Nine To Noon for Thursday 14 December 2023

09:05 Supermarket pricing data reveals cost confusion

Never-before-seen supermarket pricing data is revealing just how complicated finding value on groceries is. Back in October, on the same day promising grocery startup Supie collapsed, National Business Review was contacted by a business called Ordain, which had been quietly collecting information on prices for six months. It had taken 13 staple goods, and compared them across Pak n Save, New World, Countdown (recently rebranded as Woolworths), The Warehouse, and Supie, across both the North and South Islands, every single day. What it has revealed, is prompting suspicions that the seemingly random, ever-changing prices are a bid to confuse customers into believing they're getting a good deal. NBR journalists Hamish McNicol and Maria Slade, and Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden, speak with Kathryn Ryan.

09:25 Future Cook Strait travel in turmoil

The future of Cook Strait travel has been thrown into turmoil with the government's decision to decline KiwiRail's request for further $1.47 billion for two new mega ferries. $400-million-dollars has already been paid to ship builders in South Korea for the two ferries due in 2026,  although construction hasn't yet begun. But KiwiRail requested an additional nearly $1.5 billion to address cost blow outs for landside infrastructure in Wellington and Picton. Yesterday, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the government would not pay up,  and KiwiRail should go back to the drawing board. KiwiRail CEO Peter Reidy told Morning Report, one option could be to continue building the bespoke designed ferries and sell them. Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter tells Kathryn Ryan he's unsurprised by the government's decision.

09:35 Kiwi teen Caitlin O'Reilly on her attempt to conquer seven channel swims

 Teenage ocean swimmer Caitlin O'Reilly's taking a well deserved break over summer after continuing her quest to conquer the Oceans Seven. That's the marathon swimming challenge that takes in seven channel swims around the world,  including: The English, Catalina, North, Molokai and Tsugaru channels as well as the Strait of Gibraltar and New Zealand's own Cook Strait. Caitlin already has that under her belt - she knocked it off at age 12 - becoming the youngest Kiwi to swim it. The 19-year-old has also polished off the Tsugaru, North and English Channels. She'll keep training in Auckland over summer, ready to tackle the Catalina Channel in July.

09:45 UK: Rwanda Bill passes first vote, Wales First Minister quits, visa rule trouble

UK correspondent Dan Bloom joins Kathryn to look at the reprieve for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over the government's Rwanda Bill, which passed its first vote without a predicted revolt from MPs in his own party. Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced he's stepping down, sparking a contest for the leadership of the Welsh Labour party and tougher immigration rules have led to warnings from the health sector.

Dan Bloom is deputy editor of Politico London Playbook

10:05 Project Unlonely: a road map for making connections

The holiday period can be a lonely one for many people. Around the world one in four adults say they're lonely.  and loneliness is associated with increased risk of heart attacks to dementia and premature death. Dr Jeremy Nobel, the founder and president of The Foundation for Art & Healing and its signature initiative Project UnLonely.  He is also on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His new book is also called Project UnLonely. He tells Kathryn about his own experience of loneliness and how art and creativity can reverse the feeling.

10:35 Book Review: The Freedom of Emma Herwegh by Dirk Kurbjuweit (translated from the original German by Imogen Taylor)

Quentin Johnson reviews The Freedom of Emma Herwegh by Dirk Kurbjuweit (translated from the original German by Imogen Taylor) published by Text Publishing

10:45 Around the motu : Kelly Makiha in Rotorua

 Kelly talks to Kathryn about some of the court cases she's been covering recently, and also the WorkSafe charge the Rotorua Lakes Council is facing. Plus Makuini Warbrick's inspirational story about how she lost 50 kg - naturally.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist with the Rotorua Daily Post

10:55 GDP falls back against expectations

The economy shrank in the third quarter as households spent less, exports fell, and manufacturing activity decreased. Stats NZ data showed seasonally-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.3 percent in the three months ended September, compared to expectations of a 0.2 percent rise. Kathryn speaks to RNZ business editor Gyles Beckford.

11:05 Tech: Sellafield hack, Russian attacks, scams numbers up

Technology correspondent Tony Grasso joins Kathryn to talk about who was likely behind the hacking of Sellafield, Europe's largest nuclear site. New Minister for the GCSB Judith Collins has spoken out about the Russian attacks detected by the UK National Cyber Security Centre. Ransomware as a service is bigger than ever and the number of scams are up - Tony talks about how they can be hiding in places that look legitimate.

Tony Grasso is Principal Consultant at cybersecurity firm TitaniumDefence. He worked at GCHQ in the UK and is a former Intelligence Officer in New Zealand

11:25 How children develop memories and understand time

If you've ever asked a young child how their day was, you might have got a couple of responses - either a blank stare, or a list of every single thing that had happened to them that day.  Judith Hudson studies memory development in children and the development of children's understanding of time. Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey, she says the way parents interact and talk to their children helps develop the child's memory for the past, and their ability to think about and plan for future events.

11:45 Screentime: Leave the World Behind, Scrublands, True Detective s4

Film and TV reviewer Tamar Munch joins Kathryn to talk about Leave the World Behind (Netflix), an end-of-the-world drama that's causing some controversy. She'll also review Scrublands, streaming on ThreeNow, which is an Australian drama based on a book by Chris Hammer, about a priest that murders five parishioners and an investigation by a journalist into the reason why. Tamar will also look ahead to what's coming in January - including the fourth season of True Detective, starring Jodie Foster.