Podcasts about Massey University

The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has shone a spotlight on political violence in the US, and around the world. The 31-year-old was shot at a Utah university last week in front of thousands of people the alleged killer is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who’s set to appear in court this week. While his motive remains unclear, the killing has sparked conversations about the widening gap between left and right politics. It’s also highlighted the deep, dark depths of the internet, and how young people can be radicalised online. Today on The Front Page, Massey University emeritus professor and sociologist Paul Spoonley is with us to dissect the inner workings of those who perpetrate political violence, and how we might be able to stop them. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsEditor/Producer: Richard MartinProducer: Jane YeeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand appears to be a gateway for migration to other countries. Latest Stats NZ data shows there were 14 thousand migrant arrivals and nearly 10 thousand departures in the year to July. Massey University sociologist Paul Spoonley told Ryan Bridge we're seeing more people migrate to New Zealand, who then move on to Australia. He says the Australians have been actively recruiting here for a number of years, offering better salaries and pension conditions. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aotearoa continues to have one of the highest leptospirosis rates among developed countries, with flooding (notably the Hawkes Bay floods in 2023) being one of the main catalysts.  A recent study shows that other causes include exposure to rodents, working with uncovered cuts, and handling of livestock. The carried lepto strains are currently not protected by any existing vaccines. Last week, producer Faith spoke to researcher and epidemiologist Professor Jackie Benschop from Massey University about the disease, and what needs to be done. 

This week on the Tuesday Wire... For Dear Science, our expert, Allan Blackman, chatted with us about the Voyager One getting really hot in space, breakfast impacting life expectancy, and nuclear fusion in Palladium metal.  For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News director Joel spoke to MP Carl Bates the recent Budget documents have shown an almost $8.5 billion hole in future funding, the government's expansion of support for those rough sleeping, and changes to Auckland Transport. Producer Faith spoke to researcher and epidemiologist from Massey University, Professor Jackie Benschop, about the changing risk factors of leptospirosis in Aotearoa. She also spoke to tax expert Nick Miller from Tax Justice Aotearoa about big tech companies' tax avoidance, and what steps the government needs to take to address it.

There's a belief the number of people studying to become teachers needs to keep rising to meet demand. There's been about 3,500 new domestic enrolments to initial teacher training so far this year – up 30% compared with the same time last year. Massey University Professor of Teacher Education John O'Neill told Mike Hosking it's not a surprise, as numbers typically rise when there's economic downturn. He says forecasting shows there will be an extra 100 thousand students in school by 2030. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwis have racked up more than a billion dollars in green loans for energy efficient items like EVs, solar panels, and heat pumps. BNZ, ASB, and ANZ all lend up to $80 thousand on a 1% interest rate over three years. Massey University Banking Expert Claire Matthews says these are small loans, meaning the banks are pumping them out, while not actually lending a huge amount. She told Mike Hosking customers still have to go through the same process as loans with higher interest rates, and go through affordability checks. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Sandra Alday is joined by Manomita Das of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University. Together, they discuss what motivates people's behaviors before and after a disaster strikes. How do small acts of kindness impact the disaster landscape? Who is responsible for taking care of risks? And are we better off taking action as individuals or as communities? Learn more in this latest episode. 

Steve Morris - recently retired Professor of Animal Science at Massey University, reflects on beef breakthroughs over his career including measuring the buffering capacity of the cow, condition scoring and how good feeding and grazing management is key to getting the most from new technologies like wearables. And his work in helping small-scale beef farmers in Asia. Tune in daily for the latest and greatest REX rural content on your favourite streaming platform, visit rexonline.co.nz and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.

A banking expert believes changes to capital requirements would impact home loans and other lending. The Reserve Bank's seeking feedback on proposals to lower the requirements. The Government is concerned the current settings are inhibiting economic growth. Head of Massey University's Finance school, Dr Claire Matthews, says a lot of people have said the bank's gone too far with those requirements. "It's just taken the Government intervention to actually force them to have another look at it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's REX Daily Podcast, Jo Grigg talks with Steve Morris, recently retired Professor of Animal Science, Massey University, about his 50 year career in beef. Dom George talks with Emma Crutchley about her trip to Singapore and New Zealands food future. Tune in daily for the latest and greatest REX rural content on your favourite streaming platform, visit rexonline.co.nz and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.

