New Zealand Geekery Podcasts

The Northman is a chilly, violent retelling of a traditional Icelandic story that was later the inspiration for Shakespeare's Hamlet. Starring Alexander Skarsgård (Godzilla vs Kong) and Anya Taylor-Joy (Last Night in Soho) it was directed by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse).

The Innocents is a critically acclaimed Norwegian horror film about a small group of children who gain strange powers. Written and directed by Eskil Vogt (The worst person in the world).

Simon Morris looks at three films, all with one thing in common - Scandinavia. One tells an old Viking saga, one is a modern Norwegian horror film, while the third is a biopic of a beloved British-Norwegian children's author.

To Olivia tells the story of children's author Roald Dahl and his wife, film star Patricia Neal, when tragedy strikes. Stars Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Keeley Hawes (The Bodyguard).

Button up your epaulets and head to the main deck as we set sail on a luxury recap season of Below Deck Down Under. Your crew today are Alex, Jane, and Duncan, and over the next 17 weeks we will help you navigate the stormy waters of tantrums, tip meetings and tacky table decor in this triumphant new offering in the Below Deck franchise. See acast.…

Rhys and Eric have Covid, Vaz and Kerre are back on the d-floor, and there are samba sandwiches aplenty on this week’s chaotic semi-final of Dancing with the Stars NZ. Join Alex and Jane as they reel over the return of Walt, and predict which fancy-footed star will take home the Glitterball Trophy in Sunday’s grand final. See acast.com/privacy for …

A five-novel series about the impact of the Vietnam war on veterans and their families has just wrapped up with the release of Carole Brungar's book The Return.In the last book, she's thinking about the experiences of the orphans of the Vietnam war, many of whom were removed from the country. In The Return, Jackie Coles fulfills a promise to her st…

Eight interlinked stories of ordinary people whose lives are touched by the gods make up a new collection by Iranian/American/Kiwi writer Mahyar Amouzegar. The Hubris in an Empty Hand is his fourth book. Some of the characters understand they've received - or are in the presence of - a gift from a god. Others are oblivious. Friendships and relation…

Small domestic miracles, from a sleeping baby and walking along the beach to the promise of fruit are examined in words and pictures in a book called Bordering on Miraculous Saskia Leek and Lynley Edmeades have worked on the fourth in the korero series helmed by writer Lloyd Jones. He brings together artists and writers to colloborate on books that…

Rotorua is hosting a literary festival specifically for Maori writers that the organisers hope will in turn encourage Maori readers. Kupu: Nga Ringa Tuhituhi will celebrate past and present Maori writers, with a view that many generations will tell their stories. On the Kupu board is Robyn Bargh who's a long time champion of Maori literature, inclu…

It's one of the best-known - and often-told - stories in our history: Sir Ed Hillary and Sherpa Norgay Tenzing's momentous climb to the top of Mt Everest on May 29th, 1953. But Matt Kambic's new play The Sherpa & the Beekeeper - Summit on Everest explores the downside of fame and other long term effects - both good and bad - on not only the mountai…

Taranaki's stunning coast is also one of the fastest eroding coastlines in the world. Since 2000, photographer Pat Greenfield has walked it, documenting the impact of storms, earthquakes and erosion. She calls it a photographic and scientific journey of discovery - and it's been a sobering one for her. For example two of the rock stack formations t…

Wellington's Chamber Orchestra is about to celebrate its 50th birthday with a flourish. The amateur orchestra has launched many professional careers over five decades, and also has musicians who've been in its ranks for most of that time. Lynn Freeman caught up with conductor Rachel Hyde and cellist Gary Wilby, currently rehearsing for the big cele…

New Zealand-made screen sound and music received a BAFTA, one Emmy, two APRA Silver Scrolls, two NZ TV Awards and three Golden Reels for work on film and gaming last year alone. But members of the Screen Music and Sound Guild are issuing a stark warning about the future of the industry, one they say is under appreciated and under resourced. Lynn Fr…

Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary true story of a fake spy dropped off to fool the Nazis about the Allied battle plans. Stars Colin Firth, Matthew McFadyen and Kelly McDonald.

Haute Couture sees a retiring Dior dressmaker take a stroppy girl from the Paris slums under her wing and teach her the tricks of the trade. Stars Nathalie Baye (Downton Abbey: A new era.)

Nobody has to know sees a Scottish woman lie to a man with amnesia about their relationship. Stars Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones).

