Afternoons

Time for Heading Off - our travel segment powered by your adventures. If you've got a story to share do get in touch .. no trip is too small or too big .. 2101 on text or [email protected] Today we're going to Spain with Marianne Maslin.

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Time for our weekly catch up with Our Changing World's Claire Concannon. And this week's episode is all about the science of landslides, and some research aimed at building a national risk model.  Time for our weekly catch up with Our Changing World's Claire Concannon. And this week's episode is all about the science of landslides, and some research aimed at building a national risk model.

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We're going to talk scams now because Netsafe says most New Zealand adults have encountered a scam in the past year, and many of them will have lost money as a result. For older New Zealanders, and really anyone who doesn't feel confident online, it can be embarrassing to admit you've been taken for a ride. So we asked Netsafe Chief Online Safety Officer Sean Lyons to join us and share some practical steps to avoid becoming prey to scammers.

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It's Dry July and thousands of New Zealanders are giving up alcohol to raise money. It's a chance to rethink our relationship with drinking, but maybe not in the way you might expect. Drinking is one of humanity's oldest habits. In fact, civilisation itself may never have taken off without alcohol, says Dr Edward Slingerland, a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Wherever humans have settled, fermented drinks have followed. He argues that's no accident. Rather than seeing alcohol simply as a vice, Slingerland explores how it has acted as a social lubricant, strengthening trust and cooperation and helping to lay the foundations of culture itself. His book is called Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization.

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If it seems like your power bill is more expensive .. you'd be right. The Electricity Authority says most households have seen an average increase of about eight percent to their bills this winter .. and that's on top of the eight percent rise last year. Afternoons has spoken a lot about Gentailers and network charges - so today we want to turn our attention to what you can do to make sure you're getting the best deals. Under new rules introduced on July 1st, the Electricity Authority is requiring large power companies to offer flexible "time-of-use" pricing options. It's also launched a free comparison tool called Billy, which should make it easier than ever to consider your options. Zoe Priestley is the Electricity Authority's General Manager of Communications, Engagement and Data, and she's with me now to offer her tips and tricks.

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The heavy rain that has seen flooding in parts of Kaikoura is moving up the country - leaving behind a huge clean up job for many of you. Those clean up jobs are becoming more regular as weather events hit us more often. So what can we do to be prepared for when really bad weather strikes? And what are some practical tips.

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We're going to start today's show talking about smoking. It's back in the headlines after a recent bust saw more than a million cigarettes seized and five people arrested as part of efforts to crack down on the black-market tobacco trade. And the issue of excise tax is back under the spotlight with Associate Health Minister Casey Costello telling Newstalk ZB she would consider a review of it. She's since told RNZ she has no intention of reducing tobacco excise, nor had she talked about it. What she did or didn't say aside - we started thinking about the issue of smoking and the best way to break the supply of illicit cigarettes and tobacco. Janet Hoek is an Otago University public health professor and spokesperson for the Health Coalition Aotearoa expert advisory group on smoking and she chats to Perlina.

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Wallace Chapman and Emile Donovan 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.

Donald Trump's second presidency isn't just changing policy and relationships with countries like New Zealand; it's changing the presidency itself. That's according to New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. In their new book, they go beyond the headlines to examine how power is now exercised inside one of the most secretive White Houses in modern history. They take us inside the Oval Office and the normally off-limits Situation Room to explain not just what's happening, but what it means. Their reporting reveals a presidency centered on one man's instincts, surrounded by a small circle of trusted advisers, where loyalty is prized above almost everything else. They argue this isn't simply another Trump administration; it's a presidency that is redefining the office itself and reshaping America's role in the world. The book is called Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.

Afternoons critic Ximena Smith joins Emile to share what she's been listening to: I'm Grand Mam The Last 12 Weeks.

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