Real Life With John Cowan Newstalk ZB

Wayne Brown is a seasoned leader with experience in business and public service, from steering large New Zealand businesses to serving as Mayor of New Zealand’s largest city.

But beyond the boardroom and council chambers, Wayne is a keen surfer. He spends his spare time riding the swells and advocating for the protection of our marine environment, all while enjoying the company of his wife, Toni and their two children.
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Sunday the 9th of June marked a big milestone for John Cowan as he reached 20 years of hosting Real Life on Newstalk ZB! Over 963 shows, John has spoken to 835 different guests in an effort to find out what makes each one of them tick. Listen back to the celebration of John's 20 years on Real Life.
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Ben grew up in Otaki and went to Paraparaumu College. He is a self-taught computer coder and at the age of 12 those skills saw him inventing a GPS wristband that allowed hospitals and visitors to trace patients. This invention won him the youth category of Wellingtonian of the Year in 2016.

After a gap year in Canada he launched his own company "Random42 Limited". The company dealt with water-monitoring technology and portable wind turbines. With many of his clients being down south, he made the move down there.

In October 2022 Ben became Gore's youngest mayor at 23 years old.
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A popular contestant on Have You Been Paying Attention, comedian Melanie Bracewell has also appeared on The Project, Triple J, and Thank God You're Here. She was a contestant on the fourth series of Taskmaster NZ.


Melanie has contributed as a writer to 7 Days, Have You Been Paying Attention, Wellington Paranormal, and Mean Mums. She is also an experienced radio announcer and has worked as a producer and announcer at the popular radio station Radio Hauraki for six years, where she also hosts her own weekend show.


Melanie's first solo show, Brace Yourself, won Best Newcomer at the NZ Comedy Festival, and in 2018, she won the prestigious Billy T Award for her second solo show, Melodrama. In 2021, she had a sell-out season of The Rumours Are True at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, won the Director's Choice Award, and launched herself as the host of the Network 10 series The Cheap Seats. Melanie won Best Script: Comedy for her episode on Wellington Paranormal at the NZ Television Awards. In 2022, Melanie toured through Australia with her show, Ooh La La. She was also nominated for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent. In 2023, The Cheap Seats won the Logie for Most Outstanding Entertainment Show.
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This week John's guest will be Peter Beck. Peter is a Kiwi entrepreneur who founded the aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider Rocket Lab. 

Peter grew up in Invercargill, born into a family who loved machines. A toolmaking apprenticeship at Fisher & Paykel gave him hands-on engineering skills and access to top-of-the-line machinery and materials after hours.

Peter began building rockets at an early age, steadily increasing their size and complexity. He set up Rocket Lab in 2006 and has taken the world by storm.

An award-winning engineer, Peter has been presented with the Gold Medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Meritorious Medal from the New Zealand Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Cooper Medal and the Pickering Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand. In addition, in recognition of Mr Beck’s outstanding contributions to aerospace, entrepreneurship and technical innovation he was appointed as an adjunct professor in aerospace engineering by the University of Auckland.
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