Morning songs

On a recent early and glorious Saturday morning - it was 4°C outside I let the complaining chickens out. Chickens never stop complaining.

Upwardly mobile

Climate-friendly e-scooters are proliferating but there are stumbling blocks for users and non-users.

A potent brew

There's a correlation between moderate coffee drinking and reduced risk of colorectal cancer - but evidence of a causal link is still percolating.

Food saviours

A little bit of silliness lightens the mood on the serious topic of food waste.

Ode to old masters

The Polynesian sound and Auckland's ska-punk scene are remembered in new releases.

Weaving Welsh with waiata

Te reo meets Cymraeg in a musical project partly spearheaded by Kawiti Waetford, an opera singer with connections to Wales.

Culture warrior

Activist and scholar Ngahuia te Awek6otuku achieved several firsts in society but had to fight many battles to get there.

An age-old problem

Is our lifespan fixed, or might we be able to slow down or even abolish ageing? And what would we do if we could?

When Jim becomes James

'What would white people do to a slave who had learned to read?' This impressive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn seeks to find out.

Manhattan transfer

A Kiwi movie star led the charge for an Anzac garden atop New York's Rockefeller Centre that's still in use today.

A Wylde life

How a West Coast mechanic who lost a leg at Gallipoli ended up living in luxury on the banks of the Thames, rubbing shoulders with artists, composers and poets.

'That German boy'

Paul Oestreicher's Jewish family escaped the Nazis in 1938. Once here, he was ostracised for being German. How did this committed pacifist end up leading a military Anzac Day service in East Germany?

Uncovering our past

For veteran broadcaster Cameron Bennett, navigating the origins and consequences of the New Zealand Wars has been both confronting and exhilarating.

Friend or foe?

An ambiguous war memorial on the banks of the Waikato River raises confronting questions about what it is commemorating.

Taonga tales

Collections of war memorabilia no longer just signify battles and bravery; they have evolved to tell us about ourselves.

Branching out

A lexander Hamilton described the courts as the least dangerous branch of government.

A real head banger

We owe an incalculable debt to scientists but they could have done with a crash course in tact before laying their latest, inevitably disempowering, tranche of findings on us: intermittent fasting could kill you, they now tell us in their pitiless way.

New media epoch

The week it was confirmed that a significant chunk of the nation's news media landscape was to disappear was also the week I officially retired my own long-standing media venture. No jobs were lost.

All going to pot

What would happen when Germany legalised cannabis?

Dying of the light

If the coalition sees any value in preserving balanced journalism, its lifeline might be a little late in coming.

Candid cameras in wartime

Clandestine photos have been unearthed and turned into a documentary showing Kiwi soldiers during World War II as they have never been seen before.

Return of the queen

Beth Orton brings the personal songs of her career-reviving album to NZ.

Fanny, the musical

How do you turn Jane Austen into opera and why pick Mansfield Park, her most demanding novel? Composer Jonathan Dove explains his approach to Richard Betts.

It's in the blood

Michael Bennett returns his Maori detective to her roots ina convincing, highly anticipated second novel.

Touchstones

Ahead of the Aotearoa Art Fair, Sally Blundell asks New Zealand artists about their favourite local artwork and why it moves them.

Room at the Top

The Opportunities Party could well be a force to be reckoned with as a centrist voice - it's just lacking a leader, a campaign and a lot of money.

Brought to book

He's rich, opinionated and believes in doing good for the community. Property developer Mark Todd is a study in contrasts.

'Why aren't you listening to me?!"

To really understand each other, our brains need to be in sync, says author Charles Duhigg. And, yes, there are ways to get on to the same wavelength.

The virus that came to stay

With current funding for our Covid response drawing to a close, there’s growing recognition that many people are suffering debilitating long-term effects. What’s the next move?

The chips are down

It's a forecast no Irish person with a sense of history expected ever to hear again: a severe potato shortage looms.