Saturday Morning for Saturday 26 July 2025

07:07 Economic recovery: a tale of two islands

A new report out this morning from Kiwibank shows a widening gap between the North and South Islands.

The Annual Regional Note shows across the board economic activity has improved but it is fragile, and uneven.

Southland and Otago have done best, driven by a building boom and higher tourism numbers.

But Northland, Taranaki and Gisborne have seen their scores get worse.

Kiwibank's Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr talks to Susie Ferguson about what this means for the country as a whole.

07:16 Update on the Middle East     

This week more than 100 international aid organisations have warned of mass starvation in Gaza.

Médecins Sans Frontières says one-in-four children and pregnant women in their Gaza City facilities are malnourished and cases are increasing every day.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France will recognise Palestine as a state, amid snowballing global anger over people starving.

Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies in to Gaza, says there is no siege and blames Hamas for any cases of malnutrition.

New Zealand also joined 24 other countries in issuing a joint statement saying the war "must end now".

The BBC's Middle East editor Sebastian Usher has the latest.

07:24 Latest from the U.S

A senior justice department official in the US has met with Jeffrey Esptein's long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

She's in prison for sex-trafficking for the disgraced financier. 

It came as reports emerged this week that US President Donald Trump's name appears in the Epstein Files. 

Our Washington correspondent Jagruti Dave talks to Susie about the furore it's caused in the US.   

07:36 Former Black Fern Cheryl Waaka on facing cancer 

This week a group of healthworkers - including specialists, nurses and paramedics signed an open letter to MPs asking them to waive private healthcare during their time in office.

It's an idea, that Mihingarangi Forbes put to former Black Fern Cheryl Waaka - who helped bring home two world cups.

At just 55, Cheryl is facing a stage four bowel cancer diagnosis. 

She's too young to have been screened, and the drug she needs is not funded - she's got to find thirty thousand dollars by August.

07:43    Dolphins: whistlers of the ocean 

AI has been revolutionising the fields of medicine and science, but now, it's also helping to decode animal communication.

A team of scientists studying a community of dolphins in Florida, was recently awarded the first Coller-Dolittle-Challenge for their research in interspecies communication - which came with a one hundred thousand dollar prize.

The team's led by Dr. Laela Sayigh, a senior research specialist at America's Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Laela explains to Mihi what they have learned so far about the dolphin's ability to communicate.

07:51 Changes to our voting laws    

The Government has proposed an overhaul of New Zealand's electoral laws.

It wants to ditch same-day enrolments and for everyone who votes to be registered 13 days ahead of the ballot day.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says is aimed at reducing the administrative burden on the Electoral Commission.

Kassie Hartendorp is with Action Station which campaigns for honouring te Tiriti, Climate Justice and Whānau Wellbeing.

Kassie speaks to Susie about what she thinks needs to be done to improve voter engagement.    

08:11 Designing with nature in mind

Award-winning architect Amanda Sturgeon doesn't just design buildings, but rather sustainable spaces that connect people with nature.

As the CEO of the Biomimicry Institute she leads global regenerative design with the aim of contributing to the reversal of climate change and biodiversity loss.

In an era where employee well being is a top priority Amanda talks to Mihi Forbes about the shift towards nature-inspired work environments helping improve employee mental health, productivity and overall job satisfaction.

08:35 Niall Williams: Four Letters of Love

After decades of writing novels, internationally bestselling writer Niall Williams has turned his hand to the screen, adapting his first novel into a star-studded movie.

He's adapted his first book from 1997 - Four Letters of Love, a feel good tale about vocation, fate, love and destiny. Set in the west of Ireland, its stars include Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne. 

Born in Dublin, Niall was long-listed for the Booker Prize in 2014 for History of the Rain and his most recent book Time of the Child won Irish Novel of the year. But Four Letters of Love remains his biggest seller.

Niall explains to Susie why he adapted his first novel  27 years after he wrote it.

9.11 The power of ditching the diet: Casey Johnston

A mash-up of memoir, science writing and cultural critique, Casey Johnson's new book is a take-down of diet culture.

A Physical Education - How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting explores the science of rebuilding mental, emotional, and physical strength. 

It's the story of a woman finding joy in a body that, for so long, she considered her enemy, as she was trying to "get healthy" but was actually making her body weaker. 

Casey Johnston took a deep breath and stepped into Brooklyn's grungiest gym having stumbled on a viral blog post about one woman's experience lifting heavy weights - no dieting, no cardio, no weight loss, and no shame or guilt. 

