Author Interview

When former teen star Justine Bateman Googled her name several years ago, she was shocked to see critics talking about how old she looks. She talks to Jesse about what she did next! Audio

Author, Mann Booker prize judge and chair, and rare book dealer Rick Gekoski turned to writing novels at the tender age of 72. Darke Matter is his most recent. Audio

What you eat today will affect how you feel and think tomorrow. Dr Bonnie Kaplan and Dr Julia Rucklidge who want us to rethink our food choices as a way to combat rising mental health issues. They… Audio

Eileen Merriman and Carl Shuker discuss their novels A Mistake and The Silence of Snow, which take medical mishaps as a starting point. A highlight of the 2020 Word Christchurch Spring Festival. Audio

Burst Kisses on the Actual Wind is the latest collection of poems by author, playwright and slam artist Courtney Sina Meredith. Courtney's first poetry book Brown Girls in Bright Red Lipstick came out… Audio

It's ironic - you spend years researching a book, it wins acclaim and awards when it's published, and then it generates new information that you wish you'd been able to include in it. But the good… Audio, Gallery

Yachting journalist Rebecca Hayter's book Wild Seas to Greenland details her attempt on the treacherous Northwest Passage with former ocean racing skipper Ross Field. She joins the show to discuss the… Audio

A High Country Life is a memoir of life through the different seasons on Otematata Station, a high country sheep and beef station in North Otago. The author Philippa Cameron joins the show to discuss… Audio

Patricia Lockwood's 2017 memoir Priestdaddy was named one of the 10 best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review. She's just released her debut novel No One Is Talking About This, which… Audio

Cal Flyn's latest book, Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape tells the story of a dozen abandoned places around the world, from Chernobyl to the volcanic Caribbean, and looks… Audio, Gallery

Kathryn meets Waikato vet, farmer, mother, and romance writer Danielle Hawkins. She has four bestselling rural romantic fiction books in print, and her new book Two Shakes of a Lamb's Tail - is a… Audio

Film director Stephen Walker reveals the drama behind one of humanity's greatest adventures in his new book, Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into… Audio

Auckland Art Gallery director Kirsten Lacy talks to Jesse about the art of writing about art.  Audio

Visual artist Kate Parker grew up roaming bushland in Kaeo in the Far North. That early introduction to the natural world is reflected in the art she produces. Her latest endeavour is her debut… Audio, Gallery

Ray Berard followed his partner to New Zealand, ending up working first in the horse industry and then at the TAB - supervising fifty gambling outlets. What he witnessed working in the gambling… Audio

The dictionary doesn't have the definition, neither does Google but it's one of the biggest questions of all; what is life? Science columnist for the New York Times, Carl Zimmer, discovers the quest… Audio

Peter Frampton's 'Frampton Comes Alive!' album made him one of the biggest names in rock history. But it wasn't all beer and skittles. He joins the show to discuss his incredible musical career and… Video, Audio

New Zealand's leading poet of this generation, Bill Manhire, talks to John Campbell in this highlight of the 2020 Word Christchurch Writers Spring Festival. Audio

The fictional New Zealand seaside town of Gabriel's Bay is the setting for a third novel by Hawkes Bay based author Catherine Robertson. The central theme explored in Spellbound is power, from family… Audio

Poet Johanna Emeney says that Felt, her new collection of poems, explores teaching, animals and how emotions and "the things that have hit me hard over the past decade" are felt in the body. Audio