95bFM: The Wire

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Caeden spoke to Shanan Halbert about New Zealand First’s proposed Bathrooms Bill.

For City Counselling Caeden speaks to Shane Henderson about continued flood recovery and new public transport funding in council’s Long Term Plan.

They speak to Dr Lida Ayoubi and Dr Andrew Geddis about the Karen Chhour/Waitangi Tribunal case.

And they speak to Dr Neal Curtis about the origins of the term ‘woke’.

Jasmine speaks with Chief Executive of Hospice New Zealand, Wayne Naylor, about Hospice Awareness Week, which is taking place this week.

For their regular catch-up, host Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about: The recent cross-party inquiry into climate adaptation, The Roads of Regional Significance Project and boosts to our defence budget. 

He also spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah from the University of Auckland about an Open Letter to the UoA foundation calling for the university to divest from companies involved in arms sales and human rights violations.

Producer Rachel spoke to Senior lecturer of Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland, Dr Jude MacArthur, about the funding disparity for neurodivergent and disabled students within New Zealand’s education system.

Last Thursday, parliament agreed on a motion to establish a cross-party inquiry on how Aotearoa can better adapt to more frequent and severe weather events, continuing from an inquiry launched by former Green Party co-Leader James Shaw under the previous labour government. 

For their weekly chat, Oto spoke to Green Party MP Ricardo Menendez March to discuss the party’s thoughts on the launch of the inquiry. 

They also had a chat about the Roads of Regional Significance project, as well as the recent funding boost to the New Zealand Defence Force.

It’s almost been a month since protests began at Columbia University in New York, where students established a Gaza Solidarity encampment to demand that the university divest from companies associated with the State of Israel. 

With similar protests subsequently springing up at campuses across the globe, calling for universities to divest from Israel, the issue of ethical and responsible investment has become widely discussed in academic institutions across the globe. 

In the wake of the international student uprisings, an open letter and petition has been sent to the University of Auckland Foundation to divest from companies that are involved in gross human rights violations and weapons manufacturing. The Letter has been signed by a number of Professors, faculty members and students who are concerned about the University of Auckland’s possible investment ties, and are calling for the University to adopt a more ethical investment framework. 

Oto spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer in Critical Studies in Education and co-author of the letter, to discuss the calls for divestment to the University, as well as the current situation in Rafah, which he had also been researching.

If you'd like to sign the petition to the University of Auckland Foundation, you can find it here:

Iranian hip hop artist Toomaj Salehi has recently been sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic regime on charges of ‘corruption on earth’ for his songs criticising the regime.

He is one of the many Iranian political prisoners who have been sentenced to death for speaking out against the regime.

News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Aida Oryantal, from Voice of Iranians about the ongoing fight for democracy in Iran.

Halal Kiwi, an app that helps people find halal foods and products in New Zealand, has been called anti-Semitic by the ACT Party for creating a pro-Palestine boycott list.

News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Halal Kiwi founder, Mohammed Soliman, about ACT’s claim.

She started off the interview by asking Soliman about the intention behind their initiative to help Halal Kiwi users boycott pro-Israel and pro-Zionist businesses.

On May 9th the New Zealand Nurses organisation held a national day of action 2024, with rallies across the country calling for increased public health funding. While the government has introduced measures to increase the number of nurses in Aotearoa, staffing shortages are still frequent in wards across the country. 

Additionally, there are worries that the recently scrapped Te Aka Whai Ora could impact the already struggling sector, taking focus away from those who need health support most and potentially increasing the workload for frontline health workers. 

In our weekly catchup with the National party, Wire host Castor spoke to Katie Nimon about the government’s approach to public health policy and how the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora could affect the health sector. 

On 9 May the New Zealand Nurses organisation held a national day of action 2024, with rallies across the country calling for increased public health funding.

While the government has introduced measures to increase the number of nurses in Aotearoa, staffing shortages are still frequent in wards across the country. 

Additionally, there are worries that the recently scrapped Te Aka Whai Ora could impact the already struggling sector, taking focus away from those who need health support most and potentially increasing the workload for frontline health workers. 

Wire Host Castor spoke to the president of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Anne Daniels, about nursing shortages and low health funding in Aotearoa from a frontline perspective.

For Dear Science this week, Professor Allan Blackman chatted to us about Beethoven’s deafness, the first ever vaccination, and researchers mapping a small part of the human brain. 

Wire host Castor spoke to the National Party’s Katie Nimon about nursing shortages in light of rallies last week and how the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora could affect the health sector. 

He also spoke to New Zealand Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels about these health issues from a frontline worker perspective. 

Producer Sofia spoke to Public Service Association Assistant Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons about the 325 job cuts to the Accident Compensation Corporation. 

She also spoke to Professor of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education Missy Morton at the University of Auckland about a new report from the Education Hub about how schools and early childhood centres are failing neurodivergent children.