Conversations With Wāhine

Bryn &Ku’s Singles Club returns for season 2 bringing with it, new relationships, big milestones, but with the same heartfelt friendship and comedy that got the first season of the docuseries nominated for Best Factual Series, and winner of Best Presenter: Entertainment at the NZ Screen Awards in 2025.
After a groundbreaking first season that captured the hearts and laughs of audiences across the nation, two of our best comedy talents; Billy T James award-winning comedians Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester, navigate the hilarious, and honest reality of life after their quest for love,facing the truth when you find it, and what happens after you do. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club is created, hosted, produced and directed by a creative team of women, which includes Director and Co-Creator Sophie Dowson and Producer Jin Fellet alongside Stent and Forrester, premiering on July 7th, on The Spinoff and YouTube.
While last season focused on the unified single journey and the search for connection, the stakes have changed; season 2 finds Bryn and Ku navigating their different life stages, and once again, travelling across Aotearoa, exploring the evolving dynamics of love, community, and the relatable pressure of “happily ever after”.
Kura has traded the city for Muriwai with her partner Mark and is navigating the daunting, exciting journey of impending parenthood whilst still adapting to being in a serious adult relationship. Meanwhile, Bryn is facing her own crossroads; at 36, she’s at the start of a relationship with a younger partner and the looming expiry date of her UK visa. From freezing eggs to deciding where in the world she truly belongs, Bryn’s journey is a transparent look at the big life questions many Kiwi face.
Director and Co-Creator of the series Sophie Dowson, comments, “Bryn and Ku have an authentic comedic chemistry that is rare to find. After the incredible response to the first season, it’s been a joy to dive back into their lives. This season isn’t just a copy of the first; it’s an evolution and shows us the many pathways that life can take us. We’re capturing the honest reality of what it is to be in a relationship in Aotearoa today—a topic that is just as relatable, and perhaps even more complex, than being single.” 
While the series remains firmly rooted in comedy, it continues to shine a light on the human need for connection. Bryn and Ku aim to empower the show’s audience—whether single, partnered, or somewhere in between—by showing that the journey toward self-discovery never truly ends.
The series is produced by The Spinoff and is made with the support of NZ On Air.
Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club Season 2 will release all 6 episodes on Tuesday, July 7th, on The Spinoff website and YouTube, with weekly releases following on Instagram and Facebook.
 
Brynley Stent is an award-winning comedian and actor based in Tāmaki Makaurau, best known for her offbeat, absurdist character comedy. Since graduating from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School in 2013, she’s worked across theatre, TV, and live performance – collaborating with professional theatre companies, creating original work, and writing for some of New Zealand’s biggest comedy shows.
Her TV writing credits include Jono and Ben, Funny Girls, Golden Boy, The Vloggingtons, and My Favourite Dead Person. As a performer, she’s appeared in series like Creamerie, Funny Girls, Golden Boy, and played Kelly-Anne Johnson on Shortland Street.
Brynley’s also a familiar face in NZ comedy, with regular appearances on Taskmaster NZ, Celebrity Treasure Island, 7 Days, Have You Been Paying Attention NZ, and Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee. Her solo shows at the NZ International Comedy Festival have been critically acclaimed, and in 2021, she won the Billy T Award for her show Soft Carnage.
 
Kura Forrester (Ngāti Porou) is a distinguished actress, comedian, and writer with over 20 years experience in Aotearoa and internationally.
In 2019, Kura won the prestigious Billy T Award for her stand up comedy show “Kura Shoulda Woulda”.  Her most recent hour, “Here if you Need” has aired as a special on TV3, and earned Kura a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
 
Kura has made significant contributions to stage and screen as an actor and improviser, with memorable appearances in New Zealand series, Shortland Street, Double Parked, Taskmaster NZ and Educators.
Kura also works as a theatre practitioner and has performed in multiple renowned shows throughout the country, most notably Camping Half of the Sky and Perplex.
Most recently, Kura wrote and presented the TVNZ series Appropriation Nation.

Harita and Haley interview Wellington filmmaker Isabel Corfiatis ahead of the Doc Edge Film Festival 2026 about her debut feature documentary "Music and the Mystical Experience", screening in Auckland from 24 June to 12 July and Wellington from 15 to 26 July.

