Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Jesse spoke with University of Canterbury student Emmalee Abbott-Joe about addressing the waste generated by the haircare industry, drawing inspiration from the science behind laundry sheets.

The best pies in New Zealand were crowned at 2025 Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards last week and bakers with Cambodian heritage won seven out of the eleven categories. So why do Cambodians make such great pies? To find out, Jesse spoke to the legendary pie maker Patrick Lam from Patrick's Pies Gold Star Bakery in Tauranga Patrick has won the prestigious Supreme Pie Award an incredible 8 times over the years.

Something a bit different to kick things off today - we're going to talk about the UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship. UFC is the largest Mixed Martial Arts promotion in the world, and in a relatively short time, it's become a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise. This week they added another feather to their cap, signing a multi-billion dollar deal with Paramount for exclusive broadcasting rights in the US. This news may cause some to wonder why MMA - which is undoubtedly among the most violent sports - continues to surge in popularity? Many fighters have suffered permanent brain damage and there have been at least seven recorded fatalities. Jesse spoke to Mike Angove, New Zealand's leading combat sports commentator and former world kickboxing champion.

Forgetting a name is embarrassing. Forgetting a face takes that awkwardness to the next level. Renowned author and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell forgets faces all the time. He has face blindness, which affects about 3% of people. His Revisionist History podcast producer, Lucie Sullivan is the opposite. She's a super-recognizer who almost never forgets a face. They shared their experiences on a recent podcast episode. Jesse talks to Lucie Sullivan and Harvard psychologist and Face Blindness expert Dr. Joe DeGutis. Here's the test we talk about in the interview.

Time for Bookmarks where each week we get an interesting person, and ask them to recommend some of their favourite books, TV shows, films, music and anything else they want to share. Today Jesse is joined by Neil Finn, you might know him from bands like Split Enz, Crowded House and a stint in Fleetwood Mac.

Kelly Gibney joins us with a lovely mid week recipe. This week it's a pasta and we're including broccoli and spinach to add nutritional punch to the sauce. Adding lightly cooked broccoli and fresh baby spinach is an easy way to super-charge pesto. Recipe is here

Today we're heading off to the Chatham Islands where the annual Festival of Science has just kicked off.

The United Nations was created in 1945, after the end of World War II. Fast forward to today, is it remaining true to its founding document, the UN Charter? 

The average PhD thesis tends to clock in at about 100,000 words. So, how would you go if you had to condense that to three minutes? 

The Good Sex Project is a podcast about good sex, good relationships and how to have them. This season they're looking to cover a range of topics including age gaps, rise of singledom, male loneliness and more.

Wall Street Journal tech reporter Sam Schechner says he first suspected artificial intelligence was eating his brain when he used ChatGPT to help write an email to his son's basketball coach. He lives in Paris, and speaks fluent French, but Schechner started asking AI for help with emails, summarizing legal documents, even texting friends. Soon French words didn't come as easily when effort was optional and mental concentration was offloaded to AI. He writes about his experience in a piece for The Wall Street Journal titled How I Realized AI Was Making Me Stupid-and What I Do Now.

Roy Harper has released 32 albums, performed at five Glastonbury's, and been cited as a an inspiration by Led Zeppelin, Pete Townsend, Kate Bush and more. Recorded Music NZ's Paul Kennedy takes us inside Roy's world.

This week Brad will touch on Australia recognising Palestine as a state; the hunt for a huge meteor spotted in Victoria and other news that's got Australians talking.

Claire Mabey reviews some brilliant picture books that should entertain both kids and adults. A Guide to Rocks by Sacha Cotter & Josh Morgan (HUIA) Pukeko Who-Keko by Toby Morris (Penguin). Mother of the Nation: Whina Cooper and the long walk for justice by David Hill and Story Hemi Morehouse (and translated into re reo by Stacey Morrison).

SNAFU with Ed Helms - Season three looks at prohibition in the USA. Pop Culture Parenting - Australian parenting podcast hosted by Dr Billy (a developmental pediatrician) and Nick (a developing parent). Both picks are available wherever you get your podcasts.

University of Canterbury student Jade Luxton has identified a critical gap in New Zealand's livestock vaccination process - which is costing farmers millions annually and raises animal welfare issues. Jade Luxton was still in high school when she came up with the idea for Steerineedle - a portable holster that sterilises needles in seconds. She chats to Jesse.

From the brand of coffee you drink, the song you like to sing, to the car you drive .. examples of intellectual property are everywhere. Which means there are also disputes over them. Right now there are two TikTok stars fighting over who owns, and I quote, "clean girl aesthetic" From October, a dedicated judicial process will be introduced in our Courts to streamline such arguments. Kate Wilson has written a book called 'The Hidden Mechanics of IP: Demystifying Intellectual Property', and tells Jesse why IP is important.

The move to recognise Palestine as a state is growing traction, with Australia joining France, Canada and others in backing the idea at the United Nations General Assembly next month. Our Government's confirmed its weighing its position on recognition and will decide in the next month. Prime Minster Chris Luxon has described the situation in Gaza as an "absolute human catastrophe". Dr. Maria Armoudian, who is an associate professor in politics and international relations at Auckland University, joins Jesse to discuss.

Follow the money in the gaming industry, and you'll discover incentives that shape the games and the ways they keep kids hooked. Young players are logging into gaming platforms and landing in Nazi camps, school shooting reenactments, strip clubs, or acting out a teacher-student romance. It's all part of a business model built to keep kids playing and spending. NYU researcher Bennett Sippel explored them firsthand. He's the co-author of a piece on the substack After Babel that helps parents understand how new monetization models are changing the online gaming world.The piece is called "It's Not Just a Game Anymore."

Today we are talking all things Dinosaur. Did they really have feathers? Could they talk to each other? Did a T-rex and a velociraptor ever meet? To answer those, and whatever else you can throw at him, Jesse is joined by Te Papa's Dinosaur expert Felix Marx.