Rnz: Afternoons With Jesse Mulligan

It's time now for a new season of the RNZ podcast Thrift and this week host Katy Gossett investigates some cheap tweaks that can help turn your rental property into a home. Today we meet an expert renter and op-shopping queen whose homely hacks won't stretch the budget.

We've got a weekly segment called 'You're the Judge' where we present an issue that's been sent in by one of our listeners, and you, our audience, decide what the right course of action is.

"Just be yourself" is one of the worst pieces of advice out there says Psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. Authenticity and some diversity programs that encourage people to 'be themselves' often lead to failure he says. Dr Chamorro-Premuzic explains that the most successful people aren't intensely authentic, they're experts at reading a room, adapting, and understanding where the right to be yourself ends and our obligation to others begins. His new book is called Don't Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated.

Let's find out what's happening in Australia now Brad Foster is with us now to tell us what everyone is talking about across the Tasman. Today's topics - How a Neo-Nazi rally in Sydney on Saturday got permission to be held and why tobacco sales are soaring on the Australian black market.

A few weeks ago Pip Adam was lucky enough to be part of the launch of Laura Vincent's new novel Hoods Landing. Today she chats to Jesse about three book things related to Hood's Landing. Overseas Experience by Nicola Andrews (Aporo Press, 2025) local loser podcast with host Damien Levi The Whitireia Publishing Course - Aotearoa New Zealand's only full-time industry-led qualification in book publishing.

Tim Batt joins Jesse to explain why he hates smart devices. This is off the back of Google no longer supporting some of its smart thermostats in the United States.

Sir Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctica Expedition - between 1914 and 1917 - has been described as one of the greatest adventures of all time. While photos were taken during the expedition - the full voyage hasn't been documented visually, until now. Antarctic and maritime artist Sean Garwood has spent years compiling photographs and studying accounts of the expedition and has now brought the story to life through oil paintings.

Nearly 3,000 hectares of Tongariro National Park have been turned to ash by fires that started on Saturday. That's about three thousand full size rugby pitches of old growth and native plants burnt - some completely. As the ash starts to settle, the process of understanding what has been lost is being revealed, Jesse is joined by Project Tongariro Chief Executive Kiri Te Wano.

An article by RNZ journalist Gaurav Sharma takes readers behind the scenes of the Indian business community in the Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe and reveals the lengths many shop owners are going to in order to stay safe. Along with fog cannons, bollards and security doors, some jewellery retailers have installed cages within their stores, protecting them and their products. Gurdeep Singh, owner of Pooja Jewellers, talks to Jesse.

This week on Here Now..... Kadambrai Raghukumar covers the current conflict is Sudan. Sh speaks to those in New Zealand who fled the Violence of 2003 who share their grief and hope over what's happening in their homeland.

Today we acknowledge the death of Lee Tamahori, Ngati Porou, the pioneering Kiwi filmmaker behind 'Once Were Warriors' and 'Mahana'. Jesse speaks to actress Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, the star of his 2023 film 'The Convert'.

Going out in public became dreadfully uncomfortable for 75-year-old Dave Richards after an accident with a drunk driver four years ago in Devon, England. His bike got caught under the car, dragging him on the asphalt, tearing away much of his face, nose and neck. Surgeons had to remove his eye and cover the damaged area with a skin graft. The accident that nearly took his life, took his confidence until a team of experts at the Bristol 3D Medical Centre stepped in. Using advanced 3D scanning, design, and printing, they are rebuilding Dave Richards' face. Misha Newnham is one of the reconstructive scientists at the first of its kind centre in the UK. She explains this remarkable new technology and how it's pushing the boundaries of reconstructive medicine.

Today we are joined by Police cold case specialist Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney.

For a while now we've run a segment called Jesse's Cold Call where Jesse picks up the phone, dials an organisation at random, and hopes to find someone to have a yarn with. He's called all the information centres around the country and some iwi radio stations. So, given all the chat about hornets, we thought today we'd try our luck with a pest controller.

Let's talk about what's good to watch on the small screen. Claire Chitham tells Jesse about the new seasons of The Diplomat and The Twelve.

Next time you're tucking into a pāua fritter, spare a thought for those who are doing everything they can to help replenish our depleted pāua populations. An aquafarming family in the Marlborough Sounds has been doing just that for almost 25 years. They have been repopulating parts of the country's coastline by growing tiny pāua in tanks. Mike Radon from Arapawa Blue Pearls joins Jesse to tell him all about it.

This Wednesday, pipers will pay homage to AC/DC when they descend on Fed Square in Melbourne to smash the record for the largest ever bagpipe ensemble. They're hoping for around 350 players to show up. The music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top" was filmed in the same spot in 1976, and one of the original pipers was Les Kenfield. He joins Jesse for a chat.

While Gaza continues to capture the world's attention, the West Bank has also experienced a dramatic escalation of violence. Aid agencies are reporting that it's suffering near economic collapse, widespread hunger and schools and people living in fear. Christchurch man Cole Martin spent six months there in a refugee camp and has just returned home. He tells Jesse about his experience.

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.