The Leighton Smith Podcast

This week we drill down on the knowledge, wisdom and opinion of Des Gorman, Professor of Medicine in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland. Of course, Covid-19, but we talk about many other life-matters that affect us all. We discuss science, philosophy, education, intelligence, the shortcomings of governance, and what binds us together. Share it with your friend...

On this weeks podcast, I talk with a leading figure in the field of infectious disease epidemiology.  Professor Martin Kulldorff, from the Harvard Medical School, offers some alternative views on Covid-19. Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Tax Payers Union, rips the Climate Change Commission. An essential listen. And The Mailroom, with your much appreciated correspondence. File your comme...

“Why do most Americans not recognise that Leviathan Democracy will be the end of individual liberty?” And why do most of the rest of us also not recognise it? James Bovard, Libertarian, sceptic, author and lecturer, guests on podcast 103. And he’s fun. Also, we address the newest bullying method in academia.   And, as always, the mailroom with Mrs Producer. File your comments and complaints at  Le...

This week Muriel Newman offers a critical analysis of the NZ political and social landscape. She accurately targets where we could be heading. We examine the Maori sovereignty movement’s power grab and the forthcoming criminalisation of free speech (based on the Royal Commission’s recommendations for new hate speech laws). And more, is democracy under threat in NZ.And we provide some words on Crit...

Meet Michael Rectenwald, Professor of liberal studies at NYU, retired. Actually, he was cancelled...  Under discussion, a series of essays on the Great Reset, including corporate socialism, stakeholder capitalism, capitalism with Chinese characteristics, wokeism,  and what it all means for us. We draw attention to Frank Furedi’s words on scepticism. And, as always, the Mailroom.. File your comment...

Brendan O’Neill, editor at Spiked-online.com ponders the future of western civilisation on podcast 100. We talk Marxism (as he was once a Marxist), technocracy, Covid-19, democracy, racism and more. Even the Royals get a mention. This is an interview not to be missed. There is much comment on other matters. And, finally, the Mailroom with Mrs Producer. File your comments and complaints at  Leighto...

Guesting on podcast 99 is Penny Tucker. You may be unfamiliar with her but don’t be put off, so was I. Having met quite by chance, I knew I wanted to interview her. An ex-diplomat, she carved out a very successful career in Washington DC.  We talk everything from U.S. politics to raising kids.  She is opinionated, knowledgeable, and a Kiwi. And, of course, we look at the mail. File your comments a...

On this week's podcast: Podcast 98 sees the much requested return of historian Michael Bassett. Several controversial matters are under discussion; the new history syllabus, local councils and race based wards. Then we speak with NZ meteorologist John Maunder. After a career spanning much of the world, he reflects on the state of the science, or the abuse of it. And, as usual, the Mailroom with Mr...

On podcast 97, we dissect the Climate Commission report on emission reduction with Matt Burgess, Senior Economist at The New Zealand Initiative. He takes a blowtorch to it actually, and rightly so. Then, we take a look at the new technologies of freedom. And how they will remove government control of our lives. We talk with  Professor Sinclair Davidson from the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub. And,...

Welcome to 2021 and the third season of the Leighton Smith Podcast. Guesting on podcast 96 is Paul Kengor Ph. D, Professor of Political Science and bestselling author. It is a riveting interview. Kengor is prolific in matters Marxist. Leighton has things to say about phonics and the media. And, even during the summer holiday, mail rolled in. We have some of it in the Mailroom with Mrs Producer. Fi...

Leighton Smith is currently on his summer break, so we're going back and highlighting some of the best guests from the podcast this year. On this week's Best Of: Antony P Mueller is a German economist, teaching in Brazil. We talked technocracy, pandemics, climate change and the great reset. File your comments and complaints at  Leighton@newstalkzb.co.nz Haven't listened to a podcast before? Check...

Leighton Smith is currently on his summer break, so we're going back and highlighting some of the best guests from the podcast this year. On this week's Best Of: Aynsley Kellow was a discovery. NZ-born and educated, he is Professor Emeritus of Government at the University of Tasmania. He has written widely on scientific matters. What initially caught Leighton's attention was an article, COVID-19:...

