Nine To Noon

Joanna Ludbrook from Chicken and Frog bookstore in Featherston reviews Pipi and Pou and the Raging Mountain and Pipi and Pou and the River Monster, written by Tim Tipene and illustrated by Isobel Te Aho-White, published by One Tree House.

Whether it's big tech, big pharma or big supermarkets , Sally Hubbard argues monopolies have a vise-like grip on our lives. She is an antitrust expert and Director of Enforcement Strategy at the US Open Markets Institute. She served as an Assistant Attorney General in New York's Antitrust Bureau, and is the author of new book Monopolies Suck. Ms Hubbard argues that a monopolized economy works for only a select few, and leave the rest feeling left out and left behind. She says industry self regulation has been failure and monopolies actually stifle innovation.

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to talk about how Covid infection rates have shot up in Victoria raising concerns about a new wave. The man accused of raping a Parliamentary staffer will be retried after his trial was aborted due to a juror bringing in a document relating to sexual assault. The Government is looking at how to push prices back down, including a possible price cap on gas and King Charles may not feature on the next incarnation of the $5 note.

Some of the country's most disadvantaged regions have been identified in a government report as being at the most risk of flooding. Not only are they are most risk - the report says they are also totally unprepared. 44 communities are named in the report - they're considered vulnerable because they're not planning to build protection such as flood walls, and because of low average incomes, cannot raise rates to fund the work. Kathryn speaks to Jacqui Church, Waikato District Council Mayor and Gisborne District mayor Rehette Stoltz.

A new study suggests a significant number of undergraduate students are uncomfortable sharing their views in class on certain topics - such as gender, politics, religion and sexual orientation. Almost 800 students from Otago, Auckland and Victoria Universities participated in the study, about their comfort speaking in academic settings. Up to 40% said they would feel uncomfortable 'speaking up and giving their views' on gender, politics, religion, and sexual orientation. And 65 per cent said they would feel uncomfortable discussing at least one of these topics. Kathryn discusses the findings with Dr Jamin Halberstadt, a professor in the department of psychology, University of Otago.

Sports commentator Steve Holloway joins Kathryn to talk about the women's draw for the World Cup, throw forward to the start of the men's World Cup in Qatar later this month and find out what's going on with the All White's coach. He'll also touch on what's happening in the EPL and New Zealand's national league. Steve Holloway is Premium sports editor at NZME, former NZ national league footballer and co-host of the Between Two Beers podcast.

In photographer Jane Ussher's latest book, she has turned her lens on the diverse and eclectic interiors of New Zealand homes. Over a two year period she shot more than 300 pictures which have ended up in the hardback book - Rooms - Portraits of remarkable New Zealand interiors. They are from homes from Mangonui in the Far North, to Dunedin and showcase a diverse range of decorating styles and homes.

Rebecca talks to Kathryn about how Inland Revenue collected an extra $33 million from international firms as part of a campaign to keep COVID-19 wage subsidy money in New Zealand and there are changes on the horizon for competition law - what will it involve?

Kiran Dass reviews Getting Lost by Annie Ernaux, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.

In March this year, the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found, three thousand metres under the icy Weddell Sea - 107 years after it sank. The British maritime archaeologist Mensun Bound, along with a large team of scientists, meteorologists, engineers and dive specialists found the ship still still in remarkably good condition. For Bound, the search for Shackleton's ship was the culmination of a lifetime fascination with the explorer and his Antarctic expeditions. He speaks to Kathryn about his new book, The Ship Beneath The Ice.