Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

We're want to talk about climate change, and more specifically whether policy makers are throwing in the towel on the climate battle. It's a question we're asking because Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has announced changes to the Climate Change Response Act. The biggest amendment seems to be the proposal to end the current requirement for the Climate Change Commission to advise the Government on the country's emissions reduction plans. It would also mean the public would no longer be consulted on national emissions budgets. Across the ditch, Australia's conservative political parties are looking at dropping their commitment to hit net zero emissions by 2050. These changes got us wondering whether our individual actions can still make a difference.

Susana catches up with Our Changing World's Claire Concannon, who has recently travelled to the Waikato to learn more about the gold clam.

On the outskirts of Malawi's commercial capital in South East Africa, two of the world's most vulnerable groups, children and wildlife, were being exploited at an orphanage established by a Taiwanese monk. Behind its walls, children were being groomed to take part in an international wildlife trafficking network in ivory, rhino horn, lions' teeth, shark fins and pangolins. For more than a decade, journalist Rachel Nuwer has investigated the illegal trade in endangered animals, often putting herself in danger undercover to expose their methods. Her latest story in The Economist raises urgent questions about exploitation, faith, and the hidden forces driving the illegal wildlife trade. It's called The School for Wildlife Traffickers.

Our regular Easy Eats contributor Kelly Gibney is back from her holiday and joins Susana to share this recipe.

Time for heading off. It's the moment in the show when we take you travelling to locations you might always have wondered about. We love hearing about your adventures, so if you have one you'd like to share, please email us afternoons@rnz.co.nz Today we're going with Afternoons listener Frida Harper to Kazakhstan, Kyrgistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

On the world's classical music stage, Jess Gillam is making a big splash. It's 20 years since Jess first found a saxophone in her hometown of Ulverston, Cumbria in England's northwest. Jess is on her way to perform with the NZSO this month and when we caught up between rehearsals

This week we've been delving into the impact that phones are having on us. And while the focus is often on young people, there are actually many more who are impacted. Yesterday, Jesse interviewed Canterbury University's Dr Miriam McCaleb about high screen time for new mums. Today we are continuing the conversation to look at the impact of cell phone use on seniors. Otago University's Dr Edmond Fehoko chats to Susana.

If you're just about to pop a Panadol tablet - you may want to pause first. New research by Auckland University shows many of us are taking too much paracetamol. It found a third of us commonly take more than the recommended dose of two painkiller tablets at once. Meanwhile 11 percent of us commonly exceed the daily limit of eight tablets a day. To talk about this more - chair of General Practitioners Aotearoa Dr Buzz Burrell is with Susana.

We've got a newish segment called 'You're the Judge' where we present an issue that's been sent in by one of our listeners, and you, our audience, decide what the right course of action is. If you've got an irk you'd like resolved, please do email me jesse@afternoons.co.nz

It was a bargain with the devil they couldn't refuse. A group of women prisoners in Auschwitz were offered a slim chance at survival in exchange for playing music. They played as inmates got off the trains. They played as prisoners marched for roll call. They played as ash from the crematoriums rained down on them. Historian and biographer Anne Sebba tells the story of the only female orchestra in the camps, exploring not only the moral dilemmas they faced, but the impact their music had on other prisoners. Anne Sebba is on tour around New Zealand to talk about her new book, The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz: A story of survival. She joins Jesse in our Auckland studio.

It's Melbourne Cup day! We talk to Brad about the issues that have got Australians talking. Today we're looking at a new public register of child sex abusers, head knocks in the NRL, abandoning Australia's emissions reduction target of net zero and of course Melbourne Cup.

Author Catherine Robertson joins Jesse to chat about books she thinks are worth reading: The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume 3 by Philip Pullman (David Fickling Books) 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin) James by Percival Everett (Mantle)

Evie Ashton is here to talk podcasts, and she's got two pretty different offerings this week, one based on history, while the other is more about feminism - and not strictly speaking a podcast. Noble Blood - wherever you get your podcasts Lily Allen - West End Girl

Despite having the technology to connect to friends and family 24/7 - social isolation and loneliness are issues that are becoming more prominent .. not just for the elderly - but also for young people. So Melinda Wong has come up with a solution.. friend making events .. hosted get togethers where strangers can meet and get to know one another in a safe environment. Melinda runs Time & Place .. organising private dinners and public picnics in an effort to help people connect.

The conversation around phone screen time - and how much is too much - usually centres around children and teens. But new research has highlighted the impact of phone use by another group - new mums. Any tired parent will tell you that screen time can be a welcome source of distraction, but it turns out it can also interfere with parent/child bonding and a baby's development. Dr Miriam McCaleb from the University of Canterbury is lead researcher on the study, she talks to Jesse.

From today, Wellington City Council will start to remove the temporary fencing around the waterfront. The fencing was put up in 2023, after a death in the harbour.. that was the seventh drowning since 2006. A coroner's report in March called for urgent action in high risk areas of the waterfront .. but in August, Wellington council voted against a proposal to put up permanent fences. For more on this Wellington Mayor Andrew Little speaks to Jesse.

The owners of a well-known Hamilton shoe shop are hanging up their boots after 43 years. Ann and Grant Collins have been running Collins Footwear since 1982... serving generations of customers. They'll be finishing up at the shop - that has a big orange boot on top of its shopfront - next month.

Every family has its own way of talking. They share weird phrases, inside jokes, and made-up words that no one else would understand. Georgetown linguistics professor Cynthia Gordon has spent over 20 years studying how families actually talk to each other. She asked them to record ordinary moments, dinner conversations, car rides, chores and found something she calls "familylect": the secret language that makes a family feel like a family. Share your own familylect by texting 2101 or emailing us at afternoons@rnz.co.nz

The Pre Panel for 3 November 2025

Today in our expert feature we're talking to Master Builders. We'll cover choosing a builder, going through the process, what happens if you're not happy afterwards and anything else you want to know. So, get your questions into 2101. Even if it's one of those questions that's "more of a comment" we want to hear from you. To answer them - Jesse is joined by Ankit Sharma from Master Builders.