Podcast appearances and mentions of kathryn ryan

Originally broadcast on 20th March, 2025 on Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon with host Kathryn Ryan. Christie's held its first auction of AI-generated art, earning a million dollars. Those AI artworks had been 'trained' from countless images, owned by other people. Is that legal? OpenAI and Google claim that unless they have free right to use - well, basically everything everywhere ever created by humanity - to train their AI models, the Chinese will win the AI race. Meanwhile, Hollywood's A-listers called for protection of artists and their works against what they see as copyright theft. Plus: A Clockwork Orange comes to life for prisoners in solitary confinement - and is your chatbot flattering you? Thanks to RNZ - Nine To Noon The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel and Myrtle and Pine Listen on Spotify, Apple Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. https://nextbillionseconds.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hamilton gardens are home to the country's only traditional Maori garden - Te Parapara - where everything is done as it was pre-European settlement, including the food that is grown. Head gardener Alice Gwilliam tells Kathryn Ryan about how the garden is grown. 

Dame Patsy Reddy, the former chair of New Zealand rugby and the new chair of the Climate Change Commission speaks to Kathryn Ryan

A Regulatory Standards Bill, seeking to serve as a blueprint for good lawmaking will be introduced to parliament later this year. A discussion document circulated over the summer attracted 23,000 submissions. The concept of the Bill lies within the neoliberal school of thought, that is to reduce state influence, and prioritise the personal property rights and freedoms of individuals. Advocates have labelled it the missing `pillar' of a set of acts passed in the 1980s and 1990s. including the Reserve Bank Act, Public Finance Act, and Fiscal Responsibility Act. It would legislate principles, such as personal freedoms and property rights to guide governments when laws are being created. It also aims to improve the overall transparency of the law-making process. David Seymour says better laws which reduce the amount of red-tape for the public will drive productivity, and be better for the country overall. Critics of the bill however, say such a law would actually be counter-productive, resulting in duplication, extra costs and would constrain governments from considering principles not related to personal rights and property. The Minister for Regulation and leader of the Act Party David Seymour speaks to Kathryn Ryan.

Dale Husband and Ben Thomas talk politics with Kathryn Ryan

Former Olympic and world champion swimmer Michael Klim speaks to Kathryn Ryan

Neale Jones and Brigitte Morten talk politics with Kathryn Ryan

Auckland's Mayor Wayne Brown joins Kathryn Ryan to talk about taking back control of transport policy and planning, his plans for Auckland's development agency Eke Panuku and its events agency Tataki Auckland Unlimited.

Germany prepares for an early election, Russia denies cutting Baltic Sea cables as tensions rise, and Angela Merkel's long awaited memoir to be published next week. Thomas Sparrow discusses with Kathryn Ryan.

The Nurses Organisation says its members fear the directive from Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora to save $105m across hospitals by July will put their own safety, and that of patients, at risk. Te Whatu Ora chief people officer Andrew Slater joins Kathryn Ryan.

Pacific correspondent Eleisha Foon joins Kathryn Ryan.

Dee Glentworth is carrying on her family tradition of sharing secondhand treasures at the Wellington op shop Free for All. Over 700 shoppers showed up on the opening day of their new Petone premises last week, Glentworth says. "There was a line from our front door right the way to the foreshore. I've never seen anything like it. And even when the shelves were low, people's spirits were high," she tells Kathryn Ryan

As part of a disturbing global trend, New Zealanders are being coerced by criminals into sharing explicit photos online which are then used for blackmail. In the past two years, young people have become the target of financial sextortion primarily on Instagram and Snapchat, says American internet exploitation expert Paul Raffile. He and Netsafe chief executive Brent Carey speak to Kathryn Ryan about the issue.

The government's recently announced plans to reform the building materials sector, has the potential to be a massive shake-up to the industry. Before a product can be used on site, builders must demonstrate it meets the standards laid out in the NZ Building Code. Under the newly proposed system, they may soon be able to rely instead on certifications from trusted overseas jurisdictions. The aim is to increase product choice and decrease the costs of construction. Former Naylor Love chief executive Rick Herd, and leaky homes lawyer Paul Grimshaw join Kathryn Ryan to discuss.

