Crackhead is a new, locally produced dark comedy, and it's getting plenty of positive reviews.

Created and written by actress Holly Shervey, Crackhead is loosely based on Shervey’s own experience of addiction and psychiatric care.

Holly Shervey and her husband, director of the show, Emmett Skilton, explained the creative process behind creating the show.

"When we finally start to take it off the page, I see Holly really embracing it - she mentioned it's cathartic, she is very liberated by doing this."

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Australian author Charlotte McConaghy’s novel Wild Dark Shore has been widely reviewed as one of the must read books of 2025.

It also saw McConaghy named on the longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Ahead of her appearance at the Auckland Writers Festival, she's opened up about the creative journey behind her iconic work.

"I was concerned that my sort of level of immersion into my writing was so different than what it had been in the past, and I was worried that it was going to sort of translate into the book and into the writing - they're very normal doubts to have as a writer."

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Lake Effect by Cynthia d’Aprix Sweeney. In 1977, just as The Joy of Sex is sweeping through suburbia, neighbours Nina Larkin and Finn Finnegan leave their respective families for a new life together in a seismic betrayal which ripples through their children’s lives and has a profound, ongoing impact on them all. Yet family bonds are not easily broken and somehow seem to stretch, bend and accommodate all the chaos and mystery and love which life throws at them. This author writes wonderfully about family dynamics - small stories about everyday people living ordinary lives which in their own way are fascinating.

Every Second Counts by Charlotte Glennie. Charlotte Glennie was TVNZ’s first Asia correspondent based in Hong Kong from where she lived a frenetic life chasing down major world events, natural disasters, political turmoil and more. This is a compilation of recent world history which humanizes those involved, told with insight and fierce empathy and is a fascinating account of the stories of our times told by someone who was there and witnessed it all first hand. Highly recommended.

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It's spring on the other side of the world, which means it's almost peak cherry blossom season in Washington DC.

There's over 3000 cherry blossom trees in America's capital, and BloggerAtLarge writer Megan Singleton says timing is everything when it comes to seeing them in bloom.

Megan outlined her travel tips - read more about what she recommends here.

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This week on The Sunday Panel, Newstalk ZB host Roman Travers and editor and journalist, Jo McCarroll, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the week - and more!

The Middle East crisis is getting worse and there's concerns about what it will do to the global fuel supply chain. Do we think the Government is taking this seriously enough? Are we taking any steps to reduce our consumption?

It's nearly Easter, and the hot cross bun debate continues. What makes a good hot cross bun?

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On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 15 March, author Charlotte McConaghy is behind one of 2025s must read books 'Wild Dark Shores'. She joins Francesca to talk about the unexpected success of a book that was very hard to write and the insane research trip she undertook with a toddler in tow.

Holly Shervey has turned her story of drug addiction and psychiatric care into a new local TV show. It's had rave reviews and Holly and her director husband Emmett Skilton talk about bringing her personal story to life.

Petrol has been the talk of the town this week but how much do we know about how supply chain issues will impact us in New Zealand? Consultant Nathan Surendran talks us through the supply chain and what plan we need in place.

Francesca celebrates the distraction of the upcoming Oscars and entertainment contributor Steve Newall has all the preview and some of his hot tips to take out the awards.

Get the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast every Sunday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Healing the gut rather than relying on long-term restrictive diets is considered a better approach to manage IBS and bloating than restrictive dieting.

Irritable bowel syndrome is very common in New Zealand, affecting an estimated 15–20 percent of the population, or roughly 1 in 7 adults.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara reveals how to work through long-term gut issues.

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Cook time: 10 minutes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Serves 6-8

300-400 gm darker fleshed fillets like Kahawai or Trevally

100 gm seasalt

2 cups large manuka wood chips

10 green lip mussels

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp crème fraiche

Juice of one lemon

1 tbsp honey

Pinch of paprika

Cracked pepper and seasalt

3 tbsp fennel tips & chives, chopped finely

Toasted sour dough

Start by making up a salt brine by combining 100gm of salt with 1 litre of water. Whisk until dissolved.

Submerge the fish fillets into the water and leave for 30 minutes to firm-up and flavour.

Place 2 x cast-iron pans onto the heat with the wood chips inside. Onto the wood chips, ball up some tin-foil and then place the fish fillets and mussels on top.

Keeping them off the wood chips. Place a lid on top of the pan and crank up the heat, causing the wood chips to smoke. Once smoking leave on high for a further minute.

Turn off the heat but leaving the lids on. After 5 minutes, remove the mussel and fillets.

Place half the mussels and fillets into a blender along with the mustard, crème fraiche, lemon juice, farm honey and paprika. Blitz until smooth, taste and season with salt and cracked pepper.

Chop the remaining mussels and fillets and fold through the pate, along with the fennel tips and chives.

Serve with some toasted sourdough.

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