Afternoons

Afternoons movie critic Dominic Corry gives his takes on NZ film, Big Girls Don't Cry - on now at the NZIFF and Spider Man: Brand New Day - in theatres now.

It's time for Freaky Friday, your home for the spooky and the unexplained. We've had UFO sightings, ghostly encounters, eerie coincidences. If you've got a spooky story to share ... we'd love to hear from you - email [email protected] or text 2101. Today Jesse is joined by Anne.

Our next guest has been described as the MacGyver of atmospheric conditions. Which is quite some reputation .. Mark Bart's company Metris provides real-time forecast alarms for around 250 clients .. that involves hundreds of weather stations and more than 5,000 sensors. What does that all mean? Well, for example, if there is a heavy frost hitting .. growers will be woken up so they can act to protect their crops. Metris Chief Executive Mark Bart chats to Jesse.

The NZ International Film Festival has opened in Auckland .. one of the local films on offer is called Uncle. It tells the story of a man caring for his best friend's three-year-old son, Buddy .. after an accident. The film's director Ryan Alexander Lloyd is in the studio with Jesse. Ryan's films have been seen at international film festivals in Toronto, New York, Berlin, Melbourne and in Austin. Uncle premieres at the NZIFF on Saturday night.

There's some exciting health news today, with an update from a team of New Zealand scientists working on a new cancer drug. While it's early days, laboratory tests are looking very positive. University of Auckland Associate Professor Jeff Smaill is one of the researchers and chats to Jesse.

The cost of electricity seems to be affecting loads of you this winter ... actually not only the cost .. many of you were told to conserve power this week after the cold weather almost overloaded the grid. It certainly seems like something has to give. A just released report shows expansion of flexible electricity use and batteries could deliver some hefty energy savings. EECA and the BusinessNZ Energy Council have been crunching the numbers, using an internationally recognised modelling platform. They say these savings could be between $5.4 and $20.8 billion through to 2050. Mike Casey, Chief Executive of Rewiring Aotearoa, joins Jesse to discuss.

Welcome to the Politics Group Chat. In Auckland, it's commentator and comedian Tim Batt and political scientist Dr Lara Greaves. Dane Giraud is away sick this week. This week Jesse, Tim and Lara discuss who's going to win the election, why National has ruled out the Opportunity Party, the slogan "For All of Us" and vaccine politics.

Christopher Nolan's version of the Odyssey has got lots of you talking about the Homer classic again .. which is quite astonishing given it was written around the 8th century. But as our resident historian Dr Grant Morris is keen to explain .. this isn't the first time Homer's timeless works have been giving the pop culture treatment.

Every second Thursday we try to wrong some rights and solve some of the world's problems .. only every second Thursday mind .. Dave Armstrong joins Jesse to discuss some happenings in Wellington and what he thinks about them.

Crimes NZ is one of our favourite segments and we are so pleased we are back with another series of it. Over the next few weeks we'll be looking at some high-profile cases. The title kind of hints at this - but just a warning that this interview deals with some of New Zealand's most serious crimes... murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse... so please take care about who's listening around you... and if you need to talk to someone - there are free, trained counsellors at Helpline. Just call or text 1737. In this episode of Crimes NZ, we're looking at the murder of 79-year-old grandmother Helen Gregory by her daughter Julia DeLuney, with RNZ reporter Kate Green.