Nine To Noon

The history and uses - benign and sinister - for 26 prickly, stinky, tricky, troublesome fruit are told in a new book by American essayist and poet Kate Lebo. The Book of Difficult Fruit is the title of her painstakingly researched book, which contains 26 quirky essays about a selected fruit for each letter of the alphabet.

The announcement of AUKUS has sent shock waves around Asia. How is this major new defence arrangement seen by key US allies in the region and the government in Beijing?. And after the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Suga after little over a year in office, a woman is in the running to be Japan's next leader.

Rob Knowles is an artist, organic farmer and for the last twenty-one years a member of the Motueka Men's Support Group. It's a group of guys who sit around a fire in a tipi on a Monday night, discussing relationship issues, parenting and life's struggles. Rob has an exhibition opening on September 27th at the Suter Art Gallery in Nelson, of sixteen portraits of members of the group.

A new accreditation has been launched for education organisations which take steps to make themselves more dyslexia-friendly. The New Zealand Dyslexia-Friendly Quality Mark is a collaboration between Ako Aotearoa and the Tertiary Education Commission.

The new security pact between the US, UK and Australia has already been denounced by China as "irresponsible", "narrow minded" and a "cold war mentality". The AUKUS pact will see Australia build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for its navy, using technology provided by the US.

Film and TV reviewer James Croot joins Lynn to talk about the reimagined Scenes from a Marriage (Neon, SoHo), starring Jessica Chastain, Taika Waititi's new TV series Reservation Dogs (Disney+) about four teens growing up on a reservation in Oklahoma, and a reboot of popular 90s show Doogie Howser M.D - this one re-gendered and set in Hawaii - Doogie Kamealoha M.D (Disney+).

Being a grandparent is a wonderful role. All care and no responsibility, as the saying goes. But these days many grandparents are involved in helping raise their grandchildren, to support working parents. Dr Tessa Grigg is the co-author of a new book for grandparents - a guide to helping bring up well rounded, emotionally balanced grandchildren - even if you only look after them a few hours a week. It's called Grandparenting Grandchildren: new knowledge and know-how for grandparenting the under 5s.

Tech commentator Paul Matthews joins Lynn to look at Apple's recent announcement of a suite of tools to tackle child sexual abuse material on devices, and why its had to hit pause on the plans, the new report that's found New Zealand has fallen massively in global rankings for digital competitiveness and it's MÄori Language Week â€" a chance for everyone to explore Te Reo MÄori a little more. So what digital tools are around to help?

Paul Diamond reviews The Survival of Māori  as a People by Whatarangi Winiata, published by Huia Publishers.

After being the victim of relentless trolling by people who objected to his last book, Irish writer John Boyne has turned the tables on them in his new satirical novel, The Echo Chamber.