Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Food isn't just something we eat anymore. We're served up food culture all day long, whether we invite it in or not, feeding our cravings and shaping our choices in ways we don't always notice. Ruby Tandoh is best known for her appearance on the Great British Bake Off and her sharp writing on cooking and culture. She's watched the old hand-me-down recipe tradition give way to a constant stream of influences coming from every direction: viral posts, buzzy restaurants, and the invisible hand of algorithmic recommendation. Her new book unpacks how all of this guides our appetites. The book is called All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now.

Let's chat about what's happening in Australia and here to share the news from across the Tasman is Brad Foster. Today Brad looks at the move to extend the lifespan of the largest coal fired power station; the new survey showing how teenagers feel about social media ban and the latest sports news.

Let's chat books now and our critic Claire Mabey has some excellent offerings - especially if you're thinking of books for Christmas: Good Things Come and Go by Josie Shapiro Wrapping Things by Linda Burgess Lockett and Wilde books by Lucy Strange and Pam Smy

Podcast Critic Elliot Childs shares his listening recommendations: Cannonball The Wonder of Stevie.

New research out of Auckland University has revealed we're really bad at discerning sounds. Sam Schwarzkopf an Associate Professor of Health Science chats to Jesse about why.

Last week we had a conversation about paper roads, or as the Outdoor Access Commission prefers to call them, "unformed legal roads" and goodness me did we get a lot of feedback from you. Many of you asked about the Queen's Chain and so we're thrilled to have the Comission's field adviser Dot Dalziell back with us to tell us more about that topic.

The Oxford English dictionary has announced their Word of the Year as "Ragebait" That joins Cambridge's pick "Parasocial", Collins "Vibe Coding" and Dictionary.com ... playing to the youth crowd with Six Seven. While you might disagree with their picks, these words are an insight into where our culture and language are right now. University of Waikato sociolinguist Andreea Claude is with Jesse to discuss these words and why we need word of the year at all.

This week open banking officially went live for customers of the big four banks. That's ANZ, ASB, BNZ & Westpac. If you bank elsewhere your bank might not have enabled it quite yet. But exactly what is open banking? And how will it make a difference to you? To find out, Jesse is joined by Josh Daniell from open banking company Akahu.

The panic kicked in around page 40. Thirteen years ago, director and screenwriter James Vanderbilt set out to write a film about the Nuremberg trials, a moment when the world chose justice over vengeance, putting Hitler's right-hand man Hermann Göring and 23 other high-ranking Nazis before an international court. The story centers on a U.S. Army psychiatrist assigned to evaluate the defendants and determine if they were fit to stand trial. Russell Crowe stars as Göring, with Rami Malek as the American trying to understand the psychology of evil. Nuremberg opens in New Zealand cinemas this Thursday. Director James Vanderbilt joins me now.

It's time for our Monday expert feature, where we choose a topic and invite an expert in to give us the ins and outs. Today we're focusing on wool. Wool has played a keen role in New Zealand's economy since early settlers arrived over 200 years ago. In October, a brand-new Wool Alliance was formed between four organisations to commit to long-term outcomes for the industry. One of those was Campaign for Wool NZ, and their chairperson Ryan Cosgrove is our expert today.

Monday means it's time to hit the clubs - because we've got a new segment on the show where I chat to clubbers. So if you have a club you'd like Jesse to join for the day please get in touch we'd love to hear from you - afternoons@rnz.co.nz

Cailtin Cherry joins Jesse to review two shows: All Her Fault - TVNZ on Demand The Beast in Me - Netflix

Melissa Stokes is the new lead presenter of TVNZ's flagship programme 1News at Six. She's moved from her weekend presenting role to anchor the broadcaster's main bulletin five nights a week - Sunday to Thursday. Melissa replaces Simon Dallow, who stepped down from the role after nearly two decades. To discuss what this move means to her, and what the role entails, Melissa joins Jesse.

When we think of harmful emissions, we think it's fair to say most of us picture clogged motorways not busy hospitals. But environmental damage from anaesthetic gases is a thing; one hospital with 15 operating theatres will emit the equivalent to driving two million kilometres in a petrol-powered car. It's a problem that saw an Auckland University professor leap into action, inventing a device that captures almost all of the gases released during surgery. That device has just had a successful trial - for more about this Professor Saeid Baroutian chats to Jesse.

A couple of weeks ago we spoke to the Drug Foundation after the Government announced that Police will begin roadside drug driving tests. Police will test for four types of drugs - cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and meth - using an oral-fluid testing device. As more information about the testing device has been released, so has commentary. While everyone can agree we don't want impaired drivers on our roads, questions have been raised about the decision to test for the presence of drugs rather than impairment. University of Otago Professor Joseph Boden talks to Jesse.

Where are you planning to live when you retire? Stay in your own home as long as possible? Move in with family maybe? Or are you keen to move into a retirement village? Global property firm JLL recently released their 2025 report on the state of New Zealand retirement villages, and it has found that in the next 8 years demand is set to out strip supply by over 11 thousand places. That's a deficit that's only expected to grow as our population ages. WSP fellow and Deputy Director at the Helen Clark Foundation Kali Mercier joins Jesse to discuss.

Friday afternoon means it's time to talk about the endandgered critters that are endemic to New Zealand. This week Forest and Bird Chief Executive Nicola Toki and Jesse are looking at the Olearia Owlet Moth.

Martin Bosley from Yellow Brick Road shares Skye Gyngell's delicious recipe: Mussels with Fennel, Crème fraiche and Saffron

Troy Kingi joins us for NZ Live to celebrate his new album, Night Lords.

Dominic Corry is in our Auckland studio to talk movies, and this week he's looking at: Wake Up Dead Man - A Knives Out (new in theatres this week) After the Hunt (Prime Video) Die My Love (new in theatres this week).