Nine To Noon for Thursday 5 March 2020

 

09:05  Has E-waste recycling plan fizzled out?

The manager of one of New Zealand's largest e-waste firms, Computer Recycling describes the amount of electric goods being thrown away as "an epidemic". Patrick Moynahan has started a petition calling for a government-led national strategy to make it compulsory to recycle e-waste. A 2019 Massey University report concluded 98 percent of e-waste from households in Whangarei went to landfill, that e-waste volume is growing up to three times faster than any other kind of waste and that New Zealand relies on voluntary schemes to manage the estimated ninety-eight thousand tonnes of e-waste generated in the country annually.  The government ring-fenced funding from the Waste Minimisation Fund last May for an e-waste project to reuse surplus electronic equipment from businesses and government organisations, and efforts for a national strategy by the previous government fizzled out. Kathryn Ryan is joined by Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage and Patrick Moynahan.

 

09:20 NZ sheep-derived wound care product eyes up local market

A New Zealand-made bio-medical product that's been used nearly 5 million times in the United States will soon be available for use here at home. Aroa Biosurgery makes tissue-repair products from lambs' stomachs and is used to heal wounds like diabetic and venous ulcers and to repair complex hernias, avoiding some of the the problems associated with synthetic surgical mesh. Aroa's chief executive Brian Ward joins Kathryn to talk about the process underway to make the company's products available for use in New Zealand.

09:45 UK correspondent Matthew Parris

Matthew talks to Kathryn about the British Prime Minister's statement on the coronavirus, bullying allegations against Priti Patel, the start of Brexit negotiations in Brussels, and an engagement and a baby for Boris Johnson.

10:05 Folk history. Reclaiming our 'hidden' musical connections

Multi-instrumentalists, partners, collaborators and music historians  Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi join Kathryn Ryan to discuss the (sometimes fraught) musical connections between race, place and culture. That includes the 'hidden' African-American contributions to folk and country music.

Rhiannon Giddens and the Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi have been in Wellington for The New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

 

10:35 Book review - Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Jessie Bray Sharpin reviews Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, published by Bloomsbury.

10:45 The Reading

Part 4 of 'Here and Where' - David Hill's series about New Zealanders traveling overseas read by Peter Hayden.

11:05 The Y2K bug makes a comeback

Technology commentator Bill Bennett looks at how the millennium bug is back - because it never exactly went away. In trying to solve the problem, programmers pushed it back 20 years. And time's up. He'll also look at how Volvo is experimenting with adding noise to near-silent EVs, after research showed pedestrians were twice as likely to be involved in an accident with EVs than those with traditional engines. And is working remotely back in fashion in response to coronavirus?

11:25 Parenting - Covid19: keeping children calm

Senior Researcher at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Mohamed Alansari speaks with Kathryn Ryan about what parents and educators can do to prevent children panicking about Covid19.

 

11:45 The Outsider, Military Wives, Births Deaths and Marriages

Film and TV correspondent Sarah McMullan reviews  the Stephen King novel-turned-TV series The Outsider and British comedy Military Wives and takes a look at New Zealand film Births, Deaths and Marriages. She'll also talk about the controversy surrounding film director Roman Polanski at the Cèsars - the French version of the Oscars.