Simon Morris discovers that rare thing in an age of endless sequels and prequels - three stories that simply stand alone. They include a British war story, a French tale of a street-kid turned dressmaker, and a Belgian-Scottish romance about secrets and lies. Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary true story of a fake spy dropped off to fool the …

Evacuate the dance floor, our head judge Jane is away this week and we are sorry (so sorry). Join Alex, Duncan and Te Aihe as we struggle through to the end of the show worse than Eric Murray trying to find “the eight” on ‘Another One Bites the Dust’. It’s club bangers and “my jams” week on DWTS, so which of our jams would we bring to the show? And…

In 1995 a TV series not only established New Zealand as the fantasy location of the world, but it launched the career of its star. The show was Xena Warrior Princess. The star was Lucy Lawless. These days Lucy Lawless is better known for upholding the law rather than breaking it. Her popular TV show My life is Murder is in production for series thr…

The history of handbags over the past century is unpacked in a new exhibition in Upper Hutt via Italy, featuring more than 50 examples from the world famous to the curious and tiny. Carry Me: 100 years of Handbags includes the Lady Dior made famous by Lady Diana, the Jackie and Kelly bags, the Baguette made famous on the Sex and the City TV show, a…

A collection of short stories which span more than a hundred years but are connected by a building, make up Anthony Lapwood's new book Home Theatre. The stories are set in the Repertory Apartments. In their time they've housed an enticing range of people, as well as being home to theatre performances and workshops, to arguments and terror - and eve…

It's been a huge year for ingenious instrument inventor and self styled sound mechanic, Neil Feather. The former Baltimore resident, who now calls Auckland home, combines experimentation, curiosity and physics to create his instruments for himself and bandmates to play. Since arriving in Aotearoa a couple of years ago Neil Feather's collaborated on…

"What might we find when we stop looking?" That's what Otautahi sound artist Dr Jo Burzynska asks us, in her new multisensory exhibition. She recorded numerous walks throughout the city, guided by what she could hear, feel or smell, rather than what she could see. With the help of a range of people, Jo also foraged wild foods and experienced live i…

In what's believed to be a New Zealand first, musicians have played all 3D-printed instruments in a live concert. The concert was held at Depot Artspace in Devonport, which is hosting an interactive exhibition of the instruments called Synthesis as part of New Zealand Music Month. Lynn Freeman talks to Professor Olaf Diegel from The University of A…

Traditions under threat from changing attitudes and new generations who have different expectations, is one of the ideas being investigated in a new play being presented by Auckland's Prayas Theatre company. In Dhaba on Devon Avenue a multi generational Indian family who run a restaurant serving traditional Sindhi food, are facing bankruptucy if so…

For more than 20 years, Dave Simpson has been competing with other photographers to capture those split-second, unique images of music legends performing on stage. Elton John, Alice Cooper and Robbie Williams are included in his extensive portfolio along with local talent include Benee, Six60 and Reb Fountain. RollingStone, Vanity Fair, Billboard, …

After Yang - based on a sci fi short story about a future where children can buy an android sibling for company. But what happens when your mechanical best friend breaks down? Starring Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen and Slim)and Haley Lu Richardson (Support the girls).

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness features Benedict Cumberbatch as Marvel Comics' resident sorcerer trying to make sense of several alternate universes. Featuring Benedict Wong (The Martian), Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls) and Chiwetel Ejiafor (12 Years a Slave), and directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man).…

The Velvet Queen sees French author-adventurer Sylvain Tesson travel with wildlife photographer Vincent Munier to the Tibetan wilderness in search of a rare big cat. In competition at Cannes 2021.

Simon Morris wonders if some movies are sacrificing appealing characters for over-complicated plots. And he looks at a documentary where hardly anything happens, and a film where the lead isn't really a character at all. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness features Benedict Cumberbatch as Marvel Comics' resident sorcerer trying to make sens…

Alex and Jane weaselled their way into the Dancing With the Stars NZ audience this week (to bring you all the behind-the-scenes goss you can flick a golden cape at). Which celebrity ate their earrings? Who was the most magnetic in the room?? What is the truth about Sharyn's booth?! And is Duncan finally jumping on the DWTS bandwagon...? You'll have…

Ilan Wittenberg wants visitors to his new exhibition of photographic portraits not to see subjects in front of a camera, but real people. To do this, he's asked those who sit for him to stare straight into his camera lens. It means visitors can't avoid making direct eye contact with people photographed around the world in their own homes or work pl…

20 years of playing and 75 works commissioned specially for them over that time - the NZTrio is heading out around the country to celebrate their latest milestone this month. There are three new commissions included in three different Legacy concerts, performed by cellist Ashley Brown, violinist Amalia Hall and pianist Somi Kim. Ashley's been there…

