RNZ: Best Of The Week

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 26 October. This week ... the New Zealand angle on the banning of Lance Armstrong from cycling, sexism in journalism, Are beluga whales trying to communicate with humans? leaving the car at home, The Who's Pete Townshend on finally publishing his version of his life so far, the not-so-boring Boredom Conference, perfecting the tenderist lamb for export, Porirua's Graffiti Grannies, nurses in action during WWI and being gay and Christian - it is possible to be both.

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 19 October. This week ... a lawyer for the Maori Council explains water rights issues, 50 years since the Cuban Missile Crisis, managing trauma for journalists exposed to crime, conflict and catastrophe, studying honey bees for jetlag research, making our cities safer, Global Handwashing Day, wearing mini-skirts at any age especially if you're comedian and psychologist Pamela Stephenson, Kaikoura's Fyffe House - made of bone and keeping it in the family with Electric Wire Hustle

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 12 October. This week...... the blurring of boundaries between advertising and news, the tiny parasite toxoplasma gondii and its potential devastating effects on dolphins, social jetlag - being out of sync with life, what maths can reveal about the operation of war, the rising cost of social inequity in New Zealand, suicide killing more soldiers than the war, learning more about Shia muslims, and 100 years of the Otago University Sextet.

This week...... stories the media ignores here but covers extensively overseas, the mystery of a floating raft of pumice in the seas towards the Kermadecs, reducing food waste by dumpster diving, the introduction of "summertime" or daylight savings, we hear how Dress for Success founder Nancy Lublin found her enterpreunerial way through Not-for-Profits, the internet addiction of Minecraft, Craig Potton and behind the scenes at Miss Aotearoa.

This week...... prior to Lonely Planet Guide there was the Overland Club - we hear from its founders 50 years ago in Wellington, New Zealand's nuclear history revealed, the history of English spelling, Damien Echols one of the West Memphis Three talks about coping with jail and freedom, new discoveries for tinnitus sufferers, Billy Graham of the Naenae Boxing Academy talks about his book on parenting young men, and an in depth look at one of our favourite fish Tarakihi.

This week...... the law society calls for a rehtink on the use of television cameras in our courtrooms, options for curbing the high New Zealand dollar, the increasing trend towards privatised prisons, what was involved behind the scene in organising the rugby world cup, a fascinating insight into the world of double agents during the second world war, and a photo exhibition of women at work in the construction industry.

This week...... the hidden side of America's War On terror, according to a new book about the FBI; Is high-quality journalism uneconomic in the future?... Should the New Zealand Government re-consider the way it delivers aid to The Pacific? ... On the health front, are anti-viral drugs less effective as new mutated strains of flu are becoming increasingly resistant ...and Gardening, from the plant's perspective. .

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 7th of September. This week......two years after the BIG Earthquake in Christchurch, and the Pike River Mine Disaster, how did the media respond to those events ... Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires; The History of Corpse medicine from the Renaissance to The Victorians ... a primary school project gets back to growing fruit and vegetables ... a Maori carving from A german prisoner of War camp comes back home ... the human side of Google ... and an affectionate look back at Broadcasts To Schools.

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 31st of August. This week.....a veteran investigative journalist on TV is appalled at the dumbing down of television journalism......the issue of violent video games and the impact on those that play them......The number of New Zealanders moving to Australia is soaring, but increasing numbers of those who have made the move are struggling to get by in their new country....... . the science of roadkill......poet Sam Hunt takes a trip to Mars......and an opera about renowned artist Len Lye.

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 24th of August This week.....another three New Zealand soldiers die in Afghanistan......while our Olympians were humble in victory and gracious in defeat - can the same be said of our media...... experiments to see what effect alcohol has on the body after a binge drinking session...............a former CIA interrogator gives tips on how to spot a lie......a collection of Katherine Mansfields letters sheds new light on one of our most famous authors.

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 17th of August This week.....Shotputter Valerie Adams is elevated to gold after her Belarussian rival failed a drug test......new ways of funding journalism ...an attempt at a new world speed record on the salt flats at Bonneville in Utah using a modified mini cooper...........Careful what you say around your plants as they can probably hear you.......a new collection of work by Central otago poet Brian Turner.....and the national country music awards.

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 10th of August This week.....the influence public relations people have on the way the news reaches the public ..... one of the founders of the internet speaks out about the battle for its control.....former All Blacks coach Graham Henry talks candidly about his career..... the history of our modernday offices.....how the current Olympic games compare to others....and the man behind the make up design for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 27th July. This week...the life and work of renowned childrens author Margaret Mahy who died this week....the philosophy of Wellingtons barefoot and dreadlocked new bishop......a clinical food trial to try and solve our obesity problem.....a company that designs and manufactures automatic traps that humanely kill pest animals...... Tenor and Wagnarian specialist Simon O'Neill is back home to start off a year of concerts around the world........and camels as pets.

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 20th July. This week...an interview with two of the four people convicted on firearms charges, following a twelve month police surveillance of `military-style' training camps in the Urewera bush....and the controversial police raids in 2007........ we hear from New Zealand businessman and philanthropist Owen Glenn......... the work and life of the mathematician who beat odds of a trillion to one to create the enigma code during World War Two, who'se also hailed as the father of the modern computer..... designers of an umbrella that may be able to cope with Wellington winds at their worst........and author Author Witi Ihimaera takes a trip to Mars.

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 13th July. This week .... A Maori Council water ownership challenge could stall the sale of energy company shares, MPs could soon face a vote on legislation to legalise voluntary euthanasia, Independent radio news is half a century old this week, New Zealand's first Fat Studies conference , a documentary about a fight to overturn the conviction of murder against three american teenagers - a cause taken up by Sir Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.