Saturday Morning

The Summer Olympics of 1904 were held in St Louis, Missouri and they were the first ever held outside of Europe. But this particular event has gone down in history for hosting a farcical marathon which involved rat poison, hitch-hiking, stolen fruit and dog attacks. The strange tale has been brought to the stage by Nic Sampson who popped in to share a little of it.

Two poet-artists who've shared a long friendship defined by the waves and the currents of the South Pacific are John Puhiatau Pule and Gregory O'Brien. They've collaborated on a new publication called This Must Be the Island - Liga Hanai e Motu. It features poetry, art and design from both influenced by all corners of the South Pacific, its people and places. Punctuated by sketches, prints and poems the book is a feast for the eyes. During their interview they both treated us to a reading of their personal favourites.

On the last day to vote we check in with RNZ hosts Jesse Mulligan and Wallace Chapman ahead of the networks special coverage which starts at 7 o'clock once polls close. There's a big night ahead with in depth analysis of the results as they role in from around the motu. Jesse and Wallace will be hopping from one location to another across a range of spots in Auckland.

Over the ditch, Aussies have become a little more comfortable through the years facing the wreckage of their colonial history and the violence and trauma borne from it. But there's still one dark chapter of their history that many know nothing about: it's the practice of Blackbirding - which our next guest, author Ryan Butta explained is Australia's forgotten slave trade.

Dozens of pilot whales were found stranded on a Wairarapa beach this week and despite the best efforts of conservation groups and concerned locals all the whales perished. Daren Grover from whale rescue group Project Jonah joined us for an update and to talk about a new AI-assisted bit of tech that might give us the ability to predict and prepare for these events in future.

Cyber criminals have once again hacked into supermarket fridges and freezers across France in a bizarre attack for which no one has claimed responsibility - nor have any demands been made. With ever growing cyber-security threats and questions around the vulnerability of infrastructure we invited National Cyber Security Centre head Catriona Robinson to find out the risk factors in Aotearoa and what can be done about them.

Ahead of this week's release of Black Sheeps, actor Nathan Meister is here to talk about reprising his role from Black Sheep twenty years ago and Weta Workshop's Stephen Crowe tells us about creating the titular ovine monstrosities.

Academic and pop culture history expert Lorna Piatta-Farnell is here to talk about Halloween and its origins, particularly whether it's an example of an Americanising influence on our culture or a link back to our Celtic social history.

If you're spectating or running in the marathon in Auckland tomorrow, you might wonder why there's a woman dressed as a giant poo in the race. That's Anna Ross, who along with her team is running to raise awareness and money for gut cancer.

Saturday Morning's medical expert Dr Buzz Burrell is back to answer listener questions and track what ailments are widespread as we head into summer.

Country Calendar producer and host Dan Henry joins us to talk about helming the longest-running television programme in New Zealand history and how they manage to find a new patch of rural life every week.

Searching for Afunakwa is a documentary and music project that traces the little-known origins of one of the most recognizable pieces of "world music" of the 1990s. Sweet Lullaby, by Deep Forest became a global hit, selling millions of copies and appearing in films, advertisements, and viral videos. But the woman behind the vocals was never acknowledged. DJ Matt Singmin went looking for Afunakwa, deep in the forests of the Solomon Islands

For more than four decades, Distinguished Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith has dedicated himself to validating and advocating for Maori education systems that better serve indigenous peoples. His work identifying and analysing Kaupapa Maori Theory has been transformative in kura, and the world of academia both here and overseas which is why he's been recognised this week with the Te Puawaitanga Research Excellence Medal at the Royal Society Te Aparangi Awards.

BBC security Correspondent Frank Gardner joins to give us the latest on the monumental elections that define last week and next week - namely, the elections in Israel and the upcoming midterm decisions to be made by voters in the United States of America.

A deeply compelling innovation has cancer specialists buzzing. An experimental mRNA cancer vaccine which has allowed people with high-risk melanoma to live longer, cancer-free, according to drug companies Moderna and Merck. Medical Oncologist and Melanoma NZ Spokesperson Gareth Rivalland has been leading this from the New Zealand end and will explain what it means.

Labour weekend is traditionally the long weekend we rip into the garden. There are sales on, the sun (hopefully - whereever you are in the motu) is shining! It's a time for clearing out the weeds and new plantings... a time of new beginnings. The queen of green thumbs, Hannah Zwartz is here to help us make the right choices.

