Immigration is set to be a major issue this election and RNZ's podcast team are confronting the politics of it all, while also checking out the future of robots on Mars.
Photo: RNZ
The politics of immigration led the news this week as the government changes its planned reforms. With the election less than two months away, it's a safe bet immigration won't disappear from the headlines any time soon.
Slice of Heaven, RNZ's major documentary podcast on the issue, confronted the politics of who gets to come here and investigates how we talk about our new arrivals. Is New Zealand a racist country? Host Noelle McCarthy captures a range of views in the podcast here.
Just what the government's backdown on immigration means politically got tossed around on Caucus this week. Guyon Espiner, Lisa Owen and Tim Watkin ask if immigration is impacting employment and wages, discuss National's deals in Epsom and Ohariu and give us the latest on Greens co-leader Metiria Turei's benefit confession:
Dirty(ish) deals, the nerdy truth about immigration & poverty… & more Metiria
Foreign connections are also part of the conversation Sonia Sly has with Jordan Rondel, aka The Caker, in Just One Thing. Jordan's French roots are explored and we hear the story of the "one thing" most important to her - a family heirloom with a terribly romantic backstory:
The icing on Jordan Rondel's cake
Our Changing World this week isn't interested so much in other countries, as other planets! Alison Ballance gets all enthusiastic about two robots called Trevor and Julie who may one day walk on Mars:
The future of robots is soft