RNZ: The Podcast Hour

A chance encounter fom the past in 'All The Best', tech show 'Reply All' solves online mysteries and tells stories of internet life, find otherworldly laughs in 'This Paranormal Life', and 'The Soundtrack Show' explores the role music plays in creating the fictional universe of our favourite films.

'The Soundtrack Show' looks at the role that music plays in creating the fictional universe in some of our favourite films. From Jaws to Star Wars, from Psycho to Jurassic Park...and beyond! We play a clip from the first of three episodes devoted to the first part of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of The Ring (2001), with a film score written by composer Howard Shore. And 'The Soundtrack Show' is hosted by David Collins.

Do you believe in aliens, or doubt that the Moon Landings ever took place? Me neither...but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying 'This Paranormal Life'! We share an excerpt from episode 67 of 'This Paranormal Life' called 'Murderous Bunny Man Escapes Asylum' presented by Rory Powers and Kit Grier.

For some reason Ben can't listen to one of his favourite podcasts, 99% Invisible with Roman Mars, on the car stereo of his Mazda. But why?! We play some of 'The Roman Mars Mazda Virus', episode 140 of 'Reply All' from Gimlet Media hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman.

Have you ever got an unexpected message or a social media notification from a name from your past? One day Stephen got a Facebook alert from somebody very special to him, who he'd lost contact with 27 years before. We share some of Carey Scheer's story 'The Only Hole In My Life' produced by Tegan Nicholls and Selena Shannon, as featured on the 'All The Best' podcast.

'When We Got To The Seventh' is a quirky fiction show [1:54-13:57], having fun with self improvement in 'Personal Best' [14:01-25:19], celebrating life's simple pleasures in 'The Pleasures of Brecht' [25:19-38:28], and where does the idea of pink for girls and blue for boys from? 'Every Little Thing' has the answer [38:28:-47:28].

Where did the idea of the colour blue for boys and pink for girls actually come from? It's a question listener Elle Ve poses on the 'Every Little Thing' helpline and it sends host Flora Lichtmann down a rabbit hole of discovery. We play some of an episode of 'Every Little Thing' from Gimlet Media called 'Pink for Girls, Blue for Boys - Why?', and the show is hosted by Flora Lichtmann and also made by Annette Heist and Phoebe Flanigan.

After years of exile from Germany through the Second World War, in 1954 the German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote a simple poem called Vergnügungen or a list of pleasures. 'The Pleasures of Brecht' is produced by Phil Smith who also composed the music (and recorded it in Brecht's house in Germany), and is a Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4, and it appeared in its 'Seriously...' podcast.

Have you ever wanted to be a better You?! 'Personal Best' is a Canadian show playing around with the expectations and the conventions of the self help genre. Your life coaches and spirit guides in this quest to be the best are Rob Norman and Andrew Norton. In an episode called 'How To Master The Art of Persuasion' they take on the case of Colleen, who's offered to sell her brother-in-law's paintings but has omitted to mention she's got zero experience and a naturally retiring personality! 'Personal Best' from The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is hosted by Rob Norman and Andrew Norton, and produced by Jess Shane and Yasmine Mathurin.

Emma Clarke is a voiceover artist and 'When We Got To The Seventh' is her fiction podcast that revolves around an encounter with a seventh something: it could be a marriage, a planet, even a victim. We play some of an episode called 'I'm Just A Very Maternal Person', written and performed by Emma Clarke and produced by Eddie Delag.

'Paradise': The unsolved murder of 2 British backpackers [1:45-13:30], 'The Cut on Tuesdays': Family money [13:31-29:38], Word nerds? Try 'Something Rhymes with Purple' [29:39-39:15] and designing a dream city in 'Nice Try!' [39:16-47:21]

Nice Try! is a 7-part series looking at the elusive idea of utopia- a perfect society or place- and how this concept's been interpreted at various points in history, from Hitler's plans for Berlin, to enclosed biospheres populated by environmentalists. And- spoiler alert- some kind of failure or disappointment usually awaits when the vision meets the reality! We share some of an episode about the city of Chandigarh in northern India, designed in the 1950s by the famous Modernist architect Le Corbusier at the request of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nice Try! Utopian is hosted by Avery Trufelman and produced by Curbed and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Word nerds, Scrabble geeks, and language freaks are going to enjoy 'Something Rhymes with Purple'! Maggie Hough emailed me at pods@rnz.co.nz about it, as it's one of her favourite shows. It's an informative and amusing look at language hosted by two word nerds, Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth, who are also regulars on the long-running British quiz show 'Countdown'. We share an episode where they reflect on whips, filibusters, and some of the other strange expressions used around Parliament. And 'Something Rhymes With Purple' is hosted by Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth and produced by Paul Smith for Somethin' Else.

The Cut is the section of New York Magazine targeted at "women with stylish minds". Visit its website today and you'll find stories covering politics, relationships, work, and equality, alongside beauty, style and fashion tips. Its podcast 'The Cut on Tuesdays' covers similarly wide-ranging territory. We share some of an episode of 'The Cut on Tuesdays' (from New York Magazine and Gimlet Media) called 'Family Money', and speak to the show's host Molly Fischer about the show's approach to story telling.

