The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Kiwi singer-songwriter Cassie Henderson had a busy year in 2025, and she's set to keep the momentum going in the new year. She's confirmed to play at the 2026 Synthony Festival, alongside Shapeshifter, Kaylee Bell and The Exponents next March.  She says she's also working on her own musical projects, and she's promised 2026 will be another exciting year.  "I have been in the studio all of the end of 2025 - and at the moment as well. So there's a project coming, which is really exciting." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy is set to return to our shores again, with his latest tour taking him across both sides of the Tasman. He's well-regarded as a master of observational comedy, and he's been a regular presence on the global comedy scene for over 25 years. He says this tour will look at how the world has changed over the last ten years - and he's promised it'll go deeper than petty grievances. "It's a very different feel to the show - but actually, a lot of people said to me afterwards that they feel that it was almost cathartic to be talking about stuff which has bothered everyone."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet The Newmans by Jennifer Niven. Del and Dinah Newman and their two sons have been the stars of a reality TV series about their family life for two decades, but in 1964 it feels as though the world is changing and America is falling out of love with them. Their on-screen lives portray a perfect family, but in reality their world is imploding and they all have secrets they’re hiding from one another. As the show limps towards its final episode, Dinah hires a young woman to help write the perfect ending, but it turns out they have diametrically opposed views as to what that should look like. This is a real slice of ‘60s life - nostalgic, still relevant, and very entertaining. The Winner by David Baldacci. This was first published back in 1979 and has been reissued and is as good as it ever was. LuAnn Tyler is a young, 20 year old mother, with a life which promises nothing when she’s contacted by someone who tells her that he can rig the national lottery and she can win $100m. There are strings attached of course, but the opportunity is too good to turn down and afterwards she leaves the US for a decade, enjoying her newfound wealth. Ten years on though, its time to come home but an enterprising journalist working on a story about the lottery tracks her down and the FBI are on her trail. Baldacci writes terrific thrillers and this is no exception. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dolly Parton recently revealed her new SongTeller Hotel in Nashville will be open to the public this June. Fans can reserve their spots ahead of the opening, and pictures have been revealed - letting prospective travellers know what to expect. BloggerAtLarge.com writer Megan Singleton explained what the hotel has on offer, including a themed bar and I Will Always Love You romance packages.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Sunday Panel, Coast Day host Lorna Riley and broadcaster and journalist Wilhelmina O’Keeffe joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki led a group of protestors in a demonstration at Auckland CBD. Were the police right to intervene? Should we be worried about his influence?  Prime Minister Chris Luxon is set to head to Waitangi this week, but he won't be there for the day itself. What do we make of this? And why are so many politicians cautious about Waitangi Day?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Sunday Session with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast for Sunday 1 February 2026, Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy is a master of observational comedy, he's heading here this week and talks about pushing the boundaries of a traditional stand up show. Cassie Henderson is a star on the rise, the Kiwi pop star talks about how she plans to top a huge year in 2025 and the impact The Voice Australia has had on her career. From today GPs can diagnose and treat ADHD, there are fears it will cause a tsunami of neurodiverse patients. Chair of the General Practitioners Association, Dr Angus Chambers, on how GPs are preparing for the change. And should we all be going for fart walks to improve our health?   Get the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast every Sunday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a new exercise trend that can help improve digestion, but it comes with extra effects. 'Fart walks' are linked to improved digestion, reduced bloating and improved bowel movements. Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yogurt cheesecake with star anise plums  Cook time: 5 minutes  Prep time: 20 minutes  Serves: 6 Cheesecake   4 leaves of gelatine   250 gm cream cheese 5  00 ml yogurt plain   1 lemon, juiced  ½ tsp vanilla essences   4 tbsp honey   4 cups cold water   Base   1/2 pkt digestives   1/2 pkt Biscoff biscuits   3 tbsp butter   5 plums cut in half and stones removed   1 tbsp honey   1 cinnamon stick   6 star anise Crush the biscuits lightly and add melted butter until combined well. Press into the base of a 6-inch cake tin and refrigerate, then place the gelatine leaves into a bowl of cold water to bloom for 10 minutes.   Using a mixer whip the cream cheese and yogurt together until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vanilla and honey.   Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine and place into a small pot on a low heat until completely dissolved. Combine into the cheesecake and whisk until well combined. Pour mixer into cake tin and set for at least 4 hours.   Honey roasted plums   Place the plums into a tin foil along with the honey, cinnamon and star anise, loosely wrap and place into a fire, onto a BBQ or into an oven on 200*c for 5 minutes or until the plums just start to fall apart. Remove and allow to cool.   