Summer Times for Thursday 18 January 2024

9:10 Auckland charity has converted food waste into five million meals

With hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food going to landfills every year, one group is trying to stem the flow and convert that food into meals or ingredients. Auckland charity Fair Food says it just ticked over 5 million meals provided through converted food waste since 2021. It has drivers go out and collect food that may not be fit for supermarket shelves or a surplus of an ingredient at a restaurant. That food goes back to Fair Food where some 200 volunteers each month work to turn it into a meal or suitable ingredients. Fair Food has 60 charities it works with to recycle the food back to those who need it, such as people in domestic violence shelters, transitional housing or families struggling to make ends meet. Michelle Blau is the general manager at Fair Food.

9:20 Buskers descend on Auckland

The Auckland International Buskers Festival kicks off next week at the Auckland waterfront and CBD. One of the performers is multi-award winning juggler, Paul Klaass. He's taken his show all around the world but is back in his home country to regale local audiences.

9:30 NZ axe throwers off to world champs

A team of seven New Zealanders has qualified for the World Axe and Knife Throwing Championships in Tulsa, Oklahopma in April. It's a four-day event and contestants will compete in their various throwing disciplines to try become world champion and receive part of a $100,000 (NZD) prize. One member of the team going is Wellington axe thrower Michelle Mitchell. She will be competing with her duals partner Sarah Hilyard, who is also one of the owners of Sweet Axe - an axe-throwing experience business. 

9:40 Taking opera singing to the classroom

A cast from New Zealand Opera will be touring schools in March and April with a fun performance of Donizetti's The Elixir of Love. NZ Opera wants to make its music more accessible, enjoyable and educational for young New Zealanders. To talk about the programme and what is coming up in 2024 for the NZ Opera, the organisation's participation manager Frances Moore joins the programme.

10:10 Road trip with actor and playwright Morgana O'Reilly

The award-winning television series 'The White Lotus' is about to embark on its third season of filming. This time, the dark drama-comedy will be set at a White Lotus in Thailand, and among the typically dysfunctional cast of characters gracing our screens is none other than New Zealand actor and playwright Morgana O'Reilly. Morgana, who has also starred in Australian television series 'Neighbours', 'Wentworth', and the Emmy Award winner 'Inside', has performing in her blood. She is the daughter of dancer Mary Jane O'Reilly. In addition to 'The White Lotus', Morgana has her own solo show 'Stories About My Body' which she will be performing in Hamilton on March 1. 

10:35 Worth a detour: Peter Janssen

As the saying goes it's time to get off the beaten track around New Zealand. Today we are talking detours. Travel writer and the author Peter Janssen is back. We talked about the best walks last week - in places that were less well known. This week Peter wants to talk about places to take a detour. Usually, this is a trip off the main road or usual route to visit some sort of monument. These range from the oldest exotic tree in New Zealand, the saltwater pool in the middle of Auckland, the sign for a long-closed retail store and the country's smallest post office among many other sites.

11:10  Author Linda Margolin Royal on novel inspired by 'Japenese Schindler' 

The Star on the Grave by Linda Margolin Royal is inspired by the true story of Chiune Sugihara and the thousands of people, including Linda herself, who owe him their lives after he secretly issued thousands of visas to Jewish refugees desperate to flee persecution in Europe during World War II. Born in Sydney, Linda says she is forever thankful that in 1941 her father and grandparents received life-saving transit visas from Sugihara which allowed them to escape and form a new life. 

11:30 Young Otago curler ready for Youth Winter Olympic Games 

New Zealand Olympic curling star Olivia Russell is in Gangwon Province, South Korea, ahead of the Winter Youth Olympics which start this weekend. Olivia, part of a four-person team taking to the ice in Asia, talks about her upbringing including the many hours spent training at the Naseby Indoor Curling Rink in Central Otago.

11:45 Tech talk with Peter Griffin

Technology correspondent, Peter Griffin looks at the debut of Apple Vision Pro (and a host of cheaper rivals), the future of driverless cars in New Zealand, and the future of artificial intelligence. Generative AI was the breakthrough tech of 2023 ... where will things go in 2024? 

12:00 Urban Jumble Daily Quiz

Every day we're giving you three words. Within each word are letters which spell out a New Zealand town or city. Each letter can only be used once. While some words may have more than one answer, the correct answer must be the town or city we're thinking of. So have a pen and paper and a map at hand and have a go. 

Playlist

Track: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Artist: Tears For Fears
Time played: 09:05am

Track: Rickie Lee Jones 
Artist: Chuck E's In Love
Time played: 09:20am

Track:Sitting on the dock of the bay
Artist:Otis Reading 
Time played: 10:05am

Track: Midnight Train to Georgia
Artist: Gladys Knight & The Pips
Time played: 10:25am

Track: Only Way Is Through 
Artist: ARIA
Time played: 10:35am

Track: More Pressure (feat. Kevin Abstract)
Artist: Kae Tempest
Time played: 10:45am

Track: Chocolate
Artist: The 1975
Time played: 11:25am

Track: Only My Heart Calling
Artist: Margaret Urlich
Time played: 11:45am