In 2016 Antonia Murphy started a feminist escort agency in New Zealand called The Bach. It wasn't the career she planned, but after immigrating to New Zealand from America and raising a family her life changed when her marriage ended in divorce and she needed income quickly. After writing about her experience running an 'ethical brothel' for HuffPost in 2016, which was republished in 2021, Murphy received a call from a television producer wanting to make a show based on The Bach. Madam is a fictionalised TV series starring Rachel Griffiths and based on Murphy's life experiences, and is screening now on Three and ThreeNow. Her non-fiction memoir by the same name comes out in October.

Australian playwright David Finnigan is bringing Scenes from the Climate Era to Auckland next month. Set in the past, present and possible future, the show snaps between the absurd, the turbulent and the vulnerable in twenty-five short scenes. The show opened last year at Sydney's Belvoir Theatre to rave reviews. Finnigan has been working with director Jason Te Kare (Every Brilliant Thing, Cellfish) to adapt the script to weavie in matauranga Maori alongside Western climate science. Scenes from the Climate Era is on at Q Theatre Rangatira from 2 - 24 August. Tickets and more information here.

The little-known story of how Nazi experiments into psychedelics covertly influenced the CIA and shaped the foundation of America's war on drugs has been told in the new book by best-selling author Norman Ohler. Following on from the themes in his 2015 book Blitzed, which looked at methamphetamine use by the Third Reich, new book Tripped examines how the Nazis experimented with LSD at Dachau in efforts to find a "truth serum". When the US liberated Germany, they discovered the research which led to the CIA's notorious brainwashing and psychological torture program of the 1950s and 1960s. Only now is LSD starting to gain mainstream acceptance for uses such as treating anxiety.

The little-known story of how Nazi experiments into psychedelics covertly influenced the CIA and shaped the foundation of America's war on drugs has been told in the new book by best-selling author Norman Ohler. Following on from the themes in his 2015 book Blitzed, which looked at methamphetamine use by the Third Reich, new book Tripped examines how the Nazis experimented with LSD at Dachau in efforts to find a "truth serum". When the US liberated Germany, they discovered the research which led to the CIA's notorious brainwashing and psychological torture program of the 1950s and 1960s. Only now is LSD starting to gain mainstream acceptance for uses such as treating anxiety.

Through pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, women undergo dramatic physical and psychological change. There is no other time in a human's life that entails such dramatic change - other than adolescence. And yet this life-altering period is largely neglected by science, medicine, and philosophy. Acclaimed journalist and writer Lucy Jones reveals the research behind this transition in her new book Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood. Jones reveals the dangerous consequences of our neglect of the maternal experience - and explores the patriarchal and capitalist institutions that created the untenable situation mothers face today.

When science writer Lucy Jones had a baby, she found herself in an unexpectedly frightening and lonely new world. In the new book Matrescence, She takes a deep dive into the profound psychological and physiological effects of motherhood.

Organic gardener Kath Irvine joins the show to discuss pruning raspberries.

Critically acclaimed British novelist and BAFTA-winning screenwriter Author David Nicholls speaks to Susie about his new book You Are Here.

Lyndy McIntyre's book Power to Win tells the story of the Living Wage Movement through the voices of workers, activists, leaders and allies.

The story of Cleopatra has been immortalised in popular culture. Less talked about, is the fact that she was one of seven Cleopatras.