Comedian Chris Parker's new live show proved successful at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, and he's ready to unleash it on the Kiwis.

Parker's touring Stop Being So Dramatic around the country and he's promised the show is his most personal yet.

He says he's expected a more reserved reception from Kiwi audiences - but he knows how to work with that.

"We still have this weird mentality sometimes, we're just like 'Oh, we're just little old Kiwis, no one knows about us and we're just a team of five million at the bottom of the world'...but our sensibility, what we can laugh at is just as advanced and as complicated and robust as any international audience."

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In a previous life, crime writer AA Dhand dealt with a lot, including overdoses, violence, and abuse, to name a few.

Amit worked on the frontline of the NHS crisis, running his 100 hour pharmacy in Bradford - surrounded by drugs, drug dealers and giving him insight into the lives of addicts and the dealers preying on the vulnerable.

He turned these experiences into a crime thriller, The Chemist.

"I kind of wrote it as Dexter meets Breaking Bad. The idea came to me when I was at my pharmacy and I'd seen a very unfortunate drug deal go wrong and somebody had died outside my pharmacy...the whole area was on lockdown with police and helicopters."

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A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan: In 1987, 10 year old Alix and her family are at the beach for the great New Zealand summer, but everything feels a little off - her teenage sister’s desperate to run with the in-crowd, her mother’s wildly distracted and her father is adrift. Alix befriends another holidaymaker, and they hunt for signs of a girl who went missing years ago, while a creepy neighbour watches everything they do. This hums with foreboding against the sun and sea. It’s magnetic.

A Dim Prognosis by Ivor Popovich - The author has been a doctor in New Zealand hospitals for the last ten years and describes a system which is itself on life support. It’s not just about the under funding and the bureaucracy of our health care, but he also covers the very toxic atmosphere that a lot of the young doctors work in, with senior doctors protecting their patch and demeaning or humiliating the newcomers; and the disparities between public and private healthcare and how so many of these senior doctors do extremely well from working across both, while patients and other health care workers suffer. It’s required reading for anyone with an interest in our hospitals and how they work - and how they don’t.

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One of ZB's resident travel experts, Megan Singleton, has been taking in the sights of the US - and this week, she's opening up about her experience with Dollywood.

Dollywood ppened in 1986 in Pigeon Forge on the site of former attractions dating back to the 1960s, and it's a must see for fans of Dolly Parton, or even fans of the old west.

Megan Singleton detailed her experience - and revealed why she also recommends taking in the Smoky Mountains.

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This week on the Sunday Panel, broadcaster and journalist, Wilhelmina Shrimpton, and resident economist at Opes Partners, Ed McKnight, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

Peter Burling will join Italian syndicate Luna Rossa for the 38th edition of the America's Cup in an undefined role. What do we make of this? Should we be worried?

A new study out of MIT has revealed that increased use of ChatGPT could be linked to declining cognitive performance. Are we surprised by this?

One UK farm is charging $213 for people to cuddle a cow in a bid to boost revenue. Would you pay to cuddle a cow?

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June marks Men's Health Awareness Month - leaving plenty of room to discuss how things can be improved.

Research shows men face significant health challenges and often experience poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancies compared to women.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara unpacked the contributing factors and health conditions behind these stats - and revealed how things could be fixed.

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Cook time: 5 minutes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4

12 brussels sprouts, stalks removed

4 rashers of streaky bacon, roughly chopped

1 cup finely grated parmesan

1 tbsp sunflower oil

Flaky salt and cracked pepper

Pre-heat a oven to 180*c

Cut stalks off brussels sprouts and cut each brussel into 1/2.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and blanch them for 1 minute and refresh in iced water to halt cooking.

Heat the sunflower oil in a pan and sauté bacon for 3-4 minutes. Add sprouts in the last 30 seconds, season and transfer to a roasting tray. Sprinkle over the parmesan and bake for 25 minutes.

Serve straight from the oven.

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