Debra Fine is the author of The Fine Art of Small Talk. She joins the show to offer a few tips on how to start a conversation, how to keep it going, and the best way to bail out when a conversation has reached its natural conclusion.

Richie Sadlier was a rising football star until injury forced him to retire way too soon. Depression and addiction took over, fuelled by demons from the past and his family life. He has laid the whole raw story of his life in his new book Recovery.

Economist Professor Richard Easterlin concluded more money can't buy us happiness. And his Easterlin Paradox has persuaded policymakers to focus on wellbeing rather than wealth. But how do we know he's right?

Legendary rock guitarist Wayne Kramer is the epitome of someone who has lived many lives - from ground-breaking foundation member of the MC5 to inmate at the Lexington Federal Prison in Kentucky to prison reform advocate.

On April 11, 2001, the Australian football team smashed American Samoa 31-0 in a World Cup qualifying match. Journalist James Montague wrote the book, Thirty-One Nil, and now New Zealand's Taika Waititi is making the film.

Jim Winchester is a Kiwi aviation writer based in London. He's just published a new book which for the first time tells the full story of a one-megaton thermonuclear bomb lost at sea - Broken Arrow - How the U.S. Navy Lost a Nuclear Bomb.

Professor Peter Clough from Huddersfield University looks at how organisations can build resilient workers who can prosper under pressure, and believes challenges should be viewed as opportunities, not threats.

Most people think of conflict when they hear the Falkland Islands mentioned, but there's a lot more to the British territory than the 1982 war with Argentina. New Zealander Kevin McCarthy is Calling Home this morning from Stanley.

Taxpayers paid thousands of dollars for five New Zealand MPs to go to Tonga and Fiji so what does New Zealand get out of it asks Daniela Maoate-Cox.

Queen Elizabeth is tipped to retire in 18 months so Prince Charles can assume the throne. Meanwhile, the news continues to be all bad for Charles' younger brother, Prince Andrew, in the wake of his disastrous BBC interview.