Nine To Noon for Wednesday 2 September 2020

 

09:05 Cyber attacks: Time to increase the national internet bandwidth?

A global cyber security expert who worked in New Zealand for 20 years says it's time to increase the national internet bandwidth to make it harder for cyber attackers. Dr Hossein Sarrafzadeh led the establishment of New Zealand's first cyber security centre and also developed one of the world's first real-time facial expression and gesture recognition systems. He warns all institutions from government, financial and telcos, to higher education and small firms can't afford to neglect the threat. The comments follow five days of distributed denial-of-service attacks on the stock exchange. Banking, weather forecasting and news sites, including RNZ's website, have also been targeted. Dr Hossein  Sarrafzadeh is now the director of  St. Bonaventure University's cybersecurity center in New York

09:20 Cannabis referendum: Chief science advisor Juliet Gerrard explains

As the general election draws near so to does the referendum on legalising recreational cannabis. The Cannabis Legislation and Control Bill would allow people aged 20 or over to buy up to 14 grams of cannabis per day, but only from businesses with a licence to sell it. It would make it legal to grow a certain amount of cannabis on private property. In a bid to make those voting in September as informed as possible - the Prime Minister's chief science advisor Juliet Gerrard has released information on the possible impacts of legalising cannabis.  Juliet Gerrard joins Kathryn Ryan to talk about the work. 

09:45 Border barney, Abbott goes to London, Facebook fight

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to talk about attempts by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to negotiate a lifting of border restrictions and replace them with "hotspot" designations. Meanwhile Morrison's predecessor is off to take up a trade job in the UK, where he was born. Tony Abbott has also criticised Australia's border closure which he says is keeping citizens "under house arrest". Karen will also talk about Facebook's threats to stop Australian users from sharing Australian news and an Australian TV presenter working in China has been detained, the latest escalation of the Australia-China diplomatic brawl.

10:05 Relationships, why messy is good

In a time when we are experiencing significant discord in our world - a new book explains why we need to get into the messes in our lives and worlds, and not try to smooth things over. Psychologist Ed Tronick is well-known for the famous 'Still Face Experiment'. Ed's latest book, co-written with pediatrician Dr. Claudia Gold is called The Power of Discord. It explains that human interactions are messy, complicated, and confusing - and that this is a good thing. Dr. Ed Tronick is a developmental neuro scientist, clinical psychologist and the co-founder of the Child Development Unit at Boston Children's Hospital and the Touchpoints program. He is a distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Infant-Parent Mental Health program at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and a research associate in newborn medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr Tronick joins Kathryn to discuss the new book. 

 

10:35 Book review - Summer by Ali Smith

Phil Vine reviews Summer by Ali Smith, published by Penguin Random House.

10:45 The Reading

A Hard Up NZ Ltd, part 3, by Susy Pointon, read by Aaron Alexander.

11:05 When art and music collide: Auckland Art Gallery's Leonard Cohen exhibition

Music 101 host Charlotte Ryan looks at 'I'm Your Man - Portrait of Leonard Cohen' on at the Auckland Art Gallery right now, and Deva Mahal's new single 'Stand In'.

11:20 Going upriver, and what it tells us, about us

Colin Heinz has walked, tramped and climbed every one of the rivers which flow from the Main Divide out to the sea. In Upriver - From the Sea to the Southern Alps Colin Heinz creates a unique and detailed account not just of the  landscape but of eight-hundred years of the South Island's history, captured during expeditions he started making as a school boy, five decades ago.  Colin tells Kathryn Ryan it has been his life's work.

11:45 Challenges for the arts sector in the Covid era

Kathryn is joined by Auckland Art Gallery director Kirsten Lacy to talk about how the arts sector can survive and thrive in a Covid world. The Gallery has had to adapt, with the postponement of international exhibitions, and has opened its doors again this week after the city's lockdown was lifted. It's been running a new digital series called "Cultured Conversations", in which Kirsten speaks to leaders in culture, arts, philanthropy and politics about how institutions can adapt and innovate.

 

Music played in this show

Track: Mountain Rain
Artist: Bonnie Light Horseman 
Time: 9:45