Sleeping Beauty is back with the Royal New Zealand Ballet this month - and touring around the country. The ballet steps us into a fairytale of magic, telling the story of Princess Aurora, a wicked curse and of course, true love. It's all happening under the watchful, wise eye of Greg Horsman came into the Wellington studio to talk it through.

More than a century after his great-grandfather arrived in New Zealand, Harpreet Singh still gets told he doesn't belong here. Sikhs have been confronted at public events, racist graffiti has appeared outside schools, and anti-immigration rhetoric has once again entered the public conversation.

Three people develop dementia every hour - that's 500 new cases every week. And our aging population means the number of people with dementia is expected to nearly double by 2050. But navigating the disease is incredibly difficult, both for those who have it and their caregivers. Nurse, Naomi Anderson, spent 20 years working in dementia care and says there are ways we can make that journey a whole lot less heartbreaking.

Around the world most people imagine penguins on icebergs and icy plains, while here in Aotearoa we're more likely to see the Little Blue paddling in through the waves and nesting on our bountiful rocky shores. But the elusive Fiordland penguin or tawaki much prefers the living deep in the green over the blue, burrowing under the native trees. Dr Thomas Mattern stopped by for a chat after days out tracking these amazing manu.

Social media bans for under 16s have seen cross-party support this election. But while most parties are wary of it - social media has also become a crucial pillar in campaigning. Dr Mona Krewel from Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka has been tracking social media's role in the last three elections and joined us to discuss.

Dr Marthinus Bekker, clinical psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, is behind a new programme which offers a breakthrough treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that's being offered in New Zealand for the very first time.

Perpetual Guardian founder and four-day work week advocate Andrew Barnes has been putting some work into answering whether the way we think about the work week fit for purpose.

Australian comedian Heath Franklin has spent 20 years in the iconic Aviators, fake horseshoe moustache and Sharpie tattoos that transform him into his stand-up comedy version of infamous Aussie jailbird Chopper Read. Ahead of returning to New Zealand next month to roll out some of his greatest hits, he talks to Kate Rodger about what life is like behind the moustache.

It's Shakeout 2026, a day and set time to practice your drill if you're in a potential tsunami danger zone. Principal Scientist at Earth Sciences NZ's Graham Leonard dropped into the studio to talk us through the dangers, and what practical steps you can take to stay safe along with the latest science.

On any given Saturday, before much of Auckland is stirring the Ōtara Markets are already humming. For 50 years they've been a fixture of South Auckland life - rich in Pacific culture and vibrancy, offering food, music, crafts and art. One stallholder has spent 30 of those years turning up week after week - driving from whakatane rain hail or shine to set up her stall. Known around the markets as Miss Whakatane - Iris Herewini - spoke to Kate Rodger live from her stall.

The Kiwi-born best-selling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz is back with another work of historical fiction, this time detailing the story of a young Jewish woman in World War Two era Paris who is protected by her piano teacher at great personal risk. Heather Morris joins Saturday Morning to talk about her new book, The Piano Teacher of Montparnasse.

With an aging population and everyday tasks that seem to involve more and more tech, technological progress marches on, but is it leaving some of us behind? Kate Rodger spoke to Melanie Stowell, a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland, who's been looking into the way fear of technology can leave older Kiwis feeling isolated.

What may be the world's oldest shipwreck has been found off the coast of Turkey. It's a discovery that could transform our understanding of Mediterranean connections during the Early Bronze Age and show the foundations of trade routes that still mean so much today. Kate Rodger spoke to Karin Sowada, an archaeologist who specialises in Egypt and the Middle East.

East of Eden, Heart of the Beast, Tenzing and Minecraft. New Zealand locations have been front and centre in some of the biggest film and television productions. Our crews are rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood's biggest and brightest. Director Toa Fraser spoke to Kate Rodger about the benefits of bringing Hollywood to Aotearoa.

Biologist Wayne Linklater on tracking the wild horses of the Kaimanawa Ranges

Question Time with Luke Kemeys: Financial literacy and helpful tips

The secret to start-ups with Matty Blomfield, CEO at Hectre who's done all the hard yards

Why the spotlight is back on the Lizzie Borden story which gripped the world and has haunted folklore since.

The latest update to the Oxford English Dictionary adds a suite of words commonly used in New Zealand

The Cornell 7 case and how to have the important conversations with our boys

Australian-based demographer Simon Kuestenmacher makes an art out of tracking the demographic shifts.

On the morning of the first Bledisloe Cup bout of 2026, we're talking to sports commentator Scotty Stevenson about the history of the All Blacks and Springboks rivalry and the annual competition that's been running for nearly a century.