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Elizabeth Knox talks to Noelle McCarthy about her most recent novel The Absolute Book. A highlight of the 2020 Word Christchurch Spring Festival.

It happens just once every two years - the chance to see Porirua's artists in action, in their workshops and studios. The Friends of Pataka organise the Porirua Arts Trail, and this year around sixty have signed up. Alongside the many established artists and craftspeople in the area north of Wellington will be newcomers, including students from Whitireia Polytechnic. Lynn Freeman headed there to meet three expert artists in their fields. There's Moses Viliamu who's researching Tokelaun tattoos, and Kohai Grace who's with the Toi Poutama Weaving Collective. It also sees the return of multi- media artist, Michael Tuffery, who explained why he was so keen to get involved in the arts trail again. The Porirua Arts Trail takes place on March 13 and 14.

Helping Asian musicians to get more recognition - and more gigs - is the aim of the new Wellington Asian Music Network. Co-founder is poet, singer and electronic music producer Nadia Freeman, who performs as Miss Leading. Nadia describes her style as combining happy melodic beats with depressing poetry! She's returned home after living and performing in the UK for several years. While in managed isolation she worked on a multi-sensory show Eat These Words that's about to premiere at the New Zealand Fringe in the Capital. It promises a tasty combination of poetry, music - and food. Lynn Freeman asks Nadia Freeman why the need for the Wellington Asian Musicians Network. Eat These Words opens March 11th at the Pyramid Club in Wellington as part of the New Zealand Fringe Festival.

A collection of tens of thousands of photographs by Kiwi photographer and photojournalist Olaf Petersen is one of five new additions to the New Zealand Memory of the World Register. Most of Olaf's 50-thousand photographs - give or take - were taken between the 1930s to the 1980s. Many are of Auckland's West Coast beaches and birdlife over that time. The Auckland War Memorial Museum's Pictorial Curator Shaun Higgins knows the collection better than most. In fact he's writing a book about Olaf Peterson whom he sees as Aotearoa New Zealand's pre-eminent 20th century nature photographer. Lynn Freeman asks Shaun why it matters so much to have Olaf's collection inscribed on the UNESCO-New Zealand Memory of the World Register.

Shocking, lacerating and wicked - that's how the judges of this year's Adam New Zealand Play Award describe the winning script & Sons by Dunedin writer Emily Duncan. She also took out the award for Best Play by a Woman Playwright and the McNaughton South Island Play Award. Just four months ago Emily received the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award, which recognises professional success in the career of the writer. Emily's the co-founder of Dunedin-based Prospect Park Productions that's got a theatre show and a podcast on the go. She talks with Lynn Freeman about & Sons. It's a verbal sparring match between Sandra, about to retire from her job in administration at a shoe factory, and Ed, who's taken over the business from his father. The runner-up for the Adam New Zealand Play Award was Katy Wolfe's The Haka Party Incident, which we featured in last week's Standing Room Only.

A key figure in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and in Faith-based Care helps to make sense of the stories of pain and anger through his art. Executive Director Mervin Singham used the same release valve while in lockdown last year, and has just produced a book and accompanying art exhibition called my covid-19 bubble NARRATIVES. The Malaysian-born, Human Rights lawyer, public servant and artist says he doesn't paint what is beautiful but simply what is. And his brightly-coloured canvases can disturb people. Lynn Freeman asks Mervin what place art held in his childhood. my covid-19 bubble NARRATIVES by Mervin Singham opens at Exhibitions Gallery in Welllington on March 11, and the book of the same name will be launched then too.

Research has found that 'exercise snacking', or bite-sized bursts of activity throughout the day can be highly effective in boosting your energy and improving productivity. Professor  Scott Lear joins Sunday Morning to explain.

The hype machine is building around the airing of Oprah Winfrey's exclusive interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Slate writer Heather Schwedel says there is likely to be some intriguing revelations, particularly from Markle.

Philanthropist Liz Greive is spending her senior years doing everything possible to support New Zealanders in her age cohort play an important role for New Zealand's children through the organisation she founded, Spend My Super. 

He's one of the most acclaimed and eclectic producers of his generation, having worked with some of music's biggest names. Now, Mitchell Froom gets to move out of the studio and behind the keyboard for Crowded House's NZ tour. 

Fifty percent of New Zealanders surveyed in Research New Zealand's latest poll have ranked protecting Kiwis against Covid-19 as NZ's most pressing issue, followed by the availability of affordable housing and NZ's economic stability.

Hollywood leading man Gabriel Byrne has played some memorable roles in his prolific film career, but his new autobiography, Walking With Ghosts, could be considered his boldest and most dramatic work yet. 

A new study out of McGill University shows that people in societies where money plays a minimal role can have a level of happiness comparable to Scandinavian countries which typically rate highest in the world. 

The scramble to cover the tsunami alerts and evacuations on Friday - after the much of the nation was shaken awake by a swarm of hefty quakes - was seat-of-the-pants stuff. But it threw up some memorable moments of Kiwis keeping calm and carrying on.    

Mediawatch looks at how the blame game played out in the media over the latest Covid cluster and the rulebreakers - while the previously-praised Covid communications strategy was called into question by the media, along with the concept of our team of 5 million.

The bosses of state-owned RNZ and TVNZ fronted up to MPs for their annual review at Parliament this week. The government’s proposal to replace both of them by 2023 is the big issue for both of them - but that wasn’t what opposition MPs zeroed in on.

Scramble to cover tsunami and earthquake emergency; Covid blame game and comms strategy questioned; Broadcast bosses quizzed about bias - but not the big picture.

On the Panel this morning are Lavina Good and Mike Williams. They discuss the past week's lockdown in Auckland and the Papatoetoe cluster, the Tamakis' hurried exit from town, and the tsunami threat New Zealand faced during the week.

In a new series of studies, researchers have found that participants shown ID-style photos of people they'd never met were able to recognise the first name of the depicted person well above the chance level. Dr Anne Laure Sellier explains.

Clint Heine is the founder of the popular Kiwis in London Facebook page, which attracts nearly 90,000 followers and is something of a one-stop shop for Kiwis. He's normally based in Twickenham, but is Calling Home from Poland today.