Shows
The Featherston Booktown PodcastPioneers of Hop & Grain: From Speight’s to Parrotdog and BeyondNew Zealand has had a long and storied love affair with beer, the world’s oldest drink. In Continuous Ferment, Greg Ryan charts that story – why we love it, why we love so much of it and how our tastes have changed. He talked with journalist and beer lover Denise Garland about a history “of rogues and inventors, big business power and small business determination, national debate and social upheaval."This episode was recorded at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May 2024.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2025-03-1154 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastThe Dilemma of a BibliophileBook collecting is variously described as a passion, an obsession and even a disease. Bookselling the same. Bookseller Ruth Shaw (Bookshop Dogs) and book collector Tony Eyre (The Book Collector) talked about the affliction/gift of bibliophilia, where it’s taken them in their lives and the dilemma of where to put all the books. Fellow bibliophile and Masterton bookseller David Hedley was in the chair.This episode was recorded at the 2024 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2025-02-2555 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastThe New Zealand WarsIt has been said the New Zealand Wars were more significant in shaping our country than Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This session explores whether that is true and digs deeper into a troubled time in our history. With sociology academic Joanna Kidman (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa), historians and authors Chris Pugsley and Vincent O’Malley, former director of the Waitangi Tribunal Buddy Mikaere (Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Ranginui) and author of Patu, Gavin Bishop (Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Mahuta, Tainui), with Peter Biggs moderating.This discussion was recorded at the Featherston Bo...2025-02-111h 31The Featherston Booktown PodcastAuthor Spotlight: Carl HaymanWhat does it mean to be a modern All Black, expected to perform at a mental and physical peak when player body mass has increased by 30% since the 1960s and new research is showing the horrifying impact of head injuries on rugby player brains? All Black 1000, Carl Hayman, wrote Head On after discovering his injuries had led to early-onset dementia. He joined his co-author Dylan Cleaver to talk about the new realities of the sport we love.This episode was recorded at the 2024 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2025-01-281h 03The Featherston Booktown PodcastAuthor Spotlight: The Secret Life Of Steve BrauniasSteve Braunias is an author, columnist, journalist and literary editor of Newsroom. He is also one of the country’s leading writers of satire and his 2021 book Missing Persons won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non-Fiction. Linda Clark drilled down into what makes the Tauranga-born writer tick, including the feeling behind the writing of his latest book that he was a missing person himself.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2025-01-1458 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastOn the Couch: Tāme ItiTāme Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe, Waikato, Te Arawa) is known as many things – activist, artist, actor, author, terrorist and cyclist. He rose to prominence as a member of the protest group Ngā Tamatoa more than 40 years ago, becoming a key figure in the Māori protest movement and cultural renaissance. Community advocate and social change activist Denis O’Reilly was in conversation with one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most captivating and controversial figures.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2024-12-1256 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastWomen On A Mission: Linda Clark and Moana ManiapotoLinda Clark and Moana Maniapoto are huge admirers of each other’s work. Fan girls, even. Moana is a musician, activist and journalist, and Linda is a lawyer, writer, and former broadcaster. In a delightful kōrero of the heart and mind, the two women interviewed each other about the various strands that make up their lives and how they weave them into their own kete to carry the gifts of the world and make change where they can.This episode was recorded at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May 2024.https://www.booktown.org.nz...2024-11-241h 03The Featherston Booktown PodcastPasifika Power 2024Be thrilled and amazed by spoken word poetry created by Pasifika rangatahi at a three-day Young Readers Programme workshop and brought to the public for the first time. Poet Nafanua Kersel hosted the event, which also included more poetry readings and a panel talanoa about the life and dreams of the South Auckland Poets’ Collective with co-founders Grace Teuila Taylor, Ramon Narayan, Daren “dk” Kamali, and was moderated by Ole Maiava.This episode was recorded at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May 2024.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2024-11-081h 18The Featherston Booktown PodcastWord Gets Around: Songwriting With Delaney Davidson & Barry SaundersDelaney Davidson and Barry Saunders are storytellers who use music as their medium, and coming together as collaborators has taken them in new and exciting directions. “These songs just started appearing out of the kitchen air,” said Davidson, “and we were grabbing them as fast as we could.” They talked with Lucy Cooper at the Karukatea Festival in May 2024 about “the strange territory” they share making music together.