Toby Young is a British social commentator and the founder and director of the Free Speech Union in the United Kingdom, an associate editor of The Spectator, and a former associate editor at Quillette. Toby recently visited New Zealand on invitation from the NZ Free Speech Union. In this Episode we talk about his book, How to lose friends and alien…

Evan Paul Moon is a New Zealand historian, a professor and author of New Zealand history and biography. Moon is widely recognised for his study of the Treaty of Waitangi, and has published two books on the topic. More recently he published Ans Westra: A Life in Photography, the story of the photographer Ans Westra, who died in 2023. Join me, Damien…

Jonathan Rauch is an American journalist, philosopher and author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He has also written on topics as widely varied as adultery, agriculture, economics, gay marriage, height discrimination, biological rhythms, number inflation, and animal rights. Join Damien Grant as he intervi…

The Honourable Christopher Francis Finlayson is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He practiced law in Wellington as a solicitor before going to the Bar in 2002. He was elected to Parliament in 2005 and became Attorney-General and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations in 2008. During his Mi…

Steven Braunias is a New Zealand author, columnist, journalist and editor. He is the author of 13 books. In his book, Missing Persons, which was winner of the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non-Fiction, Braunias tells Twelve extraordinary tales of disappearance including former journalist Murray Mason, found dead in the Auckland Domain; the myster…

Test pilot Art "Turbo" Tomassetti was one of only a handful of pilots to fly the X-35 – which was of course, the precursor to the F-35. Famously, he flew "Mission X" which consisted of a short takeoff, level supersonic flight, and a vertical landing, which had not been accomplished before in a single flight. Turbo shares this story and more with me…

Alex Calder is a professor at the Faculty of Arts, English and Drama, New Zealand of Auckland University. He also edited the book, Gallipoli to the Somme, written by Alexander Aitken. Aitken began to write about his experiences in 1917 as a wounded out-patient in Dunedin Hospital. Every few years, when the war trauma caught up with him, he revisite…

Graham Linehan is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms Father Ted (1995–1998), Black Books (2000–2004) and The IT Crowd (2006–2013), and he has written for shows including Count Arthur Strong, Brass Eye and The Fast Show. Early in his career, he partnered with the writer Arthur Mathews. Linehan …

James Hollings is Programme Leader, Journalism, for Massey Niversity. He has worked in senior roles in news organisations, including as production editor and as a senior correspondent in health, agriculture, industry and the arts. His doctoral dissertation was on the decision-making processes of reluctant witnesses. James Hollings, together with Ki…

Dr Eric Crampton is the Chief Economist at The New Zealand Initiative and previously served for over a decade as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Canterbury. In this episode Eric and Damien discuss the book, How the Dismal Science Got Its Name, by David M. Levy. Tune in as controversial writer and podcast host, Damien …

Philip Matthews is a senior journalist, reviewer and editorial writer whose work has appeared in the NZ Listener, Metro, Sunday Star-Times, Landfall, The Press, The Wire, The Spinoff and a host of other publications during his 25 years in the business. For more than 10 years he was an award-winning film reviewer for the NZ Listener, with two stints…

Joe Bennett is one of New Zealands most highly decorated columnists and has won the New Zealand Colomnist Award of the Year multiple times. Born in England, Joe Bennett has lived in New Zealand since 1987. Thirteen collections of his columns have been published in New Zealand and three world-wide. He has had four travel books published by Simon and…

The Hermeus Flight Test team hops on the podcast to judge, drool over, and poke fun at famous aircraft. We've got an Air Force test pilot, a Navy test pilot, and a flight test engineer from the Royal Air Force – their knowledge runs deep and their opinions are strong!PODCAST GUESTSAJ Piplica – Founder, CEODon "Krash" Kaderbek – VP of TestPat "Vanna…

Jordan Henry Williams (born 1986) is New Zealand lawyer best known for his political activities, which are often connected to the National or ACT parties, and his lobbying for liberal and conservative causes. Jordan is also one of the cofounders of the Taxpayers Union which recently celebrated its ten years in existance.…

Gareth Thomas Llewelyn Hughes is a New Zealand activist, Political Commentator, and a former politician of the Green Party. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for eleven years, from 2010 to 2020. He is also the author of the book, A Gentle Radical, The Life of Jeanette Fitzsimons. Join me as I speak to Gareth about Jeanette's early life,…

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere is an author and columnist. A former member of the European Parliament and advisor to The Board Of Trade, he writes for ConservativeHome and The Washington Examiner. He is currently a sitting member of the House of Lords where he takes the Conservative whip, and has since 2020 served as an adviser to the Board of Trade. He…

