Kiwi Yarns

Today’s guest is a NATIONAL TREASURE. Sure, Suzanne Paul was born in England but she is our official infomercial queen. But it’s not just thousands of luminous spheres that make us all love her - her dogged determination and work ethic through every part of her career is so inspirational. Gosh, talk about someone who never ever ever gives up! She's remarkable! Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Today’s guest doesn’t do things by halves! As if competing at two Olympics in the canoe slalom wasn’t enough, Mike Dawson has recently skied 1000 kilometres across Antarctica to the South Pole. He’s also a mountain biker, photographer and film-maker. He's got some epic stories! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is one of the country’s great All Blacks, Kieran Read. Not only did he captain the side 52 times, but was capped 128 times for New Zealand, won two World Cups, and four Super Rugby titles for the Crusaders. A huge rugby career that he stepped down from in 2021. As you'll hear, life after rugby is going really well for Kieran, and he has possibly one of the most random Kiwi Yarns quic...

Today’s guest is the Mayor of the Far North - and when Moko Tepania (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Te Rarawa) was voted in last year he made history by being the first Maori mayor for the region, and also the youngest, at age 31. The kura kaupapa teacher had served one term on council and now has the top job and boy has he already been busy - particularly in the past few weeks dealing with the aftermat...

Today’s guest is a wonderful broadcaster, a fine young woman I’ve admired for a very long time. PJ Harding is a former radio host who built out an amazing career here and in Australia.  She moved from the bright lights of Melbourne to the mighty Wairarapa, and lives somewhat more of a quiet life with her fiancé Brendan aka BJ, baby Charlie, Josephine the cat, and Fig the dog. She talks motherhood,...

Today’s guest is a best-selling author, a qualified counsellor, a self-development coach, a speaker AND she has a massive social media community as @journey_to_wellness_ on Instagram. Rebekah Ballagh has worked in mental health for many years, but saw the need to help more in the online space. Her books, courses and online advice is easily accessible and hugely popular - she's just great! Be Your...

Today’s guest is journalist Charlotte Bellis.  Charlotte began her career in her hometown Christchurch, but it’s taken her all over the world, from Europe to the United States and more recently, Afghanistan, where she has sat down and interviewed the Taliban. Last year she became a mum, and during her pregnancy she fought for herself and the many Kiwis locked out of New Zealand due to the MIQ syst...

Today’s guest is one of my favourite Black Ferns Sevens players! That's not only because she tears up the field, she has sweet dance moves AND she’s one of the funniest people I follow on Instagram and TikTok Basically, Shiray Kaka is an absolute vibe and you will love her like I do! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guests are Tom Lee and Graham Matthews - two lads who have been the drum and bass duo Lee Mvtthews for the past ten years. They've become so popular with Kiwis, they’re headlining festivals, winning multiple awards, and absolutely owning the Summer gig circuit - recently playing in front of 20,000 people at Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne. I was one of those 20,000 frothers so this is a full...

Today’s guest is the super talented, super fast, incredibly witty Liam Malone. This interview is a million miles an hour, much like the pace in which Liam can run! Liam tore through our TV screens at pace when he won two gold Medals and a silver at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, and fast became one of our favourite sportspeople. He’s super switched on in the tech and innovation space, and can...

Welcome back to the first episode of 2023! We kick things off with a woman I admire hugely. Rikki Swannell is a trailblazer in the world of sports journalism, and flies the flag for women's sport in so fiercely and loudly, I’m basically fist pumping right now at how awesome she is and for what she has achieved in her career. Rikki and I first met when we worked in radio together back in 2010 - and...

Merry Christmas! Jo Kane (aka Mum) thought it might be a nice idea to do a Christmas bonus episode where she interviewed me...so we did it! Hope you enjoy. Thanks for all your amazing support, and we'll see you back in 2023! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is one of the country’s most high profile journalists. Paddy Gower is fiercely passionate about telling stories and has been that way for over 20 years. His dogged determination to get to the bottom of issues here in Aotearoa is something to behold, and he certainly hasn't been afraid to piss anyone off along the way. But what Paddy also has which makes him so good is empathy, and wh...

