Nine To Noon for Friday 22 September 2017
09:05 Why are so many young people failing to engage in politics?
Today is the last day to enroll and already than 800,000 have had their say. But still more than 300-thousand people haven't done so - and just under half of them are 18 to 24 year olds. We are joined by year 13 student at Aucklands Ormiston Senior College, Anthony Hua - who says youth would vote if they thought their voice was heard and Laura O'Connell-Rapira who is the co-founder of Rock Enrol, an organisation that encourages young people to get out and vote.
09:30 Costume designer & WOW judge Mio Guberinic
The annual spectacle and extravaganza that is WOW kicks off in Wellington tonight. Drawing an audience of over 55 thousand, the international design competition, which began in Nelson 30 years ago, attracts hundreds of entries - around half of them from overseas. Kathryn meets 2016 finalist, New York based costume designer Mio Guberinic, who's here to speak to this year's finalists and has been judging the store window-display competition among local retailers.
09:45 Pacific correspondent Mike Field
Digital disruption is creating a quiet sovereignty battle over who controls the upper air space over the South Pacific, a beetle is threatening disaster for Papua New Guinea's important coffee industry, and two fascinating new books on Fiji's divisive politics.
10:05 Mark Vette: Dog Zen
Kathryn Ryan meets animal psychologist and behaviorist Mark Vette, who trained Hercules the Toyota "bugger" dog, and has taught dogs to drive a car and fly a plane. Mostly he works with "problem" dogs and rescue dogs and is passionate about helping re-home unwanted animals. When not working with dogs, Mark practices martial arts and meditation. He's just published a new booked called Dog Zen.
10:35 50 years of Unity Books
Tilly Lloyd from Unity Books celebrates 50 years of the independent book shop and discusses the 'Unity Books at 50' anthology and Robert McCrum's "Every Third Thought: On Life, Death and the End-Game"
Here's the link for the online shop archives Unity Books launched along with the anthology.
Tilly also reviews "Every Third Thought: On Life, Death and the End-Game" by Robert McCrum.
10:45 The Reading
The last part of The Changeover by Margaret Mahy, read by Miranda Harcourt.
11:05 Music reviewer Grant Smithies
Built around four feisty sisters, pioneering NYC punk-funk band ESG played live in punk dive bars while their records got a thrashing in early dance clubs Paradise Garage and Danceteria. We hear two key early tracks, alongside singles from local surf-rock reprobate The Mysterious Tape Man and slacker-rock super duo, Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett.
11:30 Sports commentator Brendan Telfer
The new Super Rugby format for 2018, and Lydia Ko is back in the country ahead of next week's NZ Open - has she got her confidence and form back?
11:45 The week that was with James Elliot and Elisabeth Easther
Where is Nambia? The world's longest golf hole at 20,000km long; and the mystery mourner who's been crashing every funeral at a local church for 14 years.