Nigel Ritson estimates he's eaten more than 50,000 feijoas in his quest to find the perfect one. His fascination with the fruit began in in the 1990's when be bought a tough piece of land in Takaka, with the dream of growing something. Feijoas were one of the few trees which could thrive there. But simply growing feijoas in hoards wasn't enough for Nigel. He wanted to cultivate fruit with the best shape, colour, resilience, and - most importantly - taste. He now runs a breeding program at Foretaste Feijoa Fruit, which aims to grow varieties which could become popular with commercial growers. He tells Kathryn Ryan about what makes the perfect feijoa.

Residents who live on the Chatham Islands are growing frustrated as they await a replacement for their unreliable cargo ship. The 38-year-old Southern Tiare is meant to visit twice a month, however it is prone to breakdowns and infrequently visits. Last year it was taken out for planned maintenance for close to four months. The Government has promised $30m for a replacement vessel, and work is underway to begin the design process of that. Tony Anderson runs one of the largest farms on the island, and had no choice but to destroy 400 cattle last year because he couldn't get them shipped off. Tony Anderson and Chatham Islands Shipping chairperson Brodie Stevens speak with Kathryn Ryan.

We intuitively know music is powerful. Songs have the ability to shape the way that we feel about and interact with the world. Music therapists harness that power to help people overcome metal and physical challenges. It can be particularly useful for children who need a little extra push to meet their development goals. Sessions involve celebrating music in all its forms, singing songs and playing instruments. To celebrate World Music Therapy Week, which runs from the 10th to the 15th of April, Kathryn Ryan is joined by registered music therapist and clinical services manager at Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust Rachel Foxell.

We intuitively know music is powerful. Songs have the ability to shape the way that we feel about and interact with the world. Music therapists harness that power to help people overcome metal and physical challenges. It can be particularly useful for children who need a little extra push to meet their development goals. Sessions involve celebrating music in all its forms, singing songs and playing instruments. To celebrate World Music Therapy Week, which runs from the 10th to the 15th of April, Kathryn Ryan is joined by registered music therapist and clinical services manager at Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust Rachel Foxell.

Frustrated by the excessive hype around anti-ageing, molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan presents the facts in his new book Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality. With our fear of death fuelling a sense of urgency, "solid science" can often get lost in the hype, the Nobel Prize winner says. "The impression is the stuff is all going to happen tomorrow. It's just around the corner. And I'm very sceptical that that's true. I think it'll take a lot of effort and quite a bit of time," he tells Kathryn Ryan.

A New Zealand company which recycles pollution into products like biofuel and packaging is capturing the attention of several retail giants. LanzaTech has developed a microbe which can convert carbon into ethanol. It employs more than 500 people, many from its headquarters in Chicago, and operates several plants across China, India and Europe, with several more in the works. Several big-name companies like Zara, Lululemon and Adidas now use the recycled carbon emissions in their products. LanzaTech co-founder and strategic advisor Dr Sean Simpson speaks with Kathryn Ryan.

Sports event organiser Aaron Carter now finds it "really bizarre" that severe depression was able to stop him doing the outdoor activities he loved. He tells Kathryn Ryan that getting active again has been a major part of his recovery. "Eventually, you sort of break through and you see the blue skies again and yeah, you strap the shoes on and you go for a walk and that's literally how it started for me, walking along the waterfront in Taupō and just getting back into life."

School refusal is a different kettle of fish than a child simply wanting to stay home for a day. It's a situation where they become so anxious or fearful - and it can be for a variety of reasons - that they refuse to go, repeatedly. While it's difficult to measure how many kids experience this, Dr Rosina McAlpine, founder of the Win Win Parenting program in Australia, says it could be up to five percent. Dr Rosina founded the parenting wellness workshop, which has been run across Australia and New Zealand, when through her work she realised many working parents were lacking support on how to balance their home life. Dr Rosina has completed a Masters of Higher Education and an education-focused PhD and joins Kathryn Ryan from Sydney to discuss school refusal.