Don has been one of New Zealand's leading economic and financial policy advisers, and over the years he has provided advice to governments in many parts of the world – in New Zealand most obviously, but also in recent years in Indonesia, Cambodia, the Bahamas, Saudi Arabia, and the Pacific Islands. Brash was Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zeal…

Paul Diamond is a writer, broadcast journalist and historian. His radio programmes have won Qantas Media and Media Peace Awards. He was also awarded a David Low Chevening Fellowship in 2001 to study at Oxford University. Diamond’s first book, A Fire in your Belly (2003) is a significant collection of interviews with Maori leaders. Makereti: Taking …

Todd Lauchlan is the managing director of JLL and a real estate professional with over 25 years of experience in office leasing, investment sales, transactions and managing corporate clients. I am a strategic thinker adept at combining technical skills with strong leadership abilities to implement quality business decisions. Tune in as controversia…

In this interview with Dr David Cumin from the Israel Instatute of New Zealand, we talk about the history of anti-Semitism, the history of the state of Israel and some of the activities that have led to the current crisis with the Hamas attack on Southern Israel. Tune in as controversial writer and podcast host, Damien Grant, interviews a wide sele…

Michael is an independent economic commentator, blogger, and stay-at-home parent. His regular blog, Croaking Cassandra, focused on economics and public policy (especially in New Zealand) and am researching issues relating to New Zealand's longer-term economic performance. Tune in as controversial writer and podcast host, Damien Grant, interviews a …

Liam is a “general practitioner” of the law and has strong connections to the rural community. He is a trusted advisor to many farming families. He has also developed a strong practice advising start-ups and not-for-profit organisations. Liam also frequents national radio, television, digital and print publications as a political commentator. Tune …

In this episode I interview Guyon Espiner, Investigative Journalist who has been working in the media industry since 1994 in newspapers, websites, radio and TV. He is also the author of The Drinking Game, an incisive analysis of how our drinking culture is influenced by the government, media and big business. Tune in as controversial writer and pod…

Anna Fifield is a remarkable and respectable journalist, columnist, author, and current editor of The Washington Post. I interviewed her about her book, The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un. Tune in as controversial writer and podcast host, Damien Grant, interviews a wide selection of interesting and en…

Real Engineering is probably our favorite channel on YouTube. They unpack some of the world's most epic engineering challenges with clarity and depth. It was a pleasure to have the channel's creator Brian McManus and his colleague Graham Haerther on the podcast to chat about the art of science communication and the future of YouTube and digital med…

Steven Joyce, former politician, filled the roles of Minister of Transport, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Minister of Science and Innovation, and then served as Minister of Finance and Minister for Infrastructure, to name a few. In this episode we discuss his book, On the Record. Tune in as controversial writer and podcast…

Professor Paul Spoonley has spent a lifetime in academia; as an academic, administrator as well as a prolific author and commentator. In his 2020 book, The New New Zealand Spoonley looks at our nation's recent demographic past and the challenges for our future. In this discussion we discuss his book and the policy implications of a falling populait…

Dr Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of the NZ Initiative; New Zealand’s premier free-market think tank. In July he lead a delegation to Ireland with over thirty of his members, a group that included billionaires, knights of the realm and me. We discussed why we went, what we learnt in Ireland, and what the Hon Trevor Mallard is up to over …

Max Rashbrooke is a conviction-driven academic who has written extensively on inequality and wealth in New Zealand. He is the author of a number of books and a regular contributor for The Guardian and a range of local news outlets. In this interview we discuss his 2021 book Too Much Money, and dive into our different understanding of Thomas Piketty…

From Skunk Works, Blue Origin, and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency – our board of advisors create a dream team of aerospace wisdom. In this episode we're joined by members of our Board of Advisors to chat about the Hermeus early days and the progress we've made.Rob Meyerson, Rob Weiss, and Keith Masback were some of Hermeus earliest sup…

Dr Paul Moon is one of this nation’s most prolific historians and authors. His books cover the years before the foundation of our country, a slew of our most important figures, and in his latest work our most vibrant and populus city. I interview Paul about his book; Auckland; the twentieth Century Story.…

Thrilled to host special guest John Coogan on the podcast. John's working on a video about us and took an hour to hop on the pod to chat about running startups, starting a YouTube Channel, and of course, fast airplanes!00:04 – President for a day? Bring back the SR-7101:47 – Technical recruiting in the early days of a startup02:50 – John's backgrou…

Lieutenant General Clint Hinote's 35-year career in the Air Force has taken him from inside the cockpit of an F-117 to inside the Pentagon. He has most recently been focused on how to best leverage innovative technology to fortify national security. Freshly retired, we were honored to have him join us for a chat about how startups and the Departmen…

