Nine To Noon

As anyone who's a fan of crime shows like CSI knows, a bloodied footprint at the crime scene can be key to cracking the case. But behind the forensic science is a person, and people can make mistakes.

The Financial Markets Authority is warning of a steep rise in New Zealanders falling for investment scams with the number of complaints up 79 per cent in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2020.

Liz talks to Lynn about ways people can avoid going into massive debt as a result of a sudden loss of income, and she has suggestions on how to quickly reduce outgoings, or find ways to increase income. Liz Koh is a financial planner and specialising in retirement planning. This discussion is of a general nature, and does not constitute financial advice.

Himali McInnes was a GP for a decade in South Auckland, based in Mangere and now works at Three Kings. Over the years she's has seen first hand how the human spirit shines through, despite hardship, illness and trauma. Dr McInnes has spoken to other medics about the patients whose situations have stuck with them.They're captured in her book The Unexpected Patient - true Kiwi stories of life, death and unforgettable clinical case.

Elizabeth Holmes seemingly had the world at her feet. In 2003, the 19-year-old college dropout founded Theranos, a medical technology company that promised to revolutionize health care with a device that could test for a range of conditions using just a few drops of blood from a finger prick. Holmes racked up big-name investors, forged a partnership with Walgreens and raked in the money, with Theranos reached a valuation of $9 billion. But it was too good to be true. She is now trial facing up to 20 years in prison for criminal fraud charges, to which she has pleaded not guilty. Rebecca Stevenson is BusinessDesk's head of news.

Ralph McAllister reviews The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris, published by Headline Publishing Group.

Kate Macdougall's memoir London's No. 1 Dog Walking Agency is an entertaining perspective on a left-field profession and a coming of age story. Armed with a degree in Art History, and eschewing a back office job at Sotheby's auction house, it tells of Kate's efforts to strike out on her own, starting up in business as a dog walker for busy Londoners whose pets otherwise faced long and boring days home alone. While receiving strict instructions about diet, mud and treasured balls, Kate got the measure of other peoples' lives, and, as she tells Lynn Freeman, her own.

Ron says the US is feeling emotionally spent after the marking of the 9/11 20th anniversary. Also there's major resistance in some quarters to vaccination mandates. And Ron talks to Lynn about pitched battles in courts over state-passed anti-Abortion laws and voting restrictions. Finally, a big pro-Trump rally is brewing for next weekend in Washington DC. Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News.

Anthropologist Bill Maurer explains the significant of the recent discovery of the oldest known Chinese metal currency unearthed at the site of a foundary in the ancient city of Guanzhuang which was established about 800 BC. Hao Zhao, an archaeologist at Zhengzhou University lead the research which has been published in the journal Antiquity.

Researchers at the University of Canterbury say they are at a breakthrough point in a project to substitute fossil fuels with green hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide. They've been examining how wood waste can be broken down to create new products.