She was on a radical mission to understand the process of rupture, rest, and repair - not just within her cells and muscles, but also within her spirit. 

Casey is also the creator of the She's A Beast newsletter.

09:33 Forget the spade: why you should try no-dig gardening

What's going on in our soggy backyards this time of the year? If you haven't been out there lately, don't stress, our resident gardener Hannah Zwartz reckons it is the perfect time to step back and assess the bones or the structure of our gardens before spring kicks in.

Hannah talks to Mihi about soil-biology and why she's been converted to no-dig gardening.

09:46 Giving autistic jobseekers a chance

Stats across Australia and New Zealand reveal that autistic people are being left behind in the workplace - either not being used to their full capacity or simply struggling to be hired at all.

Dr Dana Ott is a Senior Management Lecturer from the University of Otago and is on a mission to help autistic employees not just survive, but flourish.

She's developed a new guide resource for Australia, that she hopes to replicate here in New Zealand, called the Autism Employment Playbook which acts as a guide for disability employment services.

Dana talks to Susie about the positive traits that autistic individuals bring to the workplace.

10.06 More diversity, better ideas: Dame Athene Donald

In her book Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science, leading British physicist Professor Dame Athene Donald explores how diversity is crucial to solving the problems of today. 

Sharing her own experiences and those of other top scientists who are women, she highlights the factors that drive women to give up on a career in science. From societal expectations, prejudice, and hostility, to unconscious and systemic bias. 

Athene is Professor Emerita in Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge. She has spent her career in Cambridge, specializing in soft matter physics and physics at the interface with biology. She was the University of Cambridge's first Gender Equality Champion and has been involved in numerous initiatives concerning women in science. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999 and appointed DBE for services to Physics in 2010. 

10.38 Moss Patterson - Home, Land & Sea 

Where we come from, who we are now, and who we are becoming as a nation are pretty deep questions. They're being asked in a never before seen collaboration between the Royal New Zealand Ballet and The New Zealand Dance Company, in a production called Home, Land & Sea, combining 6 dancers from each company. 

The work is a poetic response to Aotearoa's complex history, our evolving national identity, and draws on the elemental relationship between land and sea - to explore the tensions, grief, and beauty that lie at the heart of our shared story.

Home, Land & Sea  is on until August 9th touring from St James' in Wellington to Auckland and then Christchurch.  

Māori choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson (Ngāti Tūwharetoa)  is the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of The New Zealand Dance Company.

11:06 Hi Viz Manaaki: The story of our Māori Wardens

Māori Wardens have a long and proud history in Aotearoa providing advice, support and aroha to the communities they don't just serve - but help to build.

Documented in a new podcast - Hi Viz Manaaki: Māori Wardens - hosted by Murdoch Ngahau and Dr Amber Hammill, their story is a particularly personal one for Murdoch.

A chance meeting with Kirikiriroa Māori Warden, Joyce Williams as an 11-year-old, changed his life. 

Murdoch and Amber who also co-wrote and produced the series, talk to Mihi about how a chat at a community radio station became a six-part series.  

Download and follow Hi Viz Manaaki hosted by Murdoch Ngahau and Dr Amber Hammill for free or wherever you get good podcasts.

11:28 Booktowns saving towns: Peter Biggs

Arts and culture can help revitalise a once prosperous town - Featherston, Aotearoa's only Booktown and one of 23 worldwide, is the living proof. 

The Featherston Booktown Karuakatea Festival started a decade ago and takes place every year in Wairarapa over the second weekend in May, with lots of events and scores of authors.

The founder and chair of Featherston Booktown, Peter Biggs, has just been elected President of the International Association of Booktowns.

11:50 Waste not, want not in the kitchen

After 20 years in the cooking business, working in Michelin star restaurants, brushing shoulders with the rich and famous, and jet-setting around the world as a private chef, Adele Holland is now following her real passion - teaching others how to make easy, delicious, and cheap food - with a focus on reducing food waste. 

Now residing in Wanaka, Adele is known online as Dishes with Del and for her regular video series Savvy Suppers -where she spends no more than fifty dollars at a supermarket and uses the ingredients to create three dinners for two to three people, with plenty of leftovers for lunch.  

Adele talks to Susie about turning scraps into snacks, reducing food waste in the kitchen and shares tips on making delicious fuss-free kai.

 

Music played in this show

8.39 - 'Killeagh' by Kingfishr

9.09 - 'Stormy Weather' by Cleo Laine

10.35 - 'Lady Lady' by Olivia Dean

10.58 - 'Feels So Good' by Chuck Mangione