Leah McFall reviews The Palace Papers by Tina Brown, published by Penguin Random House NZ.

Manurewa community icon Shirley Maihi is the country's oldest school principal. At 80, she leads decile one Finlayson Park School, championing bi-lingual education and social wellbeing initiatives, including being an early adopter of offering free breakfasts and lunches.

With the Australian election looming this Saturday, the polls still have the Labor Opposition ahead but are narrowing to suggest it could be a tight result. Karen is on the Scott Morrison/Anthony Albanese campaign trail. Also following more gangland shootings, about 60 New South Wales police are being pulled away from other duties to form a special taskforce targeting drug gang activities across Sydney's western suburbs.

In a first ever study of day-long influences, a University of Otago experiment has found what we smell and taste can trigger food choices hours later, possibly causing overeating and exacerbating health issues. Co-author Dr Mei Peng, of the Department of Food Science tells Kathryn Ryan the research considers how we can change our eating habits by suppressing or increasing appetite for certain foods.

New research into the protests at parliament earlier in the year has explored how social media inflamed tensions and finds a dozen local accounts spreading disinformation were at the heart of it. The Disinformation project - part of Te Punaha Matatini - studied data from tens of millions of online posts, tweets and comments, alongside hundreds of hours of live-streamed footage from the protest. Kathryn speaks with Director of the project, Kate Hannah.

The door is reopening to international students but not in the way it was pre-pandemic. The Government is allowing 5-thousand new international students into the country from the middle of the year, and last week announced that Immigration New Zealand will begin processing other study visas at that time - brought forward from October.

Financial Planner Liz Koh says a common mistake people make in retirement, if they have a nest egg, is that they underspend. They die with more money in the bank than they intended to leave, or they live in poverty in order to preserve their investment capital. She says there is no need to feel guilty or anxious about spending retirement capital and explains why she thinks it is imperative.

Playing in nature can build a positive mindset, enable cooperation and build courage and resilience in tamariki. Celia Hogan from Little Kiwis Nature Play is a passionate advocate for nature play.

How outside investment is revving up motor racing: could the same formula work for the All Blacks? Also, is it end times for crypto investing.

Louise O'Brien reviews Book of Night by Holly Black, published Penguin Random House NZ.