Nine To Noon

Political commentators Morten & Te Pou - the latest poll

August 01, 2021 23:10 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MB

Brigitte, Shane and Kathryn look at the latest Reid Research poll which has seen a near 10 percentage point drop in support for Labour and the highest-ever rating for ACT. Also, the expectations over pay rounds in the public sector, the continuing mess over MIQ and whether any bold moves will be made in the supermarket sector. Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks & Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government...

Book review - The Memory Thief by Leonie Agnew

August 01, 2021 22:43 - 4 minutes - 3.81 MB

Louise Ward of Wardini Books reviews The Memory Thief by Leonie Agnew, published by Penguin Random House NZ.

The importance of play for young and old

August 01, 2021 22:10 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MB

Nicolas Ricketts has been the curator of The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester New York since 1998. He's researched the history of paper artifacts and board games, and served for a time as the president of The Ephemera Society of America. The museum itself holds exhibits ranging from a pinball playfield to a video game hall of fame, also serving as a record and a guide to the way we play throughout our lives.

New research into extracting energy from waves

August 01, 2021 21:33 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MB

Biofouling is the bane of any boaties' life, but could it be harnessed to extract energy from waves? Researchers at Auckland University and NIWA are studying whether the organisms which quickly grow over any object in the ocean, could add to the drag going through a wave energy extractor, thereby creating more power. What's more, they say the technology could complement existing ocean infrastructure such as mussel farms. Craig Stevens is Associate Professor at the University of Auckland,...

Terminally ill and in MIQ limbo

August 01, 2021 21:09 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MB

Auckland man David Willetts has traveled overseas for potentially life extending medical care, but is in limbo about when, or, if he'll be able to secure an MIQ place, this is despite having a return ticket. He has incurable myeloma and will receive medical treatment in Singapore for a secondary blood cancer. He tells Kathryn Ryan that a stem cell transplant from a relative is his last remaining option, after being declined the treatment here. His donor sister has traveled with him to Si...

Book Review - Wild Souls

July 29, 2021 22:41 - 8 minutes - 7.47 MB

Ash Davida Jane from Unity Books Wellington reviews Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World by Emma Marris, published by Bloomsbury USA.

Promoting te reo through bi-lingual children's books

July 29, 2021 22:10 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MB

Educator, Te Ataakura Pewhairangi was brought up in te ao Māori, and her home language was and still is te reo Māori. She has completed a Bachelor of Arts and teaching degree entirely in te reo Māori and is currently completing a Master of Arts, majoring in Māori studies at Massey University. She is also the Māori Student Recruitment Advisor there. Adding author to her skills, Te Ataakura had written a bi-lingual children's board book Kei te aha ngā kararehe? What are the animals doing? ...

Fun diggity dog - pests become pooch toys

July 29, 2021 21:36 - 9 minutes - 8.97 MB

Southland woman, Louise Mackenzie's start-up Fun Diggity Dog came about when Covid struck and her job in the tourism sector went with it. Working from her dining room table in the rural settlement of Castlerock, she is now turning pests, including possum pelts into dog toys.

Hospice nurses seek pay parity with DHB colleagues

July 29, 2021 21:08 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MB

Hospital nurses are eyeing up possible strike action after rejecting the government's latest pay offer, while their counterparts in hospice care pursue pay parity with hospital nurses. Hospice nurses are paid significantly less, with estimates putting the difference between 10 and 20 percent less than DHB nurses. Nurses employed by 18 different hospice groups are currently voting on new MECAs - Multi-Employer Collective Agreements. If they are successful in achieving parity, it will put ...

Healing anger and aggression in children

July 28, 2021 23:30 - 24 minutes - 34 MB

All kids have angry reactions, and most parents can largely accept these when they can see the cause. But some kids seem to explode for no apparent reason. What's going on? And how can parents and caregivers respond? Such kids are often feeling a painful ambivalence about love and attachment, says parenting coach and educator Joseph Driessen. Parents of these kids need to upskill on how to help them heal, he tells Kathryn Ryan.

Book review - The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

July 28, 2021 22:40 - 3 minutes - 3.43 MB

Elisabeth Easther reviews The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, published by Penguin Random House.

