Afternoons for Monday 16 December 2024

1:15 An app to see all of Timaru's lights

Heading out on a tour of Christmas light displays in Timaru has just become a lot easier - with the launch of an app.

Rohan Weston's designed the app - which he's called Glow Timaru.

1.25 New Zealand chugs through data

New Zealand households are using more data than ever before - in fact we're in the top 20 countries in the world for fibre uptake

Joining Jesse to talk about our thirst for data is Kurt Rogers - Chorus' Network Strategy manager.

1.35 Softball takes off in Marlborough

The summer sports season is well underway - cricket, soccer, touch... but in Marlborough, it's softball that's all the rage. 

In just two years the Marlborough Softball Association has grown from four junior teams to 20, meaning the region now has almost 30 teams in total. 

We wanted to know what was in the water, so Jesse talks to Marlborough Softball Association president Lawrence Allen.

1:45 Great album: Diamond Life by Sade

2:10 Television Critic: The Franchise, Secret Level, and Bookie

Dominic Corry reviews three brand new TV shows.

2:20 Information Center Cold Call

It's the last cold call of 2024. Who will Jesse get to talk to this time? 

2.30 Expert Feature: Cybersecurity

There's been a significant increase in online scam activity over the past year with nine out of ten Kiwis targeted by an online scam

While recent research shows that Kiwis are getting better at identifying suspicious activity, experts caution that we must remain vigilant.

Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, and the evolving nature of online fraud means that even the most tech-savvy individuals can fall victim...

Jesse is joined by Adam Boileau who is the Technology Editor at Risky Business he'll be asking all your online security questions.

3:10 Feature interview: how Taylor Swift remade pop music

2024 marks the end of another era for Taylor Swift, a $2 billion dollar era from the highest grossing concert tour of all time.   Rolling Stone journalist Rob Sheffield  calls the ambitious tour a foolhardy act of imagination that has utterly changed the music world. He's been following Taylor Swift's career through the eras and puts her talent right up there with The Beatles and Bob Dylan. His new book looks at how she transformed music; how we make it, hear it and experience it.  It's called   Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music.

3:35 Here Now

This week on Here Now, Kadambari Raghukumar talks to activists from different diaspora groups about what 2024 has been like for them, as conflict in Sudan and Palestine have raged on for over a year now. 

3:45 The pre-Panel

Wallace Chapman and producer Tom Riste-Smith join Jesse to preview tonight's episode of The Panel.