Nine To Noon

Food prices were 7.6 per cent higher than in March last year, the highest annual rise in food prices in ten-years. The last time food prices rose so much in a year was July 2011 - that rise was 7.9 per cent but was influenced by the rise in GST the previous year. Stats NZ recorded increases in every food price category it measures - the most dramatic - an 18 per cent increase in the price of fruit and vegetables. Kathryn speaks with Stats NZ Senior Manager for pricing, social and population insights, Aaron Beck.

Arts commentator Nina Tonga reflects on the role artists have in shaping how we perceive things and associate ourselves with a shifting sense of our place. She'll talk about a few of shows, including the knockout exhibition Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda at Auckland Art Gallery, which opened last month, a new installation by Sione Monu and Manu Vaeatangitau Kindred: A Leiti Chronicle. Sione recently opened an exhibition in Poneke at Robert Heald Gallery entitled 'Volver'. She'll also profile a major retrospective of Dame Robin White opening at Te Papa in partnership with Auckland Art Gallery in first week of June called 'Something is Happening Here'.

From Oriental Parade, to Cuba Street, Lambton Quay, The Terrace, Aro Street, Wellington is known as a very compact and walkable city. It's also packed full of interesting buildings which tell a story of the city's history. Architecture writer John Walsh has already published popular walking guides for Christchurch and Auckland, and Wellington is now in for the same treatment. Alongside photographer Patrick Reynolds, John Walsh has produced a pocket guide of one hundred and twenty of Wellington's most significant central city buildings. And as John tells Kathryn, there's a lot to write about; hemmed in by steep hills and little flat land, Wellington has the most intensely occupied downtown in the country

Music reviewer Kirsten Zemke ponders what musical elements make a song feel like a spy track. She'll play a few that'll be familiar to many listeners and talk about what made them so iconic. Kirsten Zemke is an ethnomusicologist at the University of Auckland's School of Social Sciences.

Harry Ricketts reviews Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes, published by Penguin Random House NZ

The latest on the wild weather expected to hit East Coast from ex-Cyclone Fili from RNZ reporter Jimmy Ellingham.

How a video of Abbey and Money Singh's spectacular nuptials propelled them into social media stardom as The Modern Singhs.

Australia correspondent Annika Smethurst joins Kathryn to talk about the Australian federal election campaign, which got off to a rough start for Labor leader Anthony Albanese when he couldn't state the unemployment or official cash rates off the top of his head. Meanwhile Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his education minister over bullying claims that led to a $500,000 payout to a former staffer.

A University of Auckland-based research centre analysing the link between repetitive sports-related head injuries and degenerative brain diseases has received its first brain donations. The Sports Brain Bank is interested in former athletes who either during a game, or during training, experience repeated exercises that put pressure on their head. NFL, AFL and American football have already done some research into head injuries and the link to brain disease. Maurice Curtis is a Professor of Neuroscience at the Unversity of Auckland's Department and Co-director of the Human Brain Bank.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says peace talks have reached a "dead-end situation" after Ukraine made allegations about war crimes. He dismissed images of dead bodies in the town of Bucha as "fake". Speaking at an awards ceremony in the Russian Far East, Mr Putin claimed he had been left with no choice but to launch the invasion in a bid to protect the Russian speaking Donbas region. In his speech, Mr Putin said his campaign in Ukraine would continue until its "noble" goals have been achieved. Lesia Vasylenko is a Ukrainian Member of Parliament, with the opposition Holos Party. She's stayed behind in Kyiv to defend her city and continue her work, but has sent her three young children away to safety. She speaks to Kathryn from Kyiv.