The Real Pod

Michael just became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time. Gens Z and Alpha have him on high-rotate. And a man who looks just like him is drawing hordes of adoring fans across the streets of Christchurch. Alex Casey, fresh from hanging with the impersonator of the moment, joins Toby to explore the Jackson revival, and ask: how did he shake off the shadows of such serious allegations? Plus:...

SUPERPOD is back! Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime's Toby Manhire and featuring Jane Yee and Alex Casey from The Real Pod, Duncan Greive from The Fold, Gone By Lunchtime's Annabelle Lee-Mather, Simon Pound from Business Is Boring, Bernard Hickey from When The Facts Change and The Spinoff Podcast Network's Te Aihe Butler and Samuel Robinson, SUPERPOD 2023 is the crossover to end all crossovers. From int...

It's time. The Si-nal countdown has hit zero and our very last episode is upon us. Join Jane, Alex and Duncan for a feature length nostalgia extravaganza and revisit the greatest hits of The Real Pod over the last eight years. Hear clips from our very first episode, cursed footage from some very late nights, and a very special clip from a very special guest. In the words of the Max Key corner stin...

It's the final week of both My Kitchen Rules NZ and The Real Pod and we are feeling wobblier than Matt and Kurt's panna cotta. Join us as we recap the weirdest comedian dining experience ever captured on camera, and the dramatic finale that saw the best (men) chefs in the country help to decide the $100K winner. Also: Duncan fell asleep in public again and Alex embarrassed herself in front of a re...

Did you ever stay up extra late, one hand hovering nervously over the remote, waiting to catch a tantalising glimpse of nudity on TV? You were not alone. Join us for the final episode of Remember When as we reminisce about the good ol' days of the 90s. When Sky 1's raunchy after-midnight programming, captured the attention of likeminded viewers across the nation. Learn more about your ad choices....

The stars are out to play this week and we aren’t just talking about Mike Pero at the Christchurch show. Celebrities descended on MKRNZ to judge a six course degustation, which resulted in some of the horniest feedback this podcast has ever heard. There’s also a lot of new radio shows being announced, yet still no invite for Big Mum, Lexie and Dunc? Weird. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

What happens when you mix fancy artisan milk with yummy chocolate? Lines round the block, security guards in supermarkets, and Chelsea Winter stepping over her own aunty of course! Join us as we remember the release Lewis Road Creamery chocolate milk in 2014, a product which instantly created a black market, national chaos, and global attention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

It’s been at least three months since we last made a Big Announcement, so we’re due for another and here it is. Please listen to this short chat and if you have any questions afterwards visit: https://thespinoff.co.nz/trpquestions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Things are starting off a little differently this week, and we're not just talking about Pascal and Vikki's gin-soaked salmon. After a very big little announcement, it is back into MKRNZ for the final instant restaurant and a big public barbecue. Gatecrashers! Tuna! And the truth about Jim Corr! We're sorry so much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who the hell puts tinned spaghetti on pizza?! In April 2017 that cry was heard the world over after then prime minister Bill English casually posted his spag-covered pizza on Facebook and asked the internet to ‘like if you agree’. Was it a clever distraction tactic at a time the PM was under intense scrutiny, or an innocent play at connecting with the voting youth? Only Bill knows why he shared hi...

We're back in the kitchen this week and Jane has some judge's feedback on last week's smorgasbord of errors. Then it is over to Emilie and Anya's for dry sausage and runny choux, before Julia and Matthew face a cavalcade of kitchen nightmares. Plus, who is the real villain of MKRNZ? The answer may surprise you… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you thought Erin Simpson's theme tune was rocking, wait till you hear this. Join Alex and Duncan as they look back at a very special 2010 episode of The Erin Simpson Show, in which a Christchurch death metal band played to a mosh pit of children on the after school kids' show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time to leave the island and head into the kitchen as we sharpen our knives for the first week of My Kitchen Rules NZ. Join Duncan and Alex as they discuss the power of a good bisque, Manu doing a manu, as well as some real news about The Project NZ and Toni Street’s star-studded birthday party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jane, Duncan and Alex are joined in the studio by the freshly crowned winner of Celebrity Treasure Island 2023 to talk about the highs and lows, the secret alliances and the beauty of sleeping in the finalist yurt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2005, one groundbreaking makeup product emerged that promised to fix every one of our problems in one sunkissed swipe. She was a bronzer, a blusher, a contour, a foundation, an eyeshadow and a lipstick, and she came with an iconic jingle that basically defined what it meant to be a woman ("mobile, hairstyle, lingerie, PDA"). Join Jane Yee and Alex Casey as they remember the glowing heyday of Th...

