Nine To Noon for Friday 25 August 2023

 

09:05 30,000 signature petition calls for trial prostate screening programme

Prostate cancer campaigners are calling for a trial screening programme to be implemented as a first step towards curbing the 700 deaths a year from the disease. Over 4000 men are diagnosed each year with prostate cancer. Hamilton nurse Kristine Hayward's husband Bruce died from prostate cancer nearly four years ago, aged 66. She's gathered over 30 thousand signatures on a petition presented to parliament last month. Bruce, who was also a registered nurse, had regular medical check-ups with his GP which included prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests.  These showed that his levels were rising - a key warning sign - but by the time he was referred to a specialist his cancer had spread and could not be treated. Kristine Hayward says current testing is unfunded, disorganised and inequitable, allowing too many men to die and the petition calls for a trial screening programme. Kathryn also speaks with Peter Dickens, Chief Executive of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

09:25 Supreme Court rejects Mainzeal directors' appeal

The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of the four directors of the collapsed construction firm Mainzeal and ordered them to pay 39-point-8-million dollars for breaching the Companies Act. It's upheld lower court decisions that former managing director Richard Yan and three other directors, former prime minister Dame Jenny Shipley, Clive Tilby and Peter Gromm, traded the firm recklessly and failed to protect the interests of creditors. RNZ Business Editor Gyles Beckford discusses the case.

09:30 World-class skiing and boarding at the Winter Games 

Athletes from over 30 nations have gathered in Wānaka for the Winter Games which get underway today with an opening ceremony at Pembroke Park. In additional to the regular schedule of alpine, freeride and freestyle events, the Winter Games are also hosting the inaugural International Obsidian Challenge. The challenge pits the best freeski and snowboard athletes against each other in four teams - representing Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania. The Winter Games are running from today until the 15th September.  Kathryn speaks to Marty Toomey, the chief executive of the Winter Games NZ. 

09:30 'Wearing a hijab won't stop you living an adventurous life'

Dua Asim will be the first to admit that when she first started hiking, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. But in 2020, when the then-student was locked down at her university hall, she and her friends decided to give it a go once Covid-19 restrictions lifted. She bought a secondhand tent for 60 dollars, nabbed a saucepan from the cupboard, and put any reservations about hitting the trails as a Muslim woman to the back of her mind. Three years later, Dua has amassed over 125-thousand followers under the social media name Dua Discovers. She has recently been nominated by YWCA for the Y25 award, for her work helping budding hikers and Muslim women explore the world on their own two feet.

09:45 Pacific correspondent Lydia Lewis

Pacific leaders are committing to holding Japan to account should anything go wrong with the release of over one million tonnes of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific - which is officially underway. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings confirmed to RNZ Pacific the disposal went ahead at 1pm local time on Thursday, after backlash from protestors in China, south Korea and right across the Pacific.

Pacific correspondent Lydia Lewis has been covering the story. 

10:05 Scottish author David Keenan on his ecstatic novels and love of Kiwi music

David Keenan turned from music journalism to writing relatively late in his career - but did something unusual with his first book. After completing it, David Keenan fulfilled a vow he'd made to himself - and destroyed it. Not just by pushing delete - he took a hammer to his laptop. That was, he says, when the writing truly began. His award-winning debut novel, This is Memorial Device is set in the post-punk scene in his hometown of Airdrie in Scotland, based on a fictional band that has its own legion of fans in real life - and even a beer named after it.  His second novel For the Good Times, set during the Troubles and influenced by his father and uncles' experiences in Belfast, made the Booker long-list.  He quickly followed that with Xstabeth, Monument Maker and Industry of Magic and Light.  Music trips through all his work - as it turns out, he has a real passion for New Zealand music - citing The Dead C as one of his favourite bands. He's in New Zealand for three events at Christchurch's WORD festival, which began on Wednesday and runs through the weekend.

10:35 Book review: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett 

Elisabeth Easther reviews Tom Lake by Ann Patchett published by Bloomsbury

10:45 Around the motu : Logan Savory in Southland

There is some disappointment in Southland that a planned plant-based oat milk factory for the region will now be built elsewhere. The regional development agency Great South has been working on the project for a decade and the new plant was expected to create 100+ jobs for Southland through the construction phase and 70+ skilled jobs thereafter. Meanwhile, concept designs for Southland's new museum based in Invercargill have now been released. And one of the region's most popular community events is taking place in Invercargill this week - Murihiku Polyfest.
 

11:05 New music with Ian Chapman : Four Dunedin acts - four Dunedin tracks

From the depths of the deep south Ian showcases four acts that the rest of New Zealand may not yet have heard but which they surely should: Ivy, Akoba, Mads Harrop (pictured) and The Mentalist Collective. Each of these four acts is very different to the others; testament to the ongoing and expansive creative spirit and adventurousness that Dunedin music is famous for. 

 Ian Chapman is a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Music at Otago University.

Songs played: For the Sake of It by Ivy, Weighed Down by Akoba, Harmonise by Mads Harrop, and Red Red Rose by The Mentalist Collective.

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman

Why All Black coach Steve Hansen has been making headlines! Sam says Sir Shag, the man who bleeds black, is going in camp with the Wallabies. The reaction has bordered on the Blackhearts/Coutts/Team NZ betrayal to begin with, but is slowly dissipating. Sam has a bit to say on this, including the optics being beyond unusual - even before all the explanations of doing it for his mate Eddie Jones as a favour and assurances he wouldn't don the green and gold tracksuit. Also, the All Blacks are about to meet the World Champions South Africa at Twickenham and why Upthewahs is a new phrase to get used to. And Sam marks the passing of doyen of the sports writing Ron Palenski.

 

11:45 The week that was with Pinky Agnew and Kathryn Burnett

Comedians Pinky Agnew and Kathryn Burnett bring a few laughs - how far would you go for a free train ride? Austria is offering a free rail ticket to anyone brave enough to get a very specific tattoo. And a mother's fairy-tale themed name for her new daughter has divided the internet. And, scientists offer an explanation after a new photo of outer space sends UFO hunters into overdrive.