Culture 101

Every week on Culture 101 we invite a guest to share their love of culture and shout out to other artists. This week it’s - Tami Neilson - a beloved musical artist who has brought vividly alive the culture surrounding country, rock and roll and soul music. 

Described by Sam Brooks in The Spinoff as the largest catwalk show in the world, an art exhibition blown up to epic proportions, and the closest New Zealand gets to Broadway, the spectacular World of Wearable Arts opened on Friday in Pōneke.

We’re joined on Culture 101 by three poets and artists from Pōneke and Kāpiti Coast who are part of a collective known as the Meow Gurrls. 

Every week on Culture 101 we check the pulse of a different area of Aotearoa. This week it’s between the Tararua ranges and the Pacific: the Wairarapa.   

In a 2023 election campaign special, panel series ‘Carcass’ brings you  lively banter on where culture and politics did and didn’t meet on the hustings.

Rising Tamaki Makaurau music producer EDY’s debut single ‘Help Myself’ reflects on working and striving in a hustle culture.

Following seasons in Australia and Poneke at Circa, Celebrated Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith’s Switzerland has landed in Tamaki Makaurau with the Auckland Theatre Company. 

After 35 years working in public galleries and as an art historian, for Christina Barton’s last show as director of Wellington’s Adam Art Gallery, tidying up has become part of the art.

A PR manager passionate about helping get Indie artist cut-through, the UK’s Debbie Ball has developed an expertise in how best to work with digital media to make new fans for music online. Now also a digital humanities lecturer at King's College London and the University of Westminster, its led to an interest in the role of AI in music creation 

Could the tapping, beating and bashing of drums be your path towards better mental health?

Simon Morris is confronted with several movies that come with a pre-booked audience, you'd think - a popular ethnic comedy, one for anyone who's been to theatre school, and another hit French comedy thriller.

At the last census 714 people were living in Karamea, but resident Jessie Creedmore has counted 54 artists, and 21 different nationalities. People span from dairy farmers to artisan producers and alternative lifestylers.

Steamed Hams shows artists using humour and popular digital storytelling devices to explore how our worldview is being filtered through everything from TikTok to AI art. 

For 2022 LEGO master NZ winner Jake Roos, Lego life continues. 

Deborah Wai Kapohe is both a singing teacher and one of Aotearoa’s most respected sopranos. So who better to teach Culture 101 to sing opera?  

All Black prop George Bower was ruled out of the Rugby World Cup due to a knee injury, but ended up in France with the team in a cultural role. 

In a 2023 election campaign special, panel series ‘Carcass’ provides you lively banter on where arts and politics did and didn’t meet on the hustings.

After 17 years as CEO of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Barbara Glaser has stepped down. 

Each week Culture 101 shines the spotlight on a different region. This week we’re in Rotorua with Mercia Dawn-Yates.

While we were all busy learning to make sourdough in lockdown or finally caving in and downloading TikTok, Bev Moon was busy knitting.

Pōneke ambient musician George Johnston has described his work as ‘aural ketamine’, driven by a belief in the healing properties of music.

Tarts: they’re sweet and Shakespearean but, as New Zealand comedian and writer, Deb Filler says “You want a taste?  Careful how you answer that question. This tart's not cheap.”

Every week on Culture 101 we welcome a guest to share the love and shout out to some current favourite arts and culture. This week’s guest is tumuaki (leader) of Te Kura Toi Whakaari o Aotearoa: NZ Drama School, Tanea Heke. Tanea is a loved figure from stage and screen. A staunch yet kind presence in films like No.2, Waru, Eagle vs Shark and Cousins.

With the 2023 Rugby World Cup starting soon we thought it might be a good idea to dig into the history of rugby football and examine the “origin story” of the game itself. As it turns out the “truth of the matter” is as murky as the secrets of scrummaging and as open to interpretation as the tackle ball rule. With Peter Hambleton and Susie Fergusson Recorded by Phil Benge and Produced by Duncan Sm...

A “bunch of nerds who play games and make comedy sketches about games” have come a long way. With more than 5.5 million subscribers on YouTube and in excess of 2.4 billion views on their channel, Viva La Dirt League are most definitely world famous - but mostly outside New Zealand.