Gone By Lunchtime

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas reel at the announcement that Todd Muller has resigned as leader of the opposition.   At 7.30am, just 53 days after he replaced Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party, Todd Muller announced his immediate resignation from the job. How did it come to this, and who is likely to emerge as the new leader, with less than 10 weeks to an election? W...

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on ministerial resignations in the recent and middle-distant past, a new book from Judith Collins, and the reinvention of Simon Bridges The Gone By Lunchtime triumvirate convenes to chew on all the issues, or at least some of them. Such as: Judith Collins' new book; the resignation of David Clark as health minister; the Clare Curran interview from...

In the second of our pre-election events, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, Danyl Mclauchlan talks to Chlöe Swarbrick, the MP seeking to tip the table of politics from inside parliament.  The third Politics on Pubs, featuring Danyl with Kevin Hague and Tamatha Paul, takes place tonight, 6pm, at Meow in Wellington. Limited tickets are still available, and there will be a...

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on efforts to resolve the failures exposed in the self-isolation system.  As the saying goes, a week is a long time in the response to an unprecedented global pandemic, and so it has proved, with the military called in to fix the issues in border control following the revelation that two women recently arrived from the UK had been allowed early exi...

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on Simon Bridges' fight to hang on to the top job in National.  On Friday National MPs gather in Wellington to vote on the future of Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett. After miserable poll results a challenge has been launched, with Todd Muller and probably Nikki Kaye angling to replace them as leader and deputy. The Gone By Lunchtime team offers a b...

In the first of a series of now-virtual events, Danyl is joined by a journalist and a former political staffer to discuss politics and the media. Two months ago today, Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington cheerfully unveiled a new collaboration: a series of live events at the tremendous Meow bar. And, well, everyone knows what happened next. But the prospect of Danyl Mclauchlan talking to brilliant...

In the world's first ever podcast undertaken by people in remote locations, it's New Zealand's leading epidemiologists and economists, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas.  An exclusive reading by the velvet voiced Jacinda Ardern biographer Madeleine Chapman kicks off the return of Gone By Lunchtime, who will not be muzzled by alert level four. On the agenda: How has the political le...

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire are not medical doctors, or in fact doctors of any kind, but here they overcome this minor impediment and solve coronavirus. The Gone By Lunchtime trio look at the political and economic implications of the outbreak, weigh up Jacinda Ardern's "don't deport your problems" broadside at Scott Morrison in Sydney, and sigh painfully at Shane Jones's lat...

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire inhale the unsweet aromas of donation scandal enveloping NZ First, National, and by association the prime minister herself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas are back to kick off the election year with Winston, roads, and serious fraud charges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join various hosts of The Spinoff podcasts Gone by Lunchtime, On The Rag, The Real Pod, Paper Cuts, The Offspin, and Dietary Requirements as we look back at the car crash that was 2019. In this special end of year podcast hosted by Leonie Hayden, we dissect the country's response to national disasters, the highs and lows of MAFS, international literary scandals, the madness and tragedy of the 2019...

This month on the politics podcast it's the Gone by Lunchtime Christmas Party and Toby's brought a baggie of oregano. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But he did play a crucial role in helping Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Area man Hayden Donnell joins Toby Manhire for a bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime, leading a whistlestop tour of the local elections. Fresh from an assignment in the Far North, the mayor of the Spinoff’s local elections pop-up section, Hayden Donnell, takes us on a journey from Kaikohe to Dunedin, stopping along the way in Hamilton, Auckland and Porirua. And he gets fired up. Fired up for democr...

Revelations around alleged sexual assault by a Labour staffer and the party inquiry into his behaviour have dominated the week. Alex Casey and Mihi Forbes join Gone By Lunchtime to survey the damage. Alex Casey, author of the Spinoff feature published on Monday, "A Labour volunteer alleged a violent sexual assault by a Labour staffer. This is her story", joins Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee – toge...

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas feast on the political morsels of the month. including the National Party conference and a challenge to Jacinda Ardern over Ihumātao. Plus: a new jingle. The Gone By Lunchtime team look at Simon Bridges' efforts to firm up his leadership with just over a year to the election, and his "part-time prime minister" swipe. Jacinda Ardern is in Tokelau, b...

In this new edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas weigh reshuffles in senior ranks of both the big parties as well as Oranga Tamariki and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. Plus: a desperate plea to listeners. Podding against the clock, aka Annabelle's stopwatch, the Gone By Lunchtime trio reshuffle their portfolios, look at Jacinda Ardern's demotion...

Was the wellbeing budget truly transformational? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas size it up, along with the high drama prelude of the so-called Treasury hack. Plus: Is the time ripe for a new Christian Conservative political party? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime, the prime minister talks to Toby Manhire at the Auckland Writers Festival Last weekend at the Auckland Writers Festival, Jacinda Ardern spoke with Spinoff editor Toby Manhire about the extraordinary election campaign of 2017, and the book it inspired, Stardust and Substance, edited by Stephen Levine for VUP. Before a packed house at the Aotea Centre the...

Is the bond of trust and confidence between Mihingarangi Forbes and Annabelle Lee-Mather as strong as that between Judith Collins and Simon Bridges? In the latest Gone By Lunchtime, also featuring Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas, we investigate over a cool, refreshing slushy. Special guest Mihi Forbes joins the usual rabble to discuss the fallout from Jacinda Ardern's controversial captain's recall on...

In the wake of the appalling act of terror in Christchurch, the Gone by Lunchtime team assemble to asses the event and its political implications. Topics discussed include the impact on an often-marginalised community, the move to change our gun laws, the performance of Ardern and what the event says about the performance of our intelligence services.  The team also discuss the way politicians hav...

Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire send their lifeboats into the great capital gains tax minestrone ocean. Michael Cullen's Tax Working Group report has been published, sending the nation into untold capital gains tax convulsions. The Gone By Lunchtime panel piles in. How is Jacinda Ardern faring in making the case? What case even is she making? Is Simon Bridges suddenly good? What is the...

The Gone By Lunchtime peloton roars into 2019. Just as you’re wondering whether it’s too late to say Happy new year to people, Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas wish you a happy new year with a return to the Gone-pod. On the agenda: A hell-poll for National sees Judith Collins casting a shadow over Simon Bridges, Jacinda Ardern begins the “year of delivery” with trips to Davos and Waitang...

In the last politics podcast of the year, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire rub their weary eyes and stick out their stockings. Trevor Mallard has hogged headlines in recent days: first after his commissioning of an inquiry into bullying and harassment at parliament and then over allegations of bias from Simon Bridges. We get into all of that, the Maggie Barry controversy, the wash-up fro...

Toby Manhire is joined by iconic duo Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas to rake the leaves of the JLR saga – and the mini-crises confronting the government, too. The overlord of all successful television in New Zealand, Annabelle Lee, restores equilibrium to the Gone By Lunchtime universe by sitting down with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire to discuss the Jami-Lee Ross fallout and whether Simon Bridges can...