Summer Times for Thursday 23 January 2025

9:10 Sol3 Mio singer debuts at 'the Olympics of opera'

Tenor Pene Pati, from beloved trio Sol3 Mio, has just achieved one of the biggest milestones in the opera world.

This month, he made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera playing the lead role of the lecherous Duke in Verdi's libretto Rigoletto.

He joins Anna Thomas from New York.

9:20 Biz buzz with Nona Pelletier

RNZ business reporter Nona Pelletier joins Anna to share some happenings from the business world.

9:30 Floating the key to water safety

How long could you float in water if you had to?

An Auckland University study suggests it may be a shorter length of time than you think, if at all.

For that reason, water safety group Drowning Prevention Auckland is encouraging anyone getting out on the water to practice their key survival steps: float, breathe, signal and survive.

Chief executive Nicole Keen-Biggelaar joins Anna Thomas to explain.

9:45 Bringing big things to the City of Sails

Annie Dundas is the Director Destination at Tataki Auckland Unlimited, responsible for drawing some of the biggest and most exciting events to New Zealand's biggest city.

She joins Anna Thomas with a preview of the year in events.

9:55 Geo Jumble

Tune in to see if you can untangle three African country names from three given words. Text 2101 with the correct answers.

ingratitude - impala - unreimbursed

10:08 Road Trip: Dr Marc Shaw

Step into Marc Shaw's office and you'll be immediately transported to far-flung places: fascinating items like masks, flags, and photos of him in remote and exotic places rubbing shoulders with locals.

Marc is a professor at the College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences at James Cook University in Australia, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and received the inaugural award for travel medicine from the Australian College Tropical Medicine. 

He is the Medical Director of the Worldwise Travellers Health Centres of New Zealand.  

He's travelled to over 100 countries, but is currently home and joins Anna Thomas in the Auckland studio for a road trip: picking the tunes and setting a course for the wild West Coast.

11:10 Museum stop: New Zealand Police Museum

Today for our museum stop we're pulling into Porirua, where a facility initially created as a teaching resource to assist detectives is now wide open for the public.

With over 20,000 visitors a year, the New Zealand Police Museum contains evidence from some of New Zealand's most infamous crimes - and while the adults are busy with that, the kids can try on police uniforms and take a seat on a police motorcycle.

Museum director Rowan Carroll joins Anna Thomas.

11:20 Chris Blaze: The Fire Ninja 

The Auckland International Buskers Festival is on for three full days this Auckland anniversary weekend, bringing dozens of world-class, jaw-dropping acts to the streets.

Among the lineup is the aptly named Chris Blaze, an Australian fire artist also known as The Fire Ninja.

His show has been described as the planet's greatest ninja-style fire act, with nine international awards up his sleeve.

He joins Anna Thomas in the studio.

11:25 Duck Island ice cream celebrates its 10th birthday

We love our ice cream in New Zealand - in fact, we eat more of it per capita than any other country, at an average of 28 litres per year.

And a decade ago, a new name arrived on the scene to elevate our love to the next level.

Duck Island is entering its tenth year of businesses, known for its creative flavours which taste freakishly like the things they're replicating.

Founders Morgan Glass and Kim Higginson join Anna Thomas from the Hamilton studio.

11:40 Ian Martyn: Medals Reunited

Many of us may have a set of medals that our fathers or grandfathers acquired during a theatre of war.. 

But there are thousands which have been traded, whose origins are not known.  Or medals that have been found or turned up in a discarded drawer, with no idea of the history behind them.

My next guest made it his mission to solve the mysteries.

Ian Martyn founded Medals Reunited 15 years ago. He not only traces their history, and discovers some of the incredible stories behind them, but reunites them with their families.

11:55 Geo Jumble answers

Did you get the right answers? Tune in for the unscrambled African country names.

ingratitude - Nigeria

impala - Mali

unreimbursed - Burundi