Nights

The New Zealand Geographic Board is proposing a correction to a centuries old place name typo, with the West Coast tourist hotspot of Franz Josef under the microscope.

Named 'Joseph' after Austrian Emperor of the time Kaiser Franz Joseph by Julius von Haast, somewhere along the line the name became 'Josef' - both completely disregarding the Te Reo Maori name Waiau.

Westland District Council Mayor Helen Lash joins Nights to discuss the news.

This weekend, Wellington's Verb Festival hosts its annual worst poet wins event which rewards aspiring writers for indulging their most cliched, cringeworthy tendencies.

Harry Ricketts is a poet, essayist and a supervisor at Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters - with a fondness for terrible poetry, even writing an ode to the topic for Newsroom earlier this week.

Harry speaks to Nights.

How much do we know about bridges? Somebody who understands plenty about the topic is Moustafa Al-Ani.

As lead structure advisor at Waka Kotahi and chair of the Auckland Bridge Group, he is well versed in the engineering of these structures we might not usually think much about.

Moustafa joins Nights.

Colin Peacock is in the studio for a look at the media landscape.

Woven flax wahakura and pepi pods have been promoted for safe sleeping practices for newborns since the early 2000s.

Riwa Wawatai, a Levin-based weaver is calling for more kairaranga - or weavers - to meet growing demand.

Riwa speaks to Nights.

How many of us take the time to enjoy roadside rest areas when we're on a road trip?

Pokeno man Greg Wilson is one man who has - he drove between Bluff and Auckland stopping at every rest area along State Highway 1 to find out how many are left.

Greg talks to Nights.

Earlier this year, a team of Australian herpetologists were told to head into the Queensland desert to look for three types of skink.

One of those, the elusive Lyon's Grassland Striped Skink, hasn't been seen in more than 40 years.

Andrew Amey, Queensland Museum's herpetology collection manager, led the expedition.

Andrew joins Nights.

Split Enz founding member Mike Chunn is not only a skilled bassist - he's also a successful author and respected music mentor.

Twenty years ago, he founded Play It Strange to help nurture up-and-coming musicians.

Through the programme, he has helped a range of talents, including Liz Stokes from The Beths, Kimbra, Annah Mac and Wellington's Louis Baker.

Mike chats to Nights about his plans to step away from Play It Strange.

Researchers from the University of Essex studied the dialects of a group of 18 to 33-year-olds from South East England and found there has been a change in dialects among younger people. 

They've found Cockney and another distinctive British accents are disappearing.

Project leader Dr. Amanda Cole joins Nights.

Dillon Mayhew is Associate Professor at the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Te Heranga Waka/Victoria University of Wellington. Dillon joins Nights to talk numbers for what might be the final time.