Nine To Noon for Tuesday 4 April 2023

 

 

09:05 Ex-Google boss on why he's started his own ad-free search engine

A new search engine launched in New Zealand is aiming to take on the big players when it comes to combatting advertising and ad tracking around the internet. Neeva uses artificial intelligence to power about half of its searches, and keeps the experience ad-free through a subscription model. Its launch in New Zealand comes amid debate about the speed AI is being deployed - last week a group of computer scientist, researchers and industry notables came out in support of a 6-month hiatus to AI development. One of Neeva's co-founders, Sridhar Ramaswamy spent 15 years at Google, rising to become senior Vice President of Ads and Commerce, before becoming disillusioned with the company. He joins Kathryn to talk about why, and the vision he has for Neeva.

09:25 Transmission Gully closed for clean up of large oil spill

Waka Kotahi is warning Transmission Gully between Pāuatahanui and Paekakariki will be closed for some time due to a fuel spill.  A fuel tanker and another truck crashed before rush-hour this morning. Eight fire-tracks have been in attendance. Drivers heading in and out of Wellington are warned to expect lengthy delays, with heavy congestion on alternative routes. Kathryn speaks with Waka Kotaki regional manager for maintenance and operations, Mark Owen.

09:30 Long-awaited organics legislation will boost exports 

New legislation for organic products has brought New Zealand in line with major trading partners. The Organic Products and Production Act has been many years in the making and brings in regulations and a new standardised system of certification for the industry. New Zealand had come under pressure from major trading partners, including the EU and the US, to deliver a nationally certified scheme, or risk losing market access. It's predicted the legislation will grow the organic sector domestically, as well as lifting export revenues. The sector is worth an estimated $723 million in 2020, with more than half of New Zealand's organic output being exported overseas. Kathryn speaks with Tiffany Tompkins, the chief executive of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand.

09:45 US: Donald Trump lands in New York to face charges

US correspondent Ron Elving joins Kathryn to talk about former President Trump's trip to New York for his expected court appearance tomorrow. It's led to much speculation about how this indictment will affect other pending indictments - and how it'll affect his shot at getting the Republican nomination. Meanwhile there's been no progress in budget talks or debt ceiling talks.

Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News.

10:05 Jenny Odell and the concept of time

It's a conundrum typical of the modern condition: we've got too much to do, but too little time. Someone who thinks a lot about our use of time, as well as the basic concept of time is Jenny Odell. She's the best-selling author of How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. She also taught digital art at Stanford University until 2021. Her latest book is Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock. But this is no self-help book. Saving Time challenges how we consider time, looks at the cultural forces that shape our conception of time, and questions how we've become so focused on mastering time. Jenny Odell is appearing at the Auckland Writer's Festival on Tuesday May 16th from 8.30pm at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre at the Aotea Centre.   

10:35 Book review: The Dead of Winter by Stuart MacBride

Gail Pittaway reviews The Dead of Winter by Stuart MacBride, published by Penguin Random House

10:45 Around the motu: Chris Hyde in Hawkes Bay

Chris talks to Kathryn about a month dominated by the demise of Napier MP Stuart Nash's political career and cyclone repairs. Some of the cyclone aftermath stories emerging include the endeavours of Thai national Neela Neela who cooks up to 1000 free meals a day for people out and about doing recovery work. She lived through the Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand. Meanwhile there's anger in the community about a lack of progress on silt collection, managed retreat and in particular, a review of the initial disaster response.

11:05 Business commentator Rebecca Stevenson

After so many years talking about a rocketing housing market, what goes up must come down. And it is indeed coming down. Rebecca talks to Kathryn about who is buying houses now, how many are we building, and are we in for a construction crash? Then the OCR.  Economic pundits are in almost universal agreement that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will opt for a 25 basis point hike in its monetary policy review tomorrow. 

Rebecca Stevenson  is a senior writer at interest.co.nz

 

11:30 Southern Celts: Stories from Kiwis of Scottish and Irish descent

Between 1840 and 1936 nearly 117,000 Scots and around 100,000 Irish made the long journey from their homelands to settle in New Zealand. Many of their descendants have maintained a strong sense of cultural connection to those roots. Celine Kearney sought to understand their experiences, and has woven it into a book called Southern Celts. She's of Irish stock, spoke to a variety of people with strong ties to Ireland and Scotland - from a kiltmaker and Gaelic teachers, to pipers and poets, writers and historians. She speaks with Kathryn, along with one of the book's interviewees - Michael Fraser Milne, owner and director of Whiskey Galore.

11:45 Sports-chat with Steve Holloway

It was quite a memorable weekend of sport, Steve dissects the Warriors win, the Black Caps' T20 thriller, and the big Super Rugby clash in Hamilton. And in golf, he looks ahead to Ryan Fox teeing off in the masters Easter weekend. 

Steve Holloway is Premium sports editor at NZME.and co-presenter of the Between Two Beers podcast.