Nine To Noon

Oat milk has become extremely popular in Aotearoa. At the start of this year cafe owners reported that they were running out of oat milk due to its popularity at barista counters across the country. The supply line is stretched, and it's not helped by the fact that a lot of oat milk has to be brought in from overseas. It's a problem that Morgan Maw and her company Boring Oat Milk are trying to solve.

Amid lockdown fatigue in Tamaki Makaurau, business pain and three Covid cases in Waikato all eyes are on today's big decision over Auckland's alert level. Ben, Shane and Kathryn also look at AUKUS, the security arrangement that New Zealand is not part of, and more rumblings about the National Party leadership. Shane Te Pou is a former candidate, campaign manager and executive member of the Labour Party, and a former union official. He is no longer a member of any political party. He is a Director and HR Manager for IT Company Mega. Ben Thomas is a PR consultant and a former National Government press secretary.

Laura Caygill reviews The Silence Of Scheherazade by Defne Suman, translated by Betsy Göksel and published by Head of Zeus.

Dedicated horseman Hone Smythe can usually be found guiding tourists through the Tongariro National Park on horseback. Now he's now putting his experience into a new project, working with inmates at Tongariro Prison.

AUKUS is causing anger & soul-searching in EU. Seamus says it's a diplomatic row that's unprecedented in modern times, with France recalling its ambassadors from the US and Australia. There's been angry reaction in Paris and Brussels after the announcement of a new trilateral security pact between the US, the UK and Australia took them by surprise, with claims of not being consulted. And in Germany, a week out from the election, pressure is mounting on the man hoping to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor of Germany.

A New Zealand biotech company hopes results from a clinical trial it plans to run in Auckland could ultimately reduce the need for MIQ and limit vaccine wastage around the world. Auckland-based Pictor Limited is seeking 300 volunteers for a trial of its COVID-19 IgG antibody test, which can determine whether someone has a Covid spike protein, indicating they've been vaccinated, or whether they have both the spike AND nucleocapsid proteins, which indicates they've previously been infected with Covid. The company says the test could be used to identify people at the border who are less of a risk and might not need 14 days isolation. Kathryn is joined by Pictor's US-based consulting chief medical officer Tadd Lazarus.

Concerns the boom in carbon farming will dictate the future of New Zealand's sheep, beef and production forestry, and questions over who has oversight over what one academic is calling "the biggest change in land use in New Zealand's modern history". Kathryn speaks with Professor of Farm Management and Agribusiness at Lincoln University Keith Woodford, who says the implications are massive. Also Forest Owners Association chief executive Phil Taylor, also managing director of the American owned forestry management company Port Blakely.

Comedians Te Radar and Gemma Gracewood with a few laughs and the story of the godwit en route to Aotearoa who gave up and doubled back to Alaska.

The All Blacks have made a massive 12 changes to the starting 15 that beat Argentina last week - and will still be odds on to do it again. But Sam says it's risky, all momentum gone and this is the dreaded rotation word that once terrified All Black fans. Sam also talks Netball, America's Cup and more.

Harry Ricketts reviews Beeswing: Fairport, Folk Rock and Finding My Voice, 1967-75 by Richard Thompson, published by Allen and Unwin.