The Spinoff

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Channel • 10 Shows

Politics

Politics

Weekly Series
Politics

Politics

Updated Semimonthly
Business News

Business News

Updated Weekly
Comedy Fiction

Comedy Fiction

Weekly Series
Documentary

Documentary

Semiweekly Series
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated Weekly
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Updated Biweekly

3D AGO

Ben Thomas reports from the sh*tstorm

A catastrophic failure at the Moa Point wastewater plant in Wellington has laid bare a short-term crisis and a crisis of short-termism. Fortified by nothing but the balm of poo jokes, Ben Thomas relates the mood in the city and the measures under way in response. But does it say something deeper about the country and the state of its piping? Plus: a review of events of Waitangi, where the spotlight fell more directly on the parties of opposition than those of government. Just days after its divisions played out in the High Court, Te Pāti Māori's internal struggles manifested on the paepae, while a show of unity from Labour and the Greens was overshadowed by the announcement of Peeni Henare's exit from politics, and the sense of a story not being fully told. We discuss Henare's legacy, and where it leaves Labour's Māori caucus, as well as another big political departure, Judith Collins. What were the highs and lows of her remarkable parliamentary career, and is the step into the Law Commission presidency entirely legit? And finally: Energy minister Simon "Mega" Watts has announced the government will commission a billion-dollar import facility for liquefied natural gas to plug the gap in New Zealand's energy mix. But is the levy to fund it really a tax, and is this even the right question to be fixating on? Get your tickets to the Gone By Lunchtime 10th Birthday Party now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3d ago

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59 min
2025-11-10

Episode 1: A Decent Society

After the breakneck reforms of the 80s, Jim Bolger’s promise of a calmer, more inclusive New Zealand hits the spot. Emerging from the shadow of Muldoon and shaking off the nuclear baggage, Bolger leads the National Party to a landslide victory under the “decent society” banner. But even before the celebrations are done, the hangover hits: the state-owned BNZ is on the brink, and the government books are in a parlous state. Ruth Richardson wastes no time as finance minister in making the most of crisis mode, and within weeks is driving through some of the most dramatic social, economic and labour reforms New Zealand has ever seen. Picking up where the award-winning first season of Juggernaut left off, this first episode includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Don McKinnon, Bill Birch, Michael Wall, Rob Eaddy, Michael Laws and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-11-10

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49 min
JAN 27

Are Peters and Luxon on a collision course?

As Christopher Luxon announced an election date of November 7, a strip of the North Island was under siege from another bout of brutal weather. As the clean-up and recovery continues, and families and communities grieve the loss of nine lives, questions swirl around the response. In the first Gone By Lunchtime for 2026, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess that response, and ask whether the bigger picture around climate adaptation and mitigation will filter through the forthcoming campaign. The year begins, meanwhile, with incessant geopolitical disorder emanating from the White House. As Mark Carney sets out his stall in compelling fashion at Davos, what does the Canadian prime minister's "new world order" approach have in common with Christopher Luxon's, where do they differ, and is New Zealand's prime minister on an election-year collision course with a foreign minister set upon below-parapet foreign relations and flirting with the thought of quitting the World Health Organisation? Speaking of Winston Peters, his New Zealand First Party has enjoyed a bump in recent polling. Could they emulate the populist-nationalist trends in Australia and the UK and climb even further? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 27

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48 min
2023-09-10

1: Jane

Meet Jane, a mum in her forties who is battling with the demons of her past. For decades she’s buried what happened to her when she was a teenager but in recent years has come to realise she is not to blame for the connection she had with Dan, her adult youth group leader during her teen years. We also meet Noelle, a writer and producer who is helping Jane to make a podcast about her experience. Through a first person account and letters from the time that set a typical scene of teen life in the nineties, we find out how this disturbing connection came about and how it progressed from inappropriate feelings to a full blown relationship in plain sight. Dear Jane was made with the support of NZ On Air Resources: If this series brings up any issues for you there is help available 24-7: Helpline - free call or text 1737 Youthline - phone 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz Suicide Crisis Helpline - phone 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023-09-10

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30 min
2025-11-17

Episode 3: Bugger the Pollsters

After some of the most hectic months in the history of New Zealand politics, Jim Bolger faces a white-knuckle byelection in Tamaki. In the seat vacated by the pugnacious Rob Muldoon, even the National candidate seems to be standing against the government. With the impacts of radical and painful reforms still raw, a general election rapidly approaches. It will go right down to the wire, and serve up an unforgettable pair of election night speeches from Bolger and Mike Moore. On the left, a new force challenges Labour for supremacy: Jim Anderton’s Alliance. Helen Clark mounts a coup. And Bolger confronts a critical question: what to do with Ruth Richardson? Plus: a very strange visit to Moscow prompts a nuclear-submarines-for-butter proposition. Includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Helen Clark, Sandra Lee-Vercoe, Rob Eaddy, Bill Birch and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-11-17

