09:05 Sporting codes call for focus on fun this winter

Five of the largest sporting codes are calling for a focus on fun this winter season, rather than a competitive push that's putting young players off. The codes - cricket, netball, hockey, football and rugby - have joined Sport New Zealand to take a  "collective stand" after last year's Covid-disrupted playing season, with the aim of getting parents and coaches to engage players more positively. It builds on a Statement of Intent signed in 2019 by NZ Cricket, NZ Rugby, NZ Football, Hockey NZ and Netball NZ with Sport New Zealand that recognised early-specialisation and extended training at younger ages was limiting children's enjoyment of sport, and leading many to quit. Kathryn talks to Alex Chiet, Sport Development National Consultant at Sport NZ, Hockey New Zealand CEO Anthony Crummy and Netball New Zealand's CEO Jennie Wyllie.

Kids Sport Team Gathering. Children Play Sports. Boys in Sportswear Jersey Uniforms Having Shout Team. Youth Sports For Children. Youth Football Academy Background with Copy Space

Photo: matimix/123RF

09:20 The benefits of on-farm 'design plantings'

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Photo: Plant & Food Research

The good pollination deeds of bees on the farm is well known, but up until now there's been little study of other insect species and what role they play in crop pollination.  As agriculture intensifies around the world, including in New Zealand, more natural habitats are being lost. Scientists from Plant & Food Research have just published research into how designed native plantings on farms can help attract the best bee and non-bee crop pollinators to an area to help boost crop yields. It was a five-year endeavour based on the study of three farms in Canterbury, in which they found the networks of non-bee pollinators were bigger and more complex than predicted. Kathryn talks to Dr Brad Howlett, one of the scientists involved in the study, about what implications it could have for farmers and the agri-sector.

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Photo: Plant & Food Research

09:45 NSW flood risk remains, PM forced to apologise to media giant

Australia correspondent Chris Niesche looks at the situation in New South Wales, where 40,000 people have been affected by evacuation orders forced by flooding and where a risk of landslips remains. He'll also look at the latest sex claims in the Australian parliament and how the Prime Minister was forced into an embarrassing apology to News Corp for suggesting the company was dealing with its own complaint of harassment.

A general view of a main road under floodwaters in Richmond suburb on March 22, 2021, as Sydney braced for its worst flooding in decades after record rainfall caused its largest dam to overflow.

Floodwaters at Richmond on the outskirts of Sydney. Photo: AFP

10:05 Sharing the wonder of the natural world throughout Covid

Melissa Harrison is a novelist and nature writer whose podcast documenting the natural world and changing seasons during lockdown was a runaway success. Each week from April to October last year, she brought the sights and sounds of the natural world around her Suffolk home to listeners across the country and around the world. Her book is called The Stubborn Light of Things, and is a selection of her columns published in The Times.

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Photo: supplied

10:35 Book Review -  The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Louise O'Brien reviews The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen.  Published by Hachette New Zealand.

10:45 The Reading

Responsibility, part eight. Written by Nigel Cox and read by Tim Gordon.

11:05 Music With Yadana Saw

Music reviewer Yadana Saw joins Kathryn to play a new track from Memphis alt soul RnB artist Valerie June, wish a belated birthday to the magical otherworldly reggae producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and look at a new track from Carnivorous Plant Society ahead of their CubaDupa show this weekend.
 
 

 

11:20 Embroidery tells a story of exile from the Democratic Republic of Congo

11:45 Dr Siouxsie Wiles on a year since lockdown 4

Microbiologist and Nine to Noon science commentator Dr Siouxsie Eiles looks at how Thursday marks a year since the country was plunged into Level 4 lockdown in an attempt to stem the rise in Covid-cases in the early stages of the pandemic. She'll look at New Zealand's response compared to other countries, how successful the vaccine rollout has been in the UK, how it can impact other species like cats and the quirks of New Zealand's cases that are helping scientists to understand transmission better.

Associate Professor Dr Siouxsie Wiles is the head of Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland.

Novel coronavirus concept resposible for asian flu outbreak and coronaviruses influenza concept on background with flag of New Zealand

Photo: 123RF