Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

Jesse chats to Forest and Bird Chief Executive about this week's critter. Huberia striata belongs to the only fully New Zealand endemic genus of ant. Widespread throughout Aotearoa, they nest underground in native bush. Like other ant species, they are known to farm plant hoppers and scale insects by keeping them safe in their nest and then milking them for their sweet honeydew secretions. Their name comes from the fact that their body is covered in long thin lines (striations), making them look wrinkly!

 It's time to chat about what you get up to in the weekend, today Jesse is joined by talented garden designer Tony Murrell from Murrell Gardens.

Auckland Council's The Kitchen Project manager Connie Clarkson joins Jesse to chat food. Today her recipe is gado gado with peanut sauce. Gado Gado means "mix mix" in Indonesian Gado-gado is a traditional Indonesian salad made of a medley of cooked or raw vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, fried tofu, all brought together with a rich peanut sauce. The name literally translates to "mix-mix," So versatile: use any combination of vegetables - waxy potatoes, kumara, beans, asparagus, - great for leftovers.

Film critic Kate Rodger joins us to share her film recommendations. Predator Badlands - in cinemas TOITU: Visual Sovereignty - go here to see venues

Time for Freaky Friday. Our home for your spooky stories, terrifying tales and eerie encounters If you have a story to share, be that a ghost, a UFO, or something else unexplained we want to hear from you. Send us a brief outline of your tale to 2101 and we'll add it to the list. After last week's Halloween special, we're taking a step away from ghosts and going for something a bit different this week. And for that Margaret from Makorori joins Jesse.

A new six-part video series that dives into the world of perfumery in Aotearoa kicks off on Monday. Journey of Scent is billed as a sensory adventure that takes us into a world that we rarely get to see. It stars Nathan Taare and Whitney Steel who join me now.

Canterbury nursery manager Jake Linklater has won the prestigious Young Horticulturist of the Year trophy. He won the title last night after an intensive two-day competition. Jake also took out the Best Practice Award and the Sustainability Award, he joins Jesse.

Changes to our genetic modification laws have our scientists and politicians struggling to agree on a way forward. Over the last few weeks we have been discussing various aspects of the gene tech bill which has stalled in Parliament. We've spoken to Professor Andrew Allan and Professor Jack Heinemann for their take on the issue. Today... we want to delve into the labelling of food... because how would we know if the food we're eating is genetically modified? Emily King is a food systems expert and the author of Re-food - she is urging caution over changes to our GM laws and labelling.

Big news for the film industry today, with the Government announcing a major boost to the screen production rebate scheme. The rebate allows film companies and producers to receive cash back from money spent here during production. The main changes revealed this morning are that the current rebate could go from 20 to 25 percent, the minimum spend for feature films to qualify for the rebate will be lowered, and the threshold for productions to access the extra 5% will drop ... to help attract more bid budget productions. It's hoped that changes - that come into force from January - will lift our competitiveness against other countries around the world. Kelly Martin is the CEO of South Pacific Pictures and talks to Jesse.

It seems our children aren't so engaged with locally made content. That's according to new research which has also revealed that parents don't know where to find local shows. The survey - commissioned by NZ On Air - has prompted the agency to launch a dedicated hub on YouTube for our kids. To find out more about this NZ On Air's head of funding Amie Mills is with Jesse.

Today the focus is on debt and diversification.

It's Melbourne Cup week and we're thrilled to have trainer Sheila Laxon with us. In 2001, Sheila was the first female trainer to win the Melbourne Cup, with a horse named Ethereal. Last year she became the first woman to win it twice when Knight's Choice crossed the line first. The success doesn't stop there, earlier this year she was honored at the NZ Thoroughbred Racing Awards. Sheila chats to Jesse.

Time now to talk through the content filling up your group chats, the conversation fodder distracting you from the task at hand. Joining Jesse is film critic and friend of the show Kate Rodger and Senior Producer Lucy Walker.

If you're in Invercargill on a Friday or Saturday night you might catch the bright lights and booming sound of a karaoke taxi. Josh Coats created Super Ridez just five months ago - and it's already proving a popular option for party goers.

Two of New Zealand's most well-known and celebrated creative voices have come together for a new staging of the iconic play Woman Far Walking. Written by Witi Ihimaera and directed by Katie Wolfe, the play follows the life of a Maori woman born in 1840, the year the treaty of Waitangi was signed, as she travels through our history. This version of the play is called Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking, and it has an updated script with English and te reo Maori weaved together. Katie Wolfe chats to Jesse.

We're want to talk about climate change, and more specifically whether policy makers are throwing in the towel on the climate battle. It's a question we're asking because Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has announced changes to the Climate Change Response Act. The biggest amendment seems to be the proposal to end the current requirement for the Climate Change Commission to advise the Government on the country's emissions reduction plans. It would also mean the public would no longer be consulted on national emissions budgets. Across the ditch, Australia's conservative political parties are looking at dropping their commitment to hit net zero emissions by 2050. These changes got us wondering whether our individual actions can still make a difference.

Susana catches up with Our Changing World's Claire Concannon, who has recently travelled to the Waikato to learn more about the gold clam.

On the outskirts of Malawi's commercial capital in South East Africa, two of the world's most vulnerable groups, children and wildlife, were being exploited at an orphanage established by a Taiwanese monk. Behind its walls, children were being groomed to take part in an international wildlife trafficking network in ivory, rhino horn, lions' teeth, shark fins and pangolins. For more than a decade, journalist Rachel Nuwer has investigated the illegal trade in endangered animals, often putting herself in danger undercover to expose their methods. Her latest story in The Economist raises urgent questions about exploitation, faith, and the hidden forces driving the illegal wildlife trade. It's called The School for Wildlife Traffickers.

Our regular Easy Eats contributor Kelly Gibney is back from her holiday and joins Susana to share this recipe.

Time for heading off. It's the moment in the show when we take you travelling to locations you might always have wondered about. We love hearing about your adventures, so if you have one you'd like to share, please email us afternoons@rnz.co.nz Today we're going with Afternoons listener Frida Harper to Kazakhstan, Kyrgistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.