Maryam Master: Entertaining kids on stage, screen and with a new novel

July 28, 2021 22:08 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MB

Maryam Master is a writer with more than 20 years' experience writing for the stage and screen. She started her career on Australia's biggest soap opera - Home and Away, writing over 80 episodes, before finding her niche writing television for children.

Supermarket shakeup

July 28, 2021 21:46 - 6 minutes - 5.58 MB

The Commerce Commission says competition in the grocery sector is poor with Foodstuffs and Countdown essentially a duopoly dominating the market with little room for new entrants or competition. But in a draft report this morning, it has stopped short of recommending that the two major players be forced to give up some of their stores to make way for new players.

SeaChange - Kiwi company building a hydro-foil ferry

July 28, 2021 21:35 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MB

Max Olson is the founder and CEO of SeaChange, a company that wants to build hydro-foil car and passenger ferries that would deliver zero-emission transit. Earlier this year the company successfully trialled a prototype, and plans are now underway to scale it up and take it across Cook Strait. Max joins Kathryn to talk about why he believes there's been under-investment in ocean travel when it comes to transport and the benefits it could bring to the environment.

Proposed changes to surrogacy law

July 28, 2021 21:20 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MB

The Law Commission is publishing an issues paper about the review of surrogacy law, submissions on which are invited until 23rd September 2021. Proposals for an overhaul of New Zealand's surrogacy law would grant intended parents immediate rights and give surrogate mothers more financial support and protection, including from exploitation.

Draft report into the supermarket sector released

July 28, 2021 21:08 - 9 minutes - 8.99 MB

The Commerce Commission has just released its draft report of its study into the grocery sector. The Commission has been looking at the main supermarket chains for more than a year, focusing on the price, quality and range available to customers, whether the major retailers have too much bargaining power and if they co-ordinate with each other to profit more. RNZ business reporter Kim Savage has been at the Commerce Commission's presentation this morning and talks to Kathryn.

Science commentator Allan Blackman

July 27, 2021 23:50 - 8 minutes - 7.94 MB

Professor Allan Blackman joins Kathryn to look at how researchers have harnessed the brainwaves of a paralyzed man who was unable to speak and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen. He'll also look at the history of doping at the Olympics and touch on why gold, silver and bronze are chemically interesting. Allan Blackman is a Professor of Chemistry, School of Science, Auckland University of Technology

Shebiz: Southland specialised software & the family behind it

July 27, 2021 23:25 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MB

Over 30 years ago Jenny Scott was farming in Southland when an independent livestock agent friend shared how much time it was taking to keep up with the book-keeping side of the businesses. GST had just been introduced, and Jenny had bought her first computer for the family farm - to keep up with their GST obligations. She set out to help that friend by writing a software package specifically for livestock brokers to create all the invoices and sale notices necessary for each sale, with ...

Book review - The Spirit of the Mountains

July 27, 2021 22:40 - 8 minutes - 8.08 MB

Shaun Barnett reviews The Spirit of the Mountains: Alpine Adventures and Reflections by Ron Hay, published by Mary Egan Publishing.

The rural Maine restaurant with a global following

July 27, 2021 22:09 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MB

Erin French is the owner of the Lost Kitchen in her small hometown of Freedom, Maine, where the population hovers just above 700. The restaurant is located in a former 19th century grist mill has made Time magazine's list as one of the World's Greatest Places. Erin French absorbed her culinary skills working at her family's diner, she's never had any formal chef training as was intending to be a doctor. As explained in her memoir, Finding Freedom in the Lost Kitchen, there were many twis...

Sydney lockdown's, protests bring out the disgruntled

July 27, 2021 21:51 - 7 minutes - 7 MB

Australia correspondent Bernard Keane joins Kathryn to look at how Sydney's lockdown will have a noticeable economic effect, with the government under pressure to increase financial support. The lockdown protests at the weekend acted as an opportunity for every group - from conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and the far right - to come out to complain. Meanwhile the arts sector fears more damage will be inflicted on them while sports continues to be indulged and supported by taxpayers.

Breeding the methane out of sheep

July 27, 2021 21:35 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MB

With the government and the farming sector looking to reduce emissions, the race is on to find practical on the ground solutions to old problems. Methane production is a huge contributor to greenhouse gasses in New Zealand, making up 44.5 percent of our emissions in 2018 at the last measurement by Stats NZ. Over three quarters of the methane emitted came from livestock and 28.5 percent of that comes from sheep digestion. Fourth generation sheep farmer Leon Black is on a mission to reduce...

