Afternoons for Thursday 25 May 2023

1:15 'School hours' shifts boost Sealord's workforce

Juggling work and childcare is an ongoing challenge for many parents, often meaning that many simply give up trying to work as well as paying for care outside of the school day.

When Sealord introduced school-hours shifts at their Nelson Factory, they went from labour shortages to more applicants than they could accomomdate.

Their 9am to 2.00pm shifts are now filled with, largely, mothers of school age children, providing a significant boost for the company.

Sealord CEO Doug Paulin talks to Jesse about making the change, the logistical challenges and the productivity increases that followed.

1:25 Harakeke flax an alternative to carbon fibre, a unique Atoearoa story

Harakeke flax has a special place in Aotearoa, with tikanga around its use. Recently an alliance has been formed to revitalise the industry and a number of projects are underway.

Ben Scales and William Murrell co-founded KiwiFibre Innovations following their industrial product design degrees where they worked with flax.

Soon after, the 23-year-olds raised 1.5 million dollars to develop their product as an alternative carbon fibre.

CEO Ben talks to Jesse.

1:35 The Rule of Jenny Pen adapted for the big screen

In 2021 the famous New Zealand short story Coming Home in the Dark by Owen Marshall was carefully adapted for the big screen actor and director James Ashcroft.

He has another project in the works, based on Marhsall's The Rule of Jenny Pen. Two top actors have been named to play the leading roles.

James talks to Jesse.

1:45 Great album: UK Grim by Sleaford Mods

Sleaford Mods, the British post-punk electro duo known for their politically charged lyrics and energetic live performances, have landed for their New Zealand ‘UK Grim’ tour.

This week's link 3 winner will get a vinyl copy of the album they're touring, UK Grim.

2:10 Music Critic: Roger Shepherd

Today Roger talks to Jesse about new music from Great Lake Swimmers and Kevin Morby.

2:25 NZ Sporting History: The legacy of Bruce Robertson

New Zealand Rugby has recently lost one of its greats, Bruce Robertson aged 71.

Bruce played more than a hundred games for the All Blacks including 34 test matches and more than a hundred matches for Counties.

He is celebrated as one of the best centres the game has ever seen.

To talk about his legacy to the game Jesse speaks to one of the country's most respected rugby commentators, Bob Howitt.

3:10 Link 3

3:15 Your Money with Mary Holm

Today Mary talks to Jesse about the Kiwisaver positive results for the first quarter of 2023. There's also new Kiwisaver help for new parents.

3:35 Spoken Feature BBC Witness

On 31 May 2013, a huge tornado hit close to El Reno in the US state of Oklahoma. It was the widest tornado ever recorded and produced extreme winds of more than 400 kilometres an hour. Eight people were killed. One of the people tracking the storm was Emily Sutton, a TV meteorologist was caught in the tornado. She tells Rob Walker about the impact that day had on her and other storm chasers.

3:45 The Panel with Anna Dean and Peter Field