Nine To Noon for Wednesday 24 July 2024

09:05 Critics say ComCom's decision to block DJ software sale could chill investment 

Critics say a recent decision by the competition watchdog to block the sale of a local DJ software company will have a chilling effect on investment in the tech sector. The Commerce Commission last week declined the NZD $100 million merger between local provider Serato and Japanese-based AlphaTheta. It said the transaction would stymie competition, cause price rises, and lower product quality for consumers. Serato was founded in the late 1990s and produces software for DJs, a market valued at USD $397 million. AlphaTheta's Pioneer DJ has around 80% of the DJ hardware market, while Rekordbox and Serato are considered the top two software suppliers globally. The merger has now been abandoned following the Commerce Commission's decision. 

09:30 What are the next steps for Kamala Harris?

US Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing to shore up her support to be the frontrunner on the Democratic presidential ticket after her boss Joe Biden announced his exit from the race. More Democrat heavyweights threw their support behind her overnight - Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and minority leader Hakeem Jeffries announced their endorsement, joining others including Nancy Pelosi, the Clintons and a raft of influential state governors. The money is pouring in too - some US$150m has been pledged to Harris and the party since Joe Biden endorsed her to replace him. But how might Kamala Harris fight her campaign, should she become the nominee? And what do we know of her political history that might inform her style of presidency? Nadia Brown is a Professor of Government and director of the Women's and Gender Studies Programme at Georgetown University.

09:40  MRI brain scan study reveals more about male vs female brains

The authors of a new world-first MRI brain scan study say it has revealed the the largest differences yet discovered in the structures of male and female brains, which could have important implications for mental health. Canterbury University Faculty of Health Adjunct Professor Richard Watts led the research based on MRI brain scans from over 1000 adults aged between 22 and 35.  He says the contrasts between male and female brains were most obvious in areas of the brain that play a major role in mental health- regions involved with emotions, memory, learning and attention.

09:45 Australia: PHEV sales surge, AI video sparks concern, power passport

Australia correspondent Annika Smethurst joins Kathryn to talk about calls to keep tax benefits for plug-in hybrid vehicles amid a surge in sales. A deepfake video of the Queensland premier dancing is fueling a push for stronger political advertising laws ahead of the October state election and Australia is climbing up the list of global power passports.

Annika Smethurst is political editor at The Age

10:05 The stories of people who have entwined their lives with trees

From golden larches in Greenland to a collection of more than 300 oaks in Southwest France - people come to collect trees for all sorts of reasons. Tree collections are used for healing wounds of the past, for art, education and simple curiosity. Author Amy Stewart has found and documented some of their stories from around the world. One man grafted 40 different varieties of stone fruit on to the same tree. Amy is no stranger to the natural world - her previous book The Drunken Botanist charts the plants behind the world's most famous cocktails. And in her latest work The Tree Collectors she taps into the deeper reasons people collect trees, and illustrates it with her own watercolour art.

10:30 World Press Photo winner Alejandro Cegarra on the plight of migrants in Mexico

While nearly everyone has a camera on them these days, only a few know how to capture a story of global significance. This year four winners were selected from over 60,000 entries for the World Press Photo awards. Among them was Alejandro Cegarra for his long-term project The Two Walls, which highlights the plight of migrants in Mexico.  Alejandro was already an award winner - in 2014 his photo-essay on those living in the unfinished 'Tower of David' in Caracas earned him the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award and The Ian Parry scholarship. His work will be on display in Auckland as part of the World Press Photo exhibition which opened at the weekend.

10:35 Book review: Frontline Surgeon: New Zealand medical pioneer Douglas Jolly by Mark Derby

Quentin Johnson reviews Frontline Surgeon: New Zealand medical pioneer Douglas Jolly by Mark Derby published by Massey University Press

10:45 Around the motu : Diane McCarthy in Whakatane

A 1.6 km stretch of road designed to handle 150-tonne logging trucks has opened in Kawerau, the result of $1.62 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding, and $785,000 co-investment from Kawerau-based Sequal Lumber Ltd. It is expected to remove big trucks from local roads and provide efficient connectivity between the Putauaki Industrial Park and a planned container rail terminal. 

Eastern Bay of Plenty Local Democracy Reporter - Diane McCarthy with the Whakatane Beacon 

11:05 Music with Ian Chapman: Best Bowie covers

Music correspondent Ian Chapman looks at some of the best covers of David Bowie songs and how they came to be. 

Ian Chapman is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Music at the University of Otago. 

11:30 Bridging the gap between creatives and charities

Jane King is the founder of Creators Aotearoa, a website that connects charities and non for profits who need marketing and design work, with creatives who want to volunteer their skills - bridging the gap between the two. 

Kids in Need Aotearoa is one of the charities that's used the platform to create branding and marketing for their upcoming colour run fundraiser. Rebecca Broadbent from Kids in Need Aotearoa, joins Jane King and Kathryn Ryan to share what this new platform can do for charities who'd otherwise go without. 

11:45 As jobseeker numbers rise, how can you stand out from the crowd?

With unemployment up, it can be a tough market out there if you're looking for a job. The latest figures put the unemployment rate up to 4.3 percent for the March quarter, from 4 percent on the previous quarter. Job ad numbers from Seek released last week showed a drop of 8 percent in June and 35 percent down year on year. So if you are looking for work, what are some of the things you can do to stand out from the crowd? Leah Lambart runs a career counselling service called ReLaunch Me  - she's also Seek's resident Careers Coach and joins Kathryn with some job hunting advice.