Everyone loves a good explainer - and one author has taken it upon herself to investigate some of life's greatest mysteries in a new book.

In Why Do People Queue for Brunch?, National Explainer editor Felicity Lewis explores some of life's curliest questions - including undiscovered ocean treasures and who can claim the moon.

She says she hoped to take readers on a literary journey - and the books is packed with stories as well as explanations.

"We thought it would be a really good service to readers to provide some context and some background."

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Kiwi actress Luciana Buchanan began her acting career as a teenager in Auckland - before going on to star in one of Netflix's top streaming shows.

She turned heads in local series Filthy Rich before going on to appear in the likes of The New Legends of Monkey, Mr Corman and Sweet Tooth.

In 2023, Luciane made a global name for herself in her breakout role as Rose Larkin, one of the lead roles in The Night Agent, which is one of Netflix’s most watched shows of all time.

She says it was a 'crazy' experience arriving in Vancouver for filming - and receiving accolades from Netflix was a surreal moment.

"I don't think it really hit til I was in Vancouver and I was meeting everyone... and I was getting flowers from Netflix and all this stuff. I was like - oh my gosh, we're doing this."

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Home Seeking by Karissa Chen. This is one of those big, epic sweeping stories which starts in one place and finishes up a long way away. Suchi and Haiwen are good friends and then teenage lovers in Shanghai during the Civil War. When Haiwen volunteers to go and do National Service (a gesture he makes so that his brother won’t have to) they lose track of each other. Life and the years then intervene so that it’s sixty years before they recognise each other in Los Angeles and slowly start to re-establish their connection. There’s a lot to this book – about identity, families, finding a place in the world and what one might have to sacrifice in order to do that.

Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow. In 1987 Scott Turow wrote Presumed Innocent, which knocked my socks off at the time – it was so, so good. Some years later he wrote a second book, Innocent, but here’s the one I’ve been waiting for which captures the essence of that first one all these (38!!) years later. Rusty Sabin is now older. Over the course of his career he’s been a prosecuting attorney, a judge, and even a defendant and convicted felon. Now he’s essentially retired, living in a small town and settled in a great relationship when suddenly all that is threatened when the son of his partner is accused of murder and Rusty steps up to help out. Great family and courtroom drama – the first in this series predated John Grisham by 4 years. Scott Turow really was a trailblazer and he’s still going strong.

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For a historical escape, BloggerAtLarge.com's Megan Singleton has unveiled her top castle hotels dotted around Ireland.

The Clontarf Castle Hotel, Luttrellstown Castle Resort, and Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel are among her recommendations for a unique holiday experience - and she's offered up a list of top tips for making the most out of your castle stay.

To learn more, check out Megan's full article 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!

Prime Minister Chris Luxon took aim at New Zealand's 'culture of saying no' as part of last week's State of the Nation address? Does he have a point?

Meanwhile in the US, Donald Trump has returned to the White House and signed a slew of executive actions in his first few days in office. What do we make of the last few days?

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While reducing calorie intake is viewed as an easy way to lose weight, skipping meals altogether comes with its own share of downsides.

Over the last few years, people have limited their eating times and leaned on intermittent fasting to lose weight, but these lifestyle choice can have negative impacts on your metabolism and overall health.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara explains the benefits and drawbacks of skipping meals - and how to make it work for your lifestyle.

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Cook time: 5 minutes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

4-6 fillets of skin on snapper

Sunflower oil

Flaky sea salt

1/2 ciabatta loaf

Additional olive oil

Flaky sea salt

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

Salt, to taste

1 tsp Dijion mustard

Pepper, to taste

8 small tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup kalamata olives

1 cup char grilled peppers, sliced

Handful of Italian parsley, chopped

Tear the ciabatta loaf into large irregular pieces, drizzle with a little olive oil and salt. Preheat your cast iron pan before frying the bread until golden and crispy. It needs to be crispy but still somewhat chewy.

In a large bowl whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar and a little salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat a cast iron pan.

Portion your snapper into usable pieces, coat well with oil and season with salt.

Place the snapper into the clean hot pan skin side down and firmly press down the flesh for 5 seconds, preventing the fillet from curling. Continue to cook on high until the fillet has almost turn completely white. Flip over for the a final few seconds.

Once ready to serve, add in the bread, tomatoes, olives, peppers and parsley.

Spoon over the dressing to wet the crispy bread and serve as serve as possible onto platters with the crispy snapper.

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Hula-hooping is a popular and seemingly simple activity that many children can do. However, the physics behind what makes a good hula-hooper has only just been studied with the first to mathematical explanation of hula-hooping dynamics published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research not only found what keeps a hula-hoop spinning against gravity but also reveal why some people find it easier than others - and body shape does matter!

The researchers used robotic models with different 3D-printed body shapes including cylinders, cones, and hourglasses to replicate hula-hooping motions. Using high-speed video analysis, they found that while twirling a hoop was straightforward across body types, keeping it elevated against gravity required a specific body shape. Bodies with sloping hips to push the hoop upward and curvy waists to hold it in place were most effective. The research shows that while all body shapes are able to hula-hoop, those with an hourglass or pear-shaped body will find it easier than those with a straight or apple shaped figure.

The researchers also looked at the best way to start hula-hooping and determined that the launch speed is crucial: if it's too slow, or combined with a gyrating motion that's too slow, the hoop simply falls off.

While studying hula-hooping sounds like fun, the research also has practical implications to inspire innovations in energy harvesting from vibrations and improve robotic positioners used in industrial applications.

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