Nine To Noon

A free roast meal over a chat about mental health is on offer for all-male flats of Canterbury University students by the not-for-profit group Lads Without Labels. The student-led initiative was launched a couple of years ago to support young men's emotional and physical well-being.

Chris is along with the favourite things he's watched this year, his top 10.

Family dynamics, dealing with in-laws, persuasion fatigue and sheer exhaustion can make for stressful holidays for many. Psychologist Sarb Johal says it can help to prepare like a professional athlete for "game day", anticipating triggers and preparing strategies. He shares his tips for coping with the festive season.

Technology journalist Bill Bennett takes a look at some of the biggest technology stories of the year : The sale of Twitter to Elon Musk, Meta, Amazon and other big tech companies laying off thousands of people. Bill says the international stories are downbeat, the local ones are much more positive. They include 2degrees merging with Vocus, and the second stage of the UFB fibre project completed this month, meaning 87 per cent of the population can get fibre broadband.

Cynthia Morahan reviews Greedy Cat's Christmas by Joy Cowley, published by The CopyPress

This winter and spring have had the highest ever recorded rainfall for Whakatane district, and council staff have reported costs of damage to roads and reserves as being over $2.8 million, resulting in a shortfall in planned capital funding for next year. Diane also talks to Kathryn about why popular summer attraction, the Ohope Water Slide has been closed for two days, and over recent months a roaming dog, or dogs have been killing pets in a 1km square block of town. Diane McCarthy is the Eastern Bay of Plenty Local Democracy Reporter.

The most historic moment of the year was the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles III. For many people in Britain this was a moment to pause and take stock of the country's history and start asking questions about the future. Hugo also reflects on the year of total chaos in Westminster, which included three Prime Ministers : Boris Johnson's demise, Liz Truss's seven week reign and ended up with Rishi Sunak at the helm. And like most of the rest of the world, the UK has been badly affected by inflation which has led to what is expected to be the biggest fall in living standards for decades.

A recent report by the Economic and Social Research Institute has found Britain's economy has been seriously bruised by its exit from the European Union in January 2020. Trade between the UK and the EU is down by almost a fifth relative to forecasts had Brexit never happened. The rising price of imported food, labour shortages, including specialist doctors and truck drivers are also attributed to the split. Brexit has cost the UK £33 b in lost trade and investment, according to a new study from the Centre for European Reform, which finds the economic damage is worse than expected. A recent YouGov poll showed 56% of Britons thought they were wrong to leave the EU. 32% think they were right. Kathryn speaks with Jonathan Portes who is professor of economics at King's College London, and former director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Many of us will be taking to the skies this week in the pre-Christmas rush - but there's been added pressure on airlines in the leadup to it. The aviation industry has struggled with the scale-up needed after the initial stages of the pandemic, with its lockdowns, flight groundings and mass layoffs of staff. In August Air New Zealand said it would need to reduce its flight schedule over the next six months due to staff illness, with 100, 000 passengers affected. Earlier this month Auckland Airport warned it needs to fill 1600 roles right now, and that could create delays. So if you're travelling this festive season, what can you expect? Air New Zealand's CEO Greg Foran joins Kathryn to discuss.

Victoria Devine is the host of Australia's top business podcast She's On The Money which spawned a best-selling book by the same name. Her second book takes a closer look at investing, which Victoria says is a huge part of building wealth. Investing with She's on the Money takes a simple approach to why you should invest, and how to create an investment portfolio that will set you up for security later in life.