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2024-10-2359 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastTe Tiriti o Waitangi: What Tangata Whenua SayTe Tiriti o Waitangi remains as important today as it did when it was first signed 184 years ago, but how can Aotearoa honour it, what are the key challenges and where do tangata whenua stand? Papawai Marae kaumātua Paora Ammunson (Ngāti Kahungunu/Rangitāne) welcomed the Featherston Booktown audience and Tāme Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe, Waikato, Te Arawa), Moana Maniapoto (Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) and Te Maire Tau (Ngāi Tahu) shared their views on the Treaty today, as moderated by Shane Te Pou (Ngāi Tūhoe).This episode was recorded at...2024-10-081h 25The Featherston Booktown PodcastThe Crewe MurdersThe murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains Aotearoa New Zealand’s most famous cold case. It spawned two trials, two appeals, a Royal Commission finding of police corruption and a free pardon, and still the killer has not been found. Journalists Kirsty Johnston and James Hollings conducted their own investigation in their new book The Crewe Murders and talked with Missing Persons author, Steve Braunias at this year's Karukatea Festival.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2024-09-2457 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastThe Magic of MushroomsLiv Sisson (Fungi of Aotearoa) and Zach Cotogni (Blue Honey) are on a mission to show Aotearoa New Zealand how important fungi are for the mental and physical health of human beings and the health of the planet. From lichen to psilocybin, they explored the world of mushrooms with renowned forager Helen Lehndorf (A Forager’s Life).This episode was recorded at the 2024 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2024-09-1049 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastOn the Couch: Gregory O'BrienIf anyone in Aotearoa New Zealand deserves the description polymath (a person of wide knowledge and learning), it is Gregory O’Brien. Not only did Gregory win at this years Ockham awards, for best illustrated non-fiction with Don Binney: Flight Path, this poet, artist, art curator, and writer of fiction and non-fiction, also flew to Manchester, UK to set up an exhibition of his artwork.He has received numerous literary awards and an ONZM. During our Festival this year, Gregory was joined by author and art writer Catharina van Bohemen as she investigated the...2024-08-2757 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastWhere's Left? What Does That Even Mean?The left is at a crossroads in New Zealand – the Labour Party struggles to be relevant while the radical left gathers strength in other parties. Do lefties want the traditional face of the Labour Party anymore? How do the Greens and Te Pāti Māori present themselves as credible options to govern? John Campbell asked the hard questions of trade unionist Craig Renney, activist and CEO of Childfund Josie Pagani, former Green MP Sue Bradford and journalist and communications consultant Chris Wikaira (Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāpuhi). This session was recorded live at the 2024 Featherston Booktow...2024-08-131h 26The Featherston Booktown PodcastEpisode 14: Warren MaxwellThis week, Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin sat down with musician/teacher/local legend - Featherston’s own Warren Maxwell. Warren has made a significant contribution to music both in New Zealand and internationally as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and a driving force behind many musical projects including Trinity Roots, Fat Freddy's Drop and Little Bushman. Warren is also a longtime friend of Featherston Booktown and a presenter at this year’s Young Reader’s Programme.https://www.booktown.org.nz/2024-05-0232 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastEpisode 13: Kirsty JohnstonThe murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains Aotearoa New Zealand’s most famous cold case. It spawned two trials, two appeals, a Royal commission finding of police corruption and a free pardon, and still the killer has not been found. Journalists Kirsty Johnston and James Hollings conducted their own investigation in their new book The Crewe Murders.Kirsty talks to Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin about the infamous murder case and the state of journalism today.Content warning: this episode contains mentions of murder an...2024-04-2637 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastEpisode 12: Dame Susan DevoyDame Susan Elizabeth Anne Devoy is a New Zealand former squash player and senior public servant. As a squash player, she was dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Open on four occasions. She served as New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner from 2013 to 2018. Her new book ‘Dame Susy D’ is out now from Allen & Unwin.Dame Susan is the Guest Speaker for the Fish’n’Chip Supper at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival. On this episode, she joins Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin to talk about the new book and her varied career.2024-04-1833 minThe Featherston Booktown PodcastEpisode 11: Fighting for a World that Does Not Yet Exist - The Necessity of Activism.As a word, “activism” is only about 100 years old – yet activists and movements for change have become a regular feature of social, civic, and political life in the 21st century. However, activism is about human beings motivating and confronting other human beings to change, thereby being a fundamental human activity. Four prominent Aotearoa New Zealand activists, Denis O’Reilly, Dame Catherine Healy, Liz Mellish and Shaneel Lal share their absorbing personal and political journeys of words and actions with Guyon Espiner.This episode was recorded live at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May 2023.The audio wa...2024-02-271h 31The Featherston Booktown PodcastEpisode 10: More Than a Magpie - The Novels of Catherine ChidgeyCatherine Chidgey has been one of this country's leading fiction writers for a quarter of a century, producing novels that are both provocative and sublime, starting with In a Fishbone Church and including two novels set in Nazi Germany. Her Ockham Book Awards shortlisted book The Axeman's Carnival, has astonished readers with its magpie narrator and been called a 'Kiwi Gothic classic'. She has been awarded the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Glenn Schaeffer Prize in Modern Letters and the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize. Catherine Chidgey was in conversation with Linda Clark at the 2023 Karukatea Festival.This...2024-01-301h 06