Conversations With Wāhine

Harita interviews Ingrid Leary. Born in Germany to a German aristocrat mother and a Kiwi father, German was her first language. Her family later moved to New Zealand, where her father overcame severe generational poverty to become a doctor. She went on to study law at the University of Otago, building an extraordinary career across law, international relation management, and journalism. In 2006, s...

Every so often, you meet someone whose life story doesn't just make you pause—it demands that you look closer at the invisible structures of power, control, and resilience operating right in our backyard. Lindy Jacombwas born into a world defined by strict boundaries. Growing up multi-generational in the Exclusive Brethren—now known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church—her childhood in A...

Harita chats to Petrina D'Rozario. The power of cinema to connect distant corners of the world, break institutional barriers, and give a voice to diverse communities is magical. Petrina has spent her life at the intersection of international filmmaking, creative leadership, and cultural advocacy. She started her journey in mass media and went on to champion massive systemic changes, serving a...

Harita interviews Paloma Schneideman and Ani Palmer. What does it mean to be a teenage girl who desperately wants to be seen as an adult, but deeply needs to be loved like a child? In this episode, we chat to the visionary writer and director Paloma Schneideman and incredible breakout actor Ani Palmer, the brilliant duo behind the quiet film festival juggernaut, Big Girls Don't Cry . Set agai...

Harita interviews Tom Rutherford and Suze Redmayne. When we talk about the future of New Zealand, it is easy to get caught up in the big, noisy headlines coming out of the Beehive. But if you want to understand where the country is actually heading, you have to look at the people pulling the levers behind the scenes—the electorate MPs balancing local, grassroots realities with the intense pressure...

Sophie and Harita interview Kate McDonald. If you’ve ever walked into a crowded room in Wellington and felt the electric, collective buzz of people talking about books, ideas, and storytelling, chances are today's guest helped build that room. Kate McDonald is the Co-Director of Verb Wellington, the creative force behind the beloved Verb Readers & Writers Festival and the iconic LitCrawl....

Sophie and Harita interview Ricardo Menendez March. When we look at the state of politics today, it's easy to get caught up in the daily media cycle—the quick soundbites, the political sparring, and the surface-level debates. But every now and then, you encounter a leader whose entire life story functions as a direct challenge to the status quo. Ricardo is a Green Party List MP based in Mt Al...

Harita interviews Nancy Lu. Nancy is a Member of the New Zealand Parliament representing the National Party , a distinguished chartered accountant, and a dedicated advocate for diverse communities and working families. Bringing a unique blend of high-level corporate expertise, Ivy League public administration training, and deep-rooted bicultural insight to the New Zealand Parliament , Nancy repres...

Harita and her brother Avinash interview Mariameno Kapa-Kingi Mariameno Kapa‑Kingi has strong whakapapa connections across Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhi nui tonu, Waikato and Te Whānau‑ā‑Apanui. She is the Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau, but her journey to Parliament has been grounded in lifelong service to iwi Māori, hapū and whānau – particularly māmā and wāhine. Before entering Parliament, Maria...

Harita and Suravi interview Sashi Perera. Sashi is a Sri Lankan-Australian comedian, writer, and self-described 'recovering lawyer'. For a decade, Sashi worked across the globe as an international refugee lawyer for the UN. Then, she made the bold choice to change her life completely. After calling off a destination wedding at the last minute and moving to Melbourne, she fell into stand-...

Harita interviews Lee Martin. Renowned singer-songwriter Lee Martin delivers a poignant reflection on life’s unpredictable journey with her latest indie-soul offering, ‘5 Year Plan’. This evocative track captures the friction between our grand designs and the gritty reality of time slipping through our fingers. Lee is an old soul with a versatile writing style that completely bypasses mainstream c...

Harita interview Alayne Dick. Alayne is a multi-talented, queer comedian, writer, and performer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Known for her sharp, relatable wit and delightfully unhinged storytelling, she has quickly become a standout fixture in the Australasian comedy and improv scenes. Alayne first made waves on the fringe circuit, winning the SYNZ Tour Ready Award at the NZ Fringe...

