Nine To Noon

Educator, Te Ataakura Pewhairangi was brought up in te ao Māori, and her home language was and still is te reo Māori. She has completed a Bachelor of Arts and teaching degree entirely in te reo Māori and is currently completing a Master of Arts, majoring in Māori studies at Massey University. She is also the Māori Student Recruitment Advisor there. Adding author to her skills, Te Ataakura had written a bi-lingual children's board book Kei te aha ngā kararehe? What are the animals doing? Find out what all the animals are up to in this delightful board book. Tūhuratia ngā mahi a ngā kararehe i tēnei pukapuka pārekareka.

Fiji's medics are under extreme stress as Covid 19 infections accelerate, and former Health Minister, Neil Sharma says pressure from the pandemic has caused the nation's health system to collapse. And in Samoa, the country's first woman prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa is taking office.

Southland woman, Louise Mackenzie's start-up Fun Diggity Dog came about when Covid struck and her job in the tourism sector went with it. Working from her dining room table in the rural settlement of Castlerock, she is now turning pests, including possum pelts into dog toys.

Hospital nurses are eyeing up possible strike action after rejecting the government's latest pay offer, while their counterparts in hospice care pursue pay parity with hospital nurses. Hospice nurses are paid significantly less, with estimates putting the difference between 10 and 20 percent less than DHB nurses. Nurses employed by 18 different hospice groups are currently voting on new MECAs - Multi-Employer Collective Agreements. If they are successful in achieving parity, it will put increased financial pressure on hospices, which already rely heavily on charity to meet operational costs. But if pay parity is not achieved, how can the hospice sector attract and retain qualified nurses? Kathryn talks through the issues with Denise van Aalst from Palliative Care Nurses New Zealand and Danielle Davies, an industrial adviser for New Zealand Nurses Organisation members who work in the Private Hospital and Hospice sector.

Film and TV reviewer Chris Schulz joins Kathryn to look at beach resort comedy The White Lotus (Neon), true crime doco Heist (Netflix) and a new season of 'Kura (TVNZ) - a small web series that proved among the broadcaster's top five local shows last year.

All kids have angry reactions, and most parents can largely accept these when they can see the cause. But some kids seem to explode for no apparent reason. What's going on? And how can parents and caregivers respond? Such kids are often feeling a painful ambivalence about love and attachment, says parenting coach and educator Joseph Driessen. Parents of these kids need to upskill on how to help them heal, he tells Kathryn Ryan.

Technology commentator Sarah Putt joins Kathryn to discuss a new survey from Netsafe which has found New Zealanders believe the internet is more dangerous than it was five years ago, everyone's talking about the billionaire space race what impact it could have on the space economy and Google is boosting its New Zealand presence - what does that mean for local players like Spark?

Elisabeth Easther reviews The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, published by Penguin Random House.

Maryam Master is a writer with more than 20 years' experience writing for the stage and screen. She started her career on Australia's biggest soap opera - Home and Away, writing over 80 episodes, before finding her niche writing television for children.

UK correspondent Hugo Gye joins Kathryn to discuss the unexpected decline in Covid numbers and the UK's belated announcement it would give away four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine - something other countries have been doing from the outset.