Nights

There are some rumblings around Iceland at the moment as volcanologists fear a large-scale eruption in the south-west of the island nation ... The town of Grindavik has been evacuated after a series of earthquakes over the past couple of weeks raised fears that a river of magma underneath the Reykjanes Peninsula could be getting ready to blow. Benjamin Hennig is a geographer and an associate professor of geography at the University of Iceland.

The small town of Awanui in the far north of the country is in celebration mood after it was named "Most Beautiful Tiny Town" at the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Awards. With a population of less than 400 people, the small town came out on top following a huge community effort to revitalise itself. To find out how they did it, we're joined now by resident, business owner and unofficial mayor Bill Subritzky.

What happens when two different types of environmentalism collide? Balmoral Station, near Lake Tekapo - is owned by the Simpson Family, headed up by Andrew and Karen Simpson. They had the idea to convert a slice of this station - 113 hectares of Crown lease land - into a solar farm. The Simpsons applied for this to happen last year, but last week their application was denied - because of the potential effects on the ecology of the area. Andrew Simpson joins us.

Bryan Waddle joins mark to discuss the latest sports news. The Blackcaps are just two steps away from world cup victory, but their toughest challenges are still to come. Can the Phoenix women continue their amazing form in the A League? Will super Rugby have a brand new look next year? And what's behind netballs rising popularity? Plus, we celebrate Samoan teenager Faith Vui, who this week became the first person of Samoan heritage to win the New Zealand amateur championship.

DJ K-SWIZZ is a master of beat juggling, scratching and mixing.

The 20-year-old turntablist has just retained his DMC World Championship title in San Francisco - adding to the array of titles he has won since he started DJing aged 14.

He joins Nights.

Today is a big day for many from the Indian subcontinent as it marks the beginning of this year's five-day Diwali festivities.

The Hindu celebration is a festival of lights with roots in an ancient literary parable which sheds light on the human condition.

Wellington novelist Rajorshi Chakraborti joins Nights.

Podcast fan and former RNZ presenter Lynn Freeman joins Nights with her podcast suggestions.

Right now there are myriad telescopes searching for any sign of life among estimated 100 billion galaxies.

But if we did manage to contact Alien life forms, how would we communicate with them?

Dr. Ian Roberts is a professor of linguistics at the University of Cambridge who also serves on the Advisory Council of METI (Messaging Extra-terrestrial Intelligence).

Dr. Roberts joins Nights.

Right now there are myriad telescopes searching for any sign of life among estimated 100 billion galaxies. But if we did manage to contact Alien life forms, how would we communicate with them? Dr Ian Roberts is a professor of linguistics at the University of Cambridge who also serves on the Advisory Council of METI (Messaging Extra-terrestrial Intelligence). Dr Roberts joins Nights.

Nicola Gaston is a Professor at Auckland University's school of physics and a leading voice in criticising sexism within the scientific world.

This week she was awarded the Thomson Medal by the Royal Society Te Aparangi for her 'transformative leadership' in physics and science more broadly.

Professor Gaston joins Nights for a catch-up.