Nine To Noon

 

09:05 628,000 New Zealand adults report having recent migraine symptoms

One in seven people reported suffering from recent migraine symptoms, according to results from the 2023-24 Health Survey that were published last month. Of those, more than half said they had never been formally diagnosed with a migraine. Among those surveyed, women, Māori, young and disabled people were more likely to have suffered symptoms in the past three months. Dr Fiona Imlach is an epidemiologist at Otago University with a special interest in researching the impact and burden of migraine disease. She is also the co-founder of the Migraine Foundation charity.

09:15 How will advertising in ChatGPT affect users?

OpenAI's announcement last month that it planned to test ads in ChatGPT has raised concerns about what the commercialisation of chatbots could mean for users' privacy. The ads will be trialed first in the US, and OpenAI says they would only be for users of its free, rather than premium or business, ChatGPT accounts. The decision means ChatGPT is the first AI product to take the plunge into advertising - will others follow? OpenAI says ads won't influence the answers ChatGPT gives and they'll be clearly labelled - but these are voluntary safeguards. To discuss the changes - and the implications - Kathryn is joined by Raffaele Ciriello, Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems at the University of Sydney.

09:35 How flushable sensors could be used to help clean up Auckland's beaches

Auckland's beachgoers well know the frustration of being told to keep out of the water after heavy rain due to wastewater overflow. But researchers at Auckland University have been piloting flushable sensors designed to detect underground sewer faults. The sensors are about the size of a USB stick, made from plant plastic and use ultra-high radio frequency to allow them to be detected as they move through the networks. With some 8000 to 9000 sewer pipes under Aucklanders' feet, the sensors can help find misconnections, where wastewater pipes are wrongly connected to stormwater or where there's a blockages in sewer pipes causing an overflow. Two field trials have already been completed with Auckland Council and Watercare in Browns Bay. Kathryn's joined by lead researcher Dr Wei-Qin Zhuang, at the University's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

09:45 Australia: Rates up, unhappy Opposition family, Hertzog protest, party poopers

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton looks at the Reserve Bank decision to raise interest rates by 0.25% - the first hike in two years. Attempts to reconcile the Liberal and National parties, following a dramatic walkout by National MPs two weeks ago, have largely fallen flat. A protest ban during a state visit by Israel's President Isaac Herzog has been stretched to two weeks and Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has had to cancel its big ticketed event.

Karen Middleton is a political correspondent based in Canberra

10:05 How actor and playwright Joshua Hinton mixes food, family and faith

If you're a fan of dinner and show Australian actor and playwright Joshua Hinton has very considerately combined both for you. He's the creator of A Place in the Sultan's Kitchen, which is a one-person play in which he attempts to recreate his grandmother's chicken curry while detailing her migration journey. His Mehmeh, as he calls her, left Iran in World War II and hitchhiked to India - eventually meeting her Sri Lankan husband, moving to Australia and setting up their Brisbane restaurant. The show is an exploration of culture and identity - and what's made on stage is shared later with the audience. Joshua was no stranger to the theatre - his father has managed one in Wollongong in New South Wales for years. And this show is a family affair, brother Dominic is the production mastermind. Kiwi audiences will get to see it a month from now when Joshua brings it to the Auckland Arts Festival. Josh joins Kathryn to talk about how the show was created.

10:35 Book review: Three of the best from 2025

Ralph McAllister reviews three of his favourite books from last year: Air by John Boyne, published by Transworld, Flesh by David Szalay, published by Vintage, We Did OK, Kid: A Memoir by Anthony Hopkins, published by Simon & Schuster.

10:45 Around the motu: Samantha Gee RNZ's Nelson reporter 

Samantha discusses the new funding for the Nelson marina, vandalism of river level monitoring gear, flouting of bylaws restricting driving on the ecologically sensitive Marlborough coast and successful kiwi breeding at Nelson's Brook Waimārama Sanctuary.

11:05 Music: The Feb Four (not to be confused with the Fab Four)

Today Ian Chapman shares glimpses into the lives and work of four great, although very different, musical artists forever bound together by virtue of today’s date. Natalie Imbruglia (b. 1975) and Alice Cooper (b. 1948) were both born on 4th February, while the late great Louis Jordan (b. 1908) and Karen Carpenter (b. 1950) both passed away on this same date.

11:20 Murder in Matakana: Madeleine Eskedahl's series continues

Just 50 minutes north of Auckland is Matakana, a small village known for its Farmer's Market, stylish boutiques and art galleries. But to Madeleine Eskedahl, it's been the perfect setting for her popular crime novels. Her first, Blood on Vines, was published in 2021 and earned a place on the Whitcoulls Top 100 list. She followed it up with Rings on Water two years later. Now the third book in The Matakana Series is Angels of Clay, which sees a young Lotto millionaire found dead in a clay pit at a pottery retreat and links that emerge to the area's past history as a base for US Servicemen in World War II. Madeleine is originally from the island of Gotland in Sweden and joins Kathryn to talk about her journey to bring Scandi Noir to New Zealand shores.

11:45 Science: Positive thinking and immunity, music's effects on driving

Science commentator Jen Martin joins Kathryn to look at three science studies with a strong wellbeing bent: Can positive thinking impact on how your immune system responds to a vaccine? Does listening to music in the car change the way you drive? And how tiny changes to your lifestyle can have a big impact on the length of your life. 

Jen Martin founded the science communication program at the University of Melbourne, runs the espressoscience.com blog and is also the author of Why Am I Like This?: The Science Behind Your Weirdest Thoughts and Habits.