Covid vaccine: we can do it here?

July 27, 2021 21:08 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MB

A prominent New Zealand scientist is calling for security of vaccine supply through self sufficiency, saying it's not only viable, but vital. Director of the Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa NZ Professor Graham Le Gros, of the Malaghan Institute tells Kathryn Ryan he's currently in conversations with scientists in the UK, who've approached New Zealand to join a consortium to produce a next level mRNA vaccine. Messenger RNA is a molecule that plays a central role in the function of genes, and is...

Choreographer Merenia Gray pays tribute to her extraordinary mother

July 26, 2021 23:30 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MB

Auckland choregrapher and dancer Merenia Gray's latest work pays tribute to her extraordinary late mother, Tiahuia. Tiahuia Gray was adopted at birth into the Kingitanga, as a whāngai to Princess Te Puea Hērangi, spending her formative years in Waikato/Tainui on Tūrangawaewae Marae.

Business commentator Pattrick Smellie

July 26, 2021 23:10 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MB

Pattrick and Kathryn talk about the Meridian/Contact Energy proposal for a global scale 'green' hydrogen plant in Southland. Also the saliva testing saga, Pattrick says a small NZ start-up has quietly humbled the Ministry of Health.

Book review - This Life by Quntos KunQuest

July 26, 2021 22:40 - 5 minutes - 4.76 MB

Melanie O'Loughlin of Lamplight Books reviews This Life by Quntos KunQuest, published by Agate.

The power of geography and how it constrains political leadership

July 26, 2021 22:10 - 26 minutes - 24 MB

Tim Marshall is a leading authority on foreign affairs with more than 30 years of reporting experience. His latest book The Power of Geography focuses on ten maps that reveal the future of the world.

USA correspondent Susan Davis

July 26, 2021 21:50 - 6 minutes - 6.2 MB

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has rejected two of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's nominations to serve on the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. And Susan looks at how rising crime rates are affecting national politics and the ability to advance long-stalled police reform legislation in wake of death of George Floyd.

Reducing your risk of dementia as cases soar

July 26, 2021 21:35 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MB

Currently, 70,000 New Zealanders have dementia. That's set to rise to 170,000 by 2050. Auckland psychiatrist Dr Etuini Ma'u is the co-author of a University of Auckland study that shows the potential for reducing rates of dementia by targetting common risk factors in middle-aged New Zealanders.

Parents say school closure leaves children educationally homeless

July 26, 2021 21:09 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MB

Parents devastated by the impending closure of a school that catered for students with diverse needs say there's nowhere left for their children to go because they simply don't fit in the mainstream.

Urban issues, the landscape for renters

July 25, 2021 23:48 - 9 minutes - 9.02 MB

Bill McKay talks to Kathryn about building to rent, renting to buy - will this be the new reality of renting and possibilities for the future? Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.

The perfect seasoning with Marcus Peters

July 25, 2021 23:37 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MB

It's the element that can make or break a dish. Small, but packs a mighty punch. It is, of course, seasoning. Kiwi chef Marcus Peters has returned home to start his own company Smoke and Spice and is creating seasonings that alight the senses. Marcus talks to Kathryn about being a chef for 20 years, moving in kitchens from Australia to London, and sourcing local ingredients to make the perfect seasoning.

Book review - The Stranding by Kate Sawyer

July 25, 2021 22:40 - 4 minutes - 4.43 MB

Laura Caygill reviews The Stranding by Kate Sawyer, published by Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand.

Emma Lewisham: skincare entrepreneur

July 25, 2021 22:13 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MB

Emma Lewisham is the Auckland based founder of the rapidly growing skin care brand which bears her name. Launched in 2019 just before the Covid pandemic, Emma Lewisham's skin care range is now sold throughout New Zealand and Australia, with plans to launch much further in September. An article in Forbes magazine and mentions on social media by celebrities including Kourtney Kardashian and Margot Robbie have boosted the brand's profile. Now former Air New Zealand CEO and chair of Icebreak...

