Nine To Noon for Thursday 27 June 2024

 

09:05 Wairoa flood: Is river mouth management to blame?

As locals in the Hawke's Bay town of Wairoa once again clear flood debris from their homes and properties, questions are emerging about whether more could've been done to open the Wairoa river mouth to the sea. As heavy rain caused river levels to rise, work wasn't able to be completed and parts of the town flooded for the first time ever. Kathryn speaks to a local contractor, Hamish Pryde, who lost three heavy machines on Tuesday. She also speaks to Hinewai Ormsby from the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, which has responsibility for managing the river mouth.

09:25 Kiwi health food science supporter in limbo after funding expires

A group that helps Kiwi businesses investigate the health benefits of the food they produce says as of next week, many of the researchers they've funded will effectively be working for free. That's when the money runs out for the High Value Nutrition Challenge, one of eleven similar programmes established in 2014 with the aim of tackling the biggest science-based issues facing the country. The High Value Nutrition Challenge was designed to help Kiwi food producers validate their health benefits, with a view to capitalising on that at export. But its 10 years of funding runs out on June 30, and there's nothing more in the pipeline. There are, however, still research projects underway  - into things like digestive, infant and immune health - many of which had clinical trials interrupted by Covid.  Kathryn speaks to Joanne Todd,  director of High Value Nutrition, and Vanessa Hayes, whose company Torere Macadamias was the subject of a study funded through HVN that found their nuts had a higher concentration of a number of vitamins and minerals than those overseas.

 

09:40 One month til Paris Olympics: Chef de Mission Nigel Avery

It is less than one month til the Olympics in Paris kick off. 10,500 athletes from 206 nations will compete between July 26 and August 11, including around 190 New Zealanders involved in more than 20 sports. Leading them to Paris is Chef de Mission Nigel Avery - he's a former Olympic weightlifter at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and was team Chef de Mission for New Zealand at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.

 

09:45 UK: Sunak v Starmer - final debate, betting scandal widens

UK correspondent Natasha Clark talks about the countdown to the election: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer have held their final debate, the UK betting scandal has widened and why has Dr Who star David Tennant taken aim at the Minister for women and equalities?

Natasha Clark is political editor for LBC London

10:05 Irish dancing brothers rack up massive online audience

Matthew and Michael Gardiner were born in the US, but now live in Galway in Ireland. Their Irish dancing skills have seen them win many competitions - gaining multiple World Irish Dancing titles. They've performed with the Riverdance cast and clocked up more than 800 million views on social media after going it alone.

10:35 Book review: Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz 

Ralph McAllister reviews Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz published by Penguin Random House

10:45 Around the motu : Logan Savory in Southland

Logan says it's been an intense fortnight or so covering local body politics in Invercargill, focusing on a code of conduct complaint concerning the behaviour of Mayor Nobby Clark. At an extraordinary meeting, the vote stopped short of asking him to stand down. Mr Clark has since announced he’s taking a month's leave, acknowledging that he returned to work too early following heart surgery.

Southland Tribune editor Logan Savory.
 

11:05 Tech: Ball of AI confusion, vote for your... chatbot?

Technology correspondent Mark Pesce looks at where problems are cropping up in telling humans and AI apart. In one instance writers were fired after being accused of using AI - where they hadn't and in a recent US study participants struggled to tell who was human in a five-minute two way text conversation with a GPT-4 model. And as the UK goes to the polls next week 'AI Steve' is running in the seat of Brighton and Hove. But plans in Wyoming for a similar AI run for mayor has struck a legal hurdle.

 

11:25 Parenting: How to carry the mental load

Psychologist Jacqui Maguire discusses tips and advice for parents struggling to carry the mental load of parenting, family life and work.

11:45 Screentime: Dissidents, Hit Man, Buying London

Film and TV reviewer Perlina Lau joins Kathryn to talk about Dissidents, a documentary by Chen Yi that's screening as part of the DocEdge film festival. It follows three dissidents in America who are continuing their fight for democracy. She'll also profile Hit Man (Netflix), about a professor who moonlights as a gun for hire and Buying London, a reality show where realtors search out the luxury properties in London.

Perlina Lau is co-host of RNZ's Culture 101 programme