Afternoons for Monday 16 June 2025

 

1:15 Study highlights need to manage the growth of space exploration

If the first thing you do when a rocket is launched into space is wince at the amount of toxic smoke and debris left in its trail, this story is for you. And of course, the number of launches is only increasing - worldwide there were 102 in 2019, compared to 258 in 2024. Luckily a group of researchers at the University of Canterbury are on it. Their study has highlighted the need to manage the growth of space exploration sustainably to protect our planet's wellbeing. This includes looking at different choices of rocket fuel, adjusting launch practices, and more. One of the study's lead authors, Associate Professor Laura Revell joins Jesse.

1.25 Neolithic Food with Max Gordy

Imagine a mid-winter feast 10,000 years in the making. Such an event is happening in Wellington tomorrow night, when Graze Wine Bar hosts a culinary experience that takes its cues from neolithic times. The menu has been reimagined through the contemporary lens that head chef Max Gordy has become known for. Max joins Jesse.

1:43 RNZ's new podcast Witi Underwater 

This week on Afternoons we'll be playing an excerpt from RNZ's new podcast Witi Underwater from award winning podcasters Adam Dudding and Eugene Bingham.  The series follows legendary author Witi Ihimaera, of Whale Rider and Pounamu Pounamu fame... as he embarks on a journey... at age 80.. to learn te reo Māori  The episodes will be released daily at 5am on all podcast platforms and on the RNZ website... rnz.co.nz/witi  

1:45 Feature Album: Weezer Blue

2:10 Television Critic Dominic Corry

TV reviewer Dom Corry joins Jesse to look at some recommendations. Today season six of sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror and the new Scandi-to-Scotland adaptation Department Q, both of which have recently been added to Netflix. 

2:20 Info Center Cold Call: Roxburgh

Jesse rings a random information centre across the motu to find the best things about their region.

2.30 Expert Feature: Architecture with Jessica Halliday

Jessica Halliday is an architectural historian and director of Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making. 
She also launched the Open Christchurch festival, to showcase that cities exceptional architecture. She joins Jesse to talk about architectural and answer listeners questions.

3:10 Feature interview: Helen Lewis - Genius 

Genius is in the eye of the beholder. You can tell what a society values by who it calls a genius says Helen Lewis, acclaimed Atlantic staff writer and podcast host for the BBC. Too often the title has served as a tool to legitimize eccentric and harmful behavior that would otherwise be condemned.  Lewis challenges ideas about creativity and innovation and who gets credit for inventions that might just be inevitable in her book, The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Breakers 

3:35 Here Now

This week, a 4-part conversation, Back to Basics, on here now with Kadambari Raghukumar - features musicians and stories of the musical diet they grew up on, in their home countries. So today, we're off to Brazil - with Leandro Vasquez.

3:45 The pre-Panel

Wallace Chapman and his producer preview tonight's instalment of The Panel.