Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Castor Chacko, Alex Fox, Emmanuel Orange, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
Chris Hall, an Associate Professor at the department of molecular medicine and pathology at the University of Auckland, has led a study that looked into the impact that daylight has on our immune system.
The research identifies that many people could be experiencing what is scientifically described as “social jet lag”. The term describes the misalignment between our internal body clock, or circadian rhythm, and our social schedule.
Chris Hall led the study to look into how important our circadian rhythm is to our immune system, and how regular exposure to daylight can support a healthy immune system as well.
To talk about this, Producer Max spoke to Chris Hall.
For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto speak to him about the recent Budget 2025 announcement, specifically related to the: Environment, Māori outcomes and housing.
He spoke to Rodger Tiedemann, a hematologist at Auckland City Hospital and Associate Professor of Cancer Research at the University of Auckland, about the lack of additional funding for blood cancer treatments in Budget 2025.
And he spoke to Professor Patria Hume a Professor Human Performance AUT about the recent death of a 19-year old from Palmerston North taking part in a runit-styled tackle game.
Max spoke to Dan Hikuroa, an associate professor at Waipapa Taumata Ra University of Auckland, about the current water crisis that New Zealand could be facing.
And he spoke to Chris Hall, an associate professor at the department of molecular medicine and pathology at the University of Auckland about how daylight can boost our immunity.
A 19-year old from Palmerston North recently died after suffering a head injury while playing a private "run it straight-style" tackle game.
“Run it Straight” has been introduced as a new combat sport, involving a runner and a tackler running full speed at each other to mirror physical collisions seen in rugby league matches.
The sport was gaining prominence in Australia, with contestants winning cash prizes of up to $20,000 Australian dollars in cash, before making it’s way to Aotearoa quite recently, although West Auckland’s Trusts Arena recently cancelled one of their championships following the death of the teenager.
Oto spoke to Professor Patria Hume, a Professor in Human Performance at AUT, about run it tackle games and the inevitably of serious injuries or deaths during these high-collision games.
For Dear Science this week, our expert, Doctor Cushla McGoverin, chatted with us about night vision contact lenses, giant sloths, and how to best break down biofilms.
In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about Kiwisaver and the Jobseeker benefit in light of the Budget announcements last week.
Producer Faith spoke to the University of Auckland’s Dr. Brian Don about the links between economic hardship and wellbeing.
She also spoke to Dr. Joel Rindelaub about microplastics, and how they’re more common than we think.
Many studies show that mental health affects physical health, and vice versa.. But during a recession and cost of living crisis... what are the negative effects of financial insecurity- or one’s perception of their financial status, and comparing it to others? A recent study highlighted these correlations.
Producer Faith spoke to Dr. Brian Don from the University of Auckland about this study, and what is says about modern society.
In the 21st century, microplastics are in almost everything. They’re detrimental to both the environment, and those who consume them... But are we really aware of how easy they are to inhale?
Producer Faith spoke to the University of Auckland’s Dr Joel Rindelaub about a recent study showing how inhalable microplastics are actually more common indoors, rather than outdoors.
For our weekly catchup with Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to her about Budget 2025 and its impacts on Māori initiatives, and the deferral of the debate into the suspension of Te Pāti Māori MPs.
For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, Joel speaks to him also about Budget 2025, specifically around spending on education and how the Budget will impact young people.
They speak to Brian Roper — an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Otago, about the 2025 Budget, and how much of an impact this Budget will have for the National Party’s chances of a re-election.
And they speak to the Co-Founder and General Manager of KickBack, Aaron Hendry, about his concerns with Budget 2025 in addressing the youth homelessness crisis.
With the announcement of how the government is planning to spend money over the next year comes the question of how this will impact the National Party’s chances of being re-elected into power in next year’s General Election.
When presenting her work to Parliament, Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, said that “every Kiwi knows this government has their back”.
However, elements of the Budget have been criticised by opposition parties and various activist groups, with opposition leader, Chris Hipkins, calling funding decisions in the Budget “strange and unnecessary”.
The Budget can play a major role in whether a government will be re-elected or not.
Labour’s 1958 Budget, for example, which has since become known as the ‘Black Budget,’ resulted in Finance Minister at the time, Arnold Nordmeyer, imposing additional taxes on cars, alcohol, and tobacco, in an attempt to limit the need for international goods during the payments crisis in late 1957. This caused political tensions, and as a result, Labour lost the 1960 general election after one term.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Brian Roper — an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Otago, about how Budget 2025 will impact National’s chances to be re-elected, and his opinion on what party, or parties, will make up the next government.
Concerns have been raised about how little youth homelessness has been addressed in Budget 2025, as well as how funding is being allocated, that will impact vulnerable rangatahi and tamariki.