Back in 1978 the bodies of two British backpackers were found in the sea off the Guatemalan coast in central America. It was obvious that Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton had been been murdered, but for nearly 40 years nobody was arrested over their killings. In 'Paradise', Stephen Nolan and Dan Maudsley try to get to the truth of who killed Chris and Peta. We play some of Episode 2 of Paradise from BBC Radio 5 Live called Death In Paradise.

Visiting a threatened Hawaiian ecosystem in 'Offshore', 'Judge John Hodgman' litigates domestic squabbles, classical music mysteries are uncovered in 'Case Notes', and the 'Outside' podcast considers what a healthy relationship with technology could look like.

Even if you worry about using your smartphone too much, the idea of simply unplugging or ditching it altogether just isn't an option for most of us. So how can we strike the right balance between our tech usage and important stuff like interacting with our family, friends and the world around us when we're not looking at a screen? It's a topic the 'Outside' podcast gets into in a new 4-part series called 'The Nature Cure'. In the first episode, Christopher Keyes speaks to digital minimalist Cal Newport, who wants us to radically re-imagine our relationship with technology.

Black magic, theft, grave digging, gruesome crimes...some of our most famous classical composers led dark and interesting lives. It certainly wasn't all powdered wigs and harpsichord recitals for genteel society! We share some of 'Haydn's Missing Head' from Case Notes hosted by Tim Lihoreau for Classic FM.

Next time you have a trivial disagreement don't just bicker and squabble about it, have it properly decided by a Minor Television Personality and self-certified 'fake internet judge'! That's the compelling appeal of 'Judge John Hodgman', a long-running show that involves the actor and writer John Hodgman adjudicating on real-life disputes that tend towards the minor and the mundane. In 'Open House Arrest' (produced by Jennifer Marmor for Maximum Fun), Eric is sharing loads of online real estate listings each day with his girlfriend Elena.

Only a select few visit the distant Hawaiian island group, Papahanaumokuakea. It's a massive but remote conservation area, covering ten islands and almost one million square kilometres of the Pacific. Nathan and Alana Eagle recorded a visit there for the podcast 'Offshore'. We share some of the episode 'Our Journey To The Last Wild Place' from the 'Offshore' podcast produced by Jessica Terrell and April Estrellon with field reporters Nathan and Alana Eagle.

A true crime parody in 'This Sounds Serious', 'Extremities' takes you to the world's most isolated places. Solving screen time struggles in the ABC's 'Parental As Anything', and reviewing every Black film ever made in 'The Micheaux Mission'.

Robert Monroe emailed us at pods@rnz.co.nz to tell us about his favorite podcast, "The Micheaux Mission". The show's name comes from the pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux and in it hosts Len Webb and Vince Williams are on a mission to watch and review every single Black film ever made. We play some of 'The Micheaux Mission' episode about 'Daughters Of The Dust', an independent film from 1991 that's written, directed and produced by Julie Dash, and set on an island off the coast of South Carolina in 1902

How to manage screen time is a delicate topic in many households: like how much is too much? Are some screen-based activities better than others? And how can parents make sure they stick to the rules themselves and don't end up looking like total hypocrites!? The ABC's 'Parental As Anything' tries to find some helpful tips and solutions to everyday parenting dilemmas. And with research suggesting that children in Australia are spending 8 hours every day in front of a screen,the show's host, parenting educator Maggie Dent, asks digital wellbeing expert Dr Kristy Goodwin to tackle some of the challenges of raising kids in the digital age.

With 50 people, 75 buildings, and an occasionally dark past, Pitcairn Island's about as isolated as it's possible to get on Earth; more than 5,500 kilometres from New Zealand and just about slap bang in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. A new show called 'Extremities' finds out what it's like to live in some of earth's most remote and extreme settlements. And Pitcairn- this tiny British Overseas Territory with close ties to New Zealand- is the show's first stop.

'This Sounds Serious' is a comedy fiction show sending up the true crime genre and its conventions. In 'Missing Melissa', host Gwen Radford finds herself on the trail of America's most missing person: Melissa Turner's a 28-year-old from Idaho who goes AWOL so often she's earned the nickname 'Mel-issing'. Every other time it's happened she's shown up unharmed, but with Melissa going walkabout yet again there are fears that this time something sinister might have happened to her.

Featuring 'The Shrink Next Door', 'Inside The Comedian with David Reed', 'True Crime New Zealand' and 'Borrowed'.

'Borrowed' from Brooklyn Public Library in New York shares the stories happening between the shelves that hold the more than 4 million books in its collection. Like any good library it has reading recommendations, but it's not all about the books! Recorded in the library's own recording studio that you can book with your library card, 'Borrowed' also celebrates the other things libraries do for their communities...like helping to record and archive local history. We play some of an episode of Borrowed called 'Oil Spills and Moldy Paper' hosted by Krissa Corbett Cavouras and Felice Belle, and written and produced by Virginia Marshall.

