The second round of the French presidential elections will see the incumbent centrist Emmanuel Macron once again face off against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen, whom Macron easily beat in the 2017 elections. However, this time may not be such a cake walk, and some observers say the tight race is an indicator of the seismic shift in France's political culture.

Dr Chris Thorogood fulfilled a childhood dream last month after travelling deep into the Philippines rainforest to lay eyes on the otherworldly Rafflesia banaoana.

Known for her historical fiction, Jenny Pattrick is one of New Zealand's best-selling novelists. She has had 10 novels published since her acclaimed 2003 debut The Denniston Rose, yet Pattrick came to be published quite late in life.

What began with an internet search for the cheapest house in New Zealand led Sam Duckor-Jones to buy an old Anglican church in Greymouth, which he then doused in pink and renamed Gloria.

Originally from Wales, avant-pop artist Cate Le Bon has made her new home in Joshua Tree National Park, in southern California. Lured by the surreal cactus-dotted landscape last year, Le Bon relocated to the desert after finishing her sixth solo album Pompeii.

The prevailing theory of how life started on Earth is about to be put to the test by Auckland biophysicist Dr Peter Wills and a team of international collaborators.

Workers at an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island made history last week when they voted to form the company's first ever US union since it was founded nearly 30 years ago.

Our regular commentator, Cambridge University consultant clinical virologist Dr Chris Smith joins us with the latest Covid-19 science, and to answer your questions.

Listener feedback for 2 April 2022.

The 12th of September 2018 is a day Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert will never forget. The Australian-British academic had travelled to Iran to attend a seminar on Shia Islam and was about to return to Australia when she was suddenly detained by the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guards at the airport gate in Tehran.