The film follows musician and sound engineer Michael Sutherland and a collective of more than twenty New Zealand artists collaborating on a six hour musical work designed for use in psychedelic therapy. Filmed primarily in Wellington over three years, it explores creativity, healing, collaboration, and the role music can play in therapeutic settings.
 
This is Isabel’s first feature and first documentary, and she’s taken on an incredibly hands on role across directing, cinematography, editing, and co producing. The project originally began as a short before naturally growing into a feature as the team realised there was simply too much story, process, and conversation to contain in fifteen minutes.
 
The documentary was inspired after Michael completed the six hour composition and, through an APRA mentorship with Tiki Taane, was encouraged to document both the music and the wider creative process behind it. Isabel then came on board and helped shape it into a feature focused on collaboration, process, and the human stories behind the work.
 
She speaks really thoughtfully about making ambitious independent work with a tiny crew, Wellington’s creative community and why the city became such an important backdrop for the story, and approaching a topic that some people still see as controversial through a deeply human lens.
Screening dates:
Auckland: Takapuna Beachside Cinemas Sun 12 Jul 1:15 PM 

Wellington: The Roxy Cinema - Sat 18 Jul 5:45 PM (nearly sold out!)

Christchurch: Sat 1 Aug 8:15 PM - Jack Mann Theatre, Koawa Studios, Canterbury University 
It'll also be available on the Doc Edge website (Doc Edge) from 27th July-10th Aug.

What role can museums play in inspiring the next generation of innovators, scientists, and creative thinkers?
In this episode, Laura is joined by Elizabeth Cotton and Julie Baker from MOTAT (the Museum of Transport and Technology) in Auckland. Together, they explore the power of curiosity, hands-on learning, and the important role museums play in connecting people with science, technology, and history.
Drawing on their diverse backgrounds in museum leadership, engineering, education, and science, Liz and Julie share their experiences, insights, and passion for creating meaningful learning opportunities for people of all ages. Whether you're interested in education, innovation, or simply love discovering how things work, this is a fascinating conversation you won't want to miss.

Harita interviews Dillon Jo.
Dillon Jo are a queer, female-fronted four-piece creating dreamy, genre-blurring indie rock inspired by dream pop, shoegaze, folk and alt-rock. Formed in Wellington by Betty Smith and Georgie Levien in early 2025, the band has quickly made waves with a string of local performances, supporting acts including The Rions, Foley, Wet Denim, Hemi Hemingway and Coast Arcade, while building a reputation for their expansive live sound.
Following a standout showcase at Wellington’s San Fran in 2024 featuring Sure Boy, Casual Healing and Mikeyy, Ones To Watch returns to the capital with another round of fresh talent.
Ones To Watch continues to champion Aotearoa’s thriving music scene, shining a spotlight on the next generation of artists making waves across the country. Since its inception, the programme has showcased an impressive range of musicians across genres spanning pop, indie, rock, electronic and hip hop, celebrating the very best of local music.
You can find out more about Ones to Watch here:  OTW-NZ

Lindy Hume is an Australian opera and festival director, who has worked throughout Australia and internationally. 
She was born in Sydney. Her father taught primary school and also worked as a film censor. Her mother was a psychologist at the University of Sydney.
Lindy was Artistic Director of West Australian Opera (1992–1996), OzOpera and Victorian State Opera (1996–2001), and Director of the Perth International Arts Festival (2004–2007).
She was appointed as Director of the Sydney Festival in 2008,and led it from 2010 to 2012.
As of June 2017 she is Artistic Director of Opera Queensland. Her productions for Opera Queensland included a 2014 season of Verdi's Rigoletto inspired by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. She fosters the creation and presentation of performance in regional Australia, and performances in eight regional Queensland centres of Puccini's La bohème in 2014 featured local singers in the chorus.
Her freelance productions also included a season of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride for Sydney's Pinchgut Opera, described by Hannah Cunningham of The Sydney Morning Herald as "a near perfect production".

Lindy has a long association with New Zealand Opera spanning over 2 decades, having directed 8 previous operas for the company.

The first opera she directed for NZ Opera was back in 2002, when she directed a highly acclaimed production of Bizet's Carmen. It was a massive success and traveled across the country, firmly cementing her relationship with New Zealand audiences.
Lindy is currently in Wellington directing her 9th opera for NZ Opera: The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart’s most famous opera, playing at the St James Theatre on 17, 19 and 21st June. Further info can be found at nzopera.com