Radio New Zealand - All Programmes

Hymns for the Feast of Pentecost today, including contemporary hymns by NZ hymn writer Bill Wallace (Wild wind of the Holy Spirit) and the UK's Bernadette Farrell (Spirit of God, rest on your people).

Dame Hinewehi Mohi has been welcomed into the NZ Music Hall of Fame. She talks to Charlotte Ryan about her remarkable life, and her brave moments that put music in te reo Māori on the world's stage.

All the top stories and other headlines from the day

We go behind the causes of the New Caledonian violence, ....highlight the commemorations of the arrival of the first indentured Indian labourers in Fiji 145 Years ago...the building of the biggest double hulled waka in Fiji ....these and other stories on Tagata o te Moana.

The words to Supergroove's iconic song Can't Get Enough will soon be revealed as the lyrics go up for auction on Trade Me. Dr Karl Steven, former Supergroove frontman, has written down the "accurate" lyrics to raise money for the 'Ours Not Mines' campaign against a proposed new mine on DOC land at Wharekirauponga (close to Whangamata). Other artists auctioning lyrics include Benee, Che Fu, Fat Freddy's Drop, Don McGlashan, The Black Seeds, and The Phoenix Foundation.

Serg Tankian is the frontman of System of a Down, a band of Armenian-Americans that started in the mid-nineties, who play an incredible clash of growling aggressive metal and Armenian folk melodies. It's a sound that has struck a chord with millions of fans across the globe, yet Serj chooses to spend a lot of his time living in New Zealand. He talks to Charlotte Ryan about his colourful life as a young immigrant to Los Angeles, and the risks and reward of being part of an avant-garde, political band. Serj Tankian's memoir is Down with the System.

Fran Ebbett was just a schoolgirl when she started dreaming of becoming a pilot and eventually she rose through the ranks to captain an Air New Zealand passenger jet, possibly the first Maori woman to do so. 

Dame Hinewehi Mohi talks to Charlotte Ryan about her remarkable life, and her brave moments that brought te reo Maori to the world's stage through music. 2024 marks a year of significant anniversaries for Dame Hinewehi. It's the 25th anniversary of the release of her debut album Oceania, the 25th anniversary her of monumental performance at the 1999 Rugby World Cup when she became the first person to sing the National Anthem in te reo Maori, the 20th anniversary of the her music therapy charity, the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre and the 5th anniversary of Waiata Anthems, where she supported local artists to translate and perform their songs in te reo Maori. The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame was set up to recognise artists that have had a significant impact on the evolution and development of Aotearoa music. Past inductees include Margaret Urlich, Annie Crummer, Supergroove, Straightjacket Fits, Toy Love and most recently Don McGlashen.

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The top stories and other headlines at midday

At just fifteen years old Joy Womack left her family home in Texas and travelled to Moscow to follow her dream of becoming a Prima Ballerina at the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet Company. In the face of incredible challenges, she became the first American to graduate from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy's punishing training program with a red diploma, and the second American woman to sign a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet. Womack's captivating story has been made into a movie by the New Zealand filmmaking team of James Napier Robertson and Tom Hern. The biopic Joika, which is currently screening in NZ cinemas, stars actress and classically trained dancer Talia Ryder, and the real Womack served as choreographer and consultant.

The incremental stresses of modern life can easily build, to kill joy, and tip us towards physical and psychological burnout. It's tempting to "push on" but Prof Vincent Deary argues we need to accept our capacity to carry stress is finite and work harder at resting - a skill most of us need to consciously practice. The professor of psychology at the UK's Northumbria University and clinical fatigue specialist's new book is How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living. It's an exploration of our varying responses to the corrosive pressures of daily life, especially work, and an ode to the necessity of rest, recovery and the lost art of convalescence.

Award-winning Canadian investigative journalist Connie Walker had been telling stories about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls for years, and wondering why they received so little attention. All this changed with her true-crime podcasts. Missing & Murdered and Stolen have been wildly popular, the latter winning a Pulitzer Prize and a Peabody Award. But despite the prizes and the millions of followers, in a climate where profitability is prioritised over important journalism Stolen is being axed by Spotify beyond the current third series.

RNZ Pacific News at 9AM on 19 May 2024

American author Jonathan Rauch argues free speech and robust criticism should be encouraged and defended, even when it's racist, sexist or causes hurt. A gay, Jewish writer and thinker Rauch admits free speech can do harm, but argues minorities are better off in a society where free speech is embraced. Rauch has been visiting NZ at the invitation of the Free Speech Union discussing the necessity of academic freedom. He's a senior fellow in the Governance Studies programme at the Brookings Institute, the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, government, and LGBT rights.

Police have used tear gas and stun grenades on rioters at an airport near Nouméa as the unrest and rioting in New Caledonia goes into its sixth day. Five people, including two police officers, have died and hundreds of people are injured amid clashes between authorities and pro-independence protesters. They were sparked by anger at a proposed new law that would allow French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for more than 10 years to vote - which some say will weaken the indigenous Kanak vote. Correspondent for Islands Business Magazine, Nic Maclennan, who has been covering this story for decades, explains the back-story.

RNZ Pacific News at 8AM on 18 May 2024

This morning's top stories and other headlines

RNZ Pacific News at 7AM on 18 May 2024

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