A banking expert believes changes to capital requirements would impact home loans and other lending. The Reserve Bank's seeking feedback on proposals to lower the requirements. The Government is concerned the current settings are inhibiting economic growth. Head of Massey University's Finance school, Dr Claire Matthews, says a lot of people have said the bank's gone too far with those requirements. "It's just taken the Government intervention to actually force them to have another look at it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Dr Zoe Swithenbank speaks to Dr June Leung, a senior researcher at the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre at Massey University in New Zealand. The interview covers June's systematic review and meta-analysis on the association of parental or caregiver alcohol use with child maltreatment.· An overview of the review and the definition and forms of child maltreatment [01:00]· Why it is important to look at all forms of child maltreatment [03:48]· Quantifying the harms of alcohol and identifying preventable risk factors [05:00]· The take home messages of the study [06:23]· What June's findings do and do not suggest for the wider alcohol literature [07:28]· What the implications of the findings are for policy and practice [08:29]· The challenges in conducting the review [11:02]· The limitations of the study [13:08]· The surprising aspects of conducting this review [15:12]About June Leung: Dr Leung is Senior Research Officer at SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, based in Auckland, New Zealand. Her research focuses on global alcohol policy, alcohol industry influence, and the epidemiology of chronic diseases. She is also a public health physician by training and a fellow of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine and the Hong Kong College of Community Medicine. She completed her undergraduate medical degree (MBBS), Master of Public Health (MPH) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) at The University of Hong Kong. Dr Leung has no conflicts of interest to declare.About Zoe Swithenbank: Dr Zoe Swithenbank is a senior research associate at Lancaster University, currently working on a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded research project exploring treatment pathways for co-occurring alcohol and mental health problems. She recently completed her SSA funded PhD at Liverpool John Moores University on behavioural interventions for smoking cessation in substance use treatment services. Prior to starting her academic career, Zoe worked in health services including substance use, mental health, and homeless services, and these experiences shaped her research interests, as well as her commitment to the inclusion of people with lived experience in research.Original review: The association of parental or caregiver alcohol use with child maltreatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70055The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fact a terrorist attack on New Zealand remains a future possibility is coming as no surprise to one security expert. A Security Intelligence Service report states we're facing one of the most challenging national security environments in recent times. It's kept our terrorism threat at low, indicating an attack is realistically possible. Massey University's John Battersby told Ryan Bridge he's often been critical of Kiwis' complacency. He says all of the things listed in this threat assessment have existed for quite some time. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From elephants in the room to blue moons, Nights' resident sociolinguist, Dr Julia de Bres from Massey University, is going the extra mile and talking about idioms.

The world's eyes will be on New Zealand over the next month as it weighs up a decision to recognise Palestinian statehood. Australia's declared it will recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. It's following suit behind other Western countries including the UK, France, and Canada. Massey University defence and security studies professor John Battersby told Andrew Dickens there's widespread public opinion that something has to be done to pull Israel's action back. He says there's internal dissent within Israel itself over the effect of its actions, so any move in this direction may be able to temper that. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast 2025 Tuesday 12th of August, the government's deciding whether to formally recognise Palestine as a state, Massey University's John Battersby tells Andrew the difference it will make. Queenstown tourism is booming; Mayor Glyn Lewers shares his thoughts. There's a call for the Government to take immediate action in the gas sector as supplies reach a crisis point, major gas users group spokesperson Len Houwers tells Andrew what the Government can do. Plus, Australia Correspondent Lesley Yeomans has the latest on Australia recognising Palestinian statehood. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For over a decade, a pair of huge eagles ridden by Gandalf the wizard greeted people as they arrived in the city famous for the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. But no longer. Today, Wellington Airport unveiled its brand new centerpiece created by Weta Workshop and it's already proving a hit with locals and visitors. Massey University journalism student Kajal Nair reports.

A major new study published in a British medical journal has found that verbal abuse in childhood can leave mental health scars as deep and long-lasting as those caused by physical abuse Researchers pooled data from seven relevant studies, involving over 20,000 adults from England and Wales While childhood physical abuse has halved in recent decades, reports of verbal abuse are on the rise the study found that roughly 20% of those born after 1969 reported childhood verbal abuse, compared to under 12% of those born before 1950. Professor Kirsty Ross, from the School of Psychology at Massey University chats to Jesse.

