Nine To Noon for Thursday 1 February 2024

 

 

09:05 'I'm sorry': Mark Zuckerberg apologises for harm on Facebook + Instagram

US senators have been grilling the chief executives of five of the world's most popular social media firms in a hearing in Washington DC, over concerns they've failed to do enough to keep children safe online. The heads of Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord faced questions by the Senate Judicial Committee, marking the latest effort by US lawmakers to address the concerns of parents and mental health experts that social media companies put profits over ensuring platforms do not harm children. Today, there was an extraordinary apology from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the parents of young victims of social media bullying and exploitation. Kathryn speaks to Naomi Nix, a Washington Post staff writer who was following today's events.

09:20 Old recycling system binned as standardisation rolled out nationwide 

Finally, there is consensus on recycling, or almost. From today, recycling rules are set to change for much of New Zealand, with the previous Labour Government's standardisation of recycling coming into effect for all but a handful of district councils. The new legislation will mean paper, glass, and specific types of plastic must be accepted in kerbside collection, and by 2030, that service will include food scraps and gardening organics. The Ministry for the Environment maintains the recycling changes are expected to save 36,000 tonnes of waste from landfill every year. However, with close to half of Aotearoa's plastics and paper shipped overseas, and subject to volatile market conditions, the Waste and Recycling industry says we have a long way to go. Waste and Recycling Industry Forum co-ordinator Barney Irvine and Ministry for the Environment general manager of waste systems Shaun Lewis speak to Kathryn.  

09:40 BNZ offers first home loans on Māori-owned land

A new collaboration between the BNZ and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in Auckland means that for the first time, home loans at standard home loan rates, are being made available for building on iwi land. Banks have traditionally been reluctant to offer home loans for housing on communally-owned land because they can't use the land as security for the loans. But the BNZ and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei have negotiated an agreement where, in the event of a distressed mortgage, the hapu would take over. 14 homes are under construction in Hawaiki St, Ōrākei as part of the hapu's ambitious housing development on the historic site. Kathryn speaks with BNZ head of Māori banking Whetu Rangi, and Lisa Davis, Chief Executive of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust.

09:45 UK: N Ireland deal, tax cut warning, Rishi's diet

UK correspondent Matthew Parris joins Kathryn to talk about a new deal that aims to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, warnings from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt that tax cuts later in the year will likely be smaller than expected because of the state of the economy and a nation's surprise at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's extreme diet.

10:05 Yamoussa Bangoura brings Africa to life in a high-energy circus show

 It's the circus - but not as you've seen it before! Yamoussa Bangoura is has brought his home country of Guinea in West Africa to the stage in a high-energy circus show called Afrique en Cirque. He left Guinea as a teenager to travel the world with various circus companies, adding to his already impressive range of circus skills. He ended up with the renown Cirque Eloize, which is based in Montreal - home to another well-known circus company, Cirque du Soliel. He stayed based in Montreal while he set up his own circus company Kalabante. And it's a family affair - his brothers and sisters are part of the troupe. Yamoussa is bringing his Afrique en Cirque to New Zealand as part of the Auckland Arts Festival in March. He joins Kathryn to explain how he got started as a circus performer.

10:35 Book review: Two of the best from 2023 - The Fraud by Zadie Smith and Penance by Eliza Clark

Phil Vine reviews two of his favourite books from last year: The Fraud by Zadie Smith, published by Penguin Random House, and Penance by Eliza Clark, published by Allen and Unwin.

10:45 Around the motu : Kelly Makiha in Rotorua 

The mastermind of a decade long teen prostitution ring will be sentenced in a fortnight, Kelly backgrounds the case. She has the latest on Kainga Ora’s plans to help tackle Rotorua’s housing crisis. A school for gifted kids, called One Day School will officially open in term 2 and Kelly’s looking forward to this weekend’s Lakeside Concert.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist with the Rotorua Daily Post

11:05 Tech: Taylor Swift deepfakes, streaming price hikes, Musk's Neuralink

Technology journalist Peter Griffin joins Kathryn to talk about legislative moves in the US to crack down on non-consensual sexual images generated by AI, following the release of pornographic images of Taylor Swift on X this week. He'll also look at how Amazon Prime is the latest streaming provider to raise prices, and a survey which shows Millennials in particular are quick to cancel. And Elon Musk's company Neuralink has implanted an interface chip in a human's brain - what are the possibilities?

Peter Griffin is a Wellington-based science and technology journalist

11:25 How to help children imagine the future, and plan for it

Judith Hudson studies memory development in children and the development of children's understanding of time. She is a Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey and joins Kathryn again to talk about memory development in children, and how this is part of learning to plan for the future.

11:45 Screentime: One Life, How to Have Sex, Love on the Spectrum

Culture 101 host Perlina Lau joins Kathryn to talk about One Life (cinemas), the story of Nicholas Winton who organised the evacuation of Jewish children from the Nazis in the late 1930s. She'll also talk about How to Have Sex (cinemas from March), which won accolades at Cannes for its handling of the issue of teenage consent, and season two of Love on the Spectrum (Netflix). Plus, she'll talk about the Oscar nominations just out.