Rnz: The Podcast Hour

Searching for scientific consensus on 'Science Vs', investigating the male domination of the tech industry in 'A Job For The Boys', and 'The Intersection' records life from a street corner in Silicon Valley.

'The Intersection' camps out on a street corner in Silicon Valley, close to Google's HQ, to meet the tech workers living in camper vans. We play some of 'Homeless in Googleville' from Season 2 of 'The Intersection' produced and presented by David Boyer for KALW.

Why, when and how did the tech industry get so blokey? What are the consequences of having a male-dominated technology sector? And how are people trying to change things? These are some of the questions Mary Ann Sieghart tries to answer in 'A Job For The Boys', a BBC Radio 4 documentary produced by Sarah Bowen.

'Science Vs' cuts through the trends, the fads and the opinions to get to the real science behind everything from vaccinations to fasting diets. We play an excerpt of the 'Science Vs' episode 'Fasting Diets: What's The Skinny?' from Gimlet Media, and speak to the show's Australian host Wendy Zukerman about how she got headhunted to go and make the show in New York.

'Scene on Radio' presents a powerful history of Whiteness and race; audio rich stories from the Middle East in 'Kerning Cultures'; 'The Food Chain' from the BBC looks at the history of product placement in TV and film; and Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin talk to famous musos in 'Broken Record'.

In 'Broken Record' the writer and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell teams up with legendary producer Rick Rubin for longform interviews with famous musicians about their life in music. We share excerpts from two shows. The first features the DJ and drummer Ahmir Khalib Thompson (better known as Questlove or ?stlove). The second comes from a conversation between Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin about the latter's work producing several Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' albums (including 'Wildflowers') in the early Nineties.

With ad blockers, premium streaming services, and set top recorders, it's never been easier to avoid the adverts in the films and shows we enjoy. So product placement- getting that thing you're trying to sell on screen, or even better into the hands of one of the main characters- is getting more important. The Food Chain from the BBC's World Service looks into the past, present and future of product placement as a way of advertising what we eat and drink in an episode called 'Is Product Placement Getting in Your Face?' presented by Emily Thomas.

'Kerning Cultures' is a podcast showcasing interesting audio documentaries from the Middle East. We share an example from Dubai called 'A Cinema, Demolished' which charts the history of the city's The Plaza Cinema, an important community hub that was torn down for a new development in 2015.

Over 14 episodes of 'Seeing White' from 'Scene on Radio', former radio reporter turned academic John Biewen enlists prominent historians, thinkers and writers (including his friend Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika) to take the idea of 'Whiteness' in modern US society, and explore where ideas about race come from, and what they mean today.

Freddie Mercury is one of the inspiring figures explored on 'Great Lives', 'WTF with Marc Maron' hits 1000 episodes, 'Movie Reviews in 20Qs' is a film podcast made in a Bay of Plenty garage, and 'The Pineapple Project' wants to help you crush work meetings.

Ever wanted to be happier, wealthier, fitter, more productive...an all-round better version of You? Well if you do, there's a podcast for that! NPR's Life Kit series, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, and WorkLife with Adam Grant are just a few popular examples in this self help genre. With The Pineapple Project, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation also aims to get in on this self improvement vibe. Season 1 tackled money issues and Season 2 takes on work- from nailing job interviews to networking and dealing with a horrible boss. We share an episode all about work meetings- why so many people hate them, and what you can do about it. The Pineapple Project from ABC Audio Studios is presented by Claire Hooper and produced by Karla Arnall with sound engineering from John Jacobs, featuring Donna McGeorge and Virginia Trioli.

What happens when a Kiwi couple invite friends over to their garage to ask each other some funny, poignant and just-plain-weird questions about a newly released film? The podcast Movie Reviews in 20 Qs.

The podcaster, standup comedian and actor Marc Maron has been recording his show WTF in his garage for almost a decade, and has recently celebrated its 1000th episode. In it Maron and longtime producer Brendan McDonald pull back the curtain on their production process, and reflect on their friendship and creative partnership. There were some great stories, lots of listener emails, and some moving moments too.

'Great Lives' is a biographical show from the BBC where notable guests choose somebody who's inspired them, and tell host Matthew Parris why. In our featured episode the comedian and TV star Matt Lucas is joined by Freddie Mercury's biographer Lesley-Anne Jones, to explain why the Queen frontman has always been a source of inspiration.

'Blackout' presents a fictional world without power, 'Wild Dunedin' meets the animals of Otago, 'Against The Rules with Michael Lewis' examines fairness in modern society (and why referees are getting so much stick), and 'NB' explores non-binary life.

People use the term 'non-binary' when they don't identify as completely male or completely female. 'NB' offers a first person account of what living as a non-binary person feels like. 

In a new podcast called 'Against The Rules', author Michael Lewis looks at the idea of fairness in different walks of life...in law, the media, the financial markets, and in sport...and asks why the 'referees' in all these areas seem to be under attack. In the first episode called 'Ref, You Suck' he visits the NBA's Replay Centre in Secaucus, New Jersey- the place where every pro basketball referee's decision gets scrutinised (and if necessary over-ruled) by other referees on 110 TV screens in real time during each NBA game. 'Against The Rules with Michael Lewis' is edited by Julia Barton for Pushkin Industries.

The 'Wild Dunedin' podcast tells stories about the wild things, large and small, that live around the city. For example, the southern right whale used to be a common sight- and sound!- around Dunedin and Otago Harbour. 19th century whaling pushed the species to the brink of extinction, but now there are signs that local populations could be rebounding. We play some of "Whale-come Home?" from the 'Wild Dunedin' podcast presented by Dr. Claire Concannon of Otago Museum, and DOC conservation biologist Jamie McAulay.

'Blackout' is a new fiction podcast looking at what could happen if power went down across the entire US. So imagine a world where mobile communications and the internet fail, and where news is hard to come by. How would we cope? And what communities would we form to survive? The Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek plays a local radio DJ in New England trying to make sense of what's going on. And dramatic sound design helps take you straight into the action. We play some of Episode 1 of Blackout called 'Pilot' written by Scott Conroy, directed by Shawn Christensen, starring Rami Malek, and produced by Endeavor Audio and QCode.

Going into a downward spiral on the BBC's Short Cuts, Out of The Blocks is telling street stories from a gritty city, and ordering dream dishes in an imaginary restaurant in Off Menu.