1. Politics: Former Prime Minister Sir Keith Holyoake insisted on getting letters of resignation from all cabinet ministers and keeping them in a top drawer in case they were needed, writes historian Dr Michael Bassett in The Real Power List: The best, the worst & the wasters New Zealand’s Prime Ministers rated. To find out who three historians rated as our best PM and why Winston Peters made the list despite never having been PM, go here.
2. World: Bernadette Stockman, a former principal of St Mary’s College in Auckland, runs remotely an online education programme for displaced Palestinian children in Gaza. It’s called Bounceback and is based on a successful Syrian scheme. Stockman is one of several Kiwis giving aid to Ukraine and Palestine. You can find out more about their efforts here.
3. Life: You have a dominant nostril – and our nostrils are far from two passive openings to the our lungs. They’re chock-full of olfactory sensory neurons – between 12 – 20 million of them, half for each nostril, but it might not help when you’re tasting whisky. To find out why, go here.
4. Books: The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) started a file on veteran activist Maire Leadbeater when she was just 10 years old. Leadbeater writes about the human cost of state surveillance in her book The Enemy Within, which highlights a social history of concering practices. Peter Grace’s review of the book is here.
5. Food & drink: Sauvigon blanc turns 50 this year. A once little-known variety, it now accounts for 90% of our wine exports. Wine writer Michael Cooper gives his top picks.
6. Health: New Zealand researchers are celebrating technological advances in what they describe as a game-changer for diabetics. These advances mean the age of finger-pricking to check blood glucose levels is finally coming to an end. You can learn more here.
7. Entertainment: The creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, lost his son just before the end of World War I. This contributed to his interest in mysticism and the paranormal and a belief – popular during the Victorian era – that they would be the new frontier of science. You can read more about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and historian Lucy Worsley’s latest series, here.
8. Entertainment: Physicist Brian Cox says his latest interplanetary series, Solar System, can go boldly go where his previous ones couldn’t because of new data that comes from around 40 spacecraft sending information back to Earth. This comes not just from planets and moons, but from asteroid belts and small worlds at the edge of our solar system. Solar system begins next week.
9. Life: Some 88,800 tonnes of garden waste ends up yearly in Auckland landfills, generating 12% of their emissions but landscape gardener Mark van Kaathoven is doing something about that. He started making fertiliser from his own garden waste and was so successful, Auckland Council now uses the same techniques in some of its parks. Find out how to do this yourself here.
10. Opinion: The Australian Constitution gives New Zealand the option to become part of the country. Covering clause 6, it states New Zealand may be admitted into Australia as a state. Here’s why Duncan Garner thinks New Zealand should join.
