The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is up against it, with growing calls for a leadership challenge.

Labour had disastrous local election results, with right-wing party Reform making huge gains.

UK Labour MP Catherine West says she will trigger a challenge to Starmer's leadership if Cabinet doesn't.

UK correspondent Enda Brady says the results are a vote against Starmer.

"People don't know who he is, people don't know what he stands for...

University student groups want the Government to reconsider the scrapping of the fees-free study scheme. 

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed it'll end at the Budget, with 2026 being the final year students are eligible. 

Victoria University of Wellington Student Association President Aidan Donaghue says it's being binned as the cost of living bites. 

"There's huge opportunity costs...we can't work full time...

On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 10 May 2026, Francesca speaks to comedian and author Pax Assadi about his new book full of excerpts from his life, 'Mortified'. 

Aidan Donoghue from the Victoria University Wellington Student Association shares his thoughts on the Government's decision to scrap the fees free scheme. He says it's another kick in the guts for struggling students.

Francesca ...

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. She wrote a book called The Help fifteen years ago which was a sensation at the time and subsequently made into a movie. This new one is also set in Mississippi, in 1933, during Prohibition and the Great Depression. Birdie’s family are impoverished, so she travels to visit her sister who’s married to a man of means in another town, hoping to get some financial support - but when she gets there...

This week on the Sunday Panel, Director at 818, Chris Henry and journalist and editor, Jo McCarroll, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and mor...

Kiwi actress Morgana O’Reilly has made the leap to the world of comedy, with her newest project proving successful at the NZICF.

Stories About My Body examines years of growth and change, as Morgana looks back on her stories and memories and diary entries.

She says it took a while to craft the project - and it adds more cinematic touches to the one-woman show.

"I think the whole thing is essentially a love letter...to all of your 1...

Seed oils like canola and sunflower oil have attracted controversial claims about harmful effects - but should we be worried?

Some argue they fuel chronic inflammation and disease, while others have pointed out that they lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease risk.

Naturopath and wellness research Erin O'Hara weighed in - and revealed which oils are better for you. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Mother's Day crumpets 

Cook time: 10 minutes 

Prep time: 30 minutes 

Serves: makes 10-15

375 ml warm water 

250 ml milk 

1 tbsp dried yeast 

1 tbsp raw sugar 

400 gm plain flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

Pinch of salt 

Sunflower oil for cooking

Combine the water, milk, yeast and sugar in a jug and set aside to activate. 

Place the flour, baking powd...

Space tourism is now a thing, and it probably won’t be too long before that tour consists of an orbit around the moon. We already have a situation where astronauts spend months living in space stations far from Earth.   

Now, imagine someone suffers a cardiac arrest. 

On Earth, CPR is a life-saving skill we take for granted. Push hard and fast on the chest to keep blood flowing to the brain and organs until medical h...

Pax Assadi has revealed the unlikely source of inspiration for his new memoir.

His new book, Mortified, is far from a highlight reel - it focuses on the shame, the cringe and all the stupid things that leave many wanting to die from embarrassment.

Assadi says he was in a 'creative zone' developing stand-up when the book concept came to him.

"I just thought it was cool, counterculture thing to do against the backdrop of our social m...

There's concerns about what the Government's latest pre-Budget announcement means for students.

Winston Peters told Newstalk ZB on Friday that they'd get rid of the final free year of tertiary education, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed it. 

She says they will have more to say on it in due course.

NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says it's likely the Government isn't thrilled with Peters leaking these...

I can’t wait to get onto Auckland’s CRL. I can’t wait to check out the overly grand stations. And I can’t wait to experience moving around our city in a way residents of other modern cities around the world have been doing for decades. 

More so, I can’t wait to see if it does what it was intended to do - transform the city's rail network from a "one-way cul-de-sac" into a two-way through-system, designed to double the network'...

No-one knows what the future of AI has in store for us, and one journalist has raised concerns about the impact of the technology.

When investigative journalist Karen Hao started looking into Sam Altman’s OpenAI, she had hopes for the technology, but extensive research and unparalleled access to those closest to the AI arms race left her with a different view. 

Her work in this space has made her one of the foremost tech journ...

Olympic paddler Luuka Jones-Yaxley's lined up an unexpected project after her success in Paris. 

Shortly after retiring from the high-performance canoe Slalom at the Paris Olympics, Luuka received a call and an offer to appear as Charlize Theron’s stunt double in the Netflix film Apex. 

She says the offer felt like an 'April Fools joke' at first, but she was on a plane to the South Island to begin filming before she knew ...

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Natalie Heller Mills drifts into marriage with a real loser, and in a last desperate attempt to help him make something of himself, gets her father in law to fund them onto a remote ranch in Idaho where she raises a brood of kids, embraces a traditional way of life, and sends it all via Instagram to a rapidly increasing audience. The trouble is, Natalie doesn’t entirely subscribe to the situation sh...

Travel expert Megan Singleton's been in New York seeing the sights, and making some unexpected discoveries. 

After she learned the Abyssinian Baptist Church was booked out, she checked out the spring blossoms in Central Park, explored the Met and visited Little Island - which is built on wine glass shaped stilts across 4 acres in the Hudson River.  

Read more of Megan's travel tips here.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/lis...

This week on The Sunday Panel, broadcaster and journalist Wilhelmina O’Keefe and Resident Economist at Opes Partners, Ed McKnight, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

ACT has recently revealed their new immigration policy - what do we think? Is this going to attract the right people to New Zealand? A lot of what ACT is talking about here is just about enforcing existing laws - have we been to...

Additives are added to processed food to keep it fresher for longer but these might unexpectedly affect the health of the microbes in our guts.

A diverse microbiome is key for our overall wellbeing, as it influences everything from our mood to our metabolism and our brain health, and processed food can have a harmful impact.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara explained further. 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener ...

On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 3 May 2026, Francesca speaks to investigative reporter and influential AI expert Karen Howe, who initially supported the development of AI, but now sees a darker side to the newest tech trend.

Luuka Jones-Yaxley has gone from being an Olympic Silver Medalist to Hollywood Stunt Performer. Francesca gets the details on her journey, including rubbing elbows with...