Harita interviews Zoe Vera. Following hot on the heels of her previous Live Harder single releases ‘Good Enough’ and ‘ Twelve Feet Under ’, latest stand-out track ‘Dizzying’ captures the emotional tension between both wanting and fearing love. A reflection of the courage it takes to open your heart when faced with the thrill of a new, exciting connection, while feeling paralysed by past relationsh...

Aisling Waldron is a Senior policy Advisor at Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention Center and serves on the Governance Board of ECPAT Child Alert. She previously led Prevention and Education initiatives at the Department of Internal Affairs tackling online harms, including child sexual exploitation and terrorist and violent extremist material online. In 2025 she accepted a role as Global...

Content Warning: sexual themes, including rough sex and strangulation/choking.  Award winning educator and researcher, Samantha's research interests are in gender-based violence and abuse, and she is an internationally recognised expert on pornography, ‘rough sex’ and sexual choking/strangulation. She is the author of 'Pornography, rough sex and gendered harm: Just sex on screen?'....

Bryn &Ku’s Singles Club returns for season 2 bringing with it, new relationships, big milestones, but with the same heartfelt friendship and comedy that got the first season of the docuseries nominated for Best Factual Series, and winner of Best Presenter: Entertainment at the NZ Screen Awards in 2025. After a groundbreaking first season that captured the hearts and laughs of audiences across...

Harita and Haley interview Wellington filmmaker Isabel Corfiatis ahead of the Doc Edge Film Festival 2026 about her debut feature documentary "Music and the Mystical Experience", screening in Auckland from 24 June to 12 July and Wellington from 15 to 26 July. The film follows musician and sound engineer Michael Sutherland and a collective of more than twenty New Zealand artists collabora...

What role can museums play in inspiring the next generation of innovators, scientists, and creative thinkers? In this episode, Laura is joined by Elizabeth Cotton and Julie Baker from MOTAT (the Museum of Transport and Technology) in Auckland. Together, they explore the power of curiosity, hands-on learning, and the important role museums play in connecting people with science, technology, and his...

Harita interviews Dillon Jo. Dillon Jo are a queer, female-fronted four-piece creating dreamy, genre-blurring indie rock inspired by dream pop, shoegaze, folk and alt-rock. Formed in Wellington by Betty Smith and Georgie Levien in early 2025, the band has quickly made waves with a string of local performances, supporting acts including The Rions, Foley, Wet Denim, Hemi Hemingway and Coast Arcade,...

Lindy Hume is an Australian opera and festival director, who has worked throughout Australia and internationally.  She was born in Sydney. Her father taught primary school and also worked as a film censor. Her mother was a psychologist at the University of Sydney. Lindy was Artistic Director of West Australian Opera (1992–1996), OzOpera and Victorian State Opera (1996–2001), and Director of the Pe...

Harita interviews Erika Grant. Erika is an artist primarily working in the areas of music and costume, but loves to dabble in all sorts of different mediums. Beginning with music when she was just a wee bairn playing in orchestras and classical ensembles, since she’s become a grown up she’s played in all sorts of bands, acts and groups, including but not limited to “Orchestra of Spheres”, “Cookie...

Harita and her friend Jelisha were lucky enough to get an interview with British pop boyband, 5IVE, ahead of the NZ concert in May. If you haven't heard of them before, they were famous all over the world in the late 90's- early 2000's and all 5 members recently reunited for a world tour. Huge thanks to Nancy from BlackOut Music for organising this interview!

Caught in the legislative machinery of “move-on” orders, Connie, a young wahine Māori - finds herself in a police holding cell where everything is in question: her freedom, her future, and whether survival is even possible in today’s political landscape. Witnessing the inequity of Connie’s experience, her friend Peyton begins to realise what a Tangata Tiriti partnership really means, while Grayson...

Anita Lowry (Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa , Ngāti Porou) is the Chief Executive of RespectEd Aotearoa, a charitable trust dedicated to an Aotearoa free from sexual violence and its harm. She has a background in union advocacy in pay equity and has contributed to kaupapa Māori and feminist organisations including Te Whare Rokiroki Māori Women’s Refuge and the Board of Wellington Rape Crisis. Anita...

Paige Tapara is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and key team member at Play It Strange, a trust facilitating youth songwriting, where she works in marketing, operations, and mentorship. Known for her own pop success, she now helps run national songwriting competitions, judges projects, and mentors students in the music industry.