Fixing The Bear Pit: How To Make Parliament A More Humane And Positive Place
The hostile culture of Parliament has broken people and careers. Is there a better way to conduct the politics of the nation? Can our adversarial political system be changed? Former MPs debated the motion: Kiri Allan (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Rarawa), Marilyn Waring, Ron Mark (Ron’s iwi include: Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa) and Rick Barker. Our speaker was Peter Biggs, the Chair of Featherston Booktown Trust.Recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.Why not make a gift of membership to a loved one to be a Friend of Booktown for one year, with the donations going directly towards putting books into the hands of our tamariki through our Children's Book Voucher Project? Visit our website www.booktown.org/friendsofbooktown for more info.https://www.booktown.org.nz/
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Rogernomics: 40 Years On Through The Lens Of A Wairarapa Community
The radical economic reforms of the Fourth Labour Government 40 years ago, known as Rogernomics, had a devastating impact on rural communities, including Wairarapa. The dollar was floated, agricultural subsidies removed, GST introduced, forests sold and state-owned enterprises corporatised. The Post editor Tracy Watkins discussed the reforms with Wairarapa leaders Liz Mellish (Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui) and Bob Francis, who lived through the turmoil, and three politicians – Richard Prebble, Marilyn Waring and Rick Barker – who were in Parliament at the time.Recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.https://www.booktown.org.nz/
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The Pluck of the Irish
No country on the planet comes close to Ireland as a literary powerhouse. It has produced an impressive list of Nobel Laureates and Booker Prize winners and has a booming publishing scene, and now Ireland’s Granard Booktown Festival has a place on the map. What’s the secret behind Ireland’s literary success? How is it nurtured and sustained? Luck or pluck? Exploring these questions with chair Claire Mabey were Irish farmer and author John Connell, award-winning writer and broadcaster Noelle McCarthy and acclaimed author Dame Fiona Kidman.Recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.https://www.booktown.org.nz/
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Yeah, It’s All Good: Men Keeping Themselves Well
Why do men, especially in rural areas, struggle to talk about their problems? What’s standing in the way? Are the men of today okay, and how do they keep themselves well? This was a candid conversation about masculinity, society, health, wealth, life, death and everything in between, featuring writers and personalities Matt Heath and Paddy Gower; Federated Farmers President and YOLO Farmer Wayne Langford; and Irish farmer and writer John Connell. Phil Quin asked the questions.This episode was recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukate Festival.https://www.booktown.org.nz/
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Westport Wāhine: Becky and Mel
When singer Mel Parsons and author Becky Manawatu exploded onto the Aotearoa arts scene, there was nowhere more proud than Westport. Mel and Becky grew up in and around Westport and were in the same year at Buller High School. Both of them have recently launched exciting new work: Sabotage and Kataraina. Anika Moa (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri) asked two of Aotearoa’s best how much they inspire each other and what it is in the Westport water.Recorded at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival on 11th May 2025.https://www.booktown.org.nz/
The Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival is where we celebrate books, storytelling and ideas, and the artefact and craft of the book.Join NZ Herald Columnist Shane Te Pou and Booktown volunteer Phil Quin for a series of enlightening and entertaining discussions with some of the featured guests from the Festival.The Festival takes place from 10 -12 May 2024 in Featherston, Aotearoa - New Zealand.
New Zealand