Summer Times for Wednesday 14 January 2026

9:10 How we age

It is a perennial question: how do we stay our healthiest selves as we age? 

It's something the Christchurch Health, Ageing and Lifecourse - or CHALICE - study is looking to answer.  

The study's been going for 15 years with the recruitment of 400 fifty-year-olds. Its focus is on heart and brain health.  

Current co-director Professor John Pearson joins Anna to talk over the study's new phase, which he says will help map health trajectories into the future.

9:30 US correspondent Todd Zwillich

President Trump is set to meet Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado later this week. 

Meanwhile, he has announced 25% tariffs on countries trading with Iran amid anti-government protests there, as well as ICE protests in Minnesota, where the state has sued his administration. 

Our DC correspondent Todd Zwillich joins Anna.

9:40 Why teens get hooked on skincare

Anna speaks with Consumer NZ’s Belinda Castles about the phenomenon of the promotion of skincare brands by young children.

They also discuss the efficacy of NZ sunscreen regulations and the most effective brands for keeping your skin safe.  

Lastly, they dig deep into the mysteries of iced coffee: what’s in one, and is there a universal recipe?

9:55 Geo Jumble

Each day Summer Times hosts the Geo Jumble quiz, in which listeners are asked to unscramble the letters within given words to spell out New Zealand towns and cities.

The first to text in all three correct answers is entered in a weekly prize draw.

Today's quiz prompts are Auckland suburbs:

• Sympathised 
• Reimagined
• Permutation 

Text in your answer to 2101.

10:10 On the road with Chris Bruerton

Few of us are gifted with such a voice as Chris Bruerton's, who in 2012 joined the internationally successful vocal group King Singers.

Over a decade later, Chris is about to sound his final note with the group, with a farewell performance scheduled for the Christchurch Town Hall this March.

Chris joins Anna to soundtrack his perfect road trip.

Chris' selection:

• Fat Freddy's Drop - Wandering Eye

• Tony Renis - Quando, quando, quando

• Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing

• Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

11:10 Museum Stop: Air Force Museum

If military history and planes are your thing, today's museum stop is right up your alley. 

We're stopping at the birthplace of New Zealand's Air Force, the Airforce Museum at Wigram. 

Containing aircrafts of all shapes and sizes, the museum plots the history of airpeople who've served in the Royal New Zealand Airforce and other allied forces over decades. 

Museum Director Brett Marshall joins Anna.

11:20 Arts & culture with Braydon Priest

Braydon Priest reviews novel Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth, Kathy Burke's autobiography A Mind of My Own as told through audiobook and an AI song which has left Braydon feeling conflicted.

11:35 Fighting predators on a global scale

We all love a good Kiwi ingenuity success story and Wellington pest control company Goodnature is certainly that. Celebrating 20 years in business, it's exported more than 600-thousand of its self-setting traps, helping eliminate over 25 million pests across 60 countries. Co-founder Craig Bond tells Anna they've got no plans on stopping there.

11:40 NZ's weird and wonderful places with Peter Janssen

Author Peter Janssen takes Summer Times on a tour of New Zealand's quirky gems, including the Fo Guang Shan Chinese Temple, the Morrinsville Cows, Taranaki's Toy Wall and Dunedin's Beverly Clock.

New editions of the North and South Island versions of Peter's book, Worth A Detour: Hidden places and unusual attractions, were published in November.