamariki navigate serious illness and death. To celebrate Nigel, and his amazing contribution to our society, Kenzie's Gift founder Nic Russell joins Jesse.

We've got a new segment called 'You're the Judge' where we present an issue that's been sent in by one of our listeners, and you, our audience, decide what the right course of action is. So far you have made judgements on if it's okay to kiss your pets then your partner, a family fall out after a funeral, whether a bride and groom can dictate what people wear to their nuptials, and today we're turning our attention to travel - specifically if one person can accept a seat upgrade when travelling with their partner. If you've got a pickle you need some help with - email us! [email protected]

Christianity is the load bearing wall that holds up democracy, and it is crumbling says author, journalist, and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, Jonathan Rauch. A committed atheist, Rauch says citizens need to take a page from the Christian bible and offer compassion to others, forgive and share power otherwise democracy will not survive. He warns that fear and grievance have replaced biblical values and both religion and society are suffering because of it. Rauch writes about returning faith to focusing on healing instead of dividing in his book, Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy.

Time to talk all things Australia now and our man across the Tasman Brad Foster joins Jesse with the latest from there, starting with an incident in Melbourne yesterday, another triple zero emergency problem, but also touching on that rugby game.

Ali Smith is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. She's a pretty prolific writer, over the last ten years writing 14 novels, 5 short story collections and 8 plays. Book critic Pip Adams shares why she's a fan, reviewing the latest offerings but also the classics. Gliff (Penguin, November 2024) Glyph (Penguin, 17 February 2026) Seasonal Quartet by Ali Smith: Autumn (2016), Winter (2017), Spring (2019), Summer (2020)