Summer Times for Tuesday 16 January 2024

9:10 Mayor delivers frank response

Thames Coromandel mayor Len Salt says he has no regrets over an email he sent out where he signed off with a rather unconventional sign off. Salt said "go f*** yourself" in an email responding to a request for the personal details of council staff, including their names and addresses. The email exchange happened last year but has only just come to light. 

9:15 What to do when NCEA results fall short 

College students around the country are on tenterhooks, with NCEA results due tomorrow, January 17. For those about to leave high school, the grades carry extra weight, and when results fall short of hope and expectation, it can feel like the end of the world. So, how can you help the teenagers in your life navigate this tricky time? And what are there if NCEA marks deliver a curve ball? Meg Nelis, Student Life Team Leader at Ara | Te Pūkenga, speaks to Anna.

9:20 Fringe Festival's Vanessa Stacey

Vanessa Stacey is a well-known name in the arts community. The New Zealand Fringe Festival director has more than 25 years of experience in creative arts - as an actor, singer, playwright, and comedian among other things. But she talks to Anna about all the work behind the scenes when it comes to getting the Fringe Festival off the ground. The festival starts on February 16 and runs until March 9.

9:35 Tangiwai Disaster: 70 years on from Aoteatroa's deadliest rail tragedy

Many over a certain age can recall where they were when they learned of the Tangiwai Disaster. On Christmas Eve, 1953, a packed express Wellington to Auckland train plunged into a raging Whangaehu River. It was New Zealand's deadliest rail tragedy, caused by a relatively unknown threat - a lahar released from Mt Ruapehu's crater lake. This Sunday, commemorations will take place to mark 70 years since 151 people aboard the train lost their lives. John Mahy was one of the lucky ones who survived. Anna speaks to John's son, Callum Mahy and journalist Hamish Williams who produced the podcast series 'Tangiwai: A Forgotten History'.

10:10 Road trip with Dr Diane Menzies 

Renowned landscape architect and former Environment Court commissioner, Dr Diane Menzies, is joining us for today's road trip. Diane is a descendant of Rongowhakaata and Aitanga a Mahaki, with Scottish and English heritage. In her long career, she's also been president of the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects and even served as president of the international body - the International Federation of Landscape Architects - from 2006 to 2010. Diane chooses her favourite road trip and talks us through some animation films she's been enjoying lately.

10:45 Ainslie Hogarth discusses her book Normal Women

The heroine of author Ainslie Hogarth's latest book, Normal Women, is desperate to break free from a suffocating, conventional, upper-middle-class life. In her bid for freedom, Dani, stumbles stumbles on a yoga studio, and embraces its ethos. However, when a local sex worker goes missing, things take a turn for the young mother. Ainslie Hogarth's previous book, Motherthing, published in 2022, was the New York Times Best Book of the Year. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland, but is based overseas.

11:10 Youth slang with Evie Orpe

Riz, yout, and peng are all words you might have heard recently that left you lost in translation. To help dissect youth slang in context, Anna is joined by TAHI presenter and producer Evie Orpe. Please send us a text on 2101 or an email to summertimes@rnz.co.nz if you have any words you want deciphered. 

11:25 BROODS' Georgia Nott on going her own way

Georgia Nott is known as one half of the electronic indie duo BROODS, who are now a global phenomenon and have opened for the likes of Taylor Swift and Sam Smith. But while BROODS remains a key part of her life, Georgia has been working under a solo project: Georgia Gets By. Georgia shares one or two of her songs and chats with Anna about creating her music after the success of BROODS.

11:45 Graeme Tuckett reviews The Holdovers and All of Us Strangers 

Movie reviewer Graeme Tuckett is in and has his take on The Holdovers and All of Us Strangers.