To serve. Run a hot knife around the outside of the cake tin and lift out Garnish with cooled plums and edible flowers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An upside-down jellyfish drifts gently in a shallow lagoon. At first glance, it looks like it’s just floating, but scientists have discovered something quietly astonishing - around midday, the jellyfish takes a brief nap to recover from a disturbed night. The fact that jellyfish, which do not have a brain, are sleeping is amazing, and that discovery may completely reshape how we understand why all animals, including humans, need sleep. A new study published in Nature Communications tracked sleep-like behaviour in two simple sea creatures - the upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea) and the starlet sea anemone (Nematostella). Both belong to an ancient lineage that dates back more than 500 million years, long before brains, backbones, or even eyes evolved. Despite their simplicity, these animals clearly cycle between periods of activity and rest. When they’re resting, they respond more slowly to food or flashes of light, a key biological hallmark of sleep seen across the animal kingdom. For decades, scientists have debated what sleep is actually for. Is it about saving energy? Consolidating memories? Clearing out metabolic waste? In humans and other vertebrates, sleep is known to help repair damage in the brain.   While we’re awake, tiny breaks form in DNA inside our neurons, during sleep, repair mechanisms kick in and fix that damage. Until now, scientists thought this kind of 'neural housekeeping' required a complex brain, but the jellyfish just proved otherwise.  The researchers found that while jellyfish and sea anemones are active, DNA damage builds up in their nerve cells -when they rest, that damage is repaired. When scientists deliberately kept the animals awake by altering water currents, the DNA damage increased and so did the amount of sleep the animals needed afterward, mirroring the 'sleep rebound' humans experience after a bad night.  When researchers exposed the animals to UV light (which damages DNA), they slept more. Once they’d rested, the damage decreased and their normal rhythms returned. Even more surprising? Adding melatonin, the hormone many humans take for jet lag caused these brainless creatures to fall asleep at unusual times. That suggests melatonin’s sleep-inducing role evolved far earlier than scientists thought. Put together, the findings point to a powerful idea: sleep may have started as a cellular defence mechanism. Being awake is stressful for nerve cells as sensory input, movement, and metabolism all create molecular wear and tear. Sleep creates a quiet window of reduced stimulation where essential repairs can happen safely. If even jellyfish need that repair time, then sleep likely evolved before brains, before complex nervous systems, and before animals even had left and right sides. This doesn’t mean sleep has only one purpose. In animals with more complex brains, functions like memory consolidation and learning likely layered on top of this ancient repair role, but the study strengthens the idea that protecting DNA may be the most fundamental reason we sleep.  The study offers a sobering perspective on modern life, as chronic sleep deprivation in humans has already been linked to neurodegeneration and increased DNA damage. If creatures as simple as jellyfish can’t function without sleep, it’s a reminder that rest isn’t a luxury, it’s a biological necessity baked into life itself.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helena Bonham Carter is the latest big name confirmed for the upcoming fourth season of The White Lotus. She's one of three new cast members officially announced for the upcoming season, alongside Chris Messina and Marissa Long.  818 director Chris Henry revealed what we know about the upcoming season of The White Lotus so far. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As more stores across Auckland's CBD close their doors for good, Crane Brothers has reaffirmed their commitment to the area. After extending their High Street lease for another 25 years, founder Murray Crane recently revealed the store would expand into the space vacated by Ruby. Crane says Covid and the subsequent economic downturn have been tough on Auckland, but it's important to control the narrative. "We had a fairly challenging time, as any business in the central city did, and the recovery has probably been a little bit slower than a lot of people would have liked, for a variety of different reasons." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon confirmed last week that New Zealand would not be sitting on Donald Trump's newly proposed Board of Peace. The refusal came days after the Government signalled it was considering the offer, and opposing parties have criticised the delayed response. Newstalk ZB political reporter Azaria Howell says the $1 billion seat price was a significant sum for a country of New Zealand's size. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More health professionals may be able to prescribe ADHD meds from the outset from today - but impacts are expected to be gradual.  From this month, trained GPs and nurse practitioners can start a patients treatment without a specialist's recommendation.  A specialist appointment can take up to a year to secure in some areas. General Practice Owners' Association Chair Dr Angus Chambers says this ends a 'bureaucratic barrier', but it's unclear how long it'll take positive change to happen. "We're generalists, not specialists, so we've got a good working knowledge of the condition...so people will need to take some extra time to train to get the right sort of skillset." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve been fascinated to watch Donald Trump’s Board of Peace change as time goes on. When it was first suggested, it seemed to me to be part of a land grab by the United States.  A real estate consortium whose goal was to raise finance and rebuild Gaza into a new Riviera. A gaudy Trumpist holiday city more for the rich than the dispossessed people of Gaza. But as time has gone on, it’s transmogrified into something with far bigger ambition.  It’s become a new international club led by the United States. A golf club on steroids. First the President has to invite you and then you have to pay a billion dollars to get into the club - and away you go. The President has now stated that its mandate is not just Gaza but to broker any peace anywhere in the world, and it’s starting to sound very much like the United Nations - but a United Nations under US control.  