The AI revolution has arrived, but fire safety engineers face a critical dilemma: how to leverage powerful AI tools while protecting confidential project data. Professor Ruggiero Rino Lovreglio from Massey University and Dr. Amir Rafe from Utah State University join us to explore the world of local Large Language Models (LLMs) - AI systems you can run privately on your own computer without sending sensitive information to the cloud. While cloud-based AI like ChatGPT raises serious privacy concerns (as Sam Altman recently admitted, user prompts could be surrendered to courts if requested), local models offer a secure alternative that doesn't compromise confidentiality.We break down things you should know about setting up your own AI assistant: from hardware requirements and model selection to fine-tuning for fire engineering tasks. Our guests explain how even models with "just" a few billion parameters can transform your workflow while keeping your data completely private. They share their groundbreaking work developing specialized fire engineering datasets and testing these tools on real-world evacuation problems.The conversation demystifies technical concepts like parameters, temperature settings, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and fine-tuning - making them accessible to engineers without computer science backgrounds. Most importantly, we address why fire engineering remains resilient to AI takeover (with only a 19% risk of automation) while exploring how these tools can enhance rather than replace human expertise.Whether you're AI-curious or AI-skeptical, this episode provides practical insights for integrating these powerful tools into your engineering practice without compromising the confidentiality that defines professional work. Download Ollama today and take your first steps toward a more efficient, AI-augmented engineering workflow that keeps your data where it belongs - on your computer.Further reading: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/9780784486191.034Ollama: https://ollama.com/Hugging face: https://huggingface.co/Rino's Youtube with guide videos: https://www.youtube.com/@rinoandcaroline----The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

In this episode of The Pet Food Science Podcast Show, Dr. Emma Bermingham from Ember Consultancy in New Zealand breaks down the role of animal-derived fermentable substrates in pet nutrition. She explains how collagen, cartilage, hides, and even hair can support gut health, boost sustainability, and offer functional benefits in pet food formulations. Discover which ingredients work best across different diet formats and why they're gaining attention. Listen now on all major platforms!"Animal tissues like cartilage and collagen can ferment similarly to prebiotic fibers and generate beneficial short-chain fatty acids like butyrate."Meet the guest: Dr. Emma Bermingham earned her Ph.D. in Animal Science from Massey University and has held research roles across New Zealand, the UK, France, and Australia. With a strong focus on gut health, pet nutrition, and ingredient sustainability, she now leads Ember Consultancy. Emma helps pet food companies integrate science-driven strategies for optimal health outcomes.Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!Dr. Anne Huss: Seaweed in Pet FoodDr. Joseph Wakshlag: Hydration and Health | Ep. 107What will you learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:04) Introduction(03:28) Animal fermentable substrates(07:11) Fermentation in cats vs dogs(09:35) Microbiome adaptations(12:27) Diet format considerations(14:13) Regulatory and sourcing issues(24:28) Final QuestionsThe Pet Food Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by innovative companies like: Scoular* Trouw Nutrition* Kemin- Biorigin- Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition

A banking expert believes new capital for Kiwibank will shift the dial but won't completely close the gap with its Australian competitors. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced the bank's parent company is being allowed to raise half a billion dollars from private investors to help it close in on the four major banks. Massey University banking expert Claire Matthews told Ryan Bridge Kiwibank is already making a difference, but can't see the announcement making a big enough splash. She says enabling it to grow will help, but the competition issue in the market is being overstated. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump has criticised wind energy during his visit to Scotland. Massey University's Emeritus Professor of Sustainable Energy and Climate Mitigation Ralph Sims spoke to Corin Dann.

Banks are sounding the alarm over a new kind of subscription trap. Instead of a typical ‘forgot to cancel scenario', businesses are instead selling goods and services that hook customers into reoccurring subscription payments. Westpac says it's stopped nearly 20,000 customers from being fleeced in the past three months, stopping more than $25 million in unwanted charges. Massey University banking expert Claire Matthews told Mike Hosking that the problem with this type of situation is it's difficult to cancel the subscription. Some companies, she says, straight up disappear when people try to cancel, so it's easier to stop the payment upfront. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tower is ending its multi-policy discounts, with the insurer claiming the level of risk is unacceptable for meeting regulatory requirements. The insurer previously offered people who bought two eligible policies up to 10 percent off their premiums and up to 20 percent off if people had three or more eligible policies. Massey University marketing professor Bodo Lang explains why these changes are taking place. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tower is ending its multi-policy discounts, with the insurer claiming the level of risk is unacceptable for meeting regulatory requirements. The insurer previously offered people who bought two eligible policies up to 10 percent off their premiums and up to 20 percent off if people had three or more eligible policies. Massey University marketing professor Bodo Lang explains why these changes are taking place. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With 11 mining projects on the Govt's fast-track list, Massey University's geography professor Glenn Banks says the economic returns from mining are rarely scrutinised; and they are inseparable from environmental impacts.

