Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Jesse talks to Auckland Zoo's Curator of Ectotherms, Don McFarlane, about wetapunga. Wait till you hear the success story of how this critter has been brought back from the brink!

It's time for our Weekend Stuff segment; this week we are talking with Sylvia Sanford about changing the role of a room. Please send any questions you have for Sylvia to 2101.

The mornings might be getting cooler but Olivia Galletly, also known as The Hungry Cook, has a recipe that keeps that summer feeling lingering a little longer. Click HERE for the recipe.

Film critic Dominic Corry joins Jesse to review: The Bride! Tenor - My Name Is Pati Charli XCX movie The Moment

Time for Freaky Friday, our home for your terrifying tales. We're talking ghosts and ghouls, UFO's and unexplained happenings. If you've got a story for us, we want to know; 2101 on the text or email Jesse@rnz.co.nz Today we're joined by Marie.

Professor Simon Mitchell has won a major award for his work advancing dive practice worldwide, receiving the NOGI Science award from the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences Considered the 'Oscars' of the diving world, past recipients include the great French explorer Jacques Cousteau, Bob Ballard who discovered the wreck of the Titantic, and Ocean explorer and film director James Cameron Professor Mitchell is internationally recognised for his research in diving medicine, particularly in decompression physiology and oxygen toxicity, and he has recently appeared in the Netflix documentary 'Deeper' alongside some of the team involved in the 2019 Thai Cave rescue Professor Simon Mitchell, Head of Anaesthesiology at the University of Auckland joins Jesse.

National Farmers' Markets Week kicks off tomorrow, an annual celebration encouraging shoppers to ditch the supermarket and give their local market a go. Helen Dorresteyn co-founded the Clevedon Village Farmers' Market 20 years ago. She went door to door recruiting around 20 local producers, it's since grown into a thriving market with about 60 stalls and is now widely regarded as one of Auckland's best farmers' markets. She chats to Jesse.

What on earth is going on with the National Party? That's the question that seems to be on lots of lips as new polling shows the party only a couple of points above its disastrous 2020 numbers. The latest Curia Poll, released by The Taxpayer's Union, National is sitting at 28 percent, down three points from the same poll last October, and 10 points from the last election. Already today Nicola Willis, National's Deputy Leader, has said publicly she's not happy with the number, and that they have to do better. To offer his own analysis director of Capital NZ, former National press secretary, and political commentator Ben Thomas is with Jesse.

It's not headline news that raising kids isn't easy: you survive the sleepless nights, get through the toddler tantrums, navigate the primary school pickles, only to arrive at the stage where you need to have important, but often awkward, conversations with your tweens and teens about topics like consent, online predators and sex. To discuss how to navigate those tricky chats parenting coach Jo Robertson joins Jesse.

Let's talk money matters, Mary Holm is with Jesse and today she's turning her attention to investing in shares.

Time for sporting history, where we look back at the memorable moments in sport and talk to athletes who changed the game. Today Jesse is joined by Dillon Boucher. As a player Dillon's competed internationally at the Olympics and World Championships, he's also won 13 National championships. As an administrator he's run Basketball NZ, and is currently the 'President of Basketball operations' at the Breakers.

Every fortnight Professor Kirsty Ross from Massey University's School of Psychology joins us to help with some relationship pickles - whether between friends, colleagues, flatmates or romantic partners.

A groundbreaking study's revealed that even 50 years after the end of commercial whaling, its devastating impacts continue to shape humpback whale behaviour. Historical records show that in the waters of Oceania, which span from New Caledonia to French Polynesia, there were once more than 14,000 humpback whales. By the mid 1970s that number had plummeted to fewer than 200, bringing the species to the brink of extinction Now it's been revealed that as the population recovers, how whales' mate has been changed dynamically. Dr Emma Carroll is a molecular ecologist at the University of Auckland, she is the co-author of the research in the scientific journal Current Biology.

The Roots Foundation Sound System is New Zealand's longest running DJ collective, and now it's passed the torch on to the next generation of DJs Jesse Park aka Juce Porkmon and Benny Salvador grew up next to Fat Freddy's drop DJ Mu. This Saturday you can catch them at their free gig 'Soul Connections' at Wellington Museum where they'll be playing music inspired by Fat Freddy's Drop Jesse chats to Jesse.

With all this talk of oil shortages, solar power looks more and more appealing, but how do you know whether it could work for you and if you've already signed on to a solar system, how can you get the most out of it? Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey chats to Jesse. 1:25 The Roots Foundation Sound System's Changing of the Guard

We're starting the show with that epic performance by the Black Caps. The team stunned South Africa in the T20 semifinal; crushing them to win by nine wickets. Finn Allen was the hero of the match hitting an unbeaten century in just 33 balls, making history in the process as the fastest ton in T20 cricket history. Former Black Cap Chris Harris joins Jesse.

Whenever we talk about misinformation, the state of democracy, or what new technology is doing to public debate, one book comes up over and over again even though it was written 40 years ago. Amusing Ourselves to Death; Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman. It argued distraction would be our undoing, and once everything becomes entertainment, serious thought to take on serious issues is hard to come by. Neil Postman saw this coming long before social media feeds, constant scrolling, and smartphones in every pocket. Andrew Postman is a writer and Neil Postman's son, He wrote the introduction to the latest edition of his father's prescient book. He offers insights into the man who sounded the warning about mindless screentime all those years ago.

Time for Bookmarks, that's our weekly feature where we spend some time chatting to interesting people about what interests them. Today Laura Vincent is going to share what she likes to listen to, watch and read. Laura is a writer who recently published her first ever novel Hoods Landing, and just today she was announced as a finalist for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards!

Kelly Gibney joins Jesse to share a recipe - click here if you would like it.

If you have a other travel story you'd like to share on Heading Off - then get in touch on 2101 or Jesse@afternoons.co.nz Today we're chatting to Chris Watson from Tauranga, about his road trip along the length of Africa.