Nine To Noon for Tuesday 24 November 2020

 

 

09:05 Port congestion: the cost to business

Shipping companies are charging more to get goods into and around the country due to delays at the log-jammed Ports of Auckland. With Christmas season here, our biggest port is under pressure with container ships waiting almost two weeks at anchor to get a slot to unload. The delays are impacted by world-wide covid-related freight disruptions, recent strikes at Australian ports and staff shortages at Ports of Auckland meaning there aren't enough stevedores to unload goods. The backlog is further hampered by an incomplete automation project due to Covid.  Now all shipping companies are slapping a surcharge on cargo to make up for rising costs due to the delays. Kathryn speaks with My Therese Blank, Head of Market at Maersk Oceania and local shipping broker Dave Anderson, of Coastal Shipping.

09:25 Data deluge. The environmental cost of going on-line

New research has revealed that a single Instagram post from Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo to his 240 million followers consumes as much energy as ten households. Dr. Rabih Bashroush talks to Kathryn Ryan about how our insatiable need for data is affecting the planet, also whether cutting down on pointless emails could reduce our carbon footprint. Dr. Bashroush is Global Head, IT Infrastructure Advisory at Uptime Institute and Faculty member at the University of East London.

09:45 USA correspondent Ron Elving

A trickle of Republicans are telling President Trump it's time to concede to President elect Joe Biden, however Donald Trump is still delaying.

Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News.

10:05 Is work taking over our lives?

James Suzman is an anthropologist and author who argues we spent too much of our lives working unnecessarily. For the last three decades he has been documenting the encounter between the world's most enduring hunter gatherer population - the Ju/'hoansi "Bushmen" of the Kalahari in eastern Namibia - and the relentlessly expanding global economy. In this traditional society, he says, people rarely worked more than a couple of hours a day, leaving plenty of time for relaxation, experimentation and play. In his new book Work: A History of How We Spend Our Time, James Suzman argues that while humans are naturally drawn to work, our modern day work habits are unnecessary and unsustainable

10:35 Book review - Aroha by Dr Hinemoa Elder

Emma Espiner reviews Aroha: Māori wisdom for a contented life lived in harmony with our planet by Dr Hinemoa Elder. Published by Penguin Random House.

Please note: The reviewer wrongly identified Dr Hinemoa Elder as a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo. The mistake is regretted and heartfelt apologies to Dr Elder for the error, which was the reviewer’s alone.

10:45 The Reading

Everything, written by Pip Adam. Read by Alison Harper.

11:05 Business commentator Rebecca Stevenson

New Zealanders have been spending almost everything they earn, with only about $700 million in household saving in the March 2020 year, slightly less than in 2019, according to the latest Stats NZ data. And Rebecca says dire forecasts of double-digit unemployment numbers have failed to materialise and other indicators such as consumer confidence suggest the NZ economy is bouncing back with a spring in its step.
 

Rebecca Stevenson is BusinessDesk's Auckland bureau chief.

11:30 Mixed media. A life in tech and art

Jeweller and painter Dawn Ngaamo, who by day works in tech, talks to Kathryn Ryan about what is it like straddling the two seemingly different worlds of art and working as the programme director of New Zealand retail software company, Flux Federation.

11:45 Media commentator Andrew Holden

Andrew gives his take on the NZ TV Awards and wonders why there isn't an all-in media awards rather than four separate events.

Andrew Holden is a journalist for more than 30 years including five as Editor of The Press (in Christchurch) and four as Editor-in-Chief of The Age in Melbourne. 

Music played in this show

Track: Ballad of a victim of the economic recovery

Artist: Chris Knox

Time: 11:30