Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Once you start noticing, you can see it everywhere; the 'sameness' of style, music, art and even food. New Yorker staff writer Kyle Chayka blames algorithms that direct our attention to what works best for digital platforms. You see it in Google searches, Facebook feeds and the ads that follow us online. The end result is that we've stopped deciding what we like for ourselves. Chayka wants us to better understand how these forces shape our taste and stop letting a computer generated formula dictate our experiences and choices. His new book is called Filterworld How Algorithms Flattened Culture

Get ready to dive deep into music history with a special guest on this week's music feature. Revolver, the groundbreaking album released in 1966, marked the inception of The Beatles' psychedelic era. Pioneering techniques like backward sounds, automatic double tracking, and close-miked drums revolutionized the recording industry, setting a new standard. We dissect this iconic album with Mike Chunn CNZM, founding member of Split Enz, CEO of Play It Strange Trust, and a devoted Beatles aficionado!

Brad Foster provides an update on the two Australian brothers and their friend killed while on a surfing trip in Mexico, state and federal government initiatives to fight gender based violence against women, and the 19-year-old who reeled in a $1 million fish in the Northern Territory. He also previews next week's Federal Budget and the current high costs of living.

Today Catherine has the theme for young people books of Verse Novels. For ages 10+ Worse Things by Sally Murphy For ages 11/12+ Alias Ann: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood Starfish by Lisa Fipps The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling For Ages 12+ What About Will by Ellen Hopkins

Ben Reid's a strategic technologist working at the forefront of the rapidly changing tech-scape. He has a weekly newsletter Memia and also has written a book Fast Forward Aotearoa - it's available digitally but will be out as a hard copy later this month. We talk to him about AI and what we need to be aware of in Aoteroa.

Today we hear all about sleep concerts and the art of gong bathing. It's a concert where the performers actually want you to sleep through their performances. We speak to Erika Grant who comes from a classical music background, having played in orchestras before going on to make music for silent films, theatre, and even marching bands. Erika's in our Wellington studio with her gongs to give us a taste of what the concerts are all about.

Kiwi birds have been getting some star treatment of late. Movie star Leonardo diCaprio used his social media platform of 62 million followers - to praise the work of conservationists Capital Kiwi, who have been releasing kiwi into the wilds of Wellington. Earlier this month, a kiwi was caught on cctv in a suburban Wellington backyard, followed by a big kiwi wandering into a sawmill workshop in Whangarei. Michelle Impey is Save the Kiwi chief executive, she's hoping to educate people more about the ever curious birds coming into contact with humans to keep the animals safe.

Opua in the Bay Of Islands is currently host to a flotilla of 25 boats. They're waiting for the right weather conditions before hoisting anchor and setting sail on 2024 Pacific Rally, which is a six month voyage across the ocean. This year - for the first time ever - the sailors have also been recruited for a huge science experiment. James Frankham, co-founder of Citizens Of The Sea, the charity behind the effort speaks to Jesse.

One of India's favourite sports, and the Punjabi diasporas go-to game, is thriving in Auckland. On Here Now with Kadambari Raghukumar this week, what's making NZ a hot destination for fresh Kabaddi players?

Resistance is futile. Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, so Dr Ethan Mollick from the Wharton School of Business, says we should take the time to learn how to work with it as a tool to make us more creative, more capable and even more human. After spending a few sleepless nights using AI, he's determined that we should stop thinking of it as a threat and start taking advantage of AI's abilities. He offers a guide to using AI as a collaborator, co-teacher and co worker in his new book, Co-intelligence: Living and Working with AI.

From the risks of box dye to the dreaded green tint when going from blonde to brown, we're covering it all. Our expert helps us delve into the intricacies of caring for dyed hair and explore the dos and don'ts of colouring your locks. It's a massive industry, hair dye sales are over $20 billion dollars a year globally, and in New Zealand it's estimated more than 70% of women and 20% of men colour their hair. Salute Hair and Day Spa owner, and hairdresser of the year in 2023, Chinney Yeap joins us to share her expertise.

A little known danger for our hard working logging truck drivers around the country is actually not when they're on the road dealing with some appalling drivers. In fact it's a shoulder problem that many have suffered from when they've been throwing the large chains over the massive logs they're hauling to keep them safely in place. Such is the problem that a local company Trinder's invented a new tool to help them and avoid injury. Their teams invented a device which does the chain throwing for you, so truck drivers are less at risk of injuring themselves. Managing Director, Kerry Hill speaks to Jesse.

Today Jonathan Mahon-Heap talks to Jesse about The Sympathizer on Neon and Heartbreak High on Netflix.

Cat MacNaughtan, is a blogger turned game creator We first met her on the show back in 2019, when she shared the card game she have created 'the Getting Lost Game', which encouraged families to get away from screens and connect through adventure. She been fairly busy since then selling the game worldwide, and winning a few awards along the way - most recently she's launched, a 'Grandparents Edition' of the game - aiming to unite grandparents and grandkids. Cat's back to share her updated version with Jesse.

Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez is a registered architect and senior academic at AUT. His work explores how existing buildings can be repurposed for entirely new uses. This is becoming increasingly important as our relationship with hybrid work continues to evolve, office vacancy rates are still sitting at over 10% Jose's new book "Architectural Exaptation: When Function Follows Form" deconstructs the issues.

A major redevelopment project is underway at the iconic Ōtorohanga Kiwi House in Waikato, but how do you rebuild a 50 year-old zoo?

This week's critter, the great giant scale, (Coelostomidia zealandica) is a native specie of scale bug. Females have pink wingless bodies and look like they have terrible dandruff, with a dusting of white waxy powder all over them.

Builder Stan Scott is along today to help give out tips and advice on any projects at home people might be undertaking.

Charlotte Ryan, host of Music 101 here on RNZ each Saturday afternoon from 1pm talks about what's happening on the music scene over the weekend, what's coming up on her show tomorrow and because Friday is new music day - she'll pick us a track to play.

The cooler weather doesn't mean the end of salads, just that it's time to have some warm salad recipes ready to go.