Nights

Sudanese journalist, writer and award-winning blogger Reem Abbas joins us from Khartoum.

Our man with the electronica expertise, Paul Berrington is back with us in the studio. Tonight we have some tracks from a relatively underground figure, Matthew Herbert, who's worked with the likes of Björk, REM, John Cale, Roisin Murphy, Yoko Ono and Serge Gainsbourg.

University of Otago scientist Dr Damian Scarf has won a $50,000 grant for his novel research project which will see pigeons tested for cognitive abilities in a free-range environment, rather than in a laboratory.

Ahead of the 2019 New Zealand Walking Summit, we talk to Hamish Mackie, who's been working on the Te Ara Mua - Future Streets project. The project aims to make streets in Mangere Central safer and easier for people to travel around, especially by walking or cycling.

Nights' toxicologist, Dr. Leo Schep from Toxinform has mushrooms in his mind. Some of the magic variety - and some not so magic that put you off alcohol.

Dana Johannsen is tonight's sportscaster. Tonight she's asking if Steven Adams will ever fulfill his promise to play for the Tall Blacks and takes a look at the Silver Ferns preparations for the World Cup.

Photographer Penina Momoisea has recently shared her collection of photographs of Churches of Samoa on the website coconet.tv. She joins us to talk about the collection and the churches.

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, Penny Brothers. MacDiarmid Principal Investigator and Professor at the University of Auckland's School of Chemical Sciences introduces us to the element Iron and the reason for tonight's sonic tonic dedicated to Blood.

Motoko Kakubayashi joins us once again from Tokyo with the latest from Japan.

The arts website, Pantograph Punch has been making some changes of late, not least of which has been the creation of five staff writer positions. One of those is poet and writer Tayi Tibble. She joins Bryan in the studio.