Finalist lists for pretty much every major New Zealand book award these days usually feature several self-published authors. And contrary to the preconception that these are all newbies who can't get publishing houses interested, many are established writers who choose this course. Self publishing may come with the freedom from anyone changing word…

A new exhibition in Auckland aims to bring the visual artists out from behind the camera and canvas and into the spotlight. The people involved have photographed, painted, even collaged other artists in the same show, The Artists on Artists show includes Maori, Samoan, Chinese, Pakeha, Sri Lankan, Filipino, Czech and Middle Eastern artists, who've …

Composer John Psathas came up with the music for a new double percussion concerto The All-Seeing Sky after reading Dante's Inferno. Big emotions and big ideas are contained in the piece, which he's composed for an award-winning Swiss percussion duo, Luca Staffelbach and Fabian Ziegler. The concerto has been co-commissioned by Orchestra Wellington, …

It's been a long wait - around 20 years - but the Wakitipu community is about to get its very own state of the art multidisciplinary arts space. Two former commercial spaces in the Frankton shopping centre have been converted into more than 20 spaces. They'll house theatre and dance, a recording studio and both an art gallery and workshop. It's bee…

If New Zealand had an equivalent of Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, it would have to be singer, songwriter and survivor Jodi Vaughan. Jodi's back with a new album For the love of country - her 10th - just about entirely self-penned. Jodi was country when it was hardly cool, but regularly sold truck-loads and topped the TV ratings in s…

There are awards to encourage new generation creatives, and ones to recognise the work of arts veterans. But what about those hard workers who are in mid-career? Welcome to the FAME Mid-Career Awards. Lynn Freeman talks to one of this year's winners - actor, writer, dancer, choreographer, producer and director Amanaki Lelei Prescott-Faletau, who's …

A Hero is the latest from Iranian master Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Salesman). A winner at the Cannes Film Festival last year, it tells of a bankrupt man who gains a popular reputation when he finds a bag of money, and nobly returns it to its owner. But is the story quite as straightforward as it seems?…

Downton Abbey: A New Era sees half of Lord Grantham's family go to the French Riviera, while the other half host a film crew, shooting a silent movie at Downton. Starring Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Tuppence Middleton and new face Dominic West (The Wire).

Escape from Mogadishu sees a violent civil war break out in Somalia, trapping man y foreign embassies. And the only way the rivals from North and South Korea - long-standing enemies - can get out alive is if they co-operate with each other.

Simon Morris discovers that, in the age of post-modern irony and multiverses, there are still movies that believe in telling great stories. Just not always in English. A drama from Iran and a thriller from Korea are two of the best of the year. Meanwhile the weight is over for Downton Abbey fans. Downton Abbey: A New Era sees half of Lord Grantham'…

Dancing With the Stars is truly Real Podding itself with another shocking elimination this week. What is going on with the voting? What happened to the elimination dance-off?? And is it time for a Spinoff show with the eliminated stars?! Join Jane, Alex and Duncan as they recap all the sambas, the rumbas and the celebrity phone numbas. See acast.co…

He's kept us waiting for more than a decade but writer Robert Sullivan has just published a new poetry collection in which he examines both his Maori and Pakeha lineage. The poems in Tunui Comet are deeply personal. They encompass the distant past and the future, while Te Reo and English stand confidently together in some of the works. Lynn Freeman…

The often difficult relationship between fathers and sons is one of the ideas Tamaki Makarau-based poet Michael Steven thinks about in his latest collection, Night School. In another series of poems subtitled "Dropped Pins", Michael whisks us from Pigeon Mountain in East Auckland, to New Brighton, even to South India. There's also a long series of …

A popular party game has been morphed into a live theatre experience that promises to exploit our fear of the unknown. Theatre collective Binge Culture has specialised in interactive productions over the years , finding willing audiences for them here and at the Edinburgh Fringe . The company's about to tour their latest show, Werewolf. Lynn Freema…

Lithography, the oldest form of printmaking, is the art-form of choice of Muriwai-based Kylie Rusk. It's physical - very physical - unpredictable and time-consuming. Landscapes and seascapes are what Kylie loves to represent in her limited edition prints, created on chunks of imported limestone. Her solo show Luminous is about to open at Auckland's…

Maori playwright Sherilee Kahui wants to shake things up with her new work, Mokomoko. She's asking some hard questions and presenting some hard truths in the play, about a woman suffering from a personal trauma that has its roots in a genocide dating back several generations. Worse still, it's an atrocity has never been acknowledged. Mokomoko tells…