Nine To Noon for Wednesday 20 May 2015

09:05 Islamic State's push into Iraq and seizure of Ramadi

Jean-Marc Mojon, AFP's Iraq bureau chief - Baghdad. As Islamic State continues to enlist people from around the world, IS has made its biggest victory, in Iraq, since security forces and paramilitary groups began pushing them back last year, helped by air strikes from a US-led coalition. Ramadi, just 110 km northwest of Baghdad is the first major city to be seized by the insurgents. Now, retaking it is seen as  a massive challenge to the Iraqi government

0915 Lawyers call for ISIS fighters to be allowed to return to Australia

There are efforts underway in Australia to allow the return of jihadist fighters who have changed their minds and want to come home. The lawyer for one of the men says his client knows he made a mistake by joining ISIS in Syria, and if he is allowed to return home, would be able to help deradicalise other young people and provide intelligence on ISIS recruiting. Stephen Kenny agrees - he is the lawyer for Australian, David Hicks, who was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay on terrorism charges.

09:20 Ombudsman says lack of understanding to blame for poor OIA practices

Ombudsman Dame Beverley Wakem says a lack of understanding by public servants is the primary reason for the Act not being used properly. She is part way through an investigation into how Ministers' offices and government agencies treat requests under the OIA.

09:45 Australia correspondent Peter Munro

Austrlian Budget washup, Tony Abbott's rising popularity and 2 Australian contestants in Eurovision song contest.

10:05 Farewell Kabul: How the West Ignored Pakistan and Lost Afghanistan

Journalist and author, Christina Lamb’s latest book, Farewell Kabul tells how the West turned success into defeat in the longest war fought by the United States in its history and by Britain since the Hundred Years War. She says Farewell Kabul: How the West Ignored Pakistan and Lost Afghanistan (William Collins) is the story of well-intentioned men and women going into a place they did not understand at all. And how, what had once been the right thing to do had become a conflict that everyone wanted to exit. This has left Afghanistan still one of the poorest and most dangerous nations on earth.

Christina Lamb is the best-selling author of The Africa House and I Am Malala, co-authored with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Nine to Noon spoke with Malala Yousafzai in 2013

10:30 Book review: 'Desert War: The Battle of Sidi Rezegh' by Peter Cox

Published by Exisle Publishing, Reviewed by Quentin Johnson.

10:45 The Reading: 'The Global Gardener' by Michael Scott

A Gardening Travelogue that moves from vegetables in Scotland, to grass in California, and a trans-Tasman garden in Wellington, meeting quirky characters along the way. Told by a botanist who describes himself as having 'a dynamic and romantic relationship with flora and fauna'. Michael Scott was born in New Zealand and lives in Gloucestershire, England where he strives to formulate practical action plans to preserve and revere the natural world. (8 of 10, RNZ)

11:05 Marty Duda's artist of the week: Mick Harvey

Mick Harvey is, without a doubt, one of the most important figures to emerge from the Australian music scene. He was a founding member of The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Crime & The City Solution. He has also made important contributions to the music of PJ Harvey (no relation) and These Immortal Souls. His solo career began in the mid-1990s with two albums worth of Sergie Gainsbourg tunes that Mick translated into English. In 2005 he released his first album or original material and a few years later he was out of The Bad Seeds and on his own entirely. Since then he has produced a series of records that, while somewhat low-key, are extremely satisfying. Mick Harvey and his band, The Intoxicated Men, will play four shows in New Zealand this week beginning Wednesday at Auckland’s Tuning Fork.

Tracks:
1. Bonnie Clyde – Mick Harvey taken from 1995 album, “Intoxicated Man” (Mute)
2. Hank Williams Said It Best  – Mick Harvey taken from 2005 album “One Man’s Treasure”  (Mute)
3. October Boy – Mick Harvey taken from 2011 album “Sketches From The Book Of The Dead” (Mute)
4. Glorious – Mick Harvey taken from the 2013 album, “Four (Acts Of Love)” (Mute)

11:30 Employment Law with Charles McGuinness

Charles McGuinness discusses drug testing in the workplace. Charles McGuinness is an employment lawyer with DLA Phillips Fox.

11:45 Arts commentator Courtney Johnston

A monumental new video work by Lisa Reihana, and architecture comes to the Turner Prize.

Links:

Lisa Reihana: In Pursuit of Venus [Infected]’, Auckland Art Gallery 
John Hurrell review of ‘In Pursuit of Venus [Infected]’ - EyeContact 
Turner Prize 2015 - Tate  
The street that might win the Turner Prize - The Guardian

Lisa Reihana, In Pursuit of Venus [infected], 2015. Multi-channel video. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, gift of the Patrons of Auckland Art Gallery.