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. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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. Congoloese diaspora in Auckland gathered at a rally last month to bring attention to ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where since January this year alone, nearly 7000 people have been killed. About the size of Western Europe, Democr...
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. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Exploring cultural communication around sex and health, Fullbright scholar at Massey University Prof Angela Cooke-Jackson talks to Kadambari Raghukumar about her experiences as an academic working with Black and indigenous communities. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Ahilan Karunaharan returns with his final in a trilogy of plays - A Mixtape for Maladies with Ambika GKR in a leading role. Kadambari Raghukumar talks to them about the making of the play that premieres at the Auckland Arts Festival this March. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
As New Zealand courts India seeking deeper bilateral ties, what does the ideal relationship look like and what's in it for us? Sunit Prakash talks to Kadambari Raghukumar on his views as a tech consultant going between the two countries. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
As the year comes to an end, five activists in the diaspora reflect on the wars in Palestine, Sudan and Lebanon and how it has affected them. This episode features Eva Maria, Avigail Allan, Rana Hamida, Ala Farah and Fatima Sanussi. This week, we hear the personal reflections of 5 women who this past year have organized or participated in activism over crisis and conflict far from Aotearoa. How has it personally affected them? What have they learned? And what comes next? We hear from Aucklanders...
Finally getting to forge their futures on New Zealand soil is a long-awaited moment for so many would-be Kiwis at the citizenship ceremony. Ruwani Periera went to one to find out what that is all about. Finally getting to forge their futures on New Zealand soil is a long-awaited moment for so many would-be Kiwis at the citizenship ceremony. Ruwani Periera went to one to find out what it's all about. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details...
The nail salon industry is booming but still largely unregulated. Vietnamese couple Tri Phung and Ngi Dinh are trying to challenge the status quo by turning their focus on the health and safety of both, client and their nail techs. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Musician Vallé talks to Kadambari Raghukumar about rediscovering his connection to Papua New Guinea, his music and running his barbershop alongside everything else. WATCH A VIDEO ON THIS STORY HERE Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Christine Keller was the Head of Textiles at the Otago Polytechnic for 5 years, but things changed in 2010 when her role was made redundant. Turns out it was the perfect time to chase her aim to find sustainable alternatives to period care and started Sew On Period Care to involve the community and make reusable sanitary pads. Karthic SS chats to her in this episode. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details...
Combating climate change, protecting biodiversity and sustaining food systems of the world were top of the agenda at the COP16 in Cali, Colombia. In this episode, Kadambari Raghukumar was in Colombia to talk to two New Zealanders attending the world's largest biodiversity conference with the aim to bring a Kiwi perspective to some of the planet's biggest challenges. A couple of weeks ago delegates from around the world met at what was at the world's biggest nature protection conference, the 16th...
Canterbury's Polish history goes back over a century and in this episode, Kadambari Raghukumar sits down with two of the community's most active history enthusiasts to learn about how bogs became fertile vegetable gardens thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of early Polish settlers. Polish settlers Christchurch Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Two young Sri Lankans talk to Phil Vine about a film-making voyage of discovery in their homeland - telling stories of farming hardship and investigating where our food really comes from. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
In Wellington this month and next, a series of public programmes mark the 50th year of the Dawn Raids. In this episode of Here Now Kadambari Raghukumar talks to artist Liana Leiataua and Pacific historian Rachel Yates Pohulu around their thoughts and experiences of events of the 70s that inform their work. In Wellington this month and next, a series of public programmes mark the 50th year of the Dawn Raids, as part of efforts following the formal apology issued in 2021 by former Prime Minister J...
This week on Here Now, Kadambari Raghukumar checks out some arts and culture events lined up in the capital for the next few weeks ahead. The podcast features chats with musicians performing at Wellington Jazz Festival - Alda Rezende and Seth Boy; and Abhi Chinniah about her photography on display in the NZ Portrait Gallery. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
What's a New Zealand citizenship ceremony really like? For hundreds of new citizens each year, this is a long-awaited milestone event - one of which producer Ruwani Pereira attends in this episode, alongside would-be Kiwis about to forge their future on New Zealand soil. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
A hundred years ago Haining and Frederick Streets in central Wellington were the heart of the capital's Chinese quarter. Today, all but a few fragments are gone. Wellington Chinese Historian Lynette Shum takes producer William Ray on a tour of the Wellington's long lost Chinatown. A hundred years ago Haining and Frederick Streets in central Wellington were the heart of the capital's Chinese quarter. Today, all but a few fragments are gone. Wellington Chinese Historian Lynette Shum takes producer...
