The Aotearoa History Show

RNZ Originals

4.1 (100)
HISTORY
SERIES

The story of NZ and its people from its geological origins to modern day.

EPISODE 1

Rabbits & Other Pests

No-one knows for sure who first introduced rabbits to New Zealand, because no-one wanted to take the blame for what became one of New Zealand's biggest environmental and economic disasters. We start season two burrowing into the devastating history of rabbits and other pests.

28 min
EPISODE 2

Māori: The First 500 Years

The first 500 years of Māori settlement in Aotearoa saw significant, dynamic changes to how people lived; changes that challenge the idea of Māori culture as something carved in stone.

33 min
EPISODE 3

Teenagers

The 1950s saw an explosion of youth culture. "Bodgies and widgies' ' tearing round on motorbikes & hanging out in milk bars scandalised many Kiwi adults. Was "the teenager" invented in the 1950s? And what is a "milk bar" anyway?

29 min
EPISODE 4

Epidemics

New Zealanders have battled Covid-19 for more than two years, but if you think it's the first time disease has knocked us around, well, this one's for you. Epidemics have long been part of our story.

31 min
EPISODE 5

The Gold Rushes

The discovery of gold drew tens of thousands to New Zealand in search of fortune. It was a hard life, but diggers brought mateship, fashion & egalitarian ideas that changed the country forever.

31 min
EPISODE 6

Native Land Court

In 1841 a few tiny islands of Pākehā settlement existed in an ocean of Māori land. Today, that picture has reversed & Māori own a fraction of Aotearoa. A big part of the reason? The Native Land Court.

34 min
EPISODE 7

Moriori

Moriori are the original people of Rēkohu (aka Chatham Island or Wharekauri) & they have a tragic and inspiring story. Unfortunately, that story's often been twisted into, well, utter rubbish.

32 min
EPISODE 8

The Musket Wars

These are the wars that cost more lives than any other in our history. Stretched over more than a decade & the entire country, these conflicts changed Māori warfare & much of what came next.

33 min

See All Season 2 (14)

TRAILER

The Aotearoa History Show

RNZ presents The Aotearoa History Show - this time as an audio only podcast!

S1

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1 min

4.1

out of 5

100 Ratings

Amazing

10/09/2023

haysvelds

After moving to Australia I was really missing something Kiwi (pineapple lumps weren’t cutting it). This podcast allowed me to learn more about our history. Thank you very much - please keep it coming
The Aotearoa History Show

14/08/2020

Ipodnano5thgeneration

Fantastic, really interesting from the Maori perspective on which elaborated on way more than I learnt back in my schooling days in NZ in the 70s & 80s
Just amazing

22/07/2020

Kaileigh97

I grew up right next to Gate Pa and I leaned almost none of this! It was quite emotional to finally learn about the history of my home.
A brilliant exploration

07/03/2020

Hetajeta

In Australia, we don’t learn anything about New Zealand history in school, which given our close ties seems like a serious missed opportunity. I sought to educate myself on kiwi history, and this is a brilliant, informative journey through the very beginning of NZ history to right now, presented in an engaging and entertaining manner.