Nights for Thursday 22 May 2025

Nights LIVE from SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium

Emile Donovan is broadcasting from Turtle Bay in Kelly Tarlton's in front of a live studio audience from 8:00pm til 10:00pm.

As well as being RNZ’s centenary, 2025 marks 40 years since the opening of the pioneering Kelly Tarlton’s aquarium in Auckland.

Listen in for a programme focused around Auckland's history, culture and identity - plus, the famous Nights quiz.

8:10 The House

Our report from Parliament with Phil Smith and Louis Collins.

8:15 Pacific Waves

A daily current affairs programme that delves deeper into the major stories of the week, through a Pacific lens, and shines a light on issues affecting Pacific people wherever they are in the world. Hosted by Susana Suisuiki.

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8:30 Kelly Tarlton's Final Treasure Hunt with Hamish Williams

Host of RNZ podcast Kelly Tarlton's Final Treasure Hunt Hamish Williams joins Emile Donovan in Turtle Bay to share his journey of exploration and discovery.

40 years after the untimely death of Kelly Tarlton, a team made up of friends, family and marine enthusiasts embark upon an adventure to complete one of his final expeditions.

8:50 The Reading

Tonight, 'Cruisin' in Sumner' by Ruth Kelly, read by Esther Rose Green.

An evocative story of young love, loss and sacrifice set in a boy racer's car, cruising the Christchurch suburb of Sumner.

9:07 Nights Quiz

A special live edition of the famous Nights quiz. Three quizzees live from our studio audience at Kelly Tarlton's take to the airwaves to be grilled by Emile Donovan as he dons his quizmaster hat.

If you get an answer right, you move on to the next question. If you get it wrong, your time in the chair is up, and the next caller will be put through. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the quiz wins a special RNZ prize pack.

9:25 Jane Groufsky: How Auckland has changed

From a population of 812,000 in 1985 to over 1.7 million in 2025, the city of Auckland has transformed in only 40 years.

Curator Social History at Auckland Museum Jane Groufsky joins Emile Donovan in Turtle Bay to paint a picture of Auckland's changing landscape from the 1980s to now, including Waiheke Island striking vineyard gold, the lost sex shops and strip clubs of Karangahape Road, and the building of the now-iconic but once-derided Sky Tower.

9:35 International aquarium designer Craig Thorburn

When Craig Thorburn first walked into Kelly Tarlton's as a teenager, weeks after it first opened in 1985, he knew it was for him. He walked right up to the desk and asked if he could volunteer.

Forty years later, Craig is a global aquarium design consultant, working in China, Australia, Thailand, Korea, and extending and redeveloping wings of Auckland's own Kelly Tarlton's.

He joins Emile Donovan in Turtle Bay to share some tricks of the trade, from airlifting a beluga whale to getting stopped by border security.

9:45 DJ Sir-Vere: Picking the best songs from Tāmaki Makaurau

Hip hop pioneer, turntablist, and Order of New Zealand Merit Phil Bell - aka DJ Sir-Vere - joins Emile Donovan to take listeners on a sonic journey to the Auckland of the eighties and nineties.

10:00 Emile Donovan hands over to Todd Zaner

10:17 Economist Brad Olsen on Budget Day

Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen joins Todd Zaner to recap the big wins, big cuts, and big moments from finance minister Nicola Willis' second budget.

10:30 Gender in language with sociolinguist Julia de Bres

The news is filled with chatter about language and gender these days - gender-neutral pronouns, sexist language, the C word in parliament - but what about the gender of language itself? 

Associate professor Julia de Bres from Massey University joins Todd Zaner to break it down.

11:07 The Mixtape

Ōtautahi-based producer and composer Chris Wethey joins Maggie Tweedie to pick the tunes.