Today’s guest is an ultra marathon runner like me (haha I can say that now)! But Daniel Jones just won the Kepler Challenge - a 60 kilometre mountain run in Fiordland at the weekend for the FIFTH year in a row. And, while it was the same race I did, he was SIX hours faster. Now, I’m not beating myself up about that at all, I’m saying it to highlight what an absolute weapon Daniel is. This, after w...

Today’s guest is one of our country’s great comedians (I bloody love our comedians) - the 2018 Billy T Award Winner Melanie Bracewell. Not only has she had a stellar career here, she currently lives in Melbourne, and has made a solid dent in being extremely funny in Australia too. She hosts Cheap Seats and was nominated for a Logie this year - something she didn’t even realise she was eligible for...

Today’s guest is the extremely funny, ridiculously wonderful Eli Matthewson, who I am very lucky to be able to call my friend, thanks to our experience this year on Dancing with The Stars. Eli is a comedian, and a breakfast radio host for The Edge, and has also managed to squeeze into his extremely busy life a new doco about porn, with good friend and fellow funny man Chris Parker.  Learn more abo...

Today’s guest is one of our wonderful sportswomen - world class all-rounder White Fern, Amelia Kerr. We recorded this amazing conversation while Melie was in Adelaide, playing in the Weber Women’s Big Bash League for the Brisbane Heat. At 22, she's already had an incredible cricket career. It runs deep in her family. Melie has also just released an amazing series called “Treading Water”, where she...

Today’s guest is the incredibly talented DJ, producer, broadcaster, Aroha Harawira. She regularly headlines big festivals and opens for international acts, and is currently living in Melbourne. Aroha has for a long time been a well-respected voice within the media industry, and a staunch advocate for equality for women working in music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

A warning: This episode discusses mental health, suicide and bipolar disorder. Today’s guest is a wonderful young man by the name of Oscar McCallion. In a few days, Oscar will be running 57km - and he’s running that far to raise $20,000 for the I am Hope charity. And, he’s running it in memory of his Mum, who at 57 years young, took her own life after a long battle with bipolar disorder. Oscar's k...

Today’s guest is the absolutely fabulous Cassie Roma. If someone asked me what Cassie does, I would answer it with “well, she does everything and she can do anything”.  She’s a digital marketer, a social media expert and consultant, a public speaker, and she’s been her kick-arse self on the TV on The Apprentice Aotearoa, and more recently Celebrity Treasure Island. She's such a wonderful person to...

Today’s guest is Dr Lucy Hone - a truly remarkable woman who is a renowned global expert on resilience, a best-selling author and, she delivered one of the most popular Ted Talks in 2020. Lucy is the Director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience. I had the privilege of seeing her speak a year ago at the Westpac Women of Influence Breakfast, and I have been wanting to chat to her...

Today’s guest is a young rugby player turned singer-songwriter from Ōtautahi Christchurch. His name is Sam Heselwood and he draws inspiration from the likes of Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi. He’s just released an EP called Bloodline which takes us on an intimate journey through his life. His voice is ABSOLUTELY stunning and Bloodline is available on all streaming services now! Learn more about your...

Today’s guest is Polly Markus - aka Miss Polly’s Kitchen - a wonderful young woman who has not long released her first cookbook For the Love of Eating. Polly is a real estate agent, but her love and talent for all things food really took on a whole new life when she started posting delicious recipes on Instagram at the time when we were all stuck at home in lockdown (you’ll remember it no doubt!),...

Today’s guest is the extremely talented and clever Nadine Higgins. An award winning journalist, Nadine's list of achievements would most definitely not fit on a one page CV. She’s graced our screens as a respected TV presenter and broadcaster for many years, but has more recently stepped into an amazing new role as a Financial Advisor and director at Enable.me.  Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Today’s guest is actually an Australian chap called Harry Jowsey. But I first met Harry when he was living in New Zealand, when he was filming the reality show Heartbreak Island. Now, he's living in LA has made quite the name for himself. After a much bigger Netflix audience saw the cheeky Aussie on Too Hot To Handle, he blew up on social media, and has paved a successful career for himself contin...