Kiwi Yarns

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of mental ill-health and suicide. Support is available any time from Lifeline, details at https://www.lifeline.org.nz/

This week on Kiwi Yarns, I sit down with Kate Thompson - star of the recently released documentary No Tears On The Field. The film follows a grassroots women's rugby season in Taranaki, and the backstories of what it takes to get to the field.

Kate talks the rise of women’s rugby in New Zealand, the realities of balancing farm life with sport, and the importance of community. She also opens up about mental health in rural areas, losing loved ones, and the role rugby plays in keeping her grounded.

Plus, her relationship with her mum is something pretty special.

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What do you do when you're staring down a $700,000 mortgage and suddenly lose your job?

For beloved broadcaster Brodie Kane, redundancy at the start of the pandemic was the push she needed to build her own media empire.

We talk about the reality of being your own boss, redefining home ownership by buying with her mum, and why she still identifies as a girl from Waikuku Beach.

This episode was made possible thanks to our friends at enable.me. Financial coaching and strategic advice. Pay down debt. Grow wealth. Retire well.
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What happens when two very different minds click in all the right ways? The Rock's Jay Reeve and Duncan Heyde (aka Jay and Dunc) on the special relationship that’s powered their success on-air and beyond.

From side hustles to global podcast growth, and maintaining healthy relationships while staying busy, the lads open up about how they navigate it all. There’s plenty of honesty around mental load, family life, and the general chaos that comes with chasing every opportunity that life throws.

We also discuss what keeps the lads grounded! We talk about the power of strong connections, strong partners, and being good dads. 
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From growing up in South Auckland to performing on the world’s biggest opera stages, Pene Pati shares a wonderful yarn of the long road (including all the speed bumps) that got him there.

His is a story about resilience, family, identity, and the challenges he still faces before he walks out infront of an audience. He opens up about the pressure of the industry, the reality of rejection, and why he still sometimes feels like an outsider in the traditionally European opera world.

Let's not forget the great joy he brings us with being one-third of our beloved Sol3 Mio! We talk the sacrifices that come with living overseas, and the big dreams he still carries. One day, he hopes the world’s biggest opera houses will be singing Māori and Samoan songs too.

Tenor: My Name is Pati is out now in New Zealand cinemas.
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Imagine being responsible for a heart no bigger than a walnut. 

This week I sit down with Dr Kirsten Finucane, the legendary former Chief Surgeon at Starship, to talk about a career spent performing life-saving miracles on New Zealand’s most vulnerable children. 

Kirsten opens up about the grit it takes to handle high-stakes surgery and why she finally decided it was time to trade the operating theatre for conservation work in Central Otago. 
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