The Internal Affairs Minister's being criticised for allowing improper destruction of religious texts from the National Library. The Government plans to shred around half a million books which include the Bible, the Qur'an, and the Torah, to save on storage costs. Massey University Professor Emeritus of Religion Peter Lineham told Heather de Plessis-Allan religious texts should be offered to the relevant communities. He says Minister Brooke van Velden suggested they can do what they want with the books because New Zealand's secular. But Lineham says being secular doesn't mean being careless with other people's beliefs. Lineham told du Plessis-Allan religions have strict beliefs about how texts should be handled and destroyed - if at all. He says only preserving New Zealand books fails to recognise our society contains —and is stemmed from— many cultures. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After being stumped during Midweek Mediawatch with Hayden Donnell, Emile Donovan calls up Nights' resident sociolinguist, associate professor Julia de Bres from Massey University, to weigh in on whether the plural for a Kiwi (the national identity, not the bird) is Kiwi, or Kiwis.

Save 20% on all Nuzest Products WORLDWIDE with the code MIKKIPEDIA at www.nuzest.co.nz, www.nuzest.com.au or www.nuzest.comThis week on the podcast, Mikki speaks to Dr Claire Badenhorst — researcher, associate professor and athlete — about the often-overlooked intersection of iron status, performance, and menstrual health in women. Claire's research dives deep into why iron deficiency is so prevalent among active women, and how factors like menstrual cycle phase, hormonal fluctuations, and even menstrual fluid loss can all influence iron markers.In this conversation, Claire breaks down complex concepts like luteal phase defect and hepcidin regulation in a way that's incredibly accessible — and relevant — for anyone who trains hard or supports female athletes. She also shares insights from her recent studies, including novel approaches to defining heavy menstrual bleeding and exploring whether menstrual fluid could be used as a tool to assess broader health markers. If you've ever felt fatigued, foggy, or flat in training and wondered if iron could be the missing piece — this one is a must-listen.Dr Claire Badenhorst is an associate professor in exercise physiology at Massey University and a leading researcher in female athlete health, with a particular focus on iron metabolism, menstrual health, and performance. With a background as both an endurance athlete and academic, Claire brings a unique perspective to her work — combining scientific rigour with real-world athletic insight.Her recent research explores the impact of menstrual cycle status on iron markers, the role of hepcidin in active women, and novel approaches to assessing menstrual fluid loss and defining heavy menstrual bleeding. Claire is passionate about improving the health, performance, and clinical care of active women by advancing the conversation around hormones, iron, and recovery.https://www.instagram.com/claire_bades/?hl=en Curranz Supplement: Use code MIKKIPEDIA to get 20% off your first order - go to www.curranz.co.nz  or www.curranz.co.uk to order yours Contact Mikki:https://mikkiwilliden.com/https://www.facebook.com/mikkiwillidennutritionhttps://www.instagram.com/mikkiwilliden/https://linktr.ee/mikkiwilliden

The New Zealand manufacturer of Jaffas, RJ's, has confirmed falling sales has meant it cannot keep making them. Massey University marketing professor Bodo Lang spoke to Corin Dann.

A new venomous spider has officially made New Zealand home. Massey University ecologist professor Steven Trewick spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

An invasive spider with a nasty bite is spreading its population across New Zealand - prompting warnings from experts. The noble false widow spider has been spotted in Christchurch, Nelson, Northland and Waikato. Massey University evolutionary ecology professor, Steven Trewick, says their bite is unlikely to kill you - but it's harmful if left untreated. "Like most spiders, they're not going to bite you because they're not interested in you...but they do have some toxins that are similar to the toxins black widows and redbacks have." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a belief Auckland's new Police training centre will make recruitment more accessible. The new space on the Massey University campus includes multiple classrooms, along with gym and recreation areas. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told Mike Hosking over the years some people have steered away from a career in Police because they couldn't go to Porirua for training. He says it's about creating more opportunities for those who might find Porirua for 20 weeks a challenge. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pregnancy scanning offers more than just lamb counts - it’s a powerful management tool that can lift lamb survival and save on feed. In episode 3 of Optimising Lamb Survival, a podcast series from Beef + Lamb New Zealand, The Country’s Rowena Duncum is joined by Associate Professor Rene Corner-Thomas from Massey University. They explore how to make the most of scanning - from identifying ewes needing extra support, to improving feeding strategies and pinpointing lambing dates. If you want to turn scanning results into real productivity gains, this episode is for you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to new data from the United Nations, fertility rates are on the decline and families are getting smaller. The cost of living, job insecurity and housing costs are among the main factors preventing families from having as many kids as they would have wanted, new reports claim. Massey University sociologist Paul Spoonley says women are also getting more educated and have more of a role in the workforce - and that's another factor. "Women are having children much later in life - and so as we see that first child, the age of the woman for the first child is creeping up." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Research has found that gender disparities in maths performance, favouring boys, shows up as early as four months into their formal schooling. Massey University professor Jodie Hunter spoke to Corin Dann.

