Nights for Wednesday 7 May 2025

8.10 The House

Tonight on our Parliament show - The House - Phil Smith looks at pretty much the only thing Parliament has been up to so far this week - a bill to walk back pay equity legislation.

8:15 Pacific Waves

A daily current affairs programme that delves deeper into the major stories of the week, through a Pacific lens, and shines a light on issues affecting Pacific people wherever they are in the world. Hosted by Susana Suisuiki.

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8:30 Why are more and more adult children living with their parents?

'Bamboccioni' is Italian, meaning 'big babies'.

It refers to adult children who are still living at home and won't leave.

While we may not be ready to coin a similar phrase here in New Zealand, we are seeing some emerging trends, with adult children not only leaving the nest later but returning as the cost of living and housing shortage hits home. 

The number of households with adult children has grown by more than 100,000 since 2004.

Dr Liz Allen is a demographer from Australian National University in Canberra and she speaks to Emile Donovan.

8:45 The Reading: Someone's Wife

Teaching and learning are the themes explored in the reading today, as Linda Burgess reflects on her time as a trainee teacher.

Part three of Someone's Wife.

9:07 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Emile Donovan as he dons his quizmaster hat.

If you get an answer right, you move on to the next question. If you get it wrong, your time in the chair is up, and the next caller will be put through. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the run goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

9:25 Sea snakes washing up more and more on NZ shores

We welcome back a friend of Nights, Professor Bryan Fry, aka Venom Doc because of his passion for studying venomous creatures.

Bryan, from the University of Queensland, lives in the perfect country to study all things poisonous, but here in New Zealand, when a sea snake washes up on our shores, it is big news.

He speaks to Emile Donovan about the rising incidence of sea snakes.

9:35 Midweek Mediawatch

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about what's been happening the media landscape this week.

10:17 Why the world's attention is on Kashmir

There are growing fears of all out war after India launched airstrikes on targets inside both Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Pakistan itself, reportedly killing at least eight civilians.

The strikes come two weeks after a Kashmiri rebel group killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, sharply escalating tensions between the two nuclear armed neighbours.

Since their partition in 1947 the two countries have fought several wars and countless skirmishes over the disputed region of Kashmir making it one of the most volatile flashpoints in the world.

To help us understand what's going on both inside the two countries we’re joined by Dr Chris Ogden, Associate Professor and Director of Global Studies at the University of Auckland.

10:30 A love letter to the kitsch electronic sounds of the 80s and 90s

Emerging in the early 2010s on the internet, vaporwave originated with a cohort of millennial artists who reimagined the musical soundtracks of 1980s-1990s consumerism with an adroit mixture of irony and sincerity. 

Music curator at the Alexander Turnbull Library Michael Brown undertakes a thorough study in his new book Eyeliner's Buy Now. 

He joins Emile Donovan for a sonic journey through a page-turner.

11:07 Pocket Edition

This week on Pocket Edition, Maggie Tweedie speaks to Samoan country musician The Western Guide about bending genres and finding his place in the mainstream. Jen Cloher returns to Aotearoa to connect with their whakapapa Māori and share songs from Melbourne's underground.