Saturday Morning

Australian comedian Heath Franklin has spent 20 years in the iconic Aviators, fake horseshoe moustache and Sharpie tattoos that transform him into his stand-up comedy version of infamous Aussie jailbird Chopper Read. Ahead of returning to New Zealand next month to roll out some of his greatest hits, he talks to Kate Rodger about what life is like behind the moustache.

It's Shakeout 2026, a day and set time to practice your drill if you're in a potential tsunami danger zone. Principal Scientist at Earth Sciences NZ's Graham Leonard dropped into the studio to talk us through the dangers, and what practical steps you can take to stay safe along with the latest science.

On any given Saturday, before much of Auckland is stirring the Ōtara Markets are already humming. For 50 years they've been a fixture of South Auckland life - rich in Pacific culture and vibrancy, offering food, music, crafts and art. 
One stallholder has spent 30 of those years turning up week after week - driving from whakatane rain hail or shine to set up her stall. Known around the markets as Miss Whakatane - Iris Herewini - spoke to Kate Rodger live from her stall.

The Kiwi-born best-selling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz is back with another work of historical fiction, this time detailing the story of a young Jewish woman in World War Two era Paris who is protected by her piano teacher at great personal risk. Heather Morris joins Saturday Morning to talk about her new book, The Piano Teacher of Montparnasse.

With an aging population and everyday tasks that seem to involve more and more tech, technological progress marches on, but is it leaving some of us behind? Kate Rodger spoke to Melanie Stowell, a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland, who's been looking into the way fear of technology can leave older Kiwis feeling isolated.