B-side Stories

Playwright Hone Kouka speaks about the Kia Mau Festival in Wellington, 7-25 June 2016. http://www.kiamaufestival.com/

No Lights No Lycra Wellington is a fortnightly open to anyone dance meet up group who shed their inhibitions by dancing in total darkness for an hour in a Newtown hall. Joining us this week on B-Side Stories is Charlotte Crocker, chief organiser of NLNLW. Charlotte discusses the origins of NLNL, preparing playlists & what drew her to dancing in the dark. She also plays us one of her tunes from her musical project "Noncharlet".

Joining B-Sides Stories this week were Ruth Mundy and Sean O'Brien aka Joe Blossom, for a NZ Music Month special. Host Martin Andrews talks to our guests about the craft of songwriting and trying to make a living in Aotearoa as an artist. The duo share their stories with warmth and humour, and treat us to some fantastic live in-studio performances.

Food Co-operative coordinator Sallie Calvert joins Ali to talk about the benefits of getting low-cost fruit and vege to the communities around Wellington who need it most! http://www.rph.org.nz/content/0f6e1c1b-592f-44e2-8be3-d9e1085be944.html

Pinaman Owusu, Ghanaian born kiwi, speaks about showcasing creative collections at the first ever Africa Fashion Festival New Zealand. http://www.africafashionfestival.com/

Liora Noy talks about the services available at The Wellington Family Support Hub in Newtown, and about volunteering to help refugee mothers and babies in Greece. https://familysupporthub.wordpress.com/ http://www.lighthouserelief.org/

Choose you derby name and listen to Richter City Roller Derby's Scanda Lass. We chat about the sport, who plays, how it all started in Wellington, and how you can see a match!

Samantha Jones is revolutionizing the fashion industry with her newly launched company Little Yellow Bird, who supply corporate uniforms that use ethically sourced fabrics under fair working conditions.

Wellington has been a Fair Trade City for over five years! In celebration of Fair Trade Fortnight 2016, Laurie and Laura visit the Wellington Chocolate Factory, All Good, Stories Espresso, Trade Aid and Commonsense Organics.

Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri and Michel Alkhouri, co-founders of the Make Foundation, aim to bring art and music to children in Wellington and children in Syrian refugee camps. Naia and Luka contribute their songs!

This week on B-Side Stories host Martin Andrews chats with Body Love Blueprint founder Courtney Durr, about her journey from personal trainer to start up founder and incorporating her own personal philosophy of self love and worth being more important than whats reflected on the bathroom scales. An honest and inspiring discussion for both men and women alike!

Steve O' Connor, CEO of Wellington hi tech power retailer Flick Electric talks about their newly developed app "Choice", which enables every kiwi to see if their power use is clean or dirty.

Tim Dorrian from flatfish.co.nz by B-Side Stories

Finn Roy and Molly Sokhom offer a peak into the Wellington comedy scene, and explain meat packs.

Zoe and Tim create one drawing every day for 31 days in exciting locations all over the world. March 2016: Wellington, New Zealand!

Lee Barry and Rena Kohere discuss the Sustainability Trust's Warm Up For Winter Market. Electric cars, delicious foods, up-cycled goods, and best of all - FLOOR SNAKES.

Sara Hirsch and Ben Fagan are international poets on a tour of New Zealand. They joined B-Side Stories to talk about slam, building bridges, and changing the world with spoken word. Visit http://www.sarahirsch.co.uk/ and http://www.benfagan.nz/ for more!

This week on B-Side Stories we play some of our favourite Wellington tunes: Ills Winter - Caught In The Headlights Eb & Sparrow - Two Wolves Karl Jensen - The Little Town Groeni - Hinde Roman Birch - Time Square City The Balkanistas - Ajde Zano Vorn - Drowning Kittens The Polly Johnson Set - Let Me Count The Ways (I Love You) Connan Mockasin - I'm The Man, That Will Find You

This week on BSide Stories we were joined by Ali Whitton of LOST BiRD, the local Wellington Country Folk duo consisting of guitar player/songwriter Ali & Oliver Vetter on violin. Ali discusses his Celtic origins in England, the influence of the notorious Wellington weather on his songwriting and the difficulties of maintaining a working life while following your heart in the arts. We were also treated to three live performances of as yet unreleased LOST BiRD songs.

Laura talks to Dave Piper and Lauren Milstead from Achilles international New Zealand. They help people with disabilities participate in mainstream athletic events, or simply keep fit with a fortnightly run. Hear Dave, who is totally blind, talk about how running on the road is a bit too easy for him!