RNZ - All Programmes

World record attempt: Why Jono Ridler is swimming for days

Depending on the conditions he swims two six-hour stints a day, five days in a row, before taking a rest day. He's attempting to break the world record for the longest unassisted staged swim, all to raise awareness for ocean health and call for an end to bottom trawling, one of the most destructive fishing practices still allowed in New Zealand waters He's teamed up with Peter Burling and Blair Tuke's marine conservation charity, Live Ocean, to deliver a petition to Parliament and is now just 111 kilometres from Wellington.

Humans and animals are attracted to the same mating sounds - yes really!

Humans may have more in common with animals than we thought, especially when it comes to attraction. New research suggests we're drawn to the same mating calls as other species supporting Darwin's observation that animals share our "taste for the beautiful." Dr Sam Mehr from the University of Auckland and Yale University is the senior author of this new study, he joins Jesse.

A piece of New Zealand in a Hollywood blockbuster

'Project Hail Mary' - the new Hollywood blockbuster starting Ryan Gosling, has a New Zealand connection. One of the film's most pivotal scenes includes a recording of the classic Waiata 'Po Atarau'. The version in the film was recorded in 1976 by the Turakina Girls' College choir Ex-student, and former principal of the school - which closed in 2015 - Terehia Channings is with Jesse.a

Is NZ heading towards the privatisation of health care?

Data from Stats NZ shows that trust in our public health system has been falling for well over a decade. 35 percent of New Zealand adults invest in health insurance, many of you citing long waits and unreliability of the public system as the reason why. In a new paper published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, Dr Erik Monasterio examines whether we are rapidly moving towards the privatisation of health care. He discusses with Jesse.

Midday sports news

An update on the latest news and results from RNZ's sports team.