Saturday Morning

The Summer Olympics of 1904 were held in St Louis, Missouri and they were the first ever held outside of Europe. But this particular event has gone down in history for hosting a farcical marathon which involved rat poison, hitch-hiking, stolen fruit and dog attacks. The strange tale has been brought to the stage by Nic Sampson who popped in to share a little of it.

Two poet-artists who've shared a long friendship defined by the waves and the currents of the South Pacific are John Puhiatau Pule and Gregory O'Brien. They've collaborated on a new publication called This Must Be the Island - Liga Hanai e Motu. It features poetry, art and design from both influenced by all corners of the South Pacific, its people and places. Punctuated by sketches, prints and poems the book is a feast for the eyes. During their interview they both treated us to a reading of their personal favourites.

On the last day to vote we check in with RNZ hosts Jesse Mulligan and Wallace Chapman ahead of the networks special coverage which starts at 7 o'clock once polls close. There's a big night ahead with in depth analysis of the results as they role in from around the motu. Jesse and Wallace will be hopping from one location to another across a range of spots in Auckland.

Over the ditch, Aussies have become a little more comfortable through the years facing the wreckage of their colonial history and the violence and trauma borne from it. But there's still one dark chapter of their history that many know nothing about: it's the practice of Blackbirding - which our next guest, author Ryan Butta explained is Australia's forgotten slave trade.

Dozens of pilot whales were found stranded on a Wairarapa beach this week and despite the best efforts of conservation groups and concerned locals all the whales perished. Daren Grover from whale rescue group Project Jonah joined us for an update and to talk about a new AI-assisted bit of tech that might give us the ability to predict and prepare for these events in future.