Time to failure: Building to withstand climate change

July 25, 2021 21:37 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MB

Questions are being asked about how well our infrastructure can weather climate change. Climate economist based at Victoria University of Wellington and managing director of Climate Sigma, Belinda Storey is Principal Investigator on the Time-to-Failure in Infrastructure under Climate Change project, which is modelling the impact of escalating extreme weather events on decisions to invest in infrastructure such as bridges, roads, dams, stop banks and airports. The work is being done under...

Buy now, pay later services boom, calls for greater regulation

July 25, 2021 21:08 - 28 minutes - 26 MB

A boom in the use of buy now, pay later products has prompted warnings of people falling into financial hardship and growing calls for the sector to be regulated. Buy now, pay later companies such as Laybuy and AfterPay allow online shoppers to buy goods on credit and pay off the balance over four payments. These types of transactions grew by almost half in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period last year. Nine to Noon has requested a copy of briefing document from the Mi...

The week that was with Elisabeth Easther and James Elliott

July 22, 2021 23:50 - 8 minutes - 7.84 MB

Comedians Elisabeth Easther and James Elliott with a few laughs, including how some American children are acquiring a British accent thanks to popular tv show Peppa Pig.

Book review - Enough Horizon: The life and work of Blanche Baug

July 22, 2021 22:40 - 6 minutes - 5.6 MB

Paul Diamond reviews Enough Horizon: The life and work of Blanche Baughan by Carol Markwell, published by Cuba Press.

Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa making progress towards a Pacific vaccine

July 22, 2021 21:40 - 7 minutes - 7.15 MB

Timaru based biotech company South Pacific Sera says that if everything goes to plan they may be able to provide vaccines for New Zealand and the Pacific.

Tunnelling in Auckland that will ultimately lead to cleaner water

July 22, 2021 21:27 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MB

A massive piece of machinery will soon be digging and boring a tunnel in Auckland to divert wastewater and storm water from inner city suburbs to the Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant. Watercare's Central Interceptor project involves a 15 kilometre pipe running underneath the Manukau Harbour and finishing in Grey Lynn.

A fairer system for booking MIQ?

July 22, 2021 21:09 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MB

As Cabinet weighs up New Zealand's quarantine-free travel arrangement with Australia, any changes to the bubble could put more pressure on the overloaded MIQ booking system. Experts are putting up their hands up to help the government improve the booking system, described as a "nightmare" by New Zealanders abroad.

Behind the Attraction, Dr Death, Pursuit of Love

July 21, 2021 23:45 - 10 minutes - 9.59 MB

Film and TV reviewer James Croot joins Kathryn to talk about the Jewish film festival that kicks off today, a delightful series focused on Disney, Behind the Attraction (Disney+), new mini-series Dr Death (TVNZ), based on the true story of Christopher Duntsch and starring Joshua Jackson, Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin and The Pursuit of Love (Amazon Prime) starring Lily James.

Stroppy tweens who know it all

July 21, 2021 23:20 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MB

Neuroplasticity educator and parenting expert, Nathan Wallis talks to Kathryn about parenting early teens and tweens who appear to "know it all".

Cybersecurity blame, big tech themes and a big boost for Kiwi clean tech

July 21, 2021 23:05 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MB

Technology correspondent Paul Matthews looks at New Zealand's decision to name China over a series of recent cyberattacks - what will the fallout be? ITx Innovation Days is on this month - what themes are emerging in tech? Who were the big winners at last week's prestigious New Zealand Excellence in IT Awards and there's been a big boost for Kiwi companies using technology to tackle climate change and other environmental challenges.

Book Review - Featherhood by Charlie Gilmour

July 21, 2021 22:35 - 4 minutes - 4.44 MB

Ralph McAllister reviews Featherhood by Charlie Gilmour, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Slam poet Te Kahu Rolleston

July 21, 2021 22:05 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MB

National Poetry Slam winner Te Kahu Rolleston performs some of his poetry and speaks with Kathryn Ryan about giving rangatahi voice to hopes and dreams through performance poetry.

Citizen scientists help Monarch butterfly discovery

July 21, 2021 21:20 - 9 minutes - 9.03 MB

Just over a year ago on the programme we covered a call for citizen scientists to help researchers with a study they were conducting into a disease affecting Monarch butterflies. Victoria University entomologist Phil Lester was investigating the prevalence of a disease affecting Monarch butterflies caused by the protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha or OE, which - it was thought - led to deformed wings in Monarchs. More than 100 people from all around the country responded to th...

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