Nights

Today marks eighty years since VJ Day - Victory over Japan Day - when Japan surrendered and World War Two ended. As well as the end of World War Two the, the date also marks the formation of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Association which supported more than 40,000 veterans as they adjusted back to civilian life. Ian Mower is a retired Air Commodore and the president of the RNZAF. He joins Todd Zaner to reflect.

Todd Zaner crosses to RNZ sports reporter Jamie Wall on the ground at the New Zealand Darts Masters in Auckland.

Screenwriters Kathryn Burnett and Nick Ward, who have worked on shows like Wellington Paranormal and Outrageous Fortune, have encountered a fair few dickheads in their time, and have now become unofficial authorities on the topic with their book How to Spot a Dickhead: A Field Guide.

Do the banks know something we don’t? Or are they just taking a punt, hoping to sign up a few more borrowers before their competitors do? Frances Cook joins Nights to explain.

From elephants in the room to blue moons, Nights' resident sociolinguist, Dr Julia de Bres from Massey University, is going the extra mile and talking about idioms.

Emile Donovan speaks to constitutional lawyer Graeme Edgeler about why former ministers weren't compelled to attend the Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Arohanui: My Aotearoa New Zealand compiles the perspectives of one hundred New Zealanders, including names like Beauden Barrett, Miriama Kamo, and Winston Peters.

University of Canterbury Professor of Marketing Ekant Veer joins Mark Leishman to explain why free things tickle our brain.

130 years ago today, Minnie Dean became the first (and only) woman to be executed for murder in New Zealand. Found guilty by the Supreme Court in Invercargill in 1895 for the murder of one-year-old Dorothy Carter, Dean was hanged just two months later. But what does New Zealand think now? Was Minnie Dean really guilty? Did she deserve the fate she got? Emile Donovan consults the experts: he is joined by Grant Morris, a legal historian at Victoria University of Wellington, to explore these questions and more.

Property photographer joins Emile Donovan to discuss the art of real estate photography.