Nine To Noon for Monday 17 October 2016

09:05 Schools covertly suspending too many students: report

A new report finds that illegal suspensions, where students are covertly encouraged to withdraw from school, are growing in number, casting doubt on Education Ministry statistics. Kathryn Ryan speaks with report author, solicitor Jen Walsh who is from the community law centre, YouthLaw,

09:20 The benefits of regional anaesthesia

Kathryn Ryan speaks to Dr James Cameron about regional anaesthesia, a procedure where drugs are injected near nerve centres to numb a particular area of the body like an arm or leg. He says it has several benefits over a general anaesthetic - including quicker recovery time, less nausea and less suppression of the immune system.

09:45 Africa correspondent Deborah Patta

10:05 Swami Agnivesh: Indian justice crusader

Kathryn Ryan speaks to Indian holy man, Swami Agnivesh, who gave up his name, caste, family, career and material belongings to become a crusader for social justice for millions in his homeland. Born into Brahmin or upper caste family, he was a professor of law and management in the southern city of Calcutta. Aged, 28, he gave up it all up for a life of activisim, and has campaigned for five decades against bonded labour, child labour, the plight of child widows, and the crime of female foeticide, spending several stints in prison along the way.

10:35 Book review - "Great Tales from Rural New Zealand" by Gordon McLauchlan

Reviewed by Harry Broad, published by Bateman

10:45 The Reading

Slings and Arrows written and read by Sarah Boddy (Part 1 of 5)

11:05 Political commentators Matthew Hooton and Mike Williams

Matthew Hooton and Mike Williams discuss the Government's Immigration `announcement' , housing, the "dead rat" season prior to election year, the surplus and the death of unionist Helen Kelly.

(Kathryn Ryan's May 2015 interview with Helen Kelly here)

11:30 Clean Bakery - no refined sugar baking

Carine Claudepierre is a French woman who has been living in New Zealand for the past five years. A scientist and keen baker with a sweet tooth - which may have something to with the fact her parents managed a candy factory when she was young - she discovered a few years ago she was pre-diabetic. It set her off on a journey of trialing new ways of baking - without refined sugars and flours - to satisfy not only the cravings for sweet treats, but her love of creating food.

It also led to a food blog Sweet as Honey and her book Clean Bakery.

Recipe for Banana and Coconut Bread

11:45 Off the Beaten Track with Kennedy Warne

Kennedy talks about whales losing their language, a frog that has gone extinct and history lessons from the road