09:05 National Party leader Bill English

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Photo: RNZ

National Party leader Bill English makes his case for Saturday's election in an extended interview with Kathryn Ryan. Tomorrow, we'll speak with the Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern.

09:30 How do you solve a problem like (N) Korea?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, centre, meeting members of the Workers' Party of Korea. Image released by  official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 4 September.

Photo: AFP / KCNA via KNS

The United States presidents has vowed to totally destroy North Korea unless it backs down from its nuclear challenge. Meanwhile North Korea has warned that it will only accelerate its nuclear programme if more sanctions and pressure are piled upon it. Kathryn talks with Sung-Yoon Lee, assistant professor of Korean studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University in Boston.

09:45 Australia correspondent Peter Munro

Divisions over the same-sex marriage postal vote, Australia's media industry looks set for a major shake-up and what to do with the future of Australia's oversized tourist attractions such as the Big Banana, the Big Worm and the Big Prawn?

10:05 Listening to the songs of trees

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Photo: Katherine Lehman

David Haskell spent two years visiting 12 trees around the world for a new book which explores everything about them - including what they sound like, and the many ways trees and humans are connected. David Haskell is a professor of biology and environmental studies at the University of the South in Tenessee, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He tells Kathryn about his book, The Songs of Trees, which examines a palm on a barrier island in the State of Georgia, an ordinary looking pear tree in Manhattan, an ancient Hazel tree which had become archaeological charcoal, and a bonsai pine which survived the Hiroshima bombing. He says they all have a different sound and a different story to tell.

10:35 Book review

Paul Diamond reviews He Reo Wahine : Māori Women's Voices in Colonial New Zealand by Lachy Paterson and Angela Wanhalla.

10:45 The Reading

The Changeover by Margaret Mahy, read by Miranda Harcourt.

The feature film adaptation of The Changeover opens in cinemas around the country on 28th September 2017.

It is directed by Miranda Harcourt and Stuart McKenzie and stars Timothy Spall, Melanie Lynskey, Lucy Lawless, Nick Galitzine, Dame Kate Harcourt — and introduces young NZ actor Erana James (Ngati Whatua Orakei, Waikato Tainui) as Laura Chant.

Listen to more about the movie and the book by clicking on these links:

Miranda Harcourt and Bridget Mahy talk about The Changeover

Hannah August reviews the original book

11:05 Music with Graeme Downes

The 2017 Silver Scroll finalists, clockwise from top left: Nadia Reid, Lorde, Chelsea Jade, Bic Runga and Aldous Harding.

The 2017 Silver Scroll finalists, clockwise from top left: Nadia Reid, Lorde, Chelsea Jade, Bic Runga and Aldous Harding. Photo: RNZ / Supplied

Graeme Downes, founding member of the Verlaines, songwriter, musicologist, senior lecturer in the Department of Music at the University of Otago, looks at some of this year's female Silver Scroll finalists.

11:20 A Northland community supporting its own sexual abuse survivors

Ciaran Torrington (centre), One in Four Campaign

Ciaran Torrington (centre), One in Four Campaign Photo: supplied

Kathryn talks to trauma therapist Kaitaia-based Ciaran Torrington, who is herself a survivor of sexual harm. She saw there was a desperate need for a good support network for survivors in Northland, so she started one herself creating Indigo House.

11:45 Science commentator Siouxsie Wiles

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Photo: Wikimedia

This year's IgNobels have been announced, we'll take a look at some of the winners. Also, blocking a specific part of the brain’s immune system has switched off the impulse of mice to drink alcohol in the evening; and a study shows that squirrels use a sophisticated memorizing strategy to sort their nuts for stashing.

Music played in this show

Artist: Kat Edmonson  
Song: Just One of Those Things
Composer: Porter
Album: Take to the Sky
Label: Convivium
Time: 9.40

Artist: Bic Runga
Song: Close Your Eyes
Comp: Runga
Album: Close Your Eyes
Label: Sony Music New Zealand, Wild Combinations
Broadcast time: 11.10

Artist: Bic Runga
Song: She Left on a Monday
Comp: Runga
Album: Beautiful Collision
Label: Columbia
Broadcast time: 11.15

Artist: Aldous Harding
Song: Horizon
Comp: Harding
Album: Party
Label: Flying Nun Records
Broadcast time: 11.20

Artist: The Great Unwashed
Song:  Born in the Wrong Time
Comp: n/a
Album: Singles
Label: Flying Nun Records
Broadcast time: 11.25