Breeding hoggets can be a smart way to lift overall lamb numbers - but only if it’s done right. In episode two of Optimising Lamb Survival, a podcast series from Beef + Lamb New Zealand, we’re diving into hogget lambing. The Country’s Rowena Duncum sits down with Professor Paul Kenyon, Head of the School of Agriculture and Environment at Massey University and Riverton farmer Geordie Eade, to talk feed planning through lactation, scanning strategies, health considerations, and the long-term impacts of breeding ewe hoggets. Whether you're already breeding hoggets or just considering it, this episode is packed with practical advice to help make the right decisions on-farm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Breeding hoggets can be a smart way to lift overall lamb numbers - but only if it's done right. In episode two of Optimising Lamb Survival, a podcast series from Beef + Lamb New Zealand, we're diving into hogget lambing. The Country's Rowena Duncum sits down with Professor Paul Kenyon, Head of the School of Agriculture and Environment at Massey University and Riverton farmer Geordie Eade, to talk feed planning through lactation, scanning strategies, health considerations, and the long-term impacts of breeding ewe hoggets. Whether you're already breeding hoggets or just considering it, this episode is packed with practical advice to help make the right decisions on-farm.

Ruby Keegan is working on a prosthetic limb which can be worn in and out of the water - giving amputees the freedom to move easily between land to sea. She's just won Massey University's Grand Ideas competition for student-driven innovation that tackles real world challenges.

Pregnancy scanning offers more than just lamb counts - it's a powerful management tool that can lift lamb survival and save on feed. In episode 3 of Optimising Lamb Survival, a podcast series from Beef + Lamb New Zealand, The Country's Rowena Duncum is joined by Associate Professor Rene Corner-Thomas from Massey University.  They explore how to make the most of scanning - from identifying ewes needing extra support, to improving feeding strategies and pinpointing lambing dates. If you want to turn scanning results into real productivity gains, this episode is for you.

New Zealand is known has one of the most seismically active countries on the planet, however, there's no official early warning system in place. It's something that shocked Dr Chanthujan Chandrakumar, who has led a team of Massey University researchers to create a system that is a groundbreaking step toward earthquake preparedness. He speaks to Jesse about creating the Earthquake Early Warning System, which is the first real-time trial of a community-based EEWS in New Zealand.

The news is filled with chatter about language and gender these days - gender-neutral pronouns, sexist language, the C word in parliament - but what about the gender of language itself?  Associate professor Julia de Bres from Massey University joins Todd Zaner to break it down.

A staff member at Massey University couldn't pay his rent when he didn't receive his salary after the introduction of a new payroll system at the institution. The man then had to show proof of the payroll mixup to his disbelieving landlord. RNZ has spoken with university staff affected by payroll problems, which they say are causing financial stress. Reporter Jimmy Ellingham spoke to Lisa Owen.

New Zealand has come in last place in a study comparing alcohol control policies across 11 international jurisdictions. Lead co-author and Massey University professor Sally Caswell spoke to Corin Dann.

