Nine To Noon

Foulden Maar in Otago is a paleontological site of international importance, offering a window into our past through long-dead fish, flowers and insects. It's also a site of interest for a commercial mining company, which has gone into receivership, and the site is locked to the outside world and still has no legal protection. University of Otago scientist Daphne Lee has just published a new book called Fossil Treasures of Foulden Maar. It offers a much more positive perspective, introducing us to her passion for this extraordinary spot which was formed by a volcanic eruption some 23 million years ago and which preserves countless rare and well preserved fossils.

Business commentator Pattrick Smellie talks about the "political" decision to end the traffic light system and whether it was inevitable, once the public's will to be compliant was gone. And he'll look at the Todd Corporation's mega projects in Western Australia and Louisiana... as always, it's notoriously quiet about its projects, but developments in the public domain give a good indication of where the company representing New Zealand's wealthiest family is heading.

Harry Ricketts reviews The Stupefying by Nick Ascroft, published by Te Herenga Waka University Press.

Acclaimed Maori historian Monty Soutar has turned his hand to fiction for the first time, drawing on almost 40 years of research into the history of Aotearoa and his own ancestral line. Kawai: For Such a Time as This, is the first in an ambitious series looking at how colonisation has shaped Aotearoa New Zealand. In the novel, a 19 year old Maori student asks his elderly grand-uncle about his tipuna, the respected warrior Kaitanga. That's in 1980. Then we're taken back to 1734, to Te Maniaroa, to the aftermath of a battle.

Danielle Kurtzleben is today's US correspondent. Abortion and inflation are top issues at the polls ahead of November's midterm elections and many eyes will be on Michigan's vote to enshrine abortion rights...could it galvanise Democrat turnout? And Colorado's Senate race is turning into a test of non-Trump Republicans.

In Dunedin 11 mayoral hopefuls are vying for the top job at this year's local body elections. Incumbent Aaron Hawkins is being challenged by a group of fellow councillors who all say his leadership style leaves a lot to be desired.

For the first time since March 2020 there are no major Covid restrictions in New Zealand. On Monday the Cabinet decided to scrap the traffic light system and drop almost all restrictions; masks are now only needed in hospitals or aged care homes, vaccine requirements for travellers have been removed, and isolation for household contacts has been dropped.

The NZ Institute of Architects in Auckland is celebrating Architecture Week, with discussions focused on Auckland and its issues. Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.

Like water into wine, Jenny McDonald and Sue Stockwell are turning bread into gin. Dunedin Craft Distillers are the only New Zealand company producing botanical spirits from surplus bread and bakery products.

Brigitte and Lamia join Kathryn to discuss potential changes to the Covid traffic light system, whether New Zealand should follow Australia and have a public holiday to mark the Queen's passing and the political reaction to police photo collection practices of young people.