Afternoons for Tuesday 7 May 2024

 

1:15 Pacific Rally yacht voyage to incorporate science this year

Opua in the Bay Of Islands is currently host to a flotilla of 25 boats.

They're waiting for the right weather conditions before hoisting anchor and setting sail on 2024 Pacific Rally, which is a six month voyage across the ocean.

This year - for the first time ever - the sailors have also been recruited for a huge science experiment.

James Frankham, is co-founder of Citizens Of The Sea - the charity behind the effort - and also the publisher of NZ Geographic.

1:25 Humans need more education as kiwis become more curious

Kiwi birds have been getting some star treatment of late.

Movie star Leonardo diCaprio used his social media platform of 62 million followers - to praise the work of conservationists Capital Kiwi, who have been releasing kiwi into the wilds of Wellington.

Earlier this month, a kiwi was caught on cctv in a suburban Wellington backyard, followed by a big kiwi wandering into a sawmill workshop in Whangarei.

Michelle Impey is Save the Kiwi chief executive, she's hoping to educate people more about the ever curious birds coming into contact with humans to keep the animals safe.

1:35 Sleep concerts, a place where performers want you to nap while they play

Today we hear all about sleep concerts and the art of gong bathing.

It's a concert where the performers actually want you to sleep through their performances.

We speak to  Erika Grant who comes from a classical music background, having played in orchestras before going on to make music for silent films, theatre, and even marching bands.

Erika's in our Wellington studio with her gongs to give us a taste of what the concerts are all about.

1:45 Tech Tuesday with Ben Reid

Ben Reid's a strategic technologist working at the forefront of the rapidly changing tech-scape.

He has a weekly newsletter Memia and also has written a book Fast Forward Aotearoa - it's available digitally but will be out as a hard copy later this month.

We talk to him about AI and what we need to be aware of in Aoteroa.

2:10 Book Critic: Catherine Ross

Today Catherine has the theme for young people books of Verse Novels.

For ages 10+

Worse Things by Sally Murphy

For ages 11/12+

Alias Ann: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood

Starfish by Lisa Fipps

The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling

For Ages 12+

What About Will by Ellen Hopkins

2:20 Update on Oz with Brad Foster

Brad Foster provides an update on the two Australian brothers and their friend killed while on a surfing trip in Mexico, state and federal government initiatives to fight gender based violence against women, and the 19-year-old who reeled in a $1 million fish in the Northern Territory. He also previews next week's Federal Budget and the current high costs of living.

2:30 Mike Chunn's Insight into the Genius of The Beatles' 'Revolver

Get ready to dive deep into music history with a special guest on this week's music feature.

Revolver, the groundbreaking album released in 1966, marked the inception of The Beatles' psychedelic era.

Pioneering techniques like backward sounds, automatic double tracking, and close-miked drums revolutionized the recording industry, setting a new standard.

We dissect this iconic album with Mike Chunn CNZM, founding member of Split Enz, CEO of Play It Strange Trust, and a devoted Beatles aficionado!

3:10 How AI has taken over our decision making

Once you start noticing, you can see it everywhere; the ‘sameness’ of style, music, art and even food.

New Yorker staff writer Kyle Chayka  blames algorithms that direct our attention to what works best for digital platforms. 

You see it in Google searches, Facebook feeds and the ads that follow us online. The end result is that we’ve stopped  deciding what we like for ourselves.

Chayka wants us to better understand how  these forces shape our taste and stop letting a computer generated formula  dictate our experiences and choices.

His new book is called Filterworld How Algorithms Flattened Culture

3:30 Spoken Feature: BBC Witness

Thirty years on from the opening of the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, we look at the moment the two halves of the tunnel were connected in 1990.

Graham Fagg was the man who made the breakthrough, and the first person to cross by land between the two countries in 8,000 years.

In 2010, he told Lucy Williamson about the festivities of that day.

3:45 The pre-Panel