Here Now

The unmistakable sounds of Brazil, even to the untrained ear are an instant invitation into the world of carnival and caipirinhas – but that’s the good stuff. Some of these sounds come from places of struggle and solidarity and in this first part of Back to Basics, Leandro Vasques talks about the history behind some genres, his musical influences and what life as a Brazilian muso in Auckland is like for him.

With his latest book, globally renowned skin cancer surgeon Dr Sharad Paul, reflects on habits and tweaks that may just allow us to hack into genomics to optimize our performance. Produced by Kadambari Raghukumar.

Pepa Torre first came to New Zealand in the mid 90s. In her recent multimedia art installation called "23, 24, 25…Life U-Turns...Fate?", Torre looks back at 25 years of exploring time and experiences that define her idea of self.

In our final episode of Accidental Comics - We're with guests Sameena Zehra and Eddy Rodriguez both of whom stepped into the world of comedy after coming to New Zealand.

This week, Scotland to Auckland was a circuitous route for comic David Stuart who came seeking love and a laugh - he's gets there in the end. Produced by Kadambari Raghukumar.

In part two of our series with funny folk, we're joined by Summer Xia and Annie Guo who found comedy through chance in New Zealand. Produced by Kadambari Raghukumar.

In this four-part series, Kadambari Raghukumar talks to folks with jokes -  people from overseas who’ve ended up as stand-up comics out of chance - their comedy, an outcome of coming to New Zealand. Edd Rivera came to New Zealand thinking it was somewhere in Europe. True story and he’s been here eight years on. Comedy by chance, comedy to cope with moving countries. Produced by Kadambari Raghukumar.

Javier Murcia's got his hands full rather literally. The sculptor is a master at casting in clay and bronze, the intricacies and subtleties of the human form. In this episode, he chats with Kadambari Raghukumar about his explorations in form and beyond.

Reggae artist Protoje who graced The Bowl stage at WOMAD Aotearoa this year, speaks to Kadambari Raghukumar in this episode on all things from patties to performances. 

This year's WOMAD Aotearoa saw reggae icon Queen Omega draw crowds - she spoke to Kadambari Raghukumar about how it began for her.

Making that settling-in process a little easier, the small and welcoming Happiness House has been making an big impact on several lives in Queenstown.

Here Now looks back at some the conversations we had with women this past year on the series across all sorts of topics - Colombian stereotypes, medicine, comedy and academics.

Over 7000 people have been killed since January this year in the conflict that's ongoing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kadambari Raghukumar talks about the impact of the war with Congolese with family members in the east of the country.

Artist Nadia Freeman's performance, The Girmit, explores a slightly unconventional approach to telling the story of how Indians came to be taken to Fiji in the 1800s.

What does culture-centred communication look like in a suburb of Palmerston North trying to shift narratives around it's reputation? Professor Mohan Dutta and Venessa Pokaia join Kadambari Raghukumar in this second part to the conversation on CARE's work.