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53 min
2025-12-08

Episode 6: The Prime Minister Is Not a Person

New Zealand’s first MMP government gets off to a rocky start, beset by boxer-short scandals and lousy poll numbers. Jim Bolger declares “springtime for New Zealand”, but the economic weather won’t play ball. He leaves for Europe oblivious to the plans being cooked up by a small, secretive group of MPs called “The Te Puke Bypass Committee”. When Bolger returns from overseas, Doug Graham is there to deliver the news – Jenny Shipley has the numbers; the game is up. Many are relieved, many distraught. Winston Peters is furious. The frost between Peters and Shipley never thaws, and before long an almighty, unprecedented cabinet conflagration ensues. The final episode of Juggernaut 2: The Story of the Fourth National Government goes beyond the end of that term, to explore questions of legacy – how did this period in our history change New Zealand, for better or worse, and how will Jim Bolger, who died in October 2025 at the age of 90, be remembered? Includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley, Ruth Richardson, Rob Eaddy, Doug Graham, Tau Henare, Helen Clark, Sandra Lee-Vercoe and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-12-08

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1h 2m
JAN 13

Summer Reissue: Bonus ep - Thoughts on the Jacinda Ardern film and book

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over summer. We’ll be back soon with new episodes but, until then, here’s one of our favourites from 2025: Hot on the heels of the publication of A Different Kind of Power comes Prime Minister, an enthralling new film that applies a genuinely gobsmacking lens on Jacinda Ardern's time in power. In this special edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Madeleine Chapman, editor of the Spinoff (and author of Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader), joins Toby Manhire to talk about the film, which has just had its New Zealand premiere at the NZ International Film Festival, and the autobiography, what they tell us about Ardern and what they don't. This episode was originally published on August 9 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 13

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46 min
2025-11-24

Episode 4: One for a Party, One for a Person

It took an extraordinary cocktail of events to bring proportional representation to New Zealand – everything from political c**k-ups to public screams of resentment. This is the story of a country that decides to tear up its electoral plumbing – and what it does next. As the country chooses MMP, it also puts Jim Bolger back in power, but by the very narrowest of margins. Winston Peters and Jim Anderton thrive, small, splinter parties proliferate, and the old guard scrambles to prepare for the new world. For the first time, voters get those two ticks, and you’ll never guess who wins the balance of power and keeps the country hanging on which way he’ll go. The fourth episode of Juggernaut 2: The Story of the Fourth National Government includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Tau Henare, Helen Clark, Sandra Lee-Vercoe, Rob Eaddy, Jenny Shipley and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-11-24

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1h 7m
2025-12-01

Episode 5: The Seven Generations Fight

The 1990s in New Zealand have dawned with images of harmony projected to the world, but longstanding divisions still acute at home. The Bolger government comes to power promising to uphold the Treaty and provide redress for injustice. Negotiations over the Sealords fishery quota and with two of Aotearoa’s largest iwi, Waikato Tainui and Ngāi Tahu face pushback from all directions: in cabinet and the National Party base, from the public, and within te ao Māori, where the concept of the “fiscal envelope” is widely considered anathema. Plus: how Jim Bolger outmanoeuvered Ruth Richardson on Te Papa. The fifth episode of Juggernaut 2: The Story of the Fourth National Government includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Anake Goodall, Doug Graham, Tau Henare, Jenny Shipley and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-12-01

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1h 2m
2025-11-10

Episode 2: The Mother of All Budgets

A mood of protest sweeps New Zealand in 1991, sometimes spilling over into violence, as the reform machine powers on. Benefits are slashed, the Employment Contracts Act fundamentally reshapes the labour market, the health system is restructured, and Jim Bolger U-turns on a “no ifs, no buts, no maybes” promise around superannuation. Here Ruth Richardson tells the story of the Mother of All Budgets – what she was hoping to achieve, and how it got that indelible name. In a whirlwind first year of government, Richardson takes some drastic steps. And National’s challenges come not just from outside, but from within – Muldoon continues to lurk the halls, and there’s a charismatic, increasingly popular young MP making trouble, too: Winston Peters. Includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Susan St John, Helen Clark, Bill Birch, Rob Eaddy, Michael Laws and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-11-10

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51 min

Welcome to The Spinoff Podcast Network, home to a family of titles covering society, pop culture, TV, economics, media, business and more!