Author Interview
John Baker: The search for Stalin's wine cellar
The hunt for a wine collection believed to have been hidden in a remote Georgian winery during the Second World War is at the centre of a new book, Stalin's Wine Cellar. First owned by Nicholas II… Audio
Turid Revfeim: A life spent dancing
Turid Revfeim has spent her career on and around the stage. She joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 1980, leaving to spend four years with a company in Germany before rejoining in 1986. She rose to… Audio
Fiona Murphy: The Shape of Sound
Fiona Murphy is an award winning poet and essayist whose new memoir The Shape of Sound explores her experience of being deaf. She was in her first year of school when a hearing test confirmed she was… Audio
Wendyl Nissen's quest to uncover her mother's secrets
Wendyl Nissen and her mum had a difficult relationship. That all changed when her mother got Alzheimer's and she starting spilling out family secrets. Audio
How to send condolences
When writing a message of condolence, the most important thing is to keep at the front of your mind who you're writing to and who you're writing about, says funeral celebrant and podcaster Timothy… Audio
Stevie Van Zandt: 50 years of brotherhood with Bruce Springsteen
There isn't much E Street Band guitarist, activist and actor Stevie Van Zandt hasn't done in the world of entertainment. The man formerly known as 'Miami Steve' is in the throes of completing his… Audio
A dingo called Sue speaks, but what she has to say is not pretty
Philip Armstrong's poetry and Laura Jean McKay's award-winning novel The Animals in That Country feature animals as significant characters. The authors talk at 2020 Word Christchurch. Audio
Thriller set among Kiwi vineyards
Vineyards are the setting for a new Aotearoa based thriller. Blood on the Vines is by Swedish migrant Madeleine Eskedahl who's now based in Auckland. The first in a planned trilogy, "The Matakana… Audio
From child refugee to trailblazing journalist: Hella Pick
Hella Pick was just 10 years old when she arrived in Britain from Vienna in 1939 as part of a kindertransport for Jewish children following Hitlers annexation of Austria. Her mother managed to get a… Audio
Technology obsession is destroying empathy - MIT professor
M.I.T Professor Sherry Turkle is that angel on the shoulders of the people who create new technology, whispering reminders about the human consequences of what we create. She explains this all to… Audio
Amazon's influence in America
Headquartered in Seattle, Amazon is the second-biggest private workplace in the United States behind Walmart, employing more than 800 thousand people. It's CEO, Jeff Bezos, is the richest person… Audio
The New York hotel that 'set women free'
The Barbizon Hotel in New York City opened its doors in 1928, and over more than five decades was home to a slew of famous women including Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly, Sylvia Plath, Joan Didion, Ali… Audio
Word Christchurch: Matt Calman and Jehan Casinader
The mental health of Kiwi men is the focus of two very personal books published in 2020: The Longest Day and This Is Not How It Ends. Their authors Matt Calman and Jehan Casinader talk to Ekant Veer… Audio
A trilogy of historic novels looks at colonial Aotearoa
Three historical novels that address the impact of colonisation in Aotearoa, told from the perspective of nine generations of a Maori whanau... That's a pretty big challenge that respected historian… Audio
The English aristocrat in the Syrian desert
In 1853, wealthy widow Jane Digby found herself crossing the Syrian desert - not only because she had a healthy sense of adventure and love for the Arabian people, but to escape scandal back in… Audio
New book sheds light on Earth's other humans
If you're going to read one book on human origins, Oxford professor and former Dunedinite Tom Higham's new book, The World Before Us: How Science is Revealing a New Story of Our Human Origins should… Audio
The incredible impact our mind can have on our physical health
In her new book, This Book Could Fix Your Life: The Science of Self Help, science journalist Helen Thomson debunks the fads and explores the real science of self-help to discover how we can… Audio
Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell: Husband and wife crime-writing duo
Judy Melinek is a forensic pathologist at Wellington Hospital. Her training in forensics at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner is the subject of the memoir Working Stiff: Two Years… Audio
Booker Prize winner George Saunders shares his love for Russian short stories
George Saunders won the Booker Prize for his 2017 novel Lincoln in the Bardo. For the last 20 years, he has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his students at Syracuse University. He… Audio
Ex Bank of England Governor Mark Carney: building a human-values based economy
Mark Carney is the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Finance Adviser for COP26. He was Governor of the Bank of England until last year, and prior to… Audio