Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

It's time for New Zealand sports history and today Jesse is joined by our most successful male Paralympic swimmer Duane Kale. Duane won four golds, a silver and a bronze medal in the pool at the 1996 Atlanta Games - the only games he competed in. After retiring from competitive swimming, he moved into sports governance and administration, and late last year he was appointed the Chair of Sport NZ.

A lot has been happening in the world of pop culture over the last few weeks, and for my next guests, the notifications on their group chats have been going off! Jesse is joined by film critic Kate Rodger, Culture 101's Perlina Lau and Afternoons' Senior Producer Olivia Wilson.

A study out of Netherlands has shown that being a hands on grandparent is good for your brain. Researchers found that grandparents who had some childcare responsibilities scored higher on cognitive tests than those who didn't. We chat to some grandparents about what they love about spending time with their grandchildren.

It's been just over two weeks since Scott Robertson was sacked as the All Blacks Coach. We're now in prime speculation territory: what really happened, and who is going to pick up the reigns? Jesse is joined by sports journalist and author of a great Substack newsletter - The Bounce - Dylan Cleaver.

Scientists say the ocean around NZ is warming twice as fast as the global average; now a new research project out of the University of Auckland is going investigate some of the effects of that. The nine-million-dollar project aims to determine how changes in ocean temperatures drive huge shifts in our weather. Project lead Melissa Bowen joins Jesse.

We begin today in Australia, which is currently experiencing a record-setting heatwave. And it's not just the high temperatures, it's also the longevity - eight consecutive days above 40 degrees Celsius. The hottest day was recorded in the South Australian town of Ceduna, which reached 49.5 degrees on Monday, to put that in some perspective, New Zealand's highest air temperature for 2025 was 35.6 degrees in Kawerau in early December - that's 15 degrees cooler than Ceduna! It is hard to imagine how you cope in 49-degree heat, so here to share what it's like to live in such sweltering temperatures Jesse is joined by the Mayor of Ceduna Ken Maynard.

Wallace Chapman and producer Jose Barbosa preview tonight's instalment of The Panel.

The Kakapo Files podcast is back with what is set to be the biggest breeding season of all time for our favourite parrot. To listen to the full episode head here. If you're keen to watch the Kakapo Cam, which is livestreaming from the nest of Rakiura the kakapo, 24 hours a day, hit this link. The Kakapo Files and Our Changing World will be back every Wednesday here on Afternoons, but from next week, they'll be at the new time of 1:45.

Singer-songwriter Katie Waissel shot to fame on The X Factor in 2010, the same season that launched One Direction. Since then, she's spoken candidly about abuse, exploitation, and what she believes is the industry's failure to protect young artists. Now an outspoken advocate for artists' rights, she's involved in O-W-H-L, a group pushing the industry to take real responsibility for the people it profits from.

It's time for Bookmarks, and today we're joined by celebrated playwright and director Hone Kouka A special 30th anniversary production of his play 'Waiora Te Ukaipo - The Homeland' returns to the stage this March with the Auckland Theatre Company Hone Kouka joins Jesse from our Wellington studio to share his picks of what to watch, read and listen to. His picks: Books One Hundred Years of Solitude Marquez. Potiki Patricia Grace. Any novel by Haruki Murakami. Voss Patrick White. Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller Music: Geese / Cameron Winter Crusades. Bailter Space X. Taua MA. I Want Your Love Chic. Freddie Freeloader Miles Davis. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man Prince Films: One Battle After Another. Anything by Akira Kurosawa. Finding Forrester. Ngati. Wings of Desire / Paris Texas Podcasts: Economics for Rebels. Thinking Basketball. Cric info Stump Mic

Kelly Gibney is back with her first Easy Eats recipe for 2026. The recipe is here! A few shortcuts like store-bought pastry and frozen spinach make this beautiful tart come together quickly on a weeknight. Parmesan, lemon zest and plenty of fresh basil make the filling super fresh and fragrant. Serve with a big green salad and lemony olive oil dressing for a lovely dinner or bring along to shared meals and picnics. It's delicious warm or cold. Don't skip the pine nuts. They add a tasty, toasty flavour and the texture is fantastic.

It's time for Heading Of, our chance to travel to places from the comfort of our homes. This week we are off to the United States with Nick Robinson, who late last year did a road trip around the South, covering 7 states in 2 weeks.

Most of us have been back at work for a couple of weeks now and some of you might be realising your job is no longer sparking joy. In fact, according to our next guest, three quarters of us would change careers if we felt we could. It's easy to come up with reasons not to take the plunge - but what about reasons to just do it? Career coach and head of the Career Development Association Jennie Miller joins Jesse to discuss.

Over the weekend a brand-new theater opened on Hamilton's Victoria street, it kicked off with an opening show from Teeks on Friday and spent the weekend hosting Dave Dobbyn. The Waikato Regional Theatre is the long-anticipated replacement to Founders Theater, which closed almost a decade ago. But unlike Founders Theatre, it is right in the CBD. Graeme Ward was the project lead on the new theater and has been involved from the start. He speaks to Jesse.

There's Verian, Reid Research, Ipsos, Curia, all of which survey Kiwis to - theoretically - give a sense of how we're feeling about the parties and politicians. But, how much do we really know about these polls? How are they conducted, are they trustworthy, and are they really indicative of how New Zealanders feel about their political options? Dr Nicole Satherley is a senior researcher at iNZight Analytics, and in 2023 she co-authored the paper 'Understanding Public Opinion Polling in Aotearoa New Zealand'.

Wallace Chapman and producer Tessa Guest preview tonight's instalment of The Panel.

For a healthy 2026, ignore most of what you hear from the multi-billion-dollar wellness industry and just eat the ice cream.

Elliot Childs with his pick of podcasts: Talk Easy and In the Dark Season 2: Blood Relatives (The New Yorker)

With a week or so left of school holidays for some, it's a great chance to get kids in front of books not screens .. Catherine Ross is the Director of Library at Auckland Grammar School and joins me now with recommendations for younger readers. For Ages 10+ Serafina and the Black Cloak Robert Beatty Spark Hunter (Aotearoa Book) Sonya Wilson For Ages 11-12+ Small Spaces By Katherine Arden For Ages 13+ The Raven Boys By Maggie Stiefvater

We're introducing a new segment where we speak with a local mayor about what's happening in their area... the challenges they're facing... how they're working to solve them... and what makes their community special. First up is Tararua District Mayor Scott Gilmore