Afternoons for Wednesday 22 November 2023

 

1:15 Newest heli bike park in Aotearoa ready to open

This summer keen mountain bikers will have a pristine new trail to ride on the central plateau of the North Island.

Access to the park is by helicopter and it's the first time the iwi owned land will be opened up for any public use.

Thomas Orr's family has been working for five years on this project, the Kaimanawa Descent, a joint venture which will be ready for it's first keen bikers very soon.

Thomas speaks to Jesse.

1:25 Funding boost for new chronic back pain research

Feel like you're carrying the weight of the world on your back? You're not alone. One in four New Zealand adults experience chronic back pain.

Senior research fellow at the University of Otago Dr Divya Adhia is working on a new solution, and has just received a $600,000 funding boost.

Using a simulation treatment targeting the brain, she hopes to alleviate what is considered to be a leading contributor to disability in Aotearoa.

Dr Divya talks to Jesse.

1:35 Making the cut as a LANDSAR canine

Dogs can pick up millions of smells, millions more than humans. It could be the whiff of a tissue, or a piece of chewing gum that allows a dog to track someone. Whatever the weather, sixteen dogs and over sixty regional teams are on call to search for missing and injured people.

It's a big job, and relies solely on volunteers to train and work with expert canine trackers.

Wakatipu-based Bridget Martin has been a volunteer dog handler with NZ Land Search and Rescue for 20 years. She talks to Jesse about Allie-Mae, Zinzan and Bandit.

1:45 Predator Free NZ Trust celebrating 10 years

The Predator Free New Zealand Trust is celebrating it's 10th birthday this month!

To mark their first decade of working towards protecting New Zealand's native wildlife, and looking to the future of caring for backyard biodiversity,  Jessi Morgan, CEO of Predator Free New Zealand speaks to Jesse.

2.12 Podcast Critic: Adam Burns

Today Adam talks to Jesse about Groovy Movies and 60 Songs that Explain the 90s.

2:20 Collectors corner: Sam Westlake of Taranaki Collectibles

Each week we've been talking to collectors around the motu, and today we're in Taranaki to meet Sam Westlake, the founder of Saturday's Taranaki Collectibles Event in New Plymouth.

As a keen collector in his own right, when Sam's not working at his day job in the oil and gas industry, Sam is an avid collector.

2:30 Bookmarks with Courtney Dawson

This weeks on Bookmarks we meet Courtney Dawson, a comedian who's been on our screens more recently as a contestant on Celebrity Treasure Island.

She's also had regular appearances on Paddy Gower Has Issues and Have You Been Paying Attention?

Today Courtney talks about what she likes to read, watch and listen to when she's not entertaining others.

3:10 Was 'America's worst mom' actually right all along?

There was a time when Lenore Skenazy was labeled America's Worst Mom for letting her 9 year old ride the subway alone in New York City. 

She started the Free Range Parenting movement and a non-profit  that promotes childhood independence.  

Now more and more research into why kids today have such high levels of anxiety seems to back what she has always said about kids developing resilience from unsupervised activities. 

We'll talk to Skenazy about the latest research and how to give kids back the voice they've lost from over parenting.

3:35 Stories from Our Changing World

Coming up on Our Changing World - Claire Concannon learns why varroa mites are such bad news for honeybees, and about a potential new treatment on the horizon.

3:45 The Panel with Nalini Baruch and Raj Charkraborti