The collapse of the comedian coalition has sent shockwaves through camp in the penultimate week of our favourite silly little game. We started the week waving farewell to Big Bopper Steve Price, and ended it with Laura sending Eli back to the flat after defeating her bestie in a game of topply card sand baggie balance. Now just five castaways remain while we perch precariously on the edge of our s...

In 2003 we were paying $30 for CDs and mainlining music videos. The internet was a bit slow, so there was huge demand for music videos on the telly to see the not many, if any, dudes who could roll like this. Juice TV had been plugging away on Sky, but then C4 entered the chat offering endless music videos that were free for all, and a slew of top notch hosting talent to boot. As C4 celebrates its...

Water levels rose at the lake this week as the tears flowed and the eliminated rode (off into the sunset forever, RIP). The individual game is here and it's brought out a ruthlessness in our castaways that we never saw coming. And the biggest shock of all? Not even aliens could protect Blair from topply blocks in the elimination arena. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ahead of the incredibly tense 2011 Rugby World Cup, Abstain for the Game was a Telecom (now Spark) ad campagin using former All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick, in a tuxedo, driving a pink dodgem, asking a tightly wound nation to keep it in their pants. It was an extremely odd ad, and created a furious response from a humourless public. Within days it was withdrawn with heavy apologies. But the ad...

The dictator, James Mustapic, joins us this week to recap the week that was on Celebrity Treasure Island: Te Waipounamu. A week that saw comedians causing chaos, teams being cleft in twain and two powerhouse players heading for home. It’s already been an iconic season, but we’ll never forget the moment that guy from Shorty Street Uno-reversed Eli’s mercy card with the kind of sensational block Mar...

At 7 o'clock in December of 2007, after a six-month-long mystery, families gathered around their television sets to discover the identity of the serial killer responsible for murdering several female Shortland Street characters. What ensued was one of New Zealand television's most iconic moments. Join us as we remember the Ferndale Strangler, Joey Henderson. Join the Real Pod community! Join The R...

It wasn’t a good week in Te Waipounamu for anyone whose name begins with M. After losing captaincy to James, Matilda beheaded Mary (with a little help from slippery Jordan) before succumbing to the guillotine herself at the hands of one Sir Blair Grylls. Our beloved Tāme bowed out on account of his lovely old bones, leaving a gaping hole in the spirit of Tohorā and, quite frankly, the whole nation...

In October 2000 TV3, in partnership with BP, Pizza Hut and KFC, brought the global marketing phenomenon of Tellydots to our shores. Captivated by the promise of prizes such as Holden Barinas, portable CD players, and even $333,333.33 in cash, we had nothing better to do than stick a small piece of plastic to our television sets. Join us as we remember the Y2K Tellydot promotion. If you enjoy this...

In an act of utter madness, Gone By Lunchtime (long term rival of The Real Pod) did a 12 hour livestream last week featuring a list of high profile MPs, political commentators and… Duncan and Jane. Taken from the eleventh hour of the Election 2023 Megapod, join us for the chaotic crossover episode nobody asked for. We discuss the intersection of politics and reality TV (read: Dancing with The Star...

As Alex heads off to eat, pray, love, 18 celebrities land on a lake to starve, cry, vomit. That’s right, Celebrity Treasure Island is back baby, and we couldn’t be more excited. Week one didn’t disappoint as our castaways looked for a loo, brokered alliances and battled the windiest wind that ever did wind. The beans are soaking, the comedians are joking, and Steve Price is Bloking. Thank God for...