In Depth Special Projects

A proposed ban has the support of some teenagers. Others say it's a feel-good quick-fix for the adults. Read more

Teenagers say they feel 'bombarded' by body image content on social media - and that it can lead to a darker side of the algorithm. Read more

We set up four brand-new social media accounts with teenage personas. Then we scrolled. Read more

Since the 1950s, the Ngaruroro River in Hawke’s Bay has been steadily and deliberately restricted to a channel half its former width. As the likelihood of extreme flooding increases, is it time to… Read more

Kerry Hodgson received 307 electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) treatments in a decade. It was supposed to help with her depression. Instead, it wiped out much of her long-term memory. Read more Video

The ‘five eyes’ group turning over information about millions of travellers is administered by New Zealand. Read more

How five countries – including New Zealand – have quietly created a vast network about those who come and go across their borders. Read more

Why Pākiri locals fear the Government’s Fast Track Bill could steal away hard-won protection of their pristine coastline. Read more

The last of the ‘lunatic asylums’ closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety. But as William Ray explains,… Read more

When an adopted child goes looking for her supposed sister, it’s a tortuous search. Did she ever exist at all? And why was it so hard to try to find her? Read more

An autistic man considered too risky to release has spent half his life locked away. But is it seclusion itself that’s made him a risk? Read more

For more than 80 years, women in mental health and disability facilities in New Zealand were effectively banned from having sex. Why? Read more

Can you truly know someone when you’ve never met them? Reporter Kirsty Johnston spent a year trying to understand the tragic life and death of Nellie Wilson. Read more

The Maadi Cup is a festival of rowing steeped in tradition and prestige. But cheating allegations and hyper-competitiveness have some asking if the event has lost sight of what secondary schools sport… Read more

It was designed to give the mentally ill a refuge from the cruel world. But some patients of Porirua Lunatic Asylum say it was nothing more than a prison. Read more

Sarah is born in a psychiatric hospital, taken by the state and adopted to a new family in secret. By the time she goes looking for her birth mother, it’s too late. Nellie has died and Sarah is left… Read more

RNZ compared notes Associate Health Minister Casey Costello sent to officials, with a range of documents produced by the tobacco industry and its supporters. Intentional or not, there are frequent –… Read more

Former All Black Byron Kelleher faces domestic violence charges for an alleged assault against his partner. There’s a long, dark history of incidents that have come before it. Read more

What counts as “urgent” enough for immediate mental health care has become “narrower and narrower”, says an experienced psychologist. Read more Video

People are asking for more help, more often with mental health distress. But we are short by several hundred psychologists and psychiatrists. Read more Video

Former Health Minister Andrew Little admits “there was a bit of cannibalising the system” in the largest mental health programme introduced by Labour. Read more

Over almost half a decade, an historic $2b was poured into mental healthcare. What has it actually achieved? Read more Video

When ACT’s Brooke van Velden won the Auckland seat of Tāmaki at the election, it was a triumph of shrewd campaigning. But it was also a failure for Christian conservatism in mainstream politics. Read more Audio

At one point, Michelle says, she was convinced her 13-year-old daughter was going to kill her. She was desperate for help. Read more

People are dying while pollution continues belching into the air in one of New Zealand’s most beautiful beachside suburbs. What will it take to stop it? Read more Video

Agriculture contributes more to global warming than any other industry in Aotearoa. Yet attempts to rein in the sector’s emissions have repeatedly fallen short. Kirsty Johnston investigates how a… Read more

Agriculture contributes more to global warning than any other industry in Aotearoa. Yet attempts to rein in the sector’s emissions have fallen short once more. In Depth reporter Kirsty Johnston… Read more

Agriculture is warming the earth faster than any other industry in Aotearoa. Yet attempts to rein in the sector’s emissions have fallen short once more. In a three part Kirsty Johnston investigates… Read more

For people who leave or are kicked out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a process of ‘shunning’ follows. Followers of the faith are not allowed to associate with anyone who has left, even close family… Read more

The Loafers Lodge fire 16 May 2023 Read more