Nine To Noon for Tuesday 12 August 2025

09:05 Weight loss injections and potential muscle loss

The weight loss injection, Wegovy, arrived in New Zealand - on prescription - with great fanfare only a couple of months ago. But already there are calls for the medication to come with a warning over the need for exercise - specifically resistance training - to save muscle mass. Medsafe advises the  drug, which isn't funded by Pharmac, should be accompanied by increased physical activity. But Exercise New Zealand says that activity needs to specifically challenge muscle and bones to make sure people don't become more frail. Endrocrinologist and diabetes expert, Associate Professor, Rosemary Hall, says the chance of muscle reduction during weight loss is widely recognised. Susie is joined by Associate Professor, Rosemary Hall and the Chief Executive of  Exercise New Zealand is Richard Beddie.

09:25 Grassroots sport volunteering becoming complex, hard to sustain 

Measures and policies put in place to safeguard children from harm, abuse and exploitation during sport are confusing and turning people off volunteering, according to an Auckland University researcher. Blake Bennett is a senior lecturer in Sport Coaching and Pedagogy and researched more than 200 coaches on their perceptions of child safeguarding rules, and the changes they deemed necessary to comply. It found most coaches were misinterpreting the procedures - and were often overly cautious - which could be unhelpful and detrimental to the development of children through sport. It comes as grassroots sports clubs increasingly struggle for volunteer numbers. The most recent survey from the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association, reports the number of active volunteers in sport clubs has dropped from 31 to just 18 per club over the past five years. And that coaching roles, so often filled by volunteers, are increasingly vacant or stretched.

09:30 Canterbury PhD students at NASA 

Two University of Canterbury students are getting the chance to work alongside NASA's top scientists and engineers. PhD students Felix Goddard and Jack Patterson were awarded New Zealand Space Agency Scholarships in June, and have been placed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in La Cañada in Southern California. The Jet Propulsion Lab is  where robotic, un-crewed spacecraft are built, and for missions like Mars 2020 and the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. The scholarships cover their flights, accommodation and give a daily allowance - funded by the Government - as a way to prepare NZ students for the growing space sector here. 

09:45 USA correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben

Trump to meet with Putin in Alaska, Trump wants to take over Washington, DC, and retaliatory redistricting is now a thing with Democratic lawmakers in Texas fleeing the state to deny a quorum, in an effort to prevent Republican legislature from passing.

Danielle Kurtzleben is a political correspondent assigned to NPR's Washington Desk.

10:05 Sinead Corcoran Dye's unflinching account of post natal depression

When Sinead Corcoran Dye became pregnant, everyone told her how great it she would feel as a new mum: exhausted, yes, but euphoric. But after a difficult pregnancy, where she was hospitalised several times with hyperemesis, when her daughter Vivie arrived by caesarean section, there was no euphoria. And when her baby was nine days old,  Sinead was admitted to the Mother & Baby Unit at Starship Hospital in the grips of severe postnatal depression. Vivie is now two, and Sinead has written a book about her experience of that time- called It Nearly Killed Me But I Love You. She's the founder of MumSOS, a nationwide community group that connects mums who are struggling without support and also ambassador for Nappkin, a charity, which offers funding for night nannies for new parents in distress.

If you need help:

Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.

Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202

Healthline: 0800 611 116

Mothers Helpers: 0800 002 717. 
Mothers' Helpers is a charity that provides support and services to women who are at-risk of or have developed postnatal depression. 

Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Aotearoa: 04 4616318. PADA was formerly the Perinatal Mental Health New Zealand Trust (PMHNZ). PADA aims to champion awareness and facilitate best practice in perinatal mental health and wellbeing to ensure all families have access to appropriate information and support.

Post Natal Distress Support Network Trust:  09 8464978.
Free support services for women throughout the greater Auckland area who are experiencing baby blues, antenatal and postnatal distress, anxiety, stress, birth trauma and postnatal depression. Includes support groups, telephone support, drop-in support and training about postnatal distress for health professionals. 

Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)

Grandfriends: https://www.grandfriends.nz

10:30 Sonographers say they've reached crisis levels at some hospitals

A report just released by the union representing medical imaging staff and sonographers reveals long waiting lists, outdated equipment and staffing in some hospitals reaching crisis levels.

The Apex union says exhausted teams working with broken equipment, are finding it impossible to provide safe and timely services as demand for medical imaging surges.

Details obtained through the Official Information Act include a nationwide waiting list of over 100,000, over $100m spent on outsourcing radiology services in the past year, and 44% of medical imaging staff working with poor equipment.

Apex national secretary Deborah Powell speaks to Susie Ferguson. 

10:35 Book review: The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine 

Kiran Dass reviews The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine, published by Sceptre.

10:45 Around the motu: Samantha Gee in Nelson

The recovery continues in Tasman following recent storms, while the review into Nelson Hospital has been dismissed by medical specialists.  

11:05 Business commentator Victoria Young 

What next for SkyCity and the long-awaited International Convention Centre, what's the latest with Eric Watson and could he return to New Zealand any time soon, and artificiaI intelligence-powered assistants are quietly joining the New Zealand workforce, taking on helpdesk queries, onboarding tasks and admin.

Victoria Young is BusinessDesk editor.

11:30 Unmanageable jungle in the backyard? The Practical Kiwi Gardener shares tips

If your garden has escaped on you these winter months and now resembles more of a jungle, Philip Thomsen is here to help. He's a horticultural expert, and has lectured in the subject,  as well as being a City Council Parks 
Officer.  Nine to Noon last spoke to him about his book The Practical Kiwi Gardener - he also has a YouTube channel called Phil the Practical Gardener. Phil's new book is Down-to-Earth Gardening, which is stocked with handy tips on gardening and landscaping...best of all, it's aimed at the average home gardener. Susie talks to him about what's going on in the garden over winter, and what preparation can be done for the spring.

11:45 Sports correspondent Glen Larmer

Sports correspondent Glen Larmer talks the All Blacks who face Argentina in two upcoming tests, the passing of sailing great Peter Lester, and The Warriors who lost against The Bulldogs this past weekend.