School refusal is a different kettle of fish than a child simply wanting to stay home for a day. It's a situation where they become so anxious or fearful - and it can be for a variety of reasons - that they refuse to go, repeatedly. While it's difficult to measure how many kids experience this, Dr Rosina McAlpine, founder of the Win Win Parenting program in Australia, says it could be up to five percent. Dr Rosina founded the parenting wellness workshop, which has been run across Australia and New Zealand, when through her work she realised many working parents were lacking support on how to balance their home life. Dr Rosina has completed a Masters of Higher Education and an education-focused PhD and joins Kathryn Ryan from Sydney to discuss school refusal.

A new report can reveal cocaine use has increased by 93 percent in the past year. The Drug Foundation has drawn from wastewater testing to paint a picture of drug use across the country for the 2022 to 2023 period. It found 1.3 percent of adults used cocaine, compared to just 0.6 percent three years prior. Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm says while it's worth noting that the increase comes off of a low baseline, it signals that the increasing global production of cocaine is bearing down here. Sarah Helm speaks with Kathryn Ryan.

Although she didn't feel like she could be a "secondhand rose" as the editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman has now returned to shopping for vintage clothes as she did in her 20s. The fashion icon talks to Kathryn Ryan about the pleasure of dressing well, the " incredible individual style" of today's young people and the pre-loved clothing sale she recently hosted in London.

Soaring gold prices and a more favourable Government stance appear to be driving up interest in New Zealand's gold mining industry. Legislation to be introduced on March 8 will speed up the process for resource consent approvals, including for mining in the regions. Straterra, the body representing the mining industry in NZ, says it has several overseas investors eyeing up the market ahead of any potential changes. There's already movement in the industry, which employs around 7000 people, focused in particular around lucrative gold deposits in Coromandel, Otago, and the West Coast. Gary Taylor is the chief executive of the Environmental Defence Society. He says he saw a similar burst of activity in the '80s, but believes fast-tracking legislation is not wise. Gary Taylor and Straterra CEO Josie Vidal speak with Kathryn Ryan.

Boston-based psychologist Laurie Kramer has built a career out of helping children to get along. Her work focuses on the experiences of kids aged three to five - an age where many become siblings for the first time, and are also making friends at preschool and kindergarten. Her work began in the '90s, when as a fresh graduate she became interested in what childrens' interactions were actually like, when no adult was around. Kramer, a professor of applied psychology at Northeastern University, was one of the first to adopt the technique of videotaping preschoolers, to observe their relationship forming skills - and how they navigated arguments. She joins Kathryn Ryan to share some insights into the workings of little minds, when no one is there to watch. Laurie Kramer has developed a tool for parents, to help them navigate their children through conflict - you can find it here.

Boston-based psychologist Laurie Kramer has built a career out of helping children to get along. Her work focuses on the experiences of kids aged three to five - an age where many become siblings for the first time, and are also making friends at preschool and kindergarten. Her work began in the '90s, when as a fresh graduate she became interested in what childrens' interactions were actually like, when no adult was around. Kramer, a professor of applied psychology at Northeastern University, was one of the first to adopt the technique of videotaping preschoolers, to observe their relationship forming skills - and how they navigated arguments. She joins Kathryn Ryan to share some insights into the workings of little minds, when no one is there to watch. Laurie Kramer has developed a tool for parents, to help them navigate their children through conflict - you can find it here.

Bex Chapman fell into meth addiction as a young mum but is now free of drugs and working as a building apprentice in Upper Hutt. After seeing many other women lose custody of their kids as a result of addiction, she hopes sharing her story can inspire others on the journey to recovery. "I feel very passionate about influencing other mothers to get clean for their children. Also, I'd like to encourage other women to give construction a go and just really show people who are stuck in addiction that there is such a beautiful life available in recovery after using drugs," Bex tells Kathryn Ryan.