Leighton Smith is currently on his summer break, so we're going back and highlighting some of the best guests from the podcast this year. On this week's Best Of, we revisit Leighton's long anticipated interview with history professor Geoffrey Parker.  A prolific author and collector of many awards, Parker published “Global Crisis: War, Climate  Change & Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century” in 2...

Leighton Smith is currently on his summer break, so we're going back and highlighting some of the best guests from the podcast this year. On this week's Best Of, we revisit our chat with former Finance Minister Steven Joyce back in April during the heart of lockdown. The fact it rated the most listened to podcast of the year speaks for itself. File your comments and complaints at  Leighton@newstal...

Leighton Smith is currently on his summer break, so we're going back and highlighting some of the best guests from the podcast this year. On this week's Best Of, Todd Huizinga, who served as US diplomat for 20 years, is the author of “The New Totalitarian Temptation: Global Governance and the Crisis of Democracy in Europe. We had a most interesting discussion around the pending changes in Washingt...

Leighton Smith is currently on his summer break, so we're going back and highlighting some of the best guests from the podcast this year. On this week's Best Of, Bill Gertz is the national security correspondent for the Washington times. He guested on the April 8 podcast .Gertz’s latest book was ‘Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China’s Drive for Global Supremacy. File your comments and complai...

The big finale for 2020. We engage in a very interesting discussion with Dr Oliver Hartwich from the New Zealand Initiative. We talk citizenship, the Emissions Trading Scheme, China, education, and other matters. Christian Smith gives us an update from a bleak London lockdown. As usual, the Mailroom with Mrs Producer ..and a surprise guest to round out 2020. File your comments and complaints at  L...

Australian author and academic Clive Hamilton guests on podcast 94. His recent book “Hidden Hand”, exposes how the Chinese Communist Party is reshaping the world. He believes that New Zealand is in more danger than Australia. Hamilton might be a man of the Left, but he is not in denial of reality. Leighton has further commentary on the CCP, and where the country is being coaxed in regard to free s...

This week we talk with Michael Kelly, Professor Emeritus of Engineering,  from the University of Cambridge.  We discuss climate mitigation and why NZ is making a big mistake. It is a stunning listen. We give the happenings of the week the once over, and enter the mailroom with Mrs Producer. File your comments and complaints at  Leighton@newstalkzb.co.nz Haven't listened to a podcast before? Check...

This week I talk with Britain’s most quoted sociologist, Frank Furedi. He is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, and a prolific author. His twenty five books are diverse in content; education, borders, democracy, progressivism and paranoid parenting. We cover it all. And power systems engineer Bryan Leyland is on the podcast again. We discuss emission free electricity - the...

Education has been a political playground for decades. And so it continues. We talk with Briar Lipson from The New Zealand Initiative , whose report “Education Delusion” has brought conflicting reaction. Have we gone wrong, and if so, where? Do we think Trump is still alive for a second term? Never bet against him is the answer to that. And, finally, we venture into the mailroom with Mrs Producer....

Whatever happened to Rodney Hide? This week I have an in-depth discussion with economist, scientist and ex politician Hide. It has made me realise how the political talent pool has shrunk. Unsurprisingly, there is  also comment around the American election result. And the mailroom with Mrs Producer. File your comments and complaints at  Leighton@newstalkzb.co.nz Haven't listened to a podcast befor...

In our second podcast of the week, we look into the US election.  The mainstream pollsters blew it again with their predictions. While not perfect, the Democracy Institute/Sunday Express poll was in tune with the outcome of the American Election. Patrick Basham runs the results, such as they are. And I’ve included some great commentary from Victor Davis Hanson and Jonathon Turley. File your commen...

There are going to be two Leighton Smith Podcasts this week. The first is available today, prior to the U.S. election, and the second on Thursday, where we analyse the results and the path from hereon in. We have lots of analysis with Patrick Basham from Democracy Institute, and scrutinise their outlier poll. They used the same methodology in 2016: they accurately picked the winner. File your comm...

Semi-retired investment banker Jonathon Urlich returns with a global economic update. We discuss the U.S., China, Eurozone and New Zealand. Then we have an hour with Salvatore Babones.  He is Professor of Political Sociology, Author of “The New Authoritarianism: Trump, Populism, and the Tyranny of Experts, and he is brilliant. Mrs Producer is in the mailroom. And next week, to accommodate the U.S....