Nine To Noon for Wednesday 13 April 2022

 

09:05 Cook Strait ferry log jam: travellers forced to cancel at Easter

High demand and a shortage of vessels are putting pressure on Cook Strait ferry services this Easter weekend and into next month. The Interislander's Aratere ferry is unavailable until Anzac weekend.  It's in dry dock in Sydney for  routine maintenance. The two remaining Interisland ferries, Kaitaki and Valentine, are operating at maximum capacity, forcing bookings to be canceled. BlueBridge has its Straitsman vessel in for "scheduled servicing" over the Easter period until the second week of May, advising "availability on other sailings is limited over this period".  Kathryn speaks with InterInslander's Executive General Manager Walter Rushbrook.

09:20 Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko on Russia's aggression

Russian President Vladimir Putin says peace talks have reached a "dead-end situation" after Ukraine made allegations about war crimes. He dismissed images of dead bodies in the town of Bucha as "fake". Speaking at an awards ceremony in the Russian Far East, Mr Putin claimed he had been left with no choice but to launch the invasion in a bid to protect the Russian speaking Donbas region. In his speech, Mr Putin said his campaign in Ukraine would continue until its "noble" goals have been achieved. Lesia Vasylenko is a Ukrainian Member of Parliament, with the opposition Holos Party. She's stayed behind in Kyiv to defend her city and continue her work, but has sent her three young children away to safety. She speaks to Kathryn from Kyiv. 

09:30 Sports Brain Bank - head knocks impact on the brain

An Auckland-based research centre analysing the link between repetitive sports-related head injuries and degenerative brain diseases has received its first brain donations. The Sports Human Brain Bank is interested in former athletes who either during a game, or during training, experience repeated exercises that put pressure on their head. NFL, AFL and American football have already done some research into head injuries and the link to brain disease. Maurice Curtis is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Auckland and Co-director of the Human Brain Bank.
 

09:45 Australia: Labor leader off to a shaky start in election campaign

Australia correspondent Annika Smethurst joins Kathryn to talk about the Australian federal election campaign, which got off to a rough start for Labor leader Anthony Albanese when he couldn't state the unemployment or official cash rates off the top of his head. Meanwhile Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his education minister over bullying claims that led to a $500,000 payout to a former staffer.

10:05 Abbey and Money Singh on being The Modern Singhs

Relationships can be tough, and today's guests have faced more challenges than a lot of young couples. Abbey is originally from Scotland and came to New Zealand when she was 11. Money was just four when he arrived from India. The pair met in their late teens while working at The Warehouse and started dating - secretly, because it was forbidden by Money's culture. The pair overcame his parents' objections, and a video of their spectacular nuptials were posted to YouTube - where it quickly went viral. They're now well known as The Modern Singhs, with 1.49 million viewers around the world. They've just released a book documenting their journey: The Modern Singhs: The True Story of a Marriage of Two Cultures.

10:30: Heavy rain from remnants of Cyclone Fili impacting East Coast

Former Cyclone Fili is tracking closer to the East Coast of the North Island, where heavy rain has begun to fall. MetService says the rain will continue until late tonight in Gisborne and until about four o'clock tomorrow morning in Wairoa. Residents have been warned to expect dangerous river conditions, significant flooding and slips, which could block roads. RNZ reporter Jimmy Ellingham joins Kathryn from a wet and windy Tolaga Bay.

10:35 Book review: Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes

Harry Ricketts reviews Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes, published by Penguin Random House NZ

10:45 The Reading

Stuart Devenie and Dorothy McKegg to read episode three of 'Let me Sing you Gentle Songs' by Linda Olsson. 

11:05 Music: The best spy songs

Music reviewer Kirsten Zemke ponders what musical elements make a song feel like a spy track. She'll play a few that'll be familiar to many listeners and talk about what made them so iconic.

11:30 A walking guide to Wellington's architecture

From Oriental Parade, to Cuba Street, Lambton Quay, The Terrace, Aro Street, Wellington is known as a very compact and walkable city. It's also packed full of interesting buildings which tell a story of the city's history. Architecture writer John Walsh has already published popular walking guides for Christchurch and Auckland, and Wellington is now in for the same treatment. Alongside photographer Patrick Reynolds, John Walsh has produced a pocket guide of 120 of Wellington's most significant central city buildings. And as John tells Kathryn, there's a lot to write about; hemmed in by steep hills and little flat land, Wellington has the most intensely occupied downtown in the country. 

11:45 Art: How artists help shape what we 'see'

Arts commentator Nina Tonga reflects on the role artists have in shaping how we perceive things and associate ourselves with a shifting sense of our place. She'll talk about a few of shows, including the knockout exhibition Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda at Auckland Art Gallery, which opened last month, a new installation by Sione Monū and Manu Vaeatangitau Kindred: A Leiti Chronicle. Sione recently opened an exhibition in Poneke at Robert Heald Gallery entitled ‘Volver’. She'll also profile a major retrospective of Dame Robin White opening at Te Papa in partnership with Auckland Art Gallery in first week of June called ‘Something is Happening Here’.