09:05 Breast density: What Kiwi women aren't told about their cancer risk

Are New Zealand woman missing out on key information about their risk of developing breast cancer? Some women have higher breast density than others, meaning they have a greater proportion of fibrous tissue in the breast compared to fat. That can indicate a higher risk of developing cancer, as well as making it harder to read a mammogram. In the US, it's now mandatory for breast density to be included as part of a mammography report - but New Zealand doesn't collect such data. Kathryn asks Dr Monica Saini, a senior radiologist and breast cancer expert now based in Wellington, why she believes it should be.

Dr Monica Saini believes New Zealand women should be given more information about the density of their breasts when they get a mammogram.

Dr Monica Saini believes New Zealand women should be given more information about the density of their breasts when they get a mammogram. Photo: Supplied

09:20  Iran tanker seizure - tensions mount

This handout photo made available on July 20, 2019, by Jan Verhoog shows the Stena Impero, a British-flagged tanker, off the coast of Europoort in Rotterdam on April 3, 2018.

Photo: AFP

Tensions are rising rapidly after Iran's seizure of a British-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, described the seizure as an act of "state piracy" which demanded appropriate action.  British Royal Marines seized an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar two weeks ago. Meanwhile, Iran says it has captured 17 spies working for the CIA and sentenced some to death. Washington and Tehran are at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear programme and tensions have been growing.

09:20 Probiotics. Finding the best good bacteria

Beneficial Gut Bacteria

Beneficial Gut Bacteria Photo: Flickr

Probiotics have a number of reported health benefits ranging from improvement of gut health and function, to immune support, but according to some New Zealand researchers clinical trials need to be tightened up to make sure we can rely on their results. Gemma Laws is an assistant research fellow at the University of Otago who also used to work for a New Zealand company that develops probiotics.  She suggests standardising clinical trials and product labeling to make it easier to understand the possible benefits. She'd also like to see an on-line clinical guide to the probiotic products available in New Zealand similar to AEProbio in the US.

09:45 USA correspondent David Smith - more Robert Mueller testimony

From the US, Washington bureau chief of The Guardian correspondent David Smith says all eyes are on Washington this week with Special Counsel Robert Mueller due to testify before two House committees about his report on Russian election interference, links between the Trump campaign and Moscow and potential obstruction of justice by the president.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks past the White House after attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019.

Photo: AP

10:05 Carbon: the wonder and mystery of the sixth element

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Photo: Flickr

Carbon's ubiquitous presence in fossil fuels can sometimes give it a bad rap - but it is also the element of life, of energy, of climate, and of the environment. It's a building block for everything. In Symphony in C, geophysicist and musician Robert Hazen provides an in depth examination of  the sixth element from its Big Bang origins to the threats that carbon compounds pose to our future climate. 

10:35 Book review - An Impeccable Spy by Owen Matthews

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Photo: Bloomsbury

Quentin Johnson reviews An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin's Master Agent by Owen Matthews. This book is published by Bloomsbury.

10:45 The Reading

Part two of Pearly Gates by Owen Marshall, read by Gavin Rutherford 

11:05 Business commentator Rod Oram - dairy and emissions

Rod Oram talks to Kathryn about the dairy sector's response to last week's climate change proposals from the government. Also, Fonterra's latest announcement about its energy emissions, and staying with Fonterra, Rod looks at a very contentious aspect of how it selected candidates for the board elections.

Photo:

11:30 Fake. The pitfalls of modern romance

Stephanie Wood

Stephanie Wood Photo: Nic Walker

The quest for romance is never simple which award-winning Australian feature writer and journalist, Stephanie Wood found out the hard way through an on-line encounter, that became a relationship, and then a cautionary tale.

Being a writer she put her experiences with a man named Joe into a book, along with research and interviews about the personalities of people who like to catfish. The result is called, "Fake: A startling true story of love in a world of liars, cheats, narcissists, fantasists and phonies".

11:45 Media commentator Gavin Ellis

Gavin says a US analyst and academic has added her support to the New Zealand media's decision to minimise the coverage of the Christchurch mosque shooter's ideological beliefs. Also Gavin examines the decision by most media not to name a gas fitter before he was interviewed by police over the blast that destroyed a Christchurch home. 

Gavin Ellis is a media commentator and former editor of the New Zealand Herald.  He can be contacted on gavin.ellis@xtra.co.nz