Jing Song is the youngest-ever New Zealand wine producer to win a gold award at the International Wine and Spirit Competition.

A well-known critic of the neoliberal world order, economist Yanis Varoufakis believes capitalism has become 'techno-feudalism' - with tech companies and Covid making the rich even richer and the poor poorer. But he also believes there is a democratic socialist alternative, which he presents in his 2020 novel Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present.

Horowhenua-based organic gardener Kath Irvine is passionate about the value of homegrown food - and the key, she says, is to keep it really simple. For her new book The Edible Backyard, Irvine documented a year on her own property to show how you can successfully produce bountiful crops throughout the seasons and provide a daily harvest with minimal wastage.

The 'Salvator Mundi' is the first Leonardo da Vinci painting to be discovered for over a century, though some question whether it is in fact by the painter. Dianne Modestini is a world-renowned restorer, conservator, and expert on historical paintings who had the painting brought to her for restoration in 2005.

The recently enacted Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as Senate Bill 8, gives conservative lawmakers everything they wanted - the ability to ban abortion with none of the risk, says Professor Mary Ziegler. The key was not to criminalise abortions, Ziegler says, but to authorise private citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who performs or knowingly 'aid and abets' an abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy. If plaintiffs succeed they will receive a minimum of US$10,000.

Earlier this week Arkansas man Oscar Stilley filed a lawsuit against a Texan doctor who performed an abortion and wrote about it publicly in defiance of the state's strict new 'Heartbeat Act', which bans abortions beyond the first six weeks of pregnancy.

Earlier this week Arkansas man Oscar Stilley filed a lawsuit against a Texan doctor who performed an abortion and wrote about it publicly in defiance of the state's strict new 'Heartbeat Act', which bans abortions beyond the first six weeks of pregnancy. The recently enacted Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as Senate Bill 8, gives conservative lawmakers everything they wanted - the ability to ban abortion with none of the risk, says Professor Mary Ziegler.

Listener feedback for 18 September 2021.

It's been a big year for actor Tanea Heke with roles in critically acclaimed feature films Cousins and The Justice of Bunny King. On top of that, Heke also appears in He Takatapui Ahau - a short film that centres on the experience of a young non-binary person returning to their marae despite the homophobia and transphobia they've witnessed in the past.

For his new book, Gone, Sussex-based naturalist Michael Blencowe decided to embark on a journey in search for what remains of the world's extinct creatures.