NBR Radio Weekend Rumble: Flag referendums, refugees and Rugby World Cup songs
Lance Wiggs and the NBR crew throw around some of the week's top stories on NBR Radio and on-demand via MyNBR Radio.
NBR journalists Chris Keall, Deborah LaHatte, Duncan Bridgeman, Hamish McNicol, Jason Walls, Nathan Smith and Nick Grant are joined by regular guest panellist Lance Wiggs to discuss some of the week's stories over a few quiets on NBR Radio and on demand via MyNBR Radio.
This week the main topics tackled are the flag referendum, the refugee quota and the All Blacks’ official song for the Rugby World Cup.
Mr Smith kicks off the discussion about the refugee crisis in Europe and New Zealand’s response – or lack thereof. He appears to be on track to make some interesting points before – typically – Mr Wiggs interrupts in order to tout his bleeding heart credentials and proceedings devolve into an aural free-for-all broken up by the occasional searing insight (FYI: an opinion piece by Mr Smith on the topic will be posted on Monday).
The PM’s pet legacy project to change the flag proves as contentious among NBR’s staffers as it has among our subscribers. The idea aired that probably has the most merit is Mr Bridgeman’s suggestion that a fifth, wild card option be included in the first leg of the referendum because, frankly, no-one’s especially keen on any of the current options, though “something involving a fern” finds favour among a fair few.
As for the official RWC song for the All Blacks, Mr Wiggs waxes lyrical about I See Fire, apparently undeterred by the fact it’s a cover of an Ed Sheeran song from The Hobbit trilogy that includes such bathetic lines as “And if we should die tonight/Then we should all die together/Raise a glass of wine for the last time.” (Then again, if you compare that, on the day, to the doggerel of our actual national anthem it is probably an upgrade, to be fair, in a game of two halves.)
And in an apparently calculated affront to all that is good and right about Kiwi culture, Mr Grant admits he doesn't automatically swear allegiance to whatever the current All Blacks line-up happens to be (he’s got an opinion piece on the way about that in time for the start of the RWC it seems, so stay tuned, as they say).
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NBR Radio
Fri, 04 Sep 2015
Fri, 04 Sep 2015
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NBR Radio Weekend Rumble: Flag referendums, refugees and Rugby World Cup songs
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