Nights

Christmas is coming early for thousands lovers of the mullet hairstyle, as they come together for Mulletfest 2023. Since 2018 the annual festival has been celebrating the hairstyle that's all business at the front and party at the back in the small town of Kurri Kurri in regional New South Wales . Contestants of all ages and genders compete in categories that include "grubby", "vintage", "ginger", "everyday", "extreme" and "rookie" Mulletfest founder Laura Johnson joins us...

It's time for Short-Cut with our resident screen critic Dan Slevin. This week he's got 3 movies for us including the new film from a legendary British director, the new Alan Partridge and a film that brings a beloved children's book to life.

Today Tesla announced the final specifications - and price - for their controversial Cybertruck. Almost five years since they announced, and started taking pre-orders, for the car! In the USA it starts from almost $100k New Zealand dollars. The local price hasn't been announced yet, but I bet you it will be even more... The first 10 have been delivered - all to Tesla staff. But there is no news on when New Zealaders who have already put down deposits might receive theirs. Clive Matthew-Wilson is the founder of Car buyers guide website "The Dog & Lemon Report". Joins Mark Leishman on Nights

XYZZY is an immersive film, designed for planetariums by New Zealand artists Jess Johnson and Simon Ward. It premiered at the Otago museum, sold out 14 shows in Melbourne and now it's back in Aotearoa for a short stint at the Stardome. It starts its run tomorrow and goes through until the 10th of December. To tell us more about the project artist Jess Johnson talks to Mark.

Since 2016 the Prison Correspondents Network has run a Holiday Card Drive. The aim is to spread some holiday joy, by enabling member of the public to write christmas cards to incarcerated people. This year they are aiming to send over 2,500 cards. Project co-ordinator Ti Lamusse joins Mark.

The American diplomat and politician Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100. The former secretary of state and national security advisor to Richard Nixon leaves behind a polarizing legacy. He had a hand in many significant events in the 20th century - from helping cool tensions during the Cold War, to integrating China into the international diplomatic community. He - controversially - shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts negotiating a ceasefire in the Vietnam War - though it didn't last. But he was also derided as a warmonger, and criticised for interfering in other countries' domestic affairs. The writer Christopher Hitchens, a fierce critic of Kissinger, once called for him to be prosecuted 'for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and offences against international law'. To discuss his legacy Stephen Hoadley an associate professor at Auckland University joins Mark Leishman.

When it comes to motorsports, as a nation we're punching way above our weight. We're just really good at it... Hailing from Auckland, Mitch Evens is a Formula E driver... That's E for electric. Last season he finished third... With the 2024 season fast approaching he's taking a break from practice to join us...

Someone who knows first hand life-saving impact an organ donation has is Amy Ng-Thomson. After a long illness Amy was the recipient of a lung transplant in 2018. She joins Mark Leishman on Nights...

Julia Gatley is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland school of architecture where she leads the built heritage conservation programme. She's also the co-author of a new book Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, which comes out in December.

Hayden Donnell and Mark Leishman talk Kim Hill's last show, Winston Peters objections to the Public Interest Journalism Fund. and the New beginnings court.

A kiwi powerlifter has battled her way through adversity to smash a world record in her chosen sport. At the weekend powerlifter Ashleigh Hoeta set a new world record for the bench-press Ashleigh bench-pressed 317.5kg, 20kg more than the previous world record, to take her place as the No 1 equipped female bencher in the world. Winning and breaking records is nothing new for the 27-year old from Taranaki, she's also a champion arm wrestler and former gymnast.

Tom O'Connor is a former Maori affairs journalist turned author of historical fiction. His latest series the "Irish Convict" was released earlier today. The five books explore the history of pre-colonial irish settlers in Aotearoa. To explain exactly what historical fiction is, and fill us in on this relatively unknown part of our history Tom joins me now...

Whole pigs roasted in an earth oven have been a Chinese tradition since they first arrived to work the goldfields, over 100 year ago. In Palmerston North Rodney Wong rules the roast... Or at least he used to. In recent times the tradition has been dying out. Currently Rodney, who holds the title of Palmerston North's "Last Grand Pig Master" hasn't got an oven. There used to be over a dozen in the region, now there are just three, all inaccessible on private land... Rodney joins Mark Leishman to share the tradition, and his hopes for the future.

If there's one thing New Zealand seemingly loves ... it's a hotly-contested public vote for our favourite native species. Of course, this year's Bird of the Century competition was in the spotlight given the involvement and possible voter fraud committed by US talk show host John Oliver. But, over the next couple of weeks, a similarly bitter competition is unfolding online to decide our favourite native PLANT The Favourite Native Plant competition, is run by the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. The orgenisations president Jesse Bythell joins Mark.

Dr Eric Crampton is the chief economist at free-market think-tank the New Zealand Initiative, and a regular economic pundit on Nights. Tonight he joins Mark Leishman to explore some of the less-well cavassed aspects of the new Government's coalition agreements.

The Booker Prize was announced earlier this week - it went to Irish writer Paul Lynch for his dystopian novel "Prophet Song" - but Paul Lynch wasn't the only Irish writer shortlisted for the award. In fact, he wasn't even the only Irish writer named Paul to make the shortlist - The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray, was also on there. Two other Irish writers made the Booker LONG-list. And that's quite apart from other writers like Sally Rooney, who's pulling up trees wherever she goes Of course, Ireland has an incredibly rich literary tradition - from George Bernard Shaw to James Joyce, to Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett and WB Yeats, to name but a few. So what is it about this little island nation north-west of Europe that allows it to produce such lyrical, erudite authors? Matthew Ryan is an expert in Irish Literature at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.

There are, I'd venture to say, two types of people in the mornings: those who snooze through alarms, and those who don't. And it's probably fair to say that society is a bit rough on snoozers. They are often characterised as lazy and undisciplined - bad sleep hygiene, if you will. But is that UNFAIR? Could hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock in fact be beneficial? A new study published in the Journal of Sleep Research suggests just that - the study's lead author is Tina Sundelin, a sleep researcher from Stockholm University.

What should you do if you find an abandoned turtle? No, don't name it after a renaissance painter and throw it down the sewer with a slice of pizza.... I promise you it won't turn into a crime fighting ninja... Instead call the SPCA who are likely to send it to Turtle Rescue. Turtle Rescue is run and funded by just one woman - Donna Moot. She operates it out of her Christchurch home. Donna explains to explain why we're about to hit peak season for abandoned turtles, and how you can get your hands on one.

The BBC's Rob Hugh-Jones runs through the latest world news, including: COP28, Green Aviation, Flight MH370 compensation, Ukraine & Sudan.

Teo Reo Maori has become a normal part of our everyday interactions here in Aotearoa/New Zealand. But one of our native languages, Ta re Moriori, has no native speakers and could face possible extinction without an effort to revive it. A project between the University of Auckland and the Hokeotehi Moriori Trust hopes to be part of that effort. Linguist John Middleton is part of the project to revitalise the language, both on the Chatham Islands and here on the mainland.