Net migration is expected to stay low, with global affairs keeping many people where they are. Stats NZ data shows there was a net migration gain of only 26 thousand in the year to March, down from more than 100 thousand the year before. It says the fall is mainly due to fewer migrant couples arriving, with a slight increase in departures. Massey University Sociologist Paul Spoonley told Mike Hosking a big question mark hovers around the migration figures. He says he's unsure whether the numbers will keep, or if it's going to keep dropping and New Zealand will see something similar to the net loss seen during the global financial crisis. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest New Zealand Drug Trends Survey shows people are increasingly turning to social media to buy their drugs, and gangs are dominating the meth market. Massey University professor Chris Wilkins spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Dr Catherine Knight is an award-winning author, environmental historian, and policy expert with extensive experience in both strategic and operational environmental governance. Currently working in strategic policy in the government sector, Catherine is also an Honorary Research Associate at Massey University's School of People, Environment and Planning. Her writing on wellbeing, post-growth economics, and environmental policy frequently appears on platforms such as Newsroom, The Spinoff, and Substack.Catherine has authored several acclaimed books exploring the relationships between people, nature, and politics, including Nature and Wellbeing in Aotearoa, which we explored with her in a previous podcast episode. Her latest work, An Uncommon Land, is her most personal to date, tracing Aotearoa's environmental and social history through the lens of her own ancestors. It explores powerful themes like enclosure, colonisation, and the gradual denaturing of landscapes.In this episode:Her background in policy and current work beyond authorshipAuckland's lost tram network and the role of holistic city designRethinking the economy to serve both people and planetWhat inspired Catherine to write An Uncommon LandThe personal journey of understanding her ancestors to shape present-day insightsThe vulnerability of writing a deeply personal bookThe concept of The Commons—its historical significance and near-erasure in modern AotearoaDebunking the myth of the "tragedy of the commons"How the shift to enclosure and private property continues to shape society todayThe enduring systems of war, colonisation, and environmental degradation—and their modern parallelsOur complicity in an economy driven by exploitation and consumptionHow New Zealand's celebrated progress has often depended on the extraction of resources and environmental destructionEnvisioning alternative futures: post-growth models, food security, and land as a shared inheritanceWhy we must redirect public investment toward collective wellbeingWhat Catherine and her daughter learned from travelling together in the process of researching this book.To view all the links to the websites and documents, visit the show notes on our website.Please support our work and enable us to deliver more content by buying us a coffee or becoming a member of Athletes for Nature.Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky, subscribe to this podcast, and share this episode with your friends and family.

Dr. Viv Harris was born outside Wellington, New Zealand on a property with animals of all shapes and sizes. She knew early on that she wanted to be a Veterinarian.She earned a Bachelor degree in Zoology and also one in Veterinary Science from Massey University in 1986. After graduation, she went into mixed practice in New Zealand briefly, then went overseas for five years; doing locum work in the UK as well as working with camels in Kenya.Upon her return home, she purchased a small animal practice in Wellington and remained there for ten years. During that time, she started her holistic training, earning a certification in acupuncture by IVAS, certifying in NAET, and taking courses in Homeopathy, Trigger Point Therapy, Flower Essences, Herbal Medicine, and Neutraceuticals. While she was a practice owner, she also appeared regularly on radio and television, discussing veterinary medicine and natural living.She sold the practice and now sees patients in a room on her property as well as attending to her four acre garden.Please enjoy this conversation with Dr. Viv Harris as we discuss her education, clinical practice, holistic education, and her approach to natural health and gardening.

Key services are lagging behind in Canterbury's Selwyn district as it tries to cope with exponential population growth. Stats NZ data shows it remains the fastest growing district in the country, with 3200 new arrivals in the year to June. Rolleston and Lincoln experienced the biggest jumps, at 9.6% and 8.1% respectively. Massey University sociologist Paul Spoonley told Mike Hosking Selwyn falls behind when it comes to infrastructure. For example, he says that of the 20-odd primary schools with more than 700 students, five of them are in Selwyn. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Jacqui Snell was born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand. Veterinary Medicine was a career aspiration from childhood. She earned her veterinary degree from Massey University in 1988. Afterwards, she worked in a small animal practice in Wellington before spending a year doing locum work in London England.After returning to New Zealand, she worked at Taradale Veterinary Hospital in Hawkes Bay for 21 years, spending 16 years as an owner of the practice. She started her holistic practice, Veterinary Holistic Healthcare, in 2018, after earning a Western Herbal Certification. She completed a Graduate Diploma in Veterinary Western Herbal Medicine through CIVT in 2019.She worked part time in a holistic practice as well as a companion animal practice. She also worked part time for the Raw Essentials company, providing nutritional advice to pet parents who were transitioning their pets with health issues onto a raw food diet.Currently, she focuses completely on her holistic practice, seeing patients in person and via telemedicine.In addition to her clinical practice, she has lectured at the New Zealand Veterinary Association conferences and is the current newsletter editor for the Complementary Branch of the NZVA.Please enjoy this conversation with Dr. Jacqui Snell as we discuss her education, various clinical roles, and her current holistic practice.