Katie Scotcher live from Parliament with Kathryn Ryan

Calls are growing for the new Government to urgently address the hefty bills facing owners of earthquake-prone buildings. Former Wellington owner Hazel Kirkham is warning many simply cannot afford the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to get their buildings up to code, and will not be able to comply with upcoming deadlines. Much of the issue is condensed in the Capital, which has more multi-owner quake-prone buildings than any other city, as well as shorter timeframes to comply, due to its seismic risk. A review of the regulations was promised in 2022, but it has been pushed forward to 2027. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says he is seeking advice from officials in the coming weeks on what options are available to the Government. Wellington City Councillor Iona Pannett is warning potential buyers not to buy apartments until policy around earthquake strengthening is changed. Hazel Kirkham and Iona Pannett speak with Kathryn Ryan.

Saturday marks one year since Auckland's Anniversary Weekend floods, which caused widespread damage and the deaths of four people. More than 7000 homes were stickered due to damage, and 600 households needed emergency accommodation. While much of the city is back to normal, some people - particularly out west - are still out of their homes. Auckland Council says 1570 properties are still yet to be categorised. Kathryn Ryan speaks with Auckland Council deputy group recovery manager Mace Ward, and West Auckland Is Flooding chairman Lyall Carter.

After a whirlwind year, Ardie Savea is loving a change of scene in the Japanese mountains. "It's refreshing. I feel like a kid going to school for the first time," the World Rugby Player of the Year tells Kathryn Ryan.

Visitors are slowly filling up the country's tourism centres for the busy season, but profitability across the hotel sector is a mixed bag. Hotel data for New Zealand says revenue per available room for hotels country-wide is up 14 percent on last November, and has just inched above 2019 levels. However only hotels in Christchurch, Taupo, Hawke's Bay and the Nelson/Marlborough regions are keeping up with inflation. Statistics New Zealand says international arrivals are rising, but are still down 15 percent on pre-Covid levels (2019). And according to the Department of Conservation, about 100 tourist sites are closed this summer due to damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. So what sort of summer season is the tourism sector expecting? Tourism Industry Aotearoa CEO Rebecca Ingram speaks with Kathryn Ryan.

Te Whatu Ora is aiming to drastically reduce surgery waitlists for orthopaedic patients, by offering them physiotherapy instead. A trial across Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Waikato, Capital and Coast and Northland has indicated surgery wait times can be reduced by 75 percent. Te Whatu Ora says patients who are waiting for pre-surgery assessments for a range of conditions involving hips, knees and spines, are now being offered preliminary physio appointments in their communities. In some cases, patients are being told physiotherapy is enough - and they're removed from the 'suitable for surgery' waiting list. The programme has since been picked up in other regions and work is underway to roll it out nationwide later next year. Te Whatu Ora Planned Care Taskforce Chair Andrew Connolly speaks to Kathryn Ryan.

KiwiRail's Chief Executive Peter Reidy is in Picton this morning, talking with staff after the abandonment of the interisland mega ferry project. The government has refused a request by KiwiRail for more than a billion dollars in further funding, and told the State Owned Enterprise to find a cheaper solution. In 2018, the original estimated cost for the two new, larger ferries and the portside infrastructure was 775 million dollars. Within months of the project being announced, KiwiRail was already asking the government for more money, and the requests have kept coming. The latest overall cost estimate has quadrupled to almost $3 billion dollars which Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she will not agree to. So what are the options on the table? Where does the abandonment of this project leave the future of rail? And how much taxpayers money has gone overboard? KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy speaks with Kathryn Ryan.

The future of Cook Strait travel has been thrown into turmoil with the government's decision to decline KiwiRail's request for further $1.47 billion for two new mega ferries. To date, $435.1 million of Crown funding has been assigned for the Inter-Island Resilient Connection (iReX) project of which about $63 million remains. The fixed cost of the two ferries was $551 million, which Finance Minister Nicola Willis says makes up 21 percent of the total cost of the project. KiwiRail requested an additional nearly $1.5 billion to address cost blowouts for landside infrastructure in Wellington and Picton. Yesterday, Willis said the government would not pay up, and KiwiRail should go back to the drawing board.KiwiRail CEO Peter Reidy told Morning Report one option could be to continue building the bespoke designed ferries and sell them. Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter tells Kathryn Ryan he's unsurprised by the government's decision.

