Nine To Noon

Jenna Todd from Time Out Bookstore reviews Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit, published by Penguin Random House

American author Marissa Meyer has spent much of the past decade reimagining the classic fairy stories we think we know so well, and turning them into smash hits. Her first novel, Cinder, became a New York Times bestseller, and she followed it up with three more installments in her Lunar Chronicles series. Then came an Alice in Wonderland prequel - Heartless; her own superhero series, Renegades; and last year she released Instant Karma, which is being adapted for TV by HBO. Marissa spins a new take on Rumpelstiltskin in Gilded - giving the "miller's daughter" from the original tale a name and quite a backstory. She joins Kathryn from Washington state to talk about her love of fantasy writing.

UK correspondent Hugo Gye joins Kathryn to look at how cases of the Omicron variant are on the rise as the British government looks to speed up its booster campaign. The UK and France are still at loggerheads over how to stop dangerous and illegal crossings of the English Channel in small boats. Labour's had a reshuffle, with leader Keir Starmer appointing a new top team with more veterans from the era of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. And lucky pub patrons in Yorkshire were locked in for three days during a snowstorm.

A new "anti-troll" law in Australia will hold social media platforms liable for hurtful comments on their websites. The law will define the social media companies like Facebook and Instagram as the publisher of the comments which will allow them to be targeted for defamation claims.If a claim goes to court, the platform will be required to "unmask" a troll - providing an email address, phone number or relevant personal detail. But criticis question whether the changes will help curb rates of online bullying. Kathryn speaks with Jennifer Beckett, Lecturer in Media and Communications, at the University of Melbourne.

New Zealanders are paying too much for house and contents insurance, according to a new survey. Consumer NZ's price comparison survey shows climate and natural hazard risk is being factored in, and is more expensive than ever. Quotes for a large house differed by more than $3,000 across Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and there's a more than $2,000 difference between the cheapest and most expensive policies on offer for a standard-sized house. If you live somewhere with a higher chance of earthquakes - such as Wellington or Christchurch - you'll be charged more for insurance. The cost of house and contents insurance has risen by 5.6% this year, over the past ten years it's gone up 150%. Kathryn is joined by Consumer NZ's Gemma Rasmussen and Katrina Shanks Chief Executive of Financial Advice New Zealand, which represents independent and professional financial advisors.

Science commentator Dr Siouxsie Wiles joins Kathryn to talk about infections in immunocompromised people, and a new study which shows why it's a good reminder to be cautious and keep using masks, even when vaccinated. And an analysis from France during its first wave of Covid has found pregnant women were 60 times more likely to be admitted to ICU and 40 times more likely to die of the disease.

Author George Lockyer embarked on a mission around the country to find some of the more quirky uses Kiwis have for their garages. He found vintage cars, inventions, a military museum, a brewery - quite a successful one - a repair shop, sculpture studio and a radio shack. The result is his book Kiwi Garages - Inside New Zealanders' Happy Places. George joins Kathryn to talk about how the garage is often a refuge from the world, and a good place to de-stress. He's joined by dominatrix Red Fox, whose garage is featured in the book and hosts a different kind of place to de-stress.

Anne Else reviews Middle Distance: Long Stories of Aotearoa New Zealand edited by Craig Gamble, published by VUP

Few conversations in Aotearoa pass without some reference to the weather. Is the rain coming in? Is the wind direction changing? Can the barbeque go ahead? Meteorologist and Head of Weather Communications at Metservice, Lisa Murray talks about the weather for a living. But she and her colleagues also carry a heavy responsibility when it comes to predicting severe weather events in time to save lives and livelihoods. Lisa is one of the authors of a new book put out by Metservice, which looks at the history and science behind our worst weather, called New Zealand's Wild Weather.

Australia correspondent Bernard Keane joins Kathryn to talk about a report released yesterday which found one third of Parliamentary employees had been sexually harassed. The Parliamentary schedule was released yesterday and it's very light on sitting days ahead of next year's election, and a 40 year old report from an Australian spy agency detailed the concerns it held then about climate change.