Oh do we have a treat for you! We're joined by a couple hypersonic "influencers", Dr. Chris Combs of the University of Texas at San Antonio and Alex Hollings, the Editor in Chief of Sandboxx News, for a thrilling, engaging, and occasionally controversial conversation about the state of hypersonics in the world today. 00:00 - Intros03:06 - What is h…

In this episode of the podcast we bring on a couple all-stars from our Amazon Web Services team to discuss how we approach software development, high performance compute, data storage, and security. Naturally, the conversation gets into some AI and ML speculation and sci-fi movie talk. PODCAST GUESTS: Nandu Shah: VP of Information, Hermeus Jay Nave…

Hypersonics, space, nuclear, carbon capture... Complex hardware is making a comeback and creating an exciting future! Hermeus Founder and COO Skyler Shuford is joined by Darby Dunn of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Casey Handmer of Terraform Industries, and space industry expert Lauren Lyons to discuss how hardware companies will change the world by …

We call ourselves a "hard tech" company. Not only because we're so hardware focused but also because of the magnitude of the challenge we're facing in building hypersonic aircraft. In this episode we talk about what makes a company a hard tech company and why we're all drawn to jobs making hardware. In this podcast: Marty Berman: Director of Conten…

If it isn't obvious how excited we are about additive manufacturing – just listen to 10 minutes of this episode. 3D printing allows us to iterate quickly, minimize waste, and have more control over our supply chain. In this episode we talk about all these things and speculate about the promising future of additive. PODCAST GUESTS Glenn Case – Found…

This year at Hermeus is all about building Quarterhorse and getting to first flight! In this episode we chat about what it's going to take to build and test such a unique airplane.

Our first Live AMA brings founders Skyler, Mike, and Glenn together to answer burning questions from our online followers. Tune in to hear them reflect on the year, give a sneak peek on what's to come, and field questions from our Live YouTube audience.

This episode is for the builders. Those who manipulate metal, contort composites, and revel in riveting. Hear from the manufacturing team at Hermeus about how we get stuff built.

Venture-backed startups have never been more important to our national security. In this defense-focused episode we dive into what it’s like working with the Department of Defense (DoD) and how to accelerate public-private partnerships in such a complicated field. PODCAST GUESTS Dan Kliman – Director for National Security Strategy Sarah Mineiro – P…

In this episode we’re thrilled to host Ana Kraft, CEO of Xena Workwear! Ana joins three leaders at Hermeus to discuss career advice, role models, entrepreneurship, and navigating a career in a male-dominated field.

It takes a hunger and a framework for risk to bet big on the revolution of air travel. In this episode of The Hermeus Podcast, we talk with Hermeus investors about growth, strategy, and resilience in the world of venture capital. PODCAST GUESTS AJ Piplica – Founder, CEO Sven Strohband – Managing Director, Khosla Ventures Skyler Shuford - Founder, C…

The SR-71 “Blackbird” is a legendary aircraft. It remains the world’s fastest airplane – a title it has held since the 60s. In this special episode of The Hermeus Podcast we chat with two former pilots of the SR-71 and get into some rather thrilling stories. PODCAST GUESTS Skyler Shuford – Founder, COO Tom Veltri – Retired USAF Lt. Col. Robert Behl…

The Flight Sciences Team knows the aircraft inside and out. Aerodynamics, mass properties, performance, stability and control, loads – flight sciences analyzes it all and works with each team to make sure our aircraft performs. PODCAST GUESTS Skyler Shuford – Founder, COO James Shields – Aerodynamics Engineer Tatum Hardy – Aerospace Engineer Wes Vi…

The interns have taken over the podcast! Listen in and hear directly from them about what an internship at Hermeus is like.

Atlanta is the place to be! In this special episode of the podcast we bring on the former Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantan Lauren Finney Harden and celebrated Atlanta chef Zeb Stevenson to talk about why the "City in the Forest" is so awesome. PODCAST GUESTS Natalie Brown – People Operations Lead, Hermeus Lauren Finney Harden – Content Creator, form…

Fun fact: "avionics" is a combination of the words "aviation" and "electronics". Which sums up exactly what avionics is. In this episode listen to members of the avionics team nerd out about this fact and much more. PODCAST GUESTS Antony Samuel – Lead Avionics Engineer Matt Bigelow – Principal GNC Engineer Natalie Rakoski – Flight Software Engineer…

We raised a $100 million Series B! In this episode we discuss the fundraising process, what we'll do with this money, and review the initial logo ideas for Halcyon.