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Nights for Wednesday 14 May 2025

SAVE THE DATE: Nights with Emile Donovan LIVE at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium

Podcast cover with a purple background. At the top, it reads 'Kelly Tarlton’s Final Treasure Hunt' in bold white capital letters. At the bottom is an illustrated red diving mask with directional arrows on the lenses. An RNZ logo appears in the bottom left corner.

Photo: Robert Whitaker

On Thursday May 22, Nights is broadcasting live from Kelly Tarlton's in Auckland, and we'd love for our Nights listeners to come join us.

For more information and to register your interest, click here.

8:15 Pacific Waves

A daily current affairs programme that delves deeper into the major stories of the week, through a Pacific lens, and shines a light on issues affecting Pacific people wherever they are in the world. Hosted by Susana Suisuiki.

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8:30 The restorative powers of winter ocean swimming

It is getting colder but the cold does not dissuade people who swear by the restorative powers of open ocean swimming. 

And hey, it might just work for you.

Simon Olliver is the president of the Canterbury Open Water Swimming Association, he's been an open water swimmer for thirty years

He's swum the Cook Strait and the Foveaux Strait -- casually, as you do -- and practised his fair share of ice swimming.

Two swimmers dive into cold lake water, with a kayaker keeping waych from a distance. Mountains at the back of the lake are capped with snow.

Two brave swimmers from the Canterbury Open Water Swimming Association taking a dip at the Lake Lyndon Ice Swimming Championships in July 2024. Photo: Canterbury Open Water Swimming Association

8:45 The Reading: Someone's Wife

Part 7 of our book reading from Someone's Wife, written and read by Linda Burgess 

Life, as they say, throws a gigantic curve ball at Linda and Robert who are far from home in Lyon, France

9:07 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Emile Donovan as he dons his quizmaster hat.

If you get an answer right, you move on to the next question. If you get it wrong, your time in the chair is up, and the next caller will be put through. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the run goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

9:30 Midweek Mediawatch with Colin Peacock

Colin Peacock is in the studio and is chatting about the latest stories from the media world, including the end of the bitter boardroom dispute at NZME, the use of the c word in a Sunday Star Times opinion piece, and the social media ban campaign gets a boost.

10:17 Why is a raven like a writing desk? Why is a librarian like a fisheries officer?

New Zealand's pay equity claim system has been cancelled -- and all thirty-three claims will be started again from scratch.

The goal of pay equity legislation was to give deals to workforces that have been historically undervalued because the workforce is majority women -- and this involved making comparisons between different jobs, like a librarian and a fisheries officer.

Fiona McMillan is a partner at law firm Lane Neave - and until last week, she was working on pay equity claims like this.

10:30 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

It is the biggest night in New Zealand literature -- the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

We will be crossing live to the winner of the General Non-fiction category.

10:45 Buses on demand here to stay in Timaru

A bus service with a difference has been breaking records for patronage down in Timaru and it's now set to become a permanent feature of the city's transport system.

MyWay by Metro the city's on demand public transport service, which was introduced as a trial back in 2020.

It's been so successful its now here to say after recording more than 267,000 passenger trips in the last financial year.

Emile speaks with ECan councillor Joe Davies.

Timaru’s on-demand public transport system, MyWay by Metro, has recorded the highest level of patronage in the city for almost a quarter of a century. Photo: Environment Canterbury

11:07 Pocket Edition

This week on Pocket Edition, Maggie Tweedie interviews experimental Oakland husband and wife musical duo Tune Yards and Persian-New Zealand artist and producer, CHAII talks through her award-nominated debut album 'Safar'.