Never-before-seen supermarket pricing data is revealing just how complicated finding value on groceries is. Back in October, on the same day promising grocery startup Supie collapsed, National Business Review was contacted by a business called Ordain, which had been quietly collecting information on prices for six months. It had taken 13 staple goods, and compared them across Pak n Save, New World, Countdown (recently rebranded as Woolworths), The Warehouse, and Supie, across both the North and South Islands, every single day. What it has revealed, is prompting suspicions that the seemingly random, ever-changing prices are a bid to confuse customers into believing they're getting a good deal. NBR journalists Hamish McNicol and Maria Slade, and Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden, speak with Kathryn Ryan.

The boss of Auckland's City Rail Link is giving no guarantees it will hit its opening deadline of 2026. Preliminary work on the 3.4km track, spanning four underground stations, from downtown's Britomart to Mt Eden, began in 2016. But CRL chief executive Sean Sweeney says reaching that deadline of 2026 - 10 years later - is not guaranteed. The latest cost projection of the build is 5.49 billion dollars - and once it is up and running, it's is set to cost Auckland ratepayers an estimated 220 million dollars a year to maintain. It will serve as connecting link between existing rail services , making most of the central city accessible by train. An engineer ,Sean Sweeney has spent four decades working across the world overseeing such big construction jobs. But as he tells Kathryn Ryan, he believes Auckland is the most expensive place in the world for infrastructure projects.

Access to the digital world is now a necessity - however one hundred and twenty thousand Kiwi kids can't access a learning device at home. The 'Quadrent Green Lease' scheme is helping to close the digital equity gap by supplying school pupils in need of tech with refurbished ex-lease machines that otherwise might end up in waste. Since 2022 400 high quality ex-lease laptops have been donated. Rob Downie, is the Head of Health & Physical Education at Auckland's Tangaroa College, whose pupils are among the recipients of this scheme. The scheme is run by Quadrent, BNZ, and Te Puni Kokiri. Gary Nalder, the General Manager of Quadrent New Zealand joins Rob Downie and Kathryn Ryan.

Kennedy Warne speaks with Kathryn Ryan from a National Geographic ship offshore of Marahau, the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park. He is on a coastal voyage which began at Milford Sound and will travel as far north as Waitangi. the voyage has taken him back to Rakiura Stewart Island, where he spoke to Nine to Noon a month ago from another ship visit.

Te Whatu ora has appointed eight top health experts to take the helm of four newly-established National Clinical Networks. The networks have been established to reduce variations in access to health services across the country. Co-leads have been appointed for the Trauma, Cardiac, Renal National Clinical Networks and Stroke care. Strokes account for around 9000 deaths in New Zealand a year - though it is believed 75 percent of these could be avoided, with the right risk reduction strategies. Tracy Murphy is an occupational therapist with a special interest in stroke care spanning nearly 20 years of practice. She was heavily involved in the rural and isolated community health response following Cyclone Gabrielle. And Alan Davis, based in Whangarei, has more than three decades of clinical experience stroke prevention and care, both here and overseas. They spoke with Kathryn Ryan.

When Dr Tony Townsend began his career in medicine in 1969, being a general practitioner wasn't considered a specialty. That change would come two and a half decades later, in 1995, after much pushback from the medical profession. It's one of many changes Dr Townsend has seen over his 48 years as a GP in Rotorua. Not only has technology, the understanding of disease and the diagnostic process evolved, but also how doctors interact with patients. Dr Townsend became a Member of the Order of Merit for his services to health in 2015. He retired in Matakana in 2018, and speaks to Kathryn Ryan about his just-released a book, Not just a GP: More than just a memoir.

