Nine To Noon for Tuesday 21 September 2021

 

 

09:05 An insider's story of China's communist party elite

Hong Kong-raised businessman, Desmond Shum's book Red Roulette is a no holds barred account of the life he lived as a wealthy businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist in China in the 1990's and early 2000's. He writes about the how the Chinese business system and the Communist Party works and the connection with wealthy individuals, corruption, and vengeance. His story is all the more intriguing following the mystery disappearance four years ago of his ex-wife, billionaire, Whitney Duan. She suddenly resurfaced earlier this month.

09:20 Chronic pain: retraining the brain's response

A New Zealand health-tech company is trialling technology that could help sufferers of chronic pain 'retrain' how their brain responds to nerve signals from the body. Exsurgo has developed a headset that uses electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback to monitor a patient's brain activity, feeding that data back to the patient in a way that reinforces positive changes to the pain signals. It offers an alternative treatment to traditional drug-based therapies for chronic pain, which can carry risks of side effects or addiction. Chronic pain affects up to one in five people around the world and is a massive burden on healthcare systems and economies, costing the New Zealand economy $13-15 billion annually. The New Zealand trial will be the world's largest clinical trial using EEG neurofeedback. Kathryn speaks with Richard Little, the chief executive of Exsurgo. 

09:45 USA correspondent Kelsey Snell

A federal panel has approved COVID-19 boosters for high-risk Americans, including those aged 65 and over, health care workers and the immunocompromised as Joe Biden heads to the UN General Assembly meeting and is expected to try to boost global vaccinations. Kelsey also discusses the ongoing fallout between the US and France over AUKUS.

Kelsey Snell is a congressional correspondent for NPR, based in Washington DC.

10:05 Jenn Louis: Chicken soup for the world 

There are some dishes that are ubiquitous around the globe. Every culture taking its own spin. Portland chef and activist Jenn Louis has spent several years exploring our relationship with chicken soup. She has collected dozens of recipes from all around the globe and put them in a beautiful tome titled The Chicken Soup Manifesto. Jenn still lives in Portland but has moved slightly from running a restaurant, or restaurants in her case, to making sure that people in Portland's homeless population have food to eat. Food and politics are intertwined in Jenn's world, and that's also true of every chicken soup in her book. 

10:35 Book review: The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

Louise O'Brien reviews The Women of Troy by Pat Barker, published by Hamish Hamilton

10:45 The Reading

Head In The Clouds Hartley Manners Stories written by Matthew O'Sullivan, read by Grant Tilly. Episode 2 of 5.

11:05 Business commentator Pattrick Smellie on AUKUS

Pattrick talks to Kathryn about the geopolitical and economic implications for NZ of the AUKUS defence treaty. He also looks at low user electricity tariffs finally being abolished and at the three water policy.

Pattrick Smellie is the editor and co-founder of BusinessDesk and has reported on the New Zealand economy and business since 1983.

11:30 Jade Jackson: Bringing the Dawn Raids to the big screen    

Film maker Jade Jackson was thirty when she first learned of the Dawn Raids. For the Samoan - Palangi woman, it was confusing and upsetting to never have learned about such a significant and traumatic part of her community's history. But that motivated her to take action, and the recent film school graduate had the perfect outlet. She's now released the short film, Raids, which took her back to her home town of Porirua and into a moment in history that left deep scars on the psyche of her community. Jade talks to Kathryn about her leap of faith into film school, her motive behind Raids, and being a proud Samoan-Palagi wahine.

11:45 Media commentator Andrew Holden - social media defamation

The High Court in Australia has ruled that media companies are liable for defamation for comments made on their social media platforms. Also Andrew looks at the musical chairs at Mediaworks and other news organisations.

Andrew Holden is a journalist for more than 30 years including five as Editor of The Press (in Christchurch) and four as Editor-in-Chief of The Age in Melbourne. 

 

Music played in this show

Track:  Summer Noon 
Artist: Tweedy
Broadcast time: 9:45am 

Track: Eyes Without a Face  
Artist: Angel Olsen
Broadcast time: 10:33am 

Track:  I Can Only Whisper
Artist: Charlotte Day Wilson
Broadcast time: 10:45am 

Track: Mr Big Stuff
Artist: Jean Knight
Broadcast time: 11:10am

Track: Here Comes the Wind 
Artist: Luke Buda
Broadcast time: 11:20am