Comedian Chris Parker's new live show proved successful at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, and he's ready to unleash it on the Kiwis.

Parker's touring Stop Being So Dramatic around the country and he's promised the show is his most personal yet.

He says he's expected a more reserved reception from Kiwi audiences - but he knows how to work with that.

"We still have this weird mentality sometimes, we're just like 'Oh, we're just little old Kiwis, no one knows about us and we're just a team of five million at the bottom of the world'...but our sensibility, what we can laugh at is just as advanced and as complicated and robust as any international audience."

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In a previous life, crime writer AA Dhand dealt with a lot, including overdoses, violence, and abuse, to name a few. 

Amit worked on the frontline of the NHS crisis, running his 100 hour pharmacy in Bradford - surrounded by drugs, drug dealers and giving him insight into the lives of addicts and the dealers preying on the vulnerable. 

He turned these experiences into a crime thriller, The Chemist.

"I kind of wrote it as Dexter meets Breaking Bad. The idea came to me when I was at my pharmacy and I'd seen a very unfortunate drug deal go wrong and somebody had died outside my pharmacy...the whole area was on lockdown with police and helicopters."

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A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan: In 1987, 10 year old Alix and her family are at the beach for the great New Zealand summer, but everything feels a little off - her teenage sister’s desperate to run with the in-crowd, her mother’s wildly distracted and her father is adrift. Alix befriends another holidaymaker, and they hunt for signs of a girl who went missing years ago, while a creepy neighbour watches everything they do. This hums with foreboding against the sun and sea. It’s magnetic. 

A Dim Prognosis by Ivor Popovich - The author has been a doctor in New Zealand hospitals for the last ten years and describes a system which is itself on life support. It’s not just about the under funding and the bureaucracy of our health care, but he also covers the very toxic atmosphere that a lot of the young doctors work in, with senior doctors protecting their patch and demeaning or humiliating the newcomers; and the disparities between public and private healthcare and how so many of these senior doctors do extremely well from working across both, while patients and other health care workers suffer. It’s required reading for anyone with an interest in our hospitals and how they work - and how they don’t. 

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One of ZB's resident travel experts, Megan Singleton, has been taking in the sights of the US - and this week, she's opening up about her experience with Dollywood.

Dollywood ppened in 1986 in Pigeon Forge on the site of former attractions dating back to the 1960s, and it's a must see for fans of Dolly Parton, or even fans of the old west.

Megan Singleton detailed her experience - and revealed why she also recommends taking in the Smoky Mountains.

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This week on the Sunday Panel, broadcaster and journalist, Wilhelmina Shrimpton, and resident economist at Opes Partners, Ed McKnight, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! 

Peter Burling will join Italian syndicate Luna Rossa for the 38th edition of the America's Cup in an undefined role. What do we make of this? Should we be worried? 

A new study out of MIT has revealed that increased use of ChatGPT could be linked to declining cognitive performance. Are we surprised by this?

One UK farm is charging $213 for people to cuddle a cow in a bid to boost revenue. Would you pay to cuddle a cow?

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On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 22 June 2025, comedian Chris Parker on embracing being dramatic and the new edition to his family.

Pharmacist turned author AA Dhand opens up about using his experience with drugs, drug dealers and addicts as the premise for his new novel The Chemist.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon heads from China to the NATO Summit and International Relations Professor Robert Patman discusses Luxon's progress.

Francesca talks the legacy of 'Jaws' as it turns 50.

And - want to improve your manus? Dr Michelle Dickinson has the latest science on getting the biggest splash.

Get the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast every Sunday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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June marks Men's Health Awareness Month - leaving plenty of room to discuss how things can be improved.

Research shows men face significant health challenges and often experience poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancies compared to women.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara unpacked the contributing factors and health conditions behind these stats - and revealed how things could be fixed.

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Cook time: 5 minutes 

Prep time: 5 minutes 

Serves: 4 

12 brussels sprouts, stalks removed  

4 rashers of streaky bacon, roughly chopped  

1 cup finely grated parmesan  

1 tbsp sunflower oil  

Flaky salt and cracked pepper 

Pre-heat a oven to 180*c  

Cut stalks off brussels sprouts and cut each brussel into 1/2.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and blanch them for 1 minute and refresh in iced water to halt cooking.  

Heat the sunflower oil in a pan and sauté bacon for 3-4 minutes. Add sprouts in the last 30 seconds, season and transfer to a roasting tray. Sprinkle over the parmesan and bake for 25 minutes.  

Serve straight from the oven. 

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Most of the studies that have looked at how humans and animals dive into water have focused on understanding the small splash created by their water entry - think Olympic divers and hunting birds. 

New research published in the journal Interface Focus has not only done the opposite, by studying how to make the biggest splash, but has done so thanks to a fun New Zealand pastime. 

Manu jumping, a sport originated by Māori, involves leaping from bridges, wharves and diving platforms to make giant splashes. 

Each year, this is taken very seriously at the Z Manu World Champs, where the current record is a splash of more than 10m high!

An American fluid dynamitist came across a video of manu jumping on social media and ended up analysing over 50 YouTube videos of Kiwis partaking in the sport to try to understand the science behind creating the largest splash. 

Needing more data than 50 videos, he then built what he called Manubots, which were 3D printed splash-making robots. Each Manubot had a different jumper shape and were dropped into water tanks at different test angles and movements. 

The research found that the best body position for a huge splash is a 45 degree V shape when entering the water. This shape creates a perfect underwater cavity that dramatically collapses and sends water flying - which in physics is a phenomenon known as a Worthington jet. 

The angle of entry is important, but just as important is what the body does after hitting the water. Manu experts are known to do an underwater backbend and leg kick, and this motion was found to keep the air cavity open for longer before it collapses, leading to a bigger splash. 

The V shaped, kicking Manubot confirmed that the perfect splash happens when you open your body just after hitting the water. 

So, if you want to try out for the next manu champs, remember to: 

1 – aim for a 45 degree V-shape when hitting the water 

2 – Jump from the highest height possible that is still safe. 

3 – Time your underwater move so that you open your body immediately after entry. 

While this research might sound ridiculous, the study of how bodies interact with water at high speed is useful in naval design, biomechanics and even injury prevention for divers and athletes.

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Back in 2002, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland released  post-apocalyptic horror thriller 28 Days Later - which proved to be a monster hit.

The 2007 follow-up, 28 Weeks Later, wasn't as successful, but the duo came back together to release another sequel. 

Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall reveals whether 28 Years Later lives up to the hype.

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