Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Women around the world are choosing to give birth without doctors or midwives, guided instead by influencer stories that celebrate "free birth" as empowering and transformative. The Free Birth Society, F-B-S, is a multimillion-dollar business that often advocates for women to take "radical responsibility" for their own births. A year long investigation by Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne from The Guardian links the Free Birth Society to at least 48 cases of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and permanent injuries to mothers and their babies. Sirin Kale shares what their investigation uncovered for their podcast, The Birth Keepers.

Evie Ashton joins Jesse with her podcast picks: The Interesting Nuggets Podcast The Asian Madness Podcast Available wherever you get your podcasts!

Novelist Pip Adam joins Jesse to talk satire - and some good examples of it: A Few More Slices of Heaven (2025) Daniel Vernon Night Night Fawn by Jordy Rosenberg (One World Penguin Random House, 3 March 2026) Universality by Natasha Brown (Faber & Faber, 2025)

It's time for Mayoral minutes, our new segment where we speak with a local mayor about the challenges they're facing, how they're working to solve them and what makes their community special. Today we're heading to the Central Hawke's Bay District, from where Mayor Will Foley joins Jesse.

Could Wellington become New Zealand's culinary capital? It certainly seems the Government hopes so, after Minister Louise Upston announced the latest funding from the 'major events and tourism" package will include a plan to help re-establish Wellington as more than the home of politics and water woes. But how will do you actually make that happen? To discuss, we're joined now by veteran Welly restaurant reviewer David Burton.

The issue of cultural appropriation has been back in the news recently after an Australian brand called itself Aroha. That got us thinking about the process of naming your business. In the case of the activewear company called Aroha, the founder has admitted her research was "surface level" and since the backlash is now weighing up whether to keep using the word. The Hoka shoe brand is another high profile example of using te reo Maori words as a brand name. Hoka roughly translates from te reo Maori as "to fly". So we asked Johnson McKay from Maori owned consultancy Ira to join us to discuss.

He says building knowledge about how landscapes behave, means people can make more informed decisions about how to interact with them. He chats to Jesse.

The fallout from the release of the Epstein files continues to dominate headlines around the world. In the last few hours, jailed associate of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell appeared before US lawmakers and as predicted ...she pled the fifth amendment, refusing to answer questions about her relationship with Epstein. King Charles and The Prince and Princess of Wales have also spoken out publicly this morning in relation to Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor's role in the ongoing scandal. To discuss all that and more Jesse is joined by Feature Story News US reporter Ira Spitzer.

Celebrity weddings, the war in Ukraine, election outcomes; the future is now a marketplace with the rise of prediction apps like Polymarket and Kalshi. Users can put money on trades about what might happen in politics, pop culture and sports. Bobby Allyn is a technology correspondent for National Public Radio who met two traders making $100,000 a month on these sites. Supporters say the wisdom of crowds is more accurate than polls. But there are fears prediction markets are ripe for misinformation and manipulation. Allyn explains how they work, who is making money and what is being done to manage what some see as nothing more than high-tech gambling.

Every Monday Jesse joins the hard core ravers and hits the club. Last week we heard from Warren about his Ham radio club, before that we had Anastasia from the Manawatu Cactus and Succulent club. If you'd like Jesse to come and join your club for a day, text us on 2101 or email us afternoons@rnz.co.nz Today he's talking to Brendon Covich from the Auckland Bonsai Club.

The Israeli President has just arrived in Sydney for an official state visit in the wake of last year's Bondi terror attack. Police have been given special powers ahead of the protests against Isaac Herzog's visit. Brad Foster joins Jesse to discuss this and other notable stories from across the Tasman.

'The Year After Kahlia' is a memoir tracing Kirsten O'Connor's first year of grief after losing her daughter Kahlia to suicide The book tracks her maps her experiences, what happens in the body when we grieve, and presents a tool kit for survival. She talks to Jesse. If you or anyone you know need help call Lifeline Aotearoa, free call or text 1737, depression helpline, or Youthline

Now, if you're one of the millions of people around the world who participate in a fantasy sport league, we've found your next obsession. Meadow Fresh has just launched Fantasy Herd - yes you read that right - a new fantasy-sports style game powered by real cows. Instead of athletes, players can select dairy cows from a working farm in North Otago. You can pick a captain, make transfers and watch as your cows earn points - there's $20,000 up for grabs too! Tim Richards, the North Otago farmer whose real herd stars in Fantasy Herd, chats to Jesse.

How do you know what you read online is accurate and real? We're asking because an investigation has discovered that fake "New Zealand news" pages are flooding Facebook and they are proving very hard to distinguish from reality. RNZ's Digital Explainer Editor Nik Dirga did a deep dive into a page calling itself "NZ News Hub" which lifts legitimate reporting from trusted outlets such as RNZ, Stuff and the New Zealand Herald and pairs it with low-quality AI-generated images or videos. Nik chats to Jesse.

Ruwani Perera is a reporter for The Hui, she joins Jesse to share some TV shows that seem to have everyone talking. The New Years - Prime Video/Mubi Heated Rivalry - NEON The Traitors Season 4 (US version) - Three Now

Laneway Festival is on at Auckland's Western Springs Park today with some big stars like Chappelle Roan headlining along with lots of local acts. Gates opened at 1230 and the event ends at 10pm, so it's a big ole day for festival goers. Fortunately, comedian Chris Parker has made a guide of sorts to surviving the gig, especially if you are over 30.

Personal finance whizz Mary Holm is back for 2026 and today she's talking about investing in gold, silver and bitcoin.

We're making our way through the alphabet diving deep into all things Kiwiana - looking at the people, places and moments that make up New Zealand. We're up to the letter 'O' so today we'll be discussing the "big O.E" the overseas experience that's long been a rite of passage for young New Zealanders. Over the next half hour, we'll hear from someone who went to London and never came back, a teenage traveller who did things a little differently and what an OE looks like in 2026.

Here to help navigate the issues is Professor Kirsty Ross from Massey University's School of Psychology. This week she's looking at family feuds, outspoken friends and thin-skinned colleagues.

It'll get 35 million dollars from the Government's Regional Infrastructure Fund to build the bespoke facility, and its purpose will be to house what the company refers to as their "next generation device", Tahi. To explain what all of that means and how it could impact how we generate and consume energy, OpenStar CEO and founder Ratu Mataira chats to Jesse.