Facebook will pay you to delete your account.
All in the name of research! They've partnered with a research group in the USA to study the effects that election information and ads have on people. They'll be changing the experiences of Facebook and Instagram users to modify how much election content they receive and study the results. So of course, they need a control group and that group is being paid to shut off their accounts for a set period of time.  How much will you get? Well.. that's up to you. The survey asked if you'd want $10, $15 or $20 to give it a pause - which also happens to be a super interesting data point to see how much people value the service they get. 
Laptops are in very short supply.
Schools, universities, workplaces -- mobility is more important now than ever as people work from home or have a mixed work location schedule and laptops are key to that. So key, that they're actually becoming difficult to find. Stock is limited across the USA. Dell says that it can take time to source all the components needed, then of course they need to be built and shipped. That entire supply chain is stretched right now.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE
 
 

Our resident doctor Bryan Betty has the lowdown on Hepatitis C.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Gardeners' Christmas
Gardeners really come to life when spring starts to rear its fragrant head. Can’t wait! And there are many wonderful community events that really stand out! It’s national gardening week, sponsored by Yates, and there's plenty to see.  1. Lawrence, Central Otago: Weatherstons Brewery and Daffodils site. Ruins of old brewery provide a backdrop to 25 acres of 150-year-old daffodils, unique heritage varieties, spectacular woodland garden walks, vintage rhododendron forest and waterfall. For bus tour bookings, phone 027 232 9963 or message via Facebook/weatherstonstrust.  Open Fri, Sat, Sun, (plus Thurs in school holidays) 10am-4 pm Sept 12 – Oct 18 
 2) Lincoln Envirotown: hold regular get-togethers with topics such as grafting and budding (always tricky but good to learn!!) to working bees and soil analysis, earthworm-care, water testing and trap libraries for catching the exotics in your garden. http://lincolnenvirotown.org.nz/events/ 
3) Taranaki Garden Festival: My goodness – if there’s ever a district with perfect rainfall, fertile soils and green-fingered gardeners, it has to be Taranaki. 30 Oct to 8 Nov all through the province; Many fantastic open gardens (“Nice Garden” comes with a great Hotel to stay in New Plymouth!) Not just the famous Tupare garden and the Jury’s Tiokorangi garden, I also think that Pukekura park is one our best botanic gardens in Aotearoa. https://www.gardenfestnz.co.nz/ 
4) Bloom in the Boom - Marlborouh Garden Festival: From5-8 November, this is another one of those New Zealand destinations for Gardeners; If you’ve never been: go and take a look. Garden Fête, talks and workshops and some magnificent and famous open gardens. https://www.gardenmarlborough.co.nz/ 
5) Bay of Plenty Garden and Arts festival: From 19-22 November, it's a great combination of Garden visits and art. The Bay of Plenty has a heap of this in spades and this Festival will put everything on display. More than 70 gardens open their gates and artists are interspersed. https://www.gardenandartfestival.co.nz/ 
I know there are heaps more regional garden festivals (such as Great Barrier Island Garden Tour, which has unfortunately been cancelled) but look these up in your local papers/magazines 
I have always promoted the common old walk around the block, to see how other people in your neighbourhood create gardens and food-growing plots 
* You learn what works in you climatological area * You learn what grows well and looks good * You get to know your neighbours, when you know on the door to ask “what plant is that?” * You score some cuttings * You create an economic exchange model and support structure * You borrow each other’s tools and machines and muscle power if needed * You exchange information, ideas and know-how LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 
   
 

Tele expert Tara Ward has these recommendations for your week ahead: 
The Salisbury Poisonings: Rafe Spall and Anne-Marie Duff star in this fact based drama about the Novichok poisoning crisis in Salisbury in 2018 (TVNZ 1, begins Sunday 8:30pm).   The Sounds: A mystery-thriller written by Sarah-Kate Lynch and filmed in New Zealand. Maggie and Tom Cabbott move to the town of Pelorus to escape the oppressive influence of Tom's family. But when Tom disappears, unsettling facts about his life soon come to light and the search brings long-buried wounds to the surface (NEON).  The Deceived: a gothic Irish thriller about young English student who falls in love with her married lecturer. When their affair results in a shocking and tragic death, she finds herself trapped and can no longer trust her own mind (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