Boot camps have received a $33 million boost over four years to create more camps, $1 billion has been stripped from emergency accommodations, and 18 and 19 year olds are set to have their Jobseeker and emergency benefits tested against their parents.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Aaron Hendry - the co-founder and general manager at Kickback; an organisation aimed at tackling youth homelessness, about Budget 2025, and how youth homelessness should have been addressed in the Budget.
Today is Budget Day, the day the government releases their spending plans for the next year.
The embargo on the budget lifts at 2pm, however, there have already been several pre-budget spending announcements.
Earlier this week, the debate on the Privileges Committee report into the Treaty Principles Bill haka, led by Te Paati Māori, was deferred.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns that because the debate has been deferred, the Te Paati Māori co-leaders may not be back in time to vote on the budget.
For our weekly catch-up with Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni, Wire Host Caeden asked about all of these topics.
The Government is heading into Budget week with plans to cut the core public service, and RNZ reports public servants' fears that their jobs are once again on the line. At the same time, questions have been raised over MFAT being spared from cuts, and the Government has unveiled major changes to secondary education through its proposed NCEA replacement.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about public service cuts, Budget priorities, and what the education overhaul could mean for students and teachers.
Crypto investment schemes are spreading across the Pacific, often through trusted family, church, and community networks. While they are promoted as offering financial freedom and fast returns, regulators have warned that some schemes carry serious risks and limited protections for investors.
Producer Pranuja spoke with Associate Dean Pacific Sione Taufa about how trust can be exploited in Pacific communities, why endorsement matters, and what people should know before investing.
A survey of Automobile Association members' views on time-of-use charging has been presented to the Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Delivery Committee.
The survey found that members were open to congestion charging if it worked, even if they thought it was unfair.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins gave a ‘State of Auckland’ speech last week, focusing on the need for cross-party collaboration on infrastructure projects.
Wire Host Caeden spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about both of these topics.
This week has seen discussions on New Zealand Firsts announcement that if they win the election they plan to buy BNZ and nationalise it into kiwibank, a plan some estimate to cost $30,000,000,000 and has been completely ruled out by their coalition partner in the National Party. Despite this, it’s sparked conversations around how we should be engaging with our banking sector, the vast majority of it dominated by Australian owned banks.
And critics fear that National party changes to the accommodation supplement is going to hit poor working families at a time they’re already doing it rough, nullifying other support that they are offering the rest of the country more broadly, repeating a pattern of policies that hurt poorer communities worse than the rich.
So for our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, Host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March on what impact he thinks will come from restrictions to the accommodation supplement, particularly for the poor, they then discussed New Zealand Firsts policy to buy BNZ bank, and whether minor parties tend to over promise if they are constrained by the major parties who they will inevitably have to work with if they make into parliament.
Since 1986, the Ministry for the Environment has been the central policy advising entity in New Zealand for environmental issues. The government has recently proposed the Environment Amendment Bill, which seeks to disestablish the Ministry for the Environment, which would be amalgamated into a larger Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport.
For Green World this week, Wire producer Liam spoke with Professor Nicolas Lewis, of the University of Auckland’s School of Environment, about these proposed changes, how they fit in with the government's current priorities around the environment, and the impact this may have on New Zealand in the short-term and long-term.
Last week, National MP Catherine Wedd’s members bill for an Under-16s social media ban was paused. Instead, Education Minister Erica Stanford has pledged to, before this years election, bring a wider and more robust proposal for a ban in a larger bill.
Last week also saw Prime Minister Christopher Luxon make comments about the National Party’s stance on immigration, amidst criticised changes to compliance officer powers, and previous spats and comments over immigration policy between government coalition partners.
And with the budget expected next week, promises have begun to be made by the government for where funding can be expected, particularly within education.
Host Alex spoke with National MP Ryan Hamilton about these topics, starting with the Social Media ban.
Recent weeks have seen the government adopting a series of policies targeted at immigration. Some of these policies are set to be introduced immediately, while others are proposals for the upcoming election. What all of these policies have in common is that they aim to respond to an idea that there is a subset of immigrants who are making society in New Zealand worse.
This is a narrative that we’ve seen dominate conversations about immigration overseas, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. It often leads to gross displays of racism, with mass riots and crackdowns on people who have done nothing wrong. With these recent policies and media attention towards the anti-immigrant rhetoric in Aotearoa this month, concerns have been raised over whether those overseas developments could be seen here.
For this week’s catchup with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News Director Castor planned to ask about both immigration and the move-on orders for rough sleepers, though we ran out of time to discuss both. They began by asking Simon about the government’s recent stance on immigration.
The Government has confirmed plans to disestablish the Broadcasting Standards Authority and move toward a self-regulation model for media complaints, raising questions about accountability, misinformation, and audience protection.
It has also been confirmed that the Fees Free tertiary scheme will be scrapped in the upcoming Budget, while the new citizenship test has sparked debate over whether it strengthens civic knowledge or creates another barrier for migrants.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about these topics.
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