Afternoons

NZ Live is our weekly showcase of the country's finest talents - it's an intimate forty-minute session of tunes and chat. This week we're joined by Delaney Davidson. Delaney released his 11th studio album 'Baby Heavyweight' last week. Tonight he kicks of a mammoth 14 date tour.

Afternoons Film Critic Dominic Corry joins us to discuss what's on the big screen. This week: Jackass: Best and Last - In cinemas Over Your Dead Body - Prime Video

Time for Freaky Friday. Our home for your spooky tales. It's one of our favourite moments of the show, but it only works because you have been so generous in sharing your stories with us. Whether that be ghosts, a seance, freaky serendipity, or something else entirely. If you've got a freaky story to share, then get in touch. It's 2101 on the text or [email protected] via email.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force is generally associated with daring aviation feats and providing aid and assistance when called upon, but it also produces some incredible music. So, when we saw a job ad for a new Director of Music for the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, we wanted to find out more. Joining us now is someone who held the role for 8 and a 1/2 years - outgoing Band Director, David Gallaher.

Nelson arborist and tree consultant Brad Cadwallader has spent much of his life working with trees, hunting for some of Aotearoa's biggest and most remarkable specimens and helping to tell their stories - hence one of his many job titles is "tree hunter." Brad is also curator of the New Zealand Tree Register and one of the organisers of the Tree of the Year competition, which celebrates some of the country's most notable native and exotic trees. Voting is open now for the 2026 competition, and you can head to treeoftheyear.co.nz to cast your vote. Brad Cadwallader chats to Emile.

The All Blacks are taking on France tomorrow in their first test of the year. It's the opening game of the inagural Nations Championship and will be in front of a sold-out crowd at Christchurch's new stadium. It's the team's first outing under their new head Coach Dave Rennie who unveiled his team yesterday. Jeff McTainsh is calling the game tomorrow, he chats to Emile.

ACT says its policy would help tackle that crime .. and fill the gap from an overstretched police force. But it also raises questions about training, safety, legal protections, and whether private security staff have the know-how to recognise when force is appropriate. Gary Morrison is the CEO of the New Zealand Security Association, and he's been calling for clearer rules and better training for the security industry. Gary chats to Emile.

Our chance to dive into the issues that have been hitting the headlines the past week. Dr Lara Greaves and Dane Giraud join Emile to say what they're thinking out loud. The group discuss school lunches, MMP and whether it is fit for purpose and lobbying - how does NZ stack up compared to the rest of the world?

Time to talk history with Dr Grant Morris and this week after seeing some of the latest polling, he's keen to look into the history of small centrist political parties. The Opportunities Party is currently nearing 5% in the political polls. It is arguably a centrist party and could go with either Labour or National. In the 2002 election, Peter Dunne and his centrist party United Future experienced a large surge. In the 2017 election, Winston Peters and centrist NZ First held the balance of power. What examples do we have from our history of small centrist parties playing a key role in elections?

Every second Thursday we try to solve some of the world's problems - this week writer Verity Johnson is with Emile to talk about how we could revive our cities.