As the cost of living hits home, what practical, money-saving tips can we learn from some of New Zealand's diverse cultures? In this cross-over episode with RNZ's money saving podcast, Thrift, Katy Gosset joins a cooking class at Canterbury's Refugee Resettlement and Resources Centre. A cross-over episode with RNZ's money saving podcast, Thrift. For more cost-cutting tips follow and listen to Thrift: www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/thrift Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details...
Canterbury-based botanists Dr Julie Barcelona and Pieter Pelser met in the US in the mid 2000s and it was their shared love for plants in tropical jungles that brought them together. What ensued has been years of botanical discovery and adventure - and some peculiar romantic gestures. WATCH A VIDEO ON THIS STORY Canterbury-based botanists Dr Julie Barcelona and Pieter Pelser met in the US and in the mid 2000s and it was a love, or obsession really for plants of tropical jungles that really broug...
Leandro Vasquez of Abada Capoeira Auckland joins Kadambari Raghukumar in this episode to talk about celebrating the sense of community, art and camaraderie born out of this art. WATCH A SHORT VIDEO ON THIS EPISODE At a stadium in Auckland, close to a hundred people including a large number from the Brazilian community, have gathered to celebrate a Batizado, a graduation of sorts, of new capoeiristas. Maestros and instructors from Australia are here too, and coloured belts are being awarded to vi...
For many years, Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing their homes in Myanmar to find refuge here in New Zealand. Rashid Ansorali is one of them. He tells Liz Garton about his journey and why he now helps organise events that bring the Auckland Rohingya community together. Rashid Ansorali arrived in New Zealand as a teenager, fresh from fleeing his home in Myanmar. He's now secretary of the Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation and one of his roles is to help run events to bring the community togeth...
Drawing from her Zimbabwean background, mental health nurse Sandra Szvenyika talks about navigating a career in her new adopted home. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
From being a cultural producer and advocate, to a doctoral candidate- Makanaka Tuve has been a bit of an icon in Auckland's African diaspora for several years now. In this third part of the series, she chats about what that journey's been like. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Social constructs, race and identity are topics that are perpetually on Dr Camille Nakhid's radar and in this episode of Here Now, she chats about her lengthy career in New Zealand with research and activism for minority communities. As an indigenous Trinidadian with Lebanese, African and Indian roots, AUT's Dr Camille Nakhid has been a leading voice in studies on Aotearoa's multiculturalism and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and constructs of identity and indigeneity. In this second of our four-part ser...
In part one of four conversations, four black women in New Zealand share their experiences of carving out careers for themselves in New Zealand to becoming leaders in their own fields - from medicine to mental health. In this four part series of conversations, Kadambari Raghukumar talks to four black women in Aotearoa New Zealand about their experiences across different lines of work from medicine to activism and academics. Dr Carolyn Providence was born on the tiny Caribbean island of St Vincen...
Nalini Singh is a best-selling author of a very particular genre - paranormal romance - and she's now finding a creative reset in writing murder mysteries set in New Zealand. It's been quite the adventure for Nalini Singh who decided to give up a career in law in the early 2000s to become a romance writer, with what's now a worldwide cult-like following. Fiji-born Auckland-based Nalini Singh is a best-selling author of complex paranormal romances set in deep shadowy worlds, supernatural love sto...
Bringing the best of Pan African cinema to New Zealand each year, the African Film Festival returns this month. From 18 to 26 July at Auckland's Capitol Cinema, the African Film Festival New Zealand deep dives into cinema from across the continent. Boubacar Coulibaly has been part of the team for the past nine years and joins Here Now in this episode to talk about his favourite picks and why the festival is crucial for telling stories reflecting the complexity of the continent. Some of the films...
Zurkhaneh - an ancient Persian system of athletics combines martial arts, music, strength and spiritual devotion and is picking up serious momentum in Canterbury. Zurkhaneh translates to "house of strength" in Persian and is a system of exercise based on combat using equipment that mimic weapons from centuries ago - from wooden clubs and maces, to shields and strips of metal that mimic the bow. But beyond strength and agility, at the center of Zurkhaneh is the practice of spiritual devotion and ...
