Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Lynda joins Jesse to talk about the pros of autumn, turns out there are some silver linings about making an autumn to-do list and getting stuck into it. Cut your losses in the vegetable patch; If you are replanting, sow peas and plant brassicas. Lawn a disaster? Kill it now and resow it. Anything you hate in your garden? Get rid of it!

Borscht is popular throughout Eastern Europe, with countless variations. This hearty version, almost thick enough to be a stew, is meaty, smoky, and savoury, with fresh notes of apple and lemon to give it a traditional sweet and sour edge. Serve with crusty bread. Start the preparation (soaking the bacon hocks and making the stock) one or two days before making the soup. Link to the recipe is here

Freaky Friday is the home for all of your terrifying tales and eerie coincidences. So if you've spent a night in a haunted house ... seen an unexplained moving object ... or experienced a seance gone wrong we want to hear from you. Text 2010 or email Jesse@afternoons.co.nz

In 1982 teenager Roxanne Sharp was killed in the woods of St Tammany Parish, which is about 48km north of New Orleans in Louisiana. At the time police struggled to solve the case due to a lack of evidence and witnesses willing to come forward. Fast forward 44 years and the decades old case has finally been solved with four men arrested, something police are crediting to a six-part podcast called 'Who Killed Roxanne Sharp'. Vice-president of Northshore Media, Charles Dowdy, who produced the podcast, joins Jesse.

We are officially entering school ball season which means the giddy excitement of choosing partners, dresses, suits, make up, party limos and tans. But all of that also means a lot of money and that's after buying the actual ball ticket! An article in the Herald this morning says tickets to Orewa College's upcoming ball were $230 a ticket but after a backlash from parents are now $195. Orewa College isn't the only school dealing with this issue. Here to explain what it's like to hold a school ball, is Principal of Massey High School in Auckland, Alastair Fairley.

Afternoons film critic Kate Rodger joins Jesse to give her hot takes on the latest films out in cinemas. The Devil Wears Prada 2 Apex

On a recent trip to the Chatham Islands, Mela and David Greenslade were struck by how reliant the islands are on diesel, despite being completely surrounded by powerful ocean energy. So they decided to try and develop technology to harness that energy, making something remote coastal and island communities could use. They're calling it SwellGen. Mela chats to Jesse.

Mary Holm is with Jesse to talk money matters and today she's focusing on KiwiSaver: ACT's KiwiSaver idea and the two KiwiSaver changes Mary would most like to see.

We're working our way through the alphabet to highlight people, places or events that make New Zealand, New Zealand. This week we're at T and have chosen T for Tangiwai - New Zealand's worst railway accident occurred at Tangiwai in the central North Island on 24 December 1953.

Professor Kirsty Ross from Massey University's School of Psychology joins Jesse to discuss issues and how to solve them. Please get in touch if there are any topics you would like us to cover at afternoons@rnz.co.nz

New research shows that homeowners, and aspiring homeowners, are less concerned about beautification of their homes and more focused on the practicalities like storage. Jesse chats through the findings and what they mean with Kristy Howlett.

This weekend marks the start of the New Zealand Comedy Festival, and gosh couldn't we all use some laughter right now? Tony Lyall is one of the comedians performing, his show is called "Crowd Work Comedy Kia Carnival", he joins Jesse to talk about crowd participation.

Research by some Auckland scientists has been labelled one of the big science breakthroughs of 2025 by Quanta magazine - a renowned US publication that focuses on science and maths news. University of Auckland's Dr Peter Wills joins Jesse to share what he helped discover and why it is being heralded by many.

For many school leavers, university seems to be the default option, and doing an apprenticeship or going into the workforce is often seen as a second-best choice. But why? Michael Johnston is a senior fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, and he thinks that the changes in school qualifications could be the opportunity to change that thinking. That's because what will replace the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) will include industry-led subjects. Michael discusses the issue with Jesse.

We've all seen the child who eats three foods on repeat, refuses anything green, and can't abide by food touching other food. But social historian Dr. Helen Zoe Veit says picky eating isn't some timeless childhood phase, and it's not simply hardwired biology. She argues it's something modern culture helped create, driven by a century of shifting family life, anxious parenting advice, and a food industry built around ultra-processed convenience. And that's the good news. Veit says if pickiness is shaped by the world kids grow up in, it's not permanent. With the right approach, children can learn to eat differently. Her new book is Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History.

Kelly Gibney comes up with the dishes every week and joins Jesse to share today's one.

This week we're off to sunny Vanuatu with Alice Berry.

Host Claire Concannon is in the field this week, so Liz Garton is with us to talk about her visit to the Bioeconomy Science Institute.

 Harlem Globetrotters Kaylin "Sunshine" West and Alex "Moose" Weekes join Jesse in the studio.

Dennis Renshaw is driving across some of Australia's most formidable roads to raise money for cancer research.