Nine To Noon for Wednesday 23 October 2019

 

09:05 Auckland's Sky City burns. What does it mean for Aucklanders?

Firefighters are still battling to get the fire under control, with strong winds creating further difficulties while the Central City Library and many businesses in the central city have closed. So just how devastating will this be for Aucklanders and their businesses? Kathryn is joined by Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Chief Executive Michael Barnett, Dean Humphries who is the Hotels National Director at Colliers International, also Sarah Sinclair, the director of Auckland Emergency Management.  

09:35 Brexit deal edges closer, timetable delayed

As the clock ticks down to the deadline for Britain's departure from the EU, it's been another rollercoster of a day at Westminster. In a rare victory, lawmakers voted  in favour of Johnson's Brexit deal at an important second reading, but minutes later  voted against a motion which set out a three-day tight 3 day schedule to rush the legislation through the House of Commons. Philip Webster is a former political editor of The Times newspaper.

09:45 Australian media launch 'Right to Know' campaign

Australia correspondent Bernard Keane looks at the rare show of solidarity by Australian media companies who say their journalists are being stopped from holding the powerful to account. The 'Right to Know' campaign was launched in the wake of police raids on the home of a News Corp journalist and ABC headquarters. He'll also look at whistleblower protections in the public sector, amid calls from the lawyer for Witness K for the creation of a new independent parliamentary body to deal with such cases.

10:05 Sweet success. Baby health pioneer. Jane Harding

Neonatology Professor Jane Harding has led the world in developing ways to treat babies before and immediately after birth, leading to markedly improved survival rates and  long-term well-being. Among her achievements; she developed a simple treatment for low blood sugar in babies, has shown that a routine-therapy was actually causing brain damage in premature babies, and has provided some of the first evidence that the health and treatment of a pregnant woman not only influences her baby's growth, but also her baby's disease risk as an adult.  In recognition of these incredible achievements Professor Harding was just last week awarded the Royal Society's top honour, the Rutherford Medal. Professor Professor Harding is based at the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland.

10:35 Book review - Mophead by Selina Tusitala Marsh

Leilani Tamu reviews Mophead: How Your Difference Makes a Difference by Selina Tusitala Marsh. This book is published by Auckland University Press.   

10:40 Sky City and Fletcher Building CEOs front over fire

The CEOs of Sky City and Fletcher Building have been speaking to the media about the fire at the convention centre contruction site in Auckland. Nine to Noon senior producer Glenda Wakeham summarises what they have said.

10:45 The Reading

The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke by Tina Makereti read by Mitch Thomas. Episode 10 of 12.

11:05 Laurie Anderson to curate New Zealand Festival

Music reviewer Kirsten Johnstone takes a deep dive into the work of Laurie Anderson, who will return as a guest curator to the NZ Festival in March.

 

11:20 Women mean business: Rethinking colonial entrepreneurs

The traditional image of women in colonial New Zealand is all buttons and crinoline, but such images may belie the reality. A new book written by Dr Catherine Bishop has taken a close look at the role colonial women played in business, finding many were actively running their own enterprises while supporting themselves and their families. In Women Mean Business, she discovered that there was no "typical" businesswoman: some were single, married, widowed, Pakeha or Maori. But their efforts have gone somewhat unnoticed and unappreciated in the historical narrative of New Zealand.

11:45 How old is your brain?

Science correspondent Malvindar Singh-Bains joins Kathryn to discuss whether your brain is aging faster than you. Machine-learning tools can be used in combination with MRI data to predict how well someone's brain is aging. A recent study of 45,000 different brain scans found an interesting relationship between brain age and brain disorders such as dementia and schizophrenia.

Malvindar Singh-Bains is a research fellow at the University of Auckland.