Donald Trump and many like him have often railed against the UN and other globalist bodies like the WEF and World Health Organisation, they’ve claimed they take away a nation’s sovereignty and puts it in the hands of unelected bureaucrats.  They might be true if the UN actually had any power. Any power it has has been voluntarily ceded to it by nations who can’t be bothered cleaning up any messes. But the UN has never had power, or else they would have stopped any number of conflicts and solved any number of crises. But that hasn’t stopped panic mongers claiming the UN is coming to take away our rights. So they say the Board of Peace is not a formal replacement for the UN. But it sure looks like Donald Trump's Trojan Horse to collapse the UN. Whether it becomes influential or remains symbolic depends on how many countries ultimately join and how it operates in practice.  35 countries have paid the sub and signed up for it. New Zealand on Friday decided not to and kept with the UN as the global body of peace. They did it very carefully with no admonishment on the United States, which is a smart thing to do. It appears that Trump not only wants to make America great again, but also make the world American. Good luck to him on that. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The SailGP season got underway last week, but the Black Foils didn't start out as well as they'd hoped. A collision with the Swiss boat in the opening race has left them with significant boat damage and in negative points ahead of the Auckland event in under three weeks.  Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay says the boat is getting repaired ahead of the event, and the team should be back on the water in time. "It was definitely a pretty shocking situation and definitely something that you don't take lightly - as in, the risk and everything out there. But the season is long, we've definitely been in these similar situations before, so it's not a notch off the goal."   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pati Umaga was once given ultimatum by his father to become a either a church minister or a lawyer - and instead launched a career in music that changed his life. He found success as the bass player of the Holiday Makers, but he was left tetraplegic after a fall. He suffered years of hardship but eventually re-found his purpose as an advocate for the disabled community through his music - and he's turned his story into a stage show called A Music Portrait of a Disabled Samoan. Oscar Kightley has assisted in writing the show, and Nathaniel Lees has directed it - and the pair are looking forward to sharing this story with Kiwi viewers. "It's really great, I'm working on my friend's show about his life story and it's really interesting and it's so cool to be able to put it on a stage." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Workhorse by Caroline Palmer. This is set in a Vogue magazine-like environment, where Clodagh (Clo) Harmon is trying to make her way up the ladder, but struggles because she doesn’t have the pedigree, monied background and social confidence of her colleagues - she’s a workhorse, not a showhorse. It’s been compared in a lot of places to a combination of The Devil Wears Prada and The Talented Mister Ripley - as Clo makes more and more bad decisions and is prepared to do almost anything to get ahead. Not My Type by E.Jean Carroll. This is the woman who sued Donald Trump for sexual assault in the changing room of a New York department store, and then went on to sue him for defamation. It’s the story of the trials, from her point of view - the clothes she wore to make certain statements, her observations of the defendant and his lawyers, the way the court cases evolved –-all told in an acerbic, witty, hilarious, insightful and incredibly entertaining way. She’s 82 now and hasn’t received a cent of the two settlements which she was awarded but she’s retained her dignity, her sense of humour and an ability to write a brilliant account of what and how it happened. I was riveted.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 25 January 2026, search crews are into their fourth day of the recovery operation at Mount Maunganui, head of the police search team Senior Constable Barry Shepherd shares insights into the complex search. Kiwi Samoan screen legends Nathaniel Lees and Oscar Kightley are bringing the inspiring story of Pati Umaga to life on stage, they join Francesca to talk about Pati and why the project is so special to them. Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay on what it was like on the Sail GP boat when it collided with the Swiss team in Perth last week, and will their boat be ready for the Auckland event in three weeks.  Get the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast every Sunday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a new trend emerging in the world of travel, and experts say it could help people recharge like never before. 'Skillcations' are designed to help people learn new skills while on vacation, allowing them to return to work feeling motivated without sacrificing relaxation time. BloggerAtLarge.com writer Megan Singleton explained the trend further, and opened up about her experiences with learning to surf at Bondi Beach and learning to tango in Buenos Aires. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Sunday Panel, Newstalk ZB host Roman Travers and host of the Prosperity Project podcast, Nadine Higgins, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!   It's been a bad week for the North Island, following the days of extreme weather. How have we felt about this week's events? How has the disaster impacted us? Many communities, and regions in the North Island are impacted - the Coromandel, Great Barrier is a mess, Northland, the East Coast. These weather events are becoming more common - do we need to change our approach to weather warnings in New Zealand? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.