Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Boys today are overwhelmed. They're trying to decode masculinity, navigate friendship and emotion, and survive the chaos of online life. Christopher Pepper, an award-winning health educator, and Joanna Schroeder, a journalist and mother of teenage sons, spoke with more than 80 boys to understand what they're up against and what they need from the adults in their lives. Their new book offers 16 essential conversations to help raise emotionally intelligent, confident, compassionate young men before the world teaches them not to be. It's called Talk to Your Boys: 16 Conversations to Help Tweens and Teens Grow into Confident, Caring Young Men.

Today Brad talks to Jesse about police recruitment, cracking down on Australian telcos after those network outages, and sport.

Fans of the show the Great British Bake Off might remember the name Ruby Tandoh. She was a runner up of that show in 2013, and since then has written four cookbooks. Her latest offering is called 'All Consuming' where she dives into why we eat the way we do. Here to tell us more about this book and what else she's been reading is our book critic author Claire Mabey. Books: All Consuming - Ruby Tandoh Descending Fire - Sherryl Jordan The Legendary Scarlett and Browne - Jonathan Stroud

Last week the giant cloud that is Amazon Web Services went down -causing outages for huge parts of the web - including servers here in New Zealand. The outage revealed how much the world is reliant on big cloud providers and why that's an issue when things go wrong. Here to explain what it all means for you the consumer is our tech expert Tim Batt

Taupo's newly elected mayor has told local residents that he might have to skip art gallery openings, cocktail parties and marae visits in his community, not because he isn't interested, but because of his significant hearing loss The former rescue helicopter pilot lost much of his hearing after a life-threatening bout of septicemia more than two decades ago, that means it is difficult for him to hear in places where there is background noise. Taupo Mayor John Funnell joins Jesse now.

At just 25, University of Otago medical student Josiah Bugden has managed to balance the demands of his final year of study with a rapidly expanding side project - CourseSpy - a platform helping students make smarter decisions about their tertiary studies Born out of his frustration with the lack of clarity around course selection and degree planning, Josiah set out to build the all-in-one tool he wished he'd had as a student. Josiah Bugden joins us from Peru - where he is on his medical placement.

Labour first started working on a blueprint for a capital gains tax under David Lange, but it was scrapped after Labour's 1990 election defeat. Fast forward to 2019 when Jacinda Ardern ruled out implementing the tax while she was prime minister So it begs the questions, why is a capital gains tax such a political hot potato? Is this a good political move for Labour? If the public show support, could it be something National adopt? Dr Bryce Edwards, Bryce is director of the Democracy Project and a political analyst in residence at University of Wellington.

Labour has announced it will campaign on a capital gains tax at next year's election. The tax will apply to commercial and residential properties -excluding the family home and farms - the revenue will be used to fund three free doctor visits for all New Zealanders A recent RNZ-Reid Research poll showed more than 42 percent supported a capital gains tax on properties, excluding the family home, with 35% opposed to it. So what is a capital gains tax and if introduced, what could it mean for you? Independent tax advisor Geof Nightingale joins Jesse to help explain it.

The critter of the week is the water spider, Dolomedes aquaticus! This spider has a special affinity with water, spending most of their time near braided rivers. Dolomedes spiders are also called fishing spiders due to their unique method of capturing prey. They put their legs out in the water like a fishing line, feeling for the tell-tale vibrations of a struggling insect fallen in the water. Once they've honed in on their quarry, they'll quickly pounce to subdue their target. The short velvety hairs covering their body allows them to trap air and walk across the water through surface tension or even go underwater for up to 30 mins!

Interior designer Sylvia Sanford joins Jesse to talk lighting - and how to make sure you get it right in your home.

Yellow Brick Road's Martin Bosley joins Jesse to share his avocado and prawn Sandwich with tahini ginger dressing. He says it's a well-mannered and truly pretty sandwich, all subtle pinks and greens. This could also be the perfect salad for a summer lunch. Avocado and Prawn Sandwich with Tahini Ginger Dressing Dressing 1 tbsp Tahini paste 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp rice vinegar 2 tbsp sugar 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tbsp ginger, peeled and grated 2 tbsp sesame oil For the sandwich 12-16 large prawns, depending on their size, cooked, peeled and heads removed 4 slices of baguette or crusty bread olive oil 2 avocados 1 tsp chives, chopped 1 tbsp mayonnaise 1/4 Iceberg lettuce, finely shredded 1 tbsp Japanese Shichimi Togarishi spice mix (optional) To make the dressing: Mix the Tahini paste and soy sauce together. Add the vinegar and sugar, stirring until it has dissolved. Whisk in the garlic, ginger and sesame oil. Mix with a little water until it is thin enough to pour over the prawns. Cut the prawns in ha

Film critic Dominic Corry shares his picks of the flicks available to see now: Bugonia - the new Yorgos Lanthimos black comedy starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, in theaters next week. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle - the remake of the '90s thriller, which is new on Disney+ this week.

Yes, it's that time of the week when we dig into your strange or harrowing stories. Now next Friday is the 31st of October, Halloween, and we want to make sure we have the spookiest story we can find .. so, if you have a scary encounter to share do let us know - 2101 or email afternoons@rnz.co.nz. Today, we're joined by Kevin, whose tale is less spooky and more surreal.

Trainee New Zealand police detective Amber Chauval has just returned from Nambia where she spent time with an anti-poaching unit at the Zannier Reserve. It was her fourth trip to Africa, she's previously worked in animal sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres, but this time, she wanted to be on the front lines of rhino poaching prevention. Poaching is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and while conservation efforts have helped prevent the complete extinction of rhinos, rampant illegal hunting continues to threaten their survival. Amber Chauval spoke to Jesse Mulligan.

Imagine being told, as a teenager, that the treatment that could save your life might also take away your chance to ever have children. Well, there's one doctor in New Zealand providing a rare fertility-saving procedure to change this. Dr Leigh Searle helps girls who are about to start cancer treatment by removing and freezing a tiny piece of their ovary - a literal time-capsule of fertility that could one day give them the chance to have children.

Now to news coming out of Auckland -Biosecurity NZ is urging people to be on the lookout for yellow legged hornets. Why you might ask? Well, for the first time, a yellow legged hornet queen has been discovered building a nest at a house in the suburb of Glenfield. To find out why this is concerning, and what to do if you spot one, Jesse is joined by Lloyd Carpenter a.k.a The Waspman.

As the wild weather subsides for most of us, attention is now turning to the clean-up job and filing insurance claims To share some advice on how to get your claim accepted quickly, Patrick O'Meara from the Insurance Council joins Jesse.

Going for a walk on the beach might feel like a distant dream looking out at the weather today, but summer is coming and in fact for some parts of New Zealand, is already here. Warmer weather means bluebottle jellyfish are hitting our shores earlier than usual, and that's got Vets raising the alarm because jelly fish and dogs are not a happy union. Former Vet Nurse Kerri Murray from Southern Cross Pet Insurance chats to Jesse.

Righto. let's talk money now, friend of the show and financial whizz Mary Holm is here to share her ten top tips and tricks.

It's time to return to the A-Z of Aotearoa. We've been making our way through the alphabet to look back at the iconic people and cultural touchstones that form New Zealand. We've arrived at 'K' today, so we're looking at the rich history of Kauri - the trees, the timber, the gum. Jesse speaks to Arty Bergman from Northland Kauri Timber about what it's like to work with Kauri in 2025, and Pete Panhuis, one of the country's foremost experts on Kauri.