Celine Song has generated plenty of interest and acclaim off her directing debut Past Lives - and her new romantic drama Materialists has attracted attention from film fans.

Materialists stars Dakota Johnson as a successful match-maker for New York's elite singles who's torn between two potential suitors of her own.

Celine Song says she used her own experiences as a matchmaker to help craft the film.

"The reason why I quit - the job was too fun. My day job ended up being too fun. It's so fascinating because all these strangers of all kinds just tell you what's in their heart."

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A tell-all expose from within our health system was released this week - and it's attracting plenty of interest.

Written by Auckland-based ICU doctor, Dr Ivor Popovich, the book shares his journey from med school through the public health system.

He talks of bullying, funding and staffing shortfalls through to the inequities between private and public healthcare

Popovich says he wasn't sure how his colleagues or employers would react to the book - but he was committed to getting his experience out there.

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Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, who is well known for terrific books like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and Daisy Jones and The Six. In 1980, Joan Goodwin becomes one of the first women scientists accepted by NASA for the space shuttle programme where she’s part of a close team who work and play together. Vanessa Ford is a brilliant, practical aeronautical engineer and they discover possibilities in their friendship they never knew existed - so when Vanessa’s mission goes badly wrong and Joan, in charge of astronaut communications is responsible for bringing her safely back to earth, the tension and emotion is off the chart. As were mine.

Inside the Wire by Rhonda Hapi – Smith. Rhonda spent almost 20 years as a prison officer in a number of men’s prisons around the country. She’s a tough, physically strong woman - she also worked on the Riot Squad - with a hefty dose of compassion who always understood that in order to get the best out of the people in her care she needed to build relationships but take no nonsense. The book is an insight into life inside the prison walls, both for the incarcerated men and for the staff, and it comes from a career of which she is justifiably proud.

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It's an interesting time to be in the US, with protests erupting across the nation in response the the actions of the Trump administration.

Tens of thousands have taken to the streets across all 50 states, with the aim of “rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarisation of our democracy”.

Megan Singleton is in Chicago at the moments - and she opened up about the realties of travelling through the US during a turbulent time.

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This week on the Sunday Panel, journalist and editor Jo McCarroll and NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

The private v public healthcare debate continues - how can we keep the waitlists down? There doesn’t seem to be an obvious solution, but this week, the Government is claiming to have 9696 extra elective surgeries, putting it on track to reach its end-of-June target of more than 10,579 operations. What do we make of this?

Should we have price controls in place for alcohol sold at off-licences in an attempt to reduce harmful drinking at home and boost hospitality?

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Obesogens are chemicals that disrupt the body's normal controls and promote fat cell formation (adipogenesis) and lipid accumulation. These can potentially lead to obesity.

Common types of obesogens include BPA, phthalates, herbicides, pesticides, PFOA and nonstick cookware and food additives.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara reveals how obesogens affect your body - and how you can minimise your exposure.

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Cook time: 3 hours

Prep time: 5 minutes

Serves: 6

1 lamb shoulder

Chermoula

2 lemons, juiced

1 onion, peeled and diced

10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp garam masala

2 tsp turmeric, ground or fresh

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 cup fresh coriander leaves

1 cup parsley leaves

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp flaky salt

Place all the chermoula ingredients into to a processor and blitz until smooth.

Place the chermoula into a plastic bag along with the lamb shoulder. Close the bag up tight making sure all the lamb is well coated. Place into the fridge for a few hours or over night if you have the time.

Preheat the oven to 220*c and place a large roasting tray into it to heat for 5 minutes.

Remove the lamb from the bag and pull out the tray from the oven. Pour in the oil and carefully place the lamb into roasting tray. Place the lamb into the oven and cook for 10 minutes on one side before turning for another 10 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 150*c and bake for 60 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cover with tinfoil to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

I would serve the lamb with roasted kumara, sauteed greens and chili sauce.

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