PRESS PLAY
A weekly investigative documentary exploring what is happening in New Zealand and to New Zealanders here and overseas. Best Factual Weekly Programme at the 2020 NZ Radio Awards
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Insight connects New Zealand policy and institutional decisions to documentary evidence and the people experiencing their consequences.
Insight turns public policy into reported stories about how institutions shape everyday life in New Zealand. Philippa Tolley sets up each question before handing the programme to a named reporter, whose work combines official records with interviews from the people living…
A 600-page hospital stocktake turns your policy curiosity into a question about who works under that roof.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A blunt look at hospitals under strain, from worn buildings and prefabs to overcrowded emergency care.
This episode takes a blunt look at New Zealand's hospitals, moving through a plain stocktake of what holds up, what is worn out, and what is close to failing.
A humane look at survival after the headlines moved on.
This piece stays close to the people living through the Christchurch mosque attacks long after the news cycle moved on. It is strongest with Ahmed Jahangir and Mohamed Sahadat, where the detail does the work: the constant burning pain, the closed restaurant, the lost use of an…
A grounded look at five-year-olds, families, and a changing New Zealand.
The episode looks at New Zealand on the verge of five million people and asks what that means for childhood, family life, and identity. It moves between home life, school, migration, and the Growing Up in New Zealand research that follows tamariki over time.
A measured case for treating overseas students as a long-term asset, not a one-off revenue line.
New Zealand's Chinese students are presented as more than a source of tuition revenue; the piece asks whether they can deepen ties with Beijing or whether that possibility is simply left to chance.
A grounded look at whether education can turn into lasting influence.
It treats a familiar export story from a quieter angle: what New Zealand gets if Chinese students educated there later matter in business, finance, and government.
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard traces con man John Meehan's fraud, abuse, and its Bravo TV adaptation.
UFO disclosure with teeth.
Bleak news, deadpan jokes, no broadcast polish.
Australian investigations, followed from the ground up.
An investigative documentary examining how the Department of Conservation manages increasing tourism on New Zealand's conservation estate.
Insight asks whether Chinese students who studied in New Zealand are a lasting asset for the country.
Insight examines the condition of hospital buildings across the country and the scale of the repair work now in plain view.
On the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings, Insight follows the long aftermath for two men whose lives were changed by gunfire.
New Zealand is closing in on five million people, and this episode asks what that means for the country’s youngest children.
Insight asks whether Chinese students educated in New Zealand are key to the country's future relationship with Beijing.
An investigative documentary examining the allocation and management of New Zealand's Provincial Growth Fund in the surge regions.
An investigative report on New Zealand's truck driver shortage, exploring why fewer young people are entering the trade and whether education can solve the crisis.