B-side Stories

We talked to local legend Tim Jones on his life, his tireless decades in climate and transport advocacy, and his new novel Emergency Weather!

If you go down to the wild Wellington South Coast during a storm, there's a high chance that you could spot Mary Livingston there, braced against the wind and happily taking photos. Mary has a lifelong love of the sea, which lead to a 40 year career as a marine biologist, and, more recently, to her fascination with capturing astounding images of the surf and coastline. Mary also uses abstraction to create landscapes with her camera from all sorts of surfaces, from cars to fenceposts. We talked to her about her two current photography exhibitions, her love of performing folk music, especially songs of the sea, and her time spent on boats chasing flatfish...and we found out which other creative art she practises. Made with support from Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.

Nigel Beckford collects, curates, augments, and transforms snippets of the culture of Aotearoa, taking moments of daily life from the news (man tasered after doing kung fu moves on a fried chicken joint's roof) or from his own experiences and conversations (playing football in goose poo leads to amputation of limb) and turning them into songs and stories. In this episode of B-Side Stories Nigel talks to Sadie and Trish about performing with the collective of musicians Sven Olsen's Brutal Canadian Love Saga, about his previous "bonkers rock" band The Inhalers, about writing, and art, and imagination, and lots more. Nigel is a natural born storyteller in all media: listen in for how he instinctively seized on the special nature of radio to prank Trish at the start of the show. This programme was made with the support of NZ on Air and Wellington Access Radio.

You might know that Geordie Rogers was elected to represent the Pukehīnau/Lambton ward during the February 2024 Wellington City Council by-election. But you might not know much about Geordie and his background. In this episode, Laura and Victoria ask Geordie about the close election campaign, and explore his background, interests, and first impressions of the job at Wellington City Council. You'll learn a bit about Geordie's advocacy with Renters United, and much more.

Multi-disciplinary artists Biddy and James open their home and garden each year as part of Newtown Open Studios. They talk to Sadie and Trish about the art they create both separately and together in what they describe as a cross-pollination, and about the home they've created, which is a landmark in Newtown, Te Whanganui a Tara.

Have you ever written a song? Our guest Ali Whitton completed a 52 week song writing challenge - writing a new song every week for a whole year! Hear him speak about the challenges, the learnings, the rap song... and hear some of Ali's music performed live. Recorded at Wellington Access Radio 20 Feb 2024. Hosted by Laura Keown and Sadie Coe. Follow @lostbirdsings on Instagram to hear more from Ali Whitton.

Morgan Bach talks writing, rage and Verb 2023 by B-Side Stories

Esther King shares her love for foraging with B Sides, offering some great tips and motivation for the forage-curious!

Terese McLeod talks about islands, a stream, and views that can't be bought by billionaires by B-Side Stories

Part 1

Part 2 of 2

An incredible new mural runs down the side of the St James Theatre. The art work was created by Tina Rae Carter and Keri-Mei Zagrobelna, and entitled, "Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua," a Māori whakataukī which translates as, "walking backwards into the future." The mural features many visual stories weaving in and out including a moko kauae with the Matariki constellation, a tuna taniwha, whare and raupō designs, and a theatre curtain. It is a conversation between the land and history, and Wellington's St James Theatre. Tina and Keri-Mei speak about its creation and their backgrounds as artists.

What's happening with Victoria University's theatre programme? Dr Kerryn Palmer is a freelance director, actor, and teacher of drama for over 25 years. She spoke to Laura about the campaign to Save the Victoria University Theatre department from deep staff cuts that would limit offerings for students and lose the talent of skilled instructors.

Part two! Local theatre-makers and creative types Cadence Chung, Hazel Perigo-Blackburn, and and Lewis Thomson tell us about bringing a former high school production to the bright lights of BATS Theatre

Part one (with songs!) Local theatre-makers and creative types Cadence Chung, Hazel Perigo-Blackburn, and and Lewis Thomson tell us about bringing a former high school production to the bright lights of BATS Theatre

Laura speaks to Dylan Hutton and Anna Barker - stars of a new theater show about riding bikes in Wellington and having a sibling in your life. Long Ride Home. They tell us the secrets of riding and acting at the same time, and talk about the hustle of making theatre in Wellington.

Laura interviews Ryan O'Connell, the founder of Wellington's centre of e-bike rental and guided tours: Switched on Bikes. The team at Switched on have been e-bike experts for eight years, and offer incredible experiences for visitors to Wellington. They also have e-bike subscriptions for locals, and an e-bike GPS tracking service. Laura and Ryan discuss cycling in Wellington, being a serial entrepreneur, and putting sustainability values at the heart of a business. https://switchedonbikes.co.nz/

Laura Interviews Bailee Lobb, a performance and installation artist who works with colour, soft structures, movement, and spatial interventions to create immersive environments. Bailee uses her art to explore her experience of disability and autism. In this episode she describes her background, and the themes of her latest works, including 'How do you sleep at night?'. She describes the difference between neurodivergence and neurodiversity. Listen for her favourite place in Wellington. Bailee's exhibition of textile installations exploring the pursuit of self-regulation and sensory support, called ‘Sensory Self Portraits’, is heading to the Nelson Arts festival in October 2023.

"The subliminal message is the frequency". Shift Collective make large scale live video projections that incorporate music in a call-and-response approach, to tell stories about life in Aotearoa New Zealand. They are collaborating with musician Ceramic (Tom Heynes) at Te Ramaroa light festival. Shift Collective members Adrian McCleland and Johanna Sanders speak to Sadie Coe about how they've taken live video works out of the club scene and into the art world. Music and visuals mixed together live create an experience which is more than the sum of its parts, and their work with Ceramic will explore expressions of energy in harmony with the environment at Te Ramaroa. Tom treats us to a live demonstration of how different frequencies of sound resonate in the body and talks about sound made visible (cymatics) and how his training and work as an acupuncturist affects his prolific musical output. https://ceramicnz.bandcamp.com/music https://teramaroa.nz/installation/16-ko-hinemoa-ko-ahau/ B-Side Stories is mad

Women's football in Wellington with Hannah Wignall by B-Side Stories