B-side Stories

We are joined by Tom Kay, an independent candidate for Greater Wellington's Pōneke/Wellington General area. Tom was born in Hawkes Bay and has worked in Wellington as an environmental advocate, freshwater scientist, and policy adviser. Tom loves Wellington and is passionate about improving train services, caring for our rivers, and preparing for climate change and emergencies. He is standing to bring a youthful voice to the regional council, and look after the environment we all love.

In this episode, we sit down with Trish Given, an independent candidate for Wellington City Council's Motukairangi/Eastern Ward. Born in Ireland and a resident of Wellington for 16 years, Trish has built her life here with her Kiwi husband and their two children. She's deeply rooted in the Eastern suburbs—not just as a resident, but as someone committed to nurturing the future of this vibrant community.

Noa Noa Von Bassewitz grew up living on the back of the Taniwha Whātaitai. Her childhood dream of becoming a vampire was thwarted by braces, but she has woven personal and symbolic representations of supernatural beings through her art her whole life. Noa Noa is currently moving from woodblock printing into large scale multi-layered monoprints: "an explosion in the gallery" and is also exploring the medium of stand-up comedy on the side. She talked to Sadie Coe about connection and separation, love, travel, and putting fear aside. We also played some tracks by Noa Noa's son Ngahere Wafer. You can see one of his video's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z-VQpkIn7Q Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.

"It was the most impactful story I've ever written". When journalist Iona McNaughton wrote a feature about Vietnam-based Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, she didn't expect it to resonate so strongly with readers that it lead to the creation of the New Zealand branch of the charity. One of those those readers was Sue Chamberlain, and, in this episode of B-Side Stories, Sue and Iona talk to us about what brought them to found Blue Dragon NZ, and about the amazing work the Foundation does to help children living in extreme poverty and to rescue victims of human trafficking and slavery.

Kim Young is one of the founders of Newtown Open Studios, a marriage celebrant, a gallery owner, a poker player, a gardener, and a zero waste advocate, amongst other things. She talks to Sadie Coe about these and also Kidunk and limited edition rice pudding. Don't know what these are? Listen up! Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.

On Sunday March 3, 2024, B-Side Stories hung out at the amazing Newtown Festival with the Access Radio crew and 80,000 happy revellers. Lots of cool people stopped by to talk to us. Here are some of those chats, recorded live on the day. Ngā mihi to the friendly folk who chatted with us: Heather, Jacob, Mikaela (hopefully we spelled that correctly!), Nick, Prue, Thomas, Xavier and Lucas, and Phil from Phil and the Gaps. Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air

Trish and Sadie talk about upcoming events, and play some tracks by performers at this weekend's Newtown Festival. Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air

The New Zealand Fringe Festival is Aotearoa's largest open-access arts event. We talked to award-winning playwright, producer, and reviewer Jack McGee about some of the cool stuff to see at Fringe, and also learned about his theatre company Squash Co Arts Collective and the challenges of being a reviewer in a town like Wellington, where everyone knows everyone. We also learned what "durational theatre" involves! Made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air

Nautilus Creative Space is an independently run art collective that recently moved to Newtown after 15 years in Ōwhiro Bay. In this very fun episode of B-Side Stories, Sadie talks to artists Jordan, Sean, Holly, and James about the transformative nature of working in a collective. We hear about their many creative pursuits from music and songwriting to videography, intuitive guidance readings, painting, jewellery, photography, writing...and much more! We also hear music from Sean's band Spiral, and James performs live in the studio. Email nautilus.creative.trust@gmail.com for more info. B-Side Stories is made with the support of Wellington Access Radio 106.1FM and NZ On Air.

Mike Riversdale AKA Miramar Mike talks to Sadie and Trish about what inspired him to create Aroha Wellington, a night of music, comedy, and connections where punters buy two tickets, and give one away to someone who could do with a fun night out, spreading wellbeing and positivity. https://aroha.miramarmike.co.nz/ Mike tells us about all the amazing people who have come together to make this event happen, about his day job in IT, and about the journey his gift of the gab has taken him on. This podcast was made with the support of Wellington Access Radio and NZ on Air.

Ever since she was a child and made dresses from her grandmother's old saris, Sneha Pulapaka has been fascinated by textiles and upcycling old fabric. She talks to Sadie on B-Side Stories about juggling her passion for textile art and sustainability with the love of photography she inherited from her grandfather, and her role as a parent. Her social enterprise, The Native Loom, works with artisans in Southern India to create beautiful and functional upcycled products, and also runs workshops here in Wellington to teach people the joy of printing on fabric. This podcast is created with the support of Wellington Access Radio www.accessradio.org.nz and NZ on Air.

"No-one gets into the waste industry for the money. Everyone gets into it because they want to make a change". When Shelali Shetty moved to Wellington from Southern India she came looking for adventure but she wasn't expecting that her first recruitment interview would be conducted partly underneath a desk while an earthquake rolled through. Undetered, she's gone on to work at the Sustainability Trust, to be a Trustee of the Wellington Timebank, and to manage Wellington City Council’s Resource Recovery Centre. She tells us about the ins-and-outs of waste management in Wellington and her love for bringing people together.

Find out how tradescantia is bringing people together- this week Mel talks with Nigel Charman and Jane Martin about the communities regenerating ecosystems in backyards and parks in the city! See more about Jane's work and examples of backyard regeneration at www.aroha.eco and join Nigel in restoring Tanera Gully at https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/projects/tanera-gully-restoration-project-wellington or taking on Old Man's Beard at https://www.ombfree.nz/

Mel chats to Greg Campbell and Jazzy Jo Higgins from the Aro Valley Jazz Jam about being in the "New Orleans of the South Pacific", the Welly Jazz Festival and top picks for local music!

Kate Walmsley and Liam Prince chat to Mel about their work as compost managers at Welly urban farm Kaicycle, working toward resilient & regenerative food systems!

This week on B Side Stories we talk to local designer Larissa Banks about her life becoming a professional crafter, and her recent graduation from Wellington's Comedy School!

This week, Casey Tearle talks to Mel about her career as a dancer that took her around the world, the dance / circus scene here in Welly, and her transition to working in Tiriti law.

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.