Saturday Morning

Episodes

• Remembering Jools Topp at the Gold Guitar Awards 30.05.2026 9m

  It's day two of auditions at the New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards in Gore. Jenny Mitchell won the senior competition in 2017. She's back this year as both a showcase performer and volunteer helping out on stage - because that's just what you do! A highlight of the Tussock Country festival, Gold Guitars launched her country music career - one that has taken her to Tamworth and Nashville. Now based in Melbourne, Jenny was mentored by Dame Jools Topp who sadly passed away earlier this week. Jenny talks to Susie about her audition picks so far and how Jools shaped her as both a musician and a person.
• Tusiata Avia: Telling her truth 30.05.2026 19m

  Poet, performer and award-winning author, Tusiata Avia has forged her own path as a Pasifika voice on themes like racism and identity delivered with humour, honesty and courage. The 2026 International Institute of Modern Letters Writer in Residence for the Academy of New Zealand Literature, her latest work is called Giving Birth to My Father. A collection of poems, it is an exploration and expression of grief and acceptance. She speaks to Susie about loss, life - and getting into trouble.
• Gardening tips with Hannah Zwartz 30.05.2026 14m

  Our regular gardening expert Hannah Zwartz is back with more advice for the green and not so green fingered amongst us! Today she talks to Susie about why we prune in June and she has her top tips for planting - size, spacing and why sprinkling seed is a good alternative to mulch.
• Dr Nadine Levy: Celebrating an ordinary life 30.05.2026 13m

  Being ordinary or doing ordinary things isn't usually something people aspire to - but Dr Nadine Levy says we should. 
• Sam Cox: Mr Doodle 30.05.2026 21m

  Sam Cox turned his obsession with doodling into a global art sensation. But at one point he believed he really was his alter ego, Mr Doodle.
• David Silbersweig: Earworms 30.05.2026 18m

  Most of us have a song at some time or another we just can't get out of our head. It's called an earworm - and you can get rid of them!   
• Choosing brotherhood in the Middle East 30.05.2026 23m

  After decades of conflict, it's hard to imagine a peaceful Middle East. But Maoz Inon, an Israeli and Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian believe it is possible. 
• Sam Hogg: The secret to farming success 30.05.2026 20m

  Concerned that their dairy farm was both financially and environmentally unsustainable, the Hogg family decided to return to their organic roots. Sam Hogg led the farm's conversion to permaculture - and increased their profits by a staggering 500%. He talks to Susie Ferguson about how he did it!
• James Muldoon: Finding love with AI 30.05.2026 22m

  Would you date an artificial intelligence companion? James Muldoon did. 
• Bryan Crump: Classic Conversations 23.05.2026 26m

  With a name inspired by a beautiful and remote part of New Zealand, The Doubtful Sounds choir is all about making beautiful noise. Directed by RNZ's Concerts very own Bryan Crump, the choir performs Bryan's a cappella arrangements of popular music from around the world at global competitions and village halls The award-winning community choir has a special treat in store for Saturday Morning as Bryan talks to Susie and Mihingarangi about singing, arranging and his new podcast Crump's Classical Conversation.
• Nick Becker: Auckland FC's Grand Final 23.05.2026 12m

  It's a massive night tonight for footy fans, with Auckland FC facing off against Sydney FC in the A-League Grand Final at Go Media Stadium. CEO Nick Becker speaks about the club's explosive rise in just two seasons as momentum builds to the main event.
• Reading for pleasure with Kate de Goldi 23.05.2026 11m

  Our resident reader Kate de Goldi is back with her latest picks - an American novel The Gossip Columnist's Daughter by Peter Ormer and a New Zealand picture book You Can't Pat a Fish by Ruth Paul.
• Wild magic and Traitors with Rachael King 23.05.2026 19m

  Rachael King is one of New Zealand's best-known children's authors. She's back with her latest offering Song of the Saltings - a folk horror for young adult readers. She's also a contestant on the new season of The Traitors reality TV show.
• Lonely Planet's Jessica Lockhart: Travel dos and don'ts 23.05.2026 23m

  How good is your travel etiquette? Lonely Planet's Destination Editor for Oceania shares her top tips.
• Lindsay Bartels: Cancer and motherhood 23.05.2026 21m

  Lindsay Bartels tested positive for the BRCA 1 gene meaning her risk of cancer was higher and this could be passed onto any children she might have.
• Alan Davies: Return to stand-up 23.05.2026 25m

  Jonathan Creek star and resident QI panelist, Alan Davies is coming to New Zealand in July with a brand-new standup show Think Ahead. It's a decade since Alan's been behind the stand-up mic. He speaks to Susie about why he's back now.
• Dr Dick Chamla - the story of Ebola 23.05.2026 15m

  The number of suspected Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has breached the 600 mark and the outbreak is evolving fast in an area of the DRC where parts of ground zero - Ituri province - are run by militia.
• Christine Dawood: Life after the Titan tragedy 23.05.2026 29m

  Christine Dawood's husband and 19- year-old son died on board the doomed Titan submersible. She tells Susie Ferguson the whole story.
• Economic update with Liam Dann 16.05.2026 8m

  With high rates of youth unemployment and ongoing global uncertainty over oil prices, the country is braced for what is likely to be a challenging Budget later this month.
• Abigail McClutchie: Follow your dream 16.05.2026 14m

  What's the worst career advice you've ever received?