Nights

Dr. Nathaniel Davis introduces Anna Thomas to this week's element, Lead.

We speak to our overseas correspondent Lien Hoang and get the latest from Vietnam.

New motor industry figures show a total of 605 electric and plug-in hybrids vehicles were sold in September. The numbers were boosted by the first significant numbers of the base model Tesla reaching the country, with 329 sales making it the third-best selling passenger-SUV segment. Karyn speaks with the CEO of New Zealand's Motor Industry Association, David Crawford, about consumer interest and the environmental credentials for choosing an electric car.

Today The New Zealand Film Commission have been hosting a gathering of people from around the world talking about diversity, inclusion and equity within the screen industry. It is a who's who of writers, directors, actors and producers. Film Commission Chief Executive Annabelle Sheehan joins us to tell us more.

We talk to Professor Nick Wilson from the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, about research that has found New Zealand, Australia and Iceland could act as island refuges to save humanity from extinction in the event of a catastrophic global pandemic.

New Zealand-based indie folk duo, Lhasa, are the result of two completely different worlds colliding. One from a sleepy, small city in New Zealand, while the other grew up in one of the biggest cities in China. The duo come together as a marriage of different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences to create something unique, punchy, and eager to be heard.

Since March a group of women from hawke's Bay have been swapping their stilletos and skirts for gumboots and black singlets, taking to shearing sheds around the region, learning the craft.. the back breaking craft of Shearing sheep.

In our usual sportscaster slot we have a special interview. Rachel Froggat from Women in Sport Aotearoa joins us ahead of their summit next week.

AJ Woodhouse has just returned from competing in the 2019 World Gold Panning Championships in Finland. Hopefully she has a few nuggets for us!

To mark 2019 as the year of the Periodic Table, RNZ Nights has teamed up with the MacDiarmid Institute to bring you Element of The Week. Tonight, Cushla McGoverin, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago introduces us to the element Rubidium and the reason for tonight's sonic tonic dedicated to Purple