Nine To Noon for Thursday 28 October 2021

 

 

09:05 Retiring Childrens' Commissioner: "We must do better"

Judge Andrew Becroft retires tomorrow as Commissioner for Children after five years in the job he says he's given everything to. He says while some progress has been made, far too many tamariki experience abuse, neglect, poverty, and poor health and education outcomes. Judge Becroft has long campaigned for an end to Oranga Tamariki youth justice facilities which he says cause more harm than good. He's also strongly advocated for a self contained stand, alone youth court for everyone under 18, a rise in the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current age of 10, and far more "by Maori for Maori" initiatives. He speaks with Kathryn Ryan.

09:30 Using tech to reduce the cost of rework in construction

A New Zealand tech company is working to address the staggering cost of re-work on construction sites. It's estimated the cost of fixing shoddy work or correcting mistakes can represent between 10 and 20 percent of a project's total cost. Conqa wants to change the way the construction industry operates, by helping projects get it right, first time. It's developed a quality assurance app which creates checklists for contractors to work by, ensuring compliance at every step of the way, rather than contractors manually filling out paperwork weeks later, at the end of a project. The information can also be accessed remotely by councils, reducing the number of site visits needed to physically verify that work is compliant.  This enabled some projects continue during lockdown. Kathryn speaks to Daniel O'Donoghue, a co-founder of Conqa.

09:45 UK: Budget day, Queen's illness, actress' rationing call

UK correspondent Hugo Gye looks at the job ahead of Chancellor Rishi Sunak in today's budget as the country emerges from the pandemic, the illness that's forced the Queen out of attending COP26 in Glasgow, a slight decline in the number of Covid cases and a call from British actress Joanna Lumley to bring back rationing to help tackle the climate crisis.

10:05 Jonathan Franzen: Crossroads

Multi-award winning American writer Jonathan Franzen is back with an epic novel about family, religion and culture. Crossroads is set in the 1970s and focuses on the Hildebrandt family - father Russ, a pastor, his wife Marion and their four children. The novel is the first of a proposed trilogy, primarily set in the hippy-ish parish youth group called Crossroads, which three of the Hildebrandt teens are involved with. Jonathan Franzen is the author of six novels, most recently Purity published in 2015, before that Freedom in 2010 and The Corrections in 2001. He has also published five works of nonfiction, including The Discomfort Zone, Farther Away, and The End of the End of the Earth.

10:35 Book review: The Magician by Colm Toibin

Hannah August reviews The Magician by Colm Toibin, published by Macmillan

10:45 The Reading

In the last episode of  'The Larnachs',  a visit to Australia allowed Conny and Dougie to enjoy time together, free from prying eyes, while William spends several nights away exploring business opportunities. 
 
Michele Amas and Owen Scott read the ninth part of  'The Larnachs'  by Owen Marshall.

11:05 Social media's US grilling, pandemic gaming, Kiwi start-ups thriving

Technology commentator Sarah Putt joins Kathryn to look at this week's US congressional hearing that sought to investigate the harm that social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat might be causing children and teenagers, and whether legislation could help. A new study has looked at New Zealanders' gaming habits  - 3.7m play online games and the average playing age is 35. And there's more evidence that the New Zealand start-up scene is thriving.

11:25 Why children need the right to take risks
 

Australian author and educator John Marsden joins Nine to Noon again to talk about why he thinks kids need to take more risks. It's a philosophy he's had throughout his career as an educator and author, and has been a motto at Candlebark, one of the two schools he's founded in his home state of Victoria in Australia. John spoke to the programme two years ago about his book The Art of Growing Up, a parenting manifesto drawing on his decades of working with, and writing for, young people. His latest work is Take Risks: Raising Kids Who Love the Adventure of Life.

11:45 TV: You (season 3), Night Teeth, Maid

Film and TV correspondent Laumata Lauano joins Kathryn to talk about the third season of romance thriller You, in-time-for-Halloween film Night Teeth and drama mini-series Maid...all screening on Netflix.

 

Music played in this show

Artist: San Fermin Wye Oak
Track: My First Life
Time played: 10:35

Artist: Sufjan Stevens and Angelo de Augustine
Track: Back to Oz  
Time played: 11:25