At 22, Jazz Thornton had survived multiple suicide attempts. 
Now 25, she's a global mental health campaigner, she’s spoken in front of the UN General Assembly, and a movie has just been released about her journey as a campaigner against suicide.
It's out this week, and it's called The Girl on the Bridge. Jazz has been in the studio with Jack Tame.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

Father’s Day Baked Beans.
Show dad some love this Sunday with these homemade baked beans – they are truly much greater than the sum of their parts.  
Serves 4-6
1 medium onion, diced 
1 tbsp olive oil 
150-200g chorizo (about 2-3 sausages), sliced  
2 cans beans, drained and rinsed (I use 1 can pinto and 1 can butterbeans) 
1 can crushed tomatoes 
1 tsp smoked paprika 
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional) 
1/2 teaspoon sea salt and pepper 
1-1½ cups aged cheddar, grated 
Parsley, to garnish 

In a medium saucepan, sauté the onions in oil until softened. Add the chorizo and cook until they begin to release their fat. Pour in the beans and tomatoes, then season with the paprika, chilli, salt and pepper. 


Simmer the beans for 30 minutes to let the flavours marry and deepen in richness. 


Serve up on serve buttered toast garnished with the grated cheese and parsley. Yum!  

Other Fathers’ Day options: Serve these beans with bacon and an egg on top, Steak n Kidney on toast, Ham/bacon n cheese croissants  - fill them yourself and bake, Tropical fruit salad – pineapple, mango, paw paw, thinly sliced coconut, passionfruit pulp + thick Greek yoghurt with toasted nuts and seeds. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching the Disney blockbuster with Kiwi connections, Mulan, and World War Three action film, Tenet.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

Kevin Milne's had good and bad news this week. The bad news? He's got prostate cancer. He's been sharing the good news with Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

It’s a fight that eventually comes to most big cities as populations expand.
Is it better to preserve a city’s history? The heritage, buildings, and neighbourhoods that help to shape a city’s identity and sense of self? Or is it more important to make sure people are housed safely, warmly, and at a reasonable price?
Ideally of course, you strike a balance. Not one that suits everyone – that would be impossible – but a plan whereby you maintain a city’s essence and persona, whilst also accommodating for those other qualities. But in debating how to strike that balance, inevitably it gets reduced to a binary thing: You’re either for history and heritage or you’re against it. You’re either pro-warm-and-dry-homes, or you want everyone to be living in mouldy cesspits.
Wellington’s having this fight right now. A group called ‘Keep Wellington’s Character’ claims the city’s spacial plan is going to destroy character suburbs. The other side claims plenty of those so-called character homes are barely fit for habitation and that in a city where rents are already astronomically high and healthy home standards have been historically marginal, it’s time for a change.
In a lot of other cities – Auckland being top of the list – people have opposed modern urban plans because they don’t want to see changes in their own backyard. A lot of the time, I’d suggest that’s because those people don’t want to see anything that could negatively impact on the value of their house. And, of course, the NIMBYs carry disproportionate sway. There ain’t no lobby group in modern politics like property owners.
I think we’re already seeing a bit of a shift. In Auckland, the new unitary plan has already provided for a steady supply of townhouses and high-density options in the market. We’re fortunate in New Zealand – we don’t all have to live in tiny shoebox apartments. I think it works best as a stage-of-life thing: The people in my apartment building are mainly either young professionals like me, or older people looking to downsize.
Wellington is a wonderful city. I think I’m on record as saying it’s my favourite city in New Zealand. It’s a city with a rich character, interesting nooks and spaces, good food, and fascinating people. It’s clear that good density is going to be critical to the city’s future just as it will be in so many other cities. That doesn’t mean a city of staid apartment blocks or five-storey townhouses on every single suburban corner. It doesn’t mean we should knocking down every old house. Of course not. But it does mean the face of some suburbs should eventually change a little bit. 
And here’s the bottom line: you need more than a few charming buildings to make a good city, a good city. And you need more than heritage to give cities character. You need people. You need people from a range of backgrounds, a range of ages and experiences.
Old buildings might give a city a sense of history and place. But people give cities life.

Music reviewer American rock band The Killers have a new album out called ‘Imploding the Mirage’, their sixth studio album.  LISTEN TO ESTELLE'S REVIEW ABOVE