A new locally produced true crime show- made by a husband and wife team in their spare time- has been rising up the New Zealand podcast charts to appear alongside big names like Joe Rogan, Stuff You Should Know, and The Daily. We speak to Sirius Rust (not his real name!) who initially thought that success would be getting just a few listeners.

Do you ever hear celebrity interviews that sound a little bit forced and scripted, like they're trotting out the same old answers to questions they've heard a hundred times before? If so, try a dose of 'Inside The Comedian' with David Reed. It's an interview show with a refreshing difference: the host and the guests all ad lib and make up the questions and the answers on the fly! We play extracts from two episodes of 'Inside The Comedian' featuring Max and Ivan and John Finnemore,hosted by David Reed and produced by Ed Morrish.

Doctor: patient, lawyer: client- there are some special relationships where we trust a professional to do the right thing and to act in our best interests at all times. The relationship between a psychiatrist and the person going to see them shouldn't be any different. But as 'The Shrink Next Door' shows, things can go badly wrong when we turn to the wrong person for help. We share some of Part 1 of 'The Shrink Next Door' called 'Welcome To The Neighbourhood' written and presented by Joe Nocera and produced by Wondery in partnership with Bloomberg.

'Revisionist History' challenges conventional wisdom. Then what humans can learn from the animal kingdom in '30 Animals That Made Us Smarter', 'The Beautiful Brain' investigates the link between head injuries and sport and music, fandom, and the creative process is explored in 'I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats'.

The Mountain Goats' front man, the singer and songwriter John Darnielle, talks about the songs on his latest album 'In League With Dragons' with the writer and podcaster Joseph Fink. Fink's long-running audio series 'Welcome to Night Vale' imagines life in the very strange desert town of Night Vale, through news reports, announcements and ads on the local radio station.

'The Beautiful Brain' (Audible) is a series about the brain and how it gets affected by the sports we play. The show focusses on the degenerative brain condition called CTE (short for chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which shows up in an increased risk of dementia, problems with memory, depression, aggression and personality changes. We play some of Episode 2 of 'The Beautiful Brain' called 'An Inconvenient Truth' featuring interviews with Dr Bennett Omalu, the man who made the breakthrough linking CTE to repeated blows to the head in sport back in 2002, and Ann McKee, the director of Boston University's CTE Center.

From designing better camouflage to making quieter trains, we humans can learn lots from the animal kingdom. This growing area of research- called biomimicry- is explored in a series called '30 Animals That Made Us Smarter' (BBC World Service).

With the fourth season of Malcolm Gladwell's popular show 'Revisionist History' (Pushkin Industries) starting this week, we share two past episodes. 'Divide and Conquer' tells the story of how a single punctuation mark could have changed the course of US history. And in 'Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis', Gladwell plays musical detective, enlisting the help of the musician Jack White to understand why Elvis Presley kept botching the lyrics to one of his most famous songs.

Getting to grips with death and bereavement, the problem with tiki bars, why parole fails, an obsession with escalators, and the challenge of designing Indian army rations.

Feeding an army during wartime's always been a huge logistical challenge. And those challenges were magnified for the Indian army in the Second World War. From an Indian podcast called 'The Intersection', which explores stories at the meeting point of culture, science and history, we share some of an episode called 'War And Peas'.

'People Movers' is a one woman passion project, an independent podcast mining a very particular niche: escalators! Lindsey Green was commuting through Melbourne station when she started noticing that some escalators seemed to be moving faster than others, depending on the time of day and how busy it was. So in her spare time outside her job in community radio she's researching this often overlooked form of public transport.

Parole- that intermediate step between prison and freedom- doesn't get much interest or positive coverage in the mainstream press. In the northeastern US state of New Hampshire, about half of all people on parole end up back in prison within three years. So in 'Supervision' (New Hampshire Public Radio) reporter Emily Corwin considers why parole goes wrong for so many people by following someone going through the process himself.

With their blend of kitsch decor, exotic drinks, hula skirts and loud shirts, nothing said fun quite like the tiki bars and Polynesian-themed cocktail lounges that sprang up in the US back in the Fifties and the Sixties. Paola Mardo's an audio producer based in California whose show 'Long Distance' tells stories about the Filipino diaspora. She first got interested in tiki bars when she found out about all the Filipino bartenders who got jobs at these drinking spots. She even did her university thesis about them! And with these bars now experiencing a bit of a revival, she reviews their problematic cultural heritage.

'Death: a podcast about love, grief and hope' (Newshub) is a new locally produced show, that tries to find some answers about how we can cope with grief, and how we can help others do the same. And the story's told by a man who's experienced incomprehensible loss himself. In 2011, Mark Longley's daughter Emily was murdered in England when she was 17 years old. This bewildering event, Mark's attempts to come to terms with it, and audio grabbed from home videos of the young Emily, give the show much of its emotional resonance and its driving force. But it's not just his story: he speaks to others who have lost loved ones in suicides, illnesses, accidents, and to old age.

Overthinkers unite in 'Adrift'. 'A Way With Words' explores interesting words and phrases. 'Brexitcast' gives you a behind-the-scenes view of Brexit. And 'Here Be Monsters' offers an anxiety-laden look into our fears.