Ali Jones

Topics - last names are especially important if you want to better yourself in life. We discussed this topic once last year when it emerged that people with elite surnames tend to stay rich through… Audio

Topics - Children's Commissioner Russell Wills says there's no actual plan to combat poverty. He's released his second annual Child Poverty Monitor. The Families Commission is now called the Social… Audio

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Topics - among ideas we have about ourselves is that we are simply voracious readers of books, from Wuthering Heights to Wind In The Willows. Well we may be, but probably not, if you read into the… Audio

Topics - New Zealand's terror threat level isn't being raised, as a result of the shootings at Canada's Parliament. But, there have been swift changes to security at New Zealand's parliament - now… Audio

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Topics - "Coming off caffeine reduces your cognitive performance and has a negative impact on your mood. The only way to get back to normal is to drink caffeine, and when you do drink it, you feel… Audio

topics - the Prime Minister isn't ruling out New Zealand troops being deployed to Iraq or Syria to fight ISIS. John Key says ISIS is more brutal and more sophisticated than the al-Qaeda-linked Taliban… Audio

Topics - Do you bite your nails? "Pathological groomers" - nail biters, skin pickers and hair pullers - are on the rise in number the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, will say… Audio

Topics - Act says shopkeepers should be free to arm themselves. It wants them to be able to keep a weapon on site to defend themselves from increasing violent robberies. The Oscar Pistorius verdict… Audio

Topics - Prospect magazine has run a piece lamenting the way we think now about dragons and mediaevalness in general, thanks to Tolkien. The Labour leader has unsurprisingly backed Fish and Game's… Audio

Topics - A legal fight is in prospect now that Mt Albert Grammar School has given Kevin Fallon the boot from the coaching job he's had for 18 years. 30 local and national titles with him in charge of… Audio

Topics - scientists are wondering how the light gets out. Maybe there is a cosmic crack in everything, because in the Journal Astrophysical Letters it is noted that there is a huge deficit of light in… Audio

Topics - the 21 year-old woman at the centre of the Malaysian diplomat case spoke out last night on TV3's Third Degree programme. She's raised again the issue of whether foreign minister Murray… Audio

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Topics - rats are capable of feeling regret, according to a team at Minnesota University. Whether crime is going down or not, the consensus is that what's not going down are crimes of unruliness. The… Audio

Topics - the idea we discussed yesterday of a Quake Court in Christchurch to expedite claims. Labour says it'll make it happen if it forms a Government. An Auckland couple have been denied… Audio

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Topics - Brazilian students wanting to improve their English are connecting with elderly Americans in care homes on-line. The Speaking Exchange is bringing the two togther through a free video chat… Audio

Topics - there seems to be a political poll every five minutes and what seems to be becoming an actual trend, is National remaining high no matter what. The Stuff  political poll today shows… Audio