Ngā Here - The Many Connections
by James Beck
Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and we’ve got some pretty big questions. Questions about what the Bible might have to say about the way we live and care for creation. Questions about how we can deeply connect with the world around us and each other. Questions about why the church seems so useless when it comes to caring for God’s creation. And questions about how Māori and Pākehā can learn from each other, and grow together. So if you’re keen - I’d love to invite you to come along on this crazy, beautiful, journey with me, Waiora Te Moni, and Dr Andrew Shepherd - as we explore Ngā Here - The Many Connections that exist between creation, the Bible and living in Aotearoa. Ngā Here - The Many Connections is a project funded by The Wilberforce Foundation. Produced by James Beck, with Creative Direction from the Revered Spanky Moore
Episodes
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Haerenga Tuarima - Part 6 - Superintelligence, the Spirit, and Subverting Empire
In this episode, we explore the terrifying possibility of superintelligent AI and why an endless technological arms race