Nine To Noon for Thursday 23 January 2020

 

 

09:05 Female academic? Here's your lifetime pay gap

Researchers from Canterbury University have found that an average female scientist at a New Zealand university earns $400,000 less than her male counterparts over her lifetime. It also found that something other than performance is holding women back from being promoted. Associate Professor Ann Brower and her team looked at salary bands and research performance scores for every academic researcher in New Zealand. Lynn Freeman talks to Dr Brower and University of Auckland's Associate Professor Nicola Gaston who wrote 'Why Science is Sexist' in 2015.

The research: Brower A, James A (2020) Research performance and age explain less than half of the gender pay gap in New Zealand universities is freely available.

09:30 Discarded NZ event tents to shelter asylum seekers

A group of volunteers has been collecting abandoned tents at some New Zealand music festivals this summer, more than 300 will be sent to Samos, which is a refugee hot spot in Greece.

Kate Robertson from the tent collectors talks to Lynn about the initiative. Kate can be contacted at thetentcollectors@gmail.com

09:45 Labour leadership race narrows, and Brexit 'ping pong' begins

UK correspondent Harriet Line joins Lynn to discuss where the race to take over from Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader is at, as Lisa Nandy makes it onto the final ballot and Jess Phillips pulls out. Brexit enters its "ping pong" legislative phase and Megxit drama continues with a legal warning from the Sussexes over paparazzi shots.

10:05  Andrew Crowe: Pathway of the Birds

Nature writer Andrew Crowe tells Lynn Freeman about the story of Polynesian voyaging and migration; of finding and re-finding small remote islands and atolls scattered throughout the Pacific, following bird migration routes in double-hulled canoes over vast distances, carrying materials to survive and settle on arrival.  His book, Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of Māori and Their Polynesian Ancestors was inspired by commonalities of language across the Pacific to describe nature: birds, plants, fish, stars.  It took 15 years of thorough research and the acquisition of new skills in an attempt to solve an on-going mystery. Pathway of the Birds has won a whole clutch of awards, including last year's New Zealand Heritage Book Award.

10:35 Book review - Best of 2019

David Hill reviews his favourite books of the year: Night Fishing by Vicki Hastrich (Allen and Unwin), Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson (Text Publishing), Wildlife of Aotearoa by Gavin Bishop (Penguin Random NZ).

10:45 The Reading

Calamity Jane by Susy Pointon. Part 2 read by Denise O'Connell.

11:05 Travelex ransom, Sonos speakers' obsolescence

Technology commentator Bill Bennett talks to Lynn about the New Year's Eve attack on foreign exchange company Travelex and the differences between crypto and locker ransomware attacks. Sonos has enraged consumers with its decision not to provide software updates for its oldest wireless speakers (anything before 2011) and why isn't Vodafone pushing its new wireless broadband packages to rural customers?

11:25 How to survive the (last of the) school holidays

As many parents know the summer school holidays seem to stretch on FOREVER. With two weeks or so of the break left to go, ideas of what to do might be thin on the ground by now. Maria Foy runs a blog called Happy Mum Happy Child and joins Lynn to talk about how parents can entertain their kids - and keep themselves sane.

11:45 Dolittle, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, McMillions

Film and TV reviewer James Croot looks at the latest take on Dolittle, starring Robert Downey Jr and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, with Tom Hanks as beloved children's entertainer Fred Rogers. He'll also look at the new HBO documentary McMillions which looks at the massive McDonald's Monopoly fraud.

 

Music played in this show

Artist: Sebadoh
Track: Sunshine
Time played: 09.30

Artist: The Birds
Track: 8 Miles High
Time played: 10:35