Fonterra has announced a plan to reduce its on-farm emissions by 30 percent, by 2030. Fonterra produced the equivalent of 12.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas in the year to June, and 86 percent of emissions come from on-farm. The plan includes encouraging farmers to plant trees, treat cow pats and introduce new technologies to cut methane and nitrous oxide. It follows moves from some of its biggest customers, incuding Nestle and Danone, to introduce climate goals. Andrew Kempson, general manager of Global Climate Policy at Fonterra, speaks with Kathryn Ryan.

Ongoing anti-social behaviour in central Auckland is prompting safety concerns among business owners and tourism operators, as more people flock into Downtown for summer. Co-owner of Vivace Restaurant Mandy Lusk says there have been multiple fights outside of her Fort Street venue, and she is no longer comfortable with staff walking to their cars alone. The Cruise Association is heading into its biggest season since pre-Covid days - but has told Nine to Noon its operators are noting that behaviour by rough sleepers, drinkers and drug dealers is intimidating for passengers. Central business association Heart of the City is calling for an urgent bylaw which would give council the power to trespass people when they are a risk to public safety. Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck, Auckland City Mission Chief Executive Helen Robinson and Vivace co-owner Mandy Lusk speak with Kathryn Ryan.

Over two recent summers, former newspaper editor Tim Pankhurst, his wife Sue and their friend Kerry Prendergast completed the epic 3021km Te Araroa Trail. The trio speak to Kathryn Ryan ahead of the launch of Tim's new book Every Effing Inch.

A new government is still to be formed, but councils around the country are urgently wanting direction on what will happen with new policy on water infrastructure. Wellington Water estimates it would take a billion dollars a year, for the next 10 years, to fully deal with its beleaguered infrastructure. The former Labour Government had planned for $140b to $180b worth of spending on three waters - that's drinking, storm and wastewater - renewal over the next three decades. The funds would have been raised by borrowing, by 10 new water entities taking control of council infrastructure around the country. But the parties now negotiating a coalition deal to become the government have pledged to scrap that. National's plan is for councils to form their new entities among themselves, to raise funds for the work. It remains one of the most challenging components of many councils financial planning. Tonia Haskell is acting chief executive of Wellington Water - the company owned by six councils in the wider Wellington region. Neil Holdom is Mayor of New Plymouth, and provincial chair of Local Government NZ. And Alex Walker is LGNZ's rural chair. All three speak with Kathryn Ryan.

A genetically modified banana which has been engineered to resist disease is offering a glimmer of hope to the increasingly strained industry. There's been a considerable outbreak of Panama disease recently, a fungus which decimates banana plants. In the 1950s, it wiped out the Gros Michel banana, which was replaced with the one we now know and love: the Cavendish. Back then, the Cavendish was immune to Panama, but a new fungal strain - known as tropical race 4 - means that's not the case anymore. Across the ditch, scientists have been working on a genetically modified, disease-resistant type of Cavendish banana - and it's now been submitted for regulatory approval to the Australian Government. If it gets the green light, it'll be the first genetically-modified banana approved anywhere in the world - though it wouldn't immediately be rolled out for human consumption. Distinguished Professor James Dale of Queensland University of Technology has been working on it for the better part of three decades, and he speaks to Kathryn Ryan from Queensland.

Chief Executive of North Shore Hospital charity the Well Foundation joins Kathryn Ryan to discuss their "Give A Bit Of Green" campaign. The campaign, launched this week, aims to raise $1million to fund the creation of a Healing Garden. If all goes to plan, the indoor garden will contain over 500 plants and replace a grey concrete atrium at the new Totara Haumaru building, part of the North Shore hospital expansion.

A project is underway to see if harmful, malnourished kina can be plucked from the seafloor and turned into a lucrative seafood export. In parts of north east Aotearoa, wild kina populations have exploded, grazing kelp forests to bare rock, and turning seafloor into barrens. The kina don't die, but because there's little food left for them, they're not big enough to harvest and eat. EnviroStrat is undertaking a pilot which harvests the underweight kina and feeds them in a facility, until they're big enough to export to an east Asian market. Senior environmental consultant Johnny Wright speaks to Kathryn Ryan.