Nights for Friday 2 February 2024

7:10 Country Life

Country Life takes you down country roads to meet ordinary people achieving their dreams.

This week the Country Life team is at a Northland banana farm and Cosmo visits a Waipara scientist-turned-hill country farmer who has won a stack of awards for the improvements he has made on farm.

They're also in Raglan finding out about guerilla fruit trees and the community seed bank.

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 Tenuous Connections with Emile 

A selection of music tracks all connected by a loose theme. 

9:07 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Emile Donovan as he dons his quiz master 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 run goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

The quiz is themed - find out more about tonight's theme on Nights' Facebook page.

9:15 This Weekend: Lunar New Year

We bring you some of the most interesting events and happenings coming up in Aotearoa this weekend - From the community fair to the massive concerts.

Tonight we're talking to RNZ Asia's Ruth Kuo about the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations

9:30 Short-Cuts with Dan Slevin

It's a Friday night so that must mean its time for Short-Cuts with Nights' film Guru Dan Slevin. 

Tonight Dan has three picks for what to watch over the weekend, the new Sofia Coppola film Priscilla, Society of the Snow (a new version of the story of an Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes), and for his free-to-stream selection this week, Dan is revisiting the Mads Mikkelsen snow survival classic Arctic which is free to watch on Māori+.

10:17 Should AI portraits be eligible for an art prize?

The prestigious Brisbane Portrait Prize has announced that this year it will accept entries that were "whole or in part by artificial intelligence".

Some say it's defeats the point of the prize, while others say the Prize is merely keeping up with reality.

To weigh in, joining Nights is the former director of Christchurch Art Gallery Jenny Harper.

10:30 Bike paths and music come together for free music festival

Future Future is a free music festival set over a 3km stretch of the central-west bike paths of Tāmaki Makaurau.

Designed to be accessed by bike, scooter or on foot, the festival includes four stages of music – two live music stages, a DJ stage and a whānau stage.

Emile Donovan talks to Jamie Newman about the ethos behind combing bikes and live music. 

10:30 Out Lately with Finn Johansson

Finn's back for 2024, and no doubt ready to inform, educate and entertain us with an array of eclectic music. Featuring tracks from Carly Rae Jepsen. Brittany Howard and Problems.

Emile also has his own track for Finn and the listeners to enjoy. 

11:07 Concert 

This week's classic kiwi collaborations concert Starman, features an all-star line up of Aotearoa musicians accompanied by the Auckland Philharmonia celebrating the Life and music of David Bowie.