Acclaimed actor, comedian, director and writer and "Snapchat Dude" Tom Sainsbury has another lesser known talent. Along with Lara Fischel-Chisholm he's one half of comedy dance troupe, Dynamotion. Their "camp, and country" Auckland Arts Festival show in March Boot Scootin' Boogie promises old fashioned barn dance fun.

Last Thursday melanoma researcher Professor Georgina Long was announced as Australian of the Year, along with colleague and friend Professor Richard Scolyer. As co-medical directors of the Melanoma Institute Australia, the pair are credited with saving thousands of lives. Their pioneering immunotherapy treatments for advanced forms of the cancer have resulted in 5 year survival rates increasing from less than 5% to more than 50%. In June of last year Professor Scolyer was diagnosed with glioblastoma IDH wild-type, a cancer that is usually fatal within six to nine months. Rather than undergoing traditional treatment, Prof Scolyer decided to experiment on himself, with Professor Long designing world-first treatments based on their melanoma work.

It ain't hard to tell when you don't communicate well so worth paying attention when you do, says English journalist Ros Atkins.

Patricia Grace is one of Aotearoa's most celebrated Maori fiction authors. She won the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction for Potiki in 1987, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2001 with Dogside Story. She has a new collection of short stories, Bird Child and Other Stories, which spans mythology and contemporary Maori life and reimagines ancient tales. The cover art is courtesy of granddaughter Miriama Grace-Smith.

Fourteen times world woodchopping champion, Adam Lowe manages the South Island Wood Chopping team, bound for New South Wales for a big grudge match. He joins Susie for which blade, what wood, how fast and too strong. This year he's taking the first mixed-team to the block.

Line company Vector's recently created electric vehicle trends tracker shows EV ownership in Auckland is up almost 200% in two years. This growth begs the question: is the city's infrastructure prepared? Moreover, when the cars leave the city, can you charge them? Will small town New Zealand's electricity supply stand the burden? Vector Chief Executive Simon MacKenzie joins Susie.

Chief Scientist at the world's biggest museum, wildlife forensic scientist and conservation geneticist Rebecca Johnson is a leading researcher in koala conservation. The iconic Aussie marsupial is hostage to climate change and chlamydia. Dr Johnson came to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History from Australia, where she was chief investigator of the Koala Genome Consortium. As Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute, Rebecca helped put the Australian Museum on the map as a global leader in wildlife forensic science and applied conservation genomics. Rebecca is passionate about protecting threatened species, reducing the illegal trade of wildlife and the importance of STEM. She's been recognised as one of the 30 inaugural "SuperStars of STEM" by Science and Technology Australia.

Listener feedback for 27th January 2024 saturday morning with Susie Ferguson.

Astrophysicist Katie Mack discusses the possibility of time travel, how time will end, gravitational waves and the power of antimatter. Dr Mack is the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada - where she carries out research on dark matter and the early universe. Dr Mack wants to make physics more accessible. She is the author of the 2021 book The End of Everything.

Mentalist, illusionist and performance artist Scott Silven's marvelous magical career is inspired by the mists and mysticism of his Scottish homeland. Silven studied hypnosis age 15. At 19 he impressed David Blaine and by 21 he was headlining a show at one of the UK's top theatres. Now 34, he's bringing his show Wonders to the Auckland Arts Festival in March.