A Very Tall Man

Ever wondered who the Prime Minister rings when even they don't know the answer? Gary sits down with Dame Juliet Gerrard, former Chief Science Advisor to the PM, who had a front row seat to the mosque shootings, the White Island tragedy and COVID-19 from day one. She talks candidly about the biscuit tin and Post-it notes she used to gather ideas from quiet voices in a room, the discipline of giving "good enough" advice before a decision is made rather than perfect advice too late, and why her job was never to filter the truth for "the greater good".

They get into the tricky line between scientific consensus and values-based decisions (abortion gets a mention), whether Aotearoa was ever really ready for a pandemic, the ongoing vaccine divide, and what AI means for healthcare going forward. Gary (never one to miss a height joke) also tries out a theory from his wife on Juliet, and asks the question everyone wants answered: does it still sting when politicians ignore the science? Her new book Front Row Seat unpacks it all.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.
For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz
Produced using AI tools under human supervision.
Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link
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Remember flared pants, slide projectors, and those old Scripture in Song books? Gary sits down with the Kiwi legends themselves, David and Dale Garrett, who (despite not reading music or playing instruments) wrote and gathered the simple, singable choruses that shaped a generation of church worship here and around the world. They share the wonderfully unplanned story of how it all started, the cassette-tape origins of "Hallelujah, God Reigns" (nearly binned!), and a chance encounter with a very tall Jack Hayford.

Now in their eighties and still going, David and Dale talk candidly about grief - including the heartbreaking loss of their daughter Rachel - God's call to honour indigenous culture and land, and why they believe older generations shouldn't be put out to pasture. A warm, funny, and moving chat about memorable songs, God's unchanging presence, and keeping going without "the memo" to retire.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.
For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz
Produced using AI tools under human supervision.
Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heavy metal and church don't usually go in the same sentence, but here we are. Gary talks to Brian "Head" Welch, guitarist for Korn, about the documentary Loud Crazy Love and the wild true story behind it - crystal meth, suicidal thoughts, a rock star lifestyle he thought could stay secret, and a moment in his office where he reckons God's love physically wrapped around him. It's raw stuff: rejection from both his old rock world and the Christian community, the struggle raising his daughter as a single dad, and getting baptised in Israel with CNN cameras rolling.

Brian's disarmingly honest about how messy grace can be - years of anger issues after "getting saved", punching walls, a rocky patch with his teenage daughter, and his own parents' unlikely late-in-life conversion (his dad's now a door greeter, of all things). Gary gets him talking about forgiving himself, devouring the Bible like a man possessed, and why he decided to put all this dirty laundry on film for the world to see. Fair warning: if you're after George Jones or Beethoven, this one's not for you.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.
For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz
Produced using AI tools under human supervision.
Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary digs out an old TV chat with Irish preacher Bob Gass - the man behind the wildly popular daily devotional, The Word for Today. Turns out those bite-sized daily thoughts start life as 400-500 words scrawled longhand on a yellow legal pad, whittled down to exactly 285 (every word's a worker, apparently) with help from his wife's mum transcribing it all twelve times over.

Bob talks about preaching his first sermon at 13, arriving in America at 17 with two sermons and 25 cents to his name, and being mentored the old-school way - no Bible college, just a pastor's family, a Grundig recorder, and some brutally honest feedback. He also fields questions from the audience and Facebook on hearing from God, doubting your faith, and why simple truths (Jesus loves you) often land harder than clever theology.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.
For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz
Produced using AI tools under human supervision.
Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary reckons a good thriller gets better when it's set just down the road - and The Target ticks that box, with the Picton Ferry, Havelock and Wellington all getting a look in. Author Riley Chance joins him to chat about weaving real New Zealand history (like the 1984 Trades Hall bombing) and current societal issues - unions, surveillance, family violence - into page-turning fiction that quietly gets you thinking.

They get into Orwell, why Riley's ditched social media (turns out helping billionaires get richer wasn't much of a drawcard), and where AI fits for a writer who's very protective of his own creative process. Riley's clear on one thing though: read The Target as a cracking thriller first - if it makes you ask a few uncomfortable questions about NZ society along the way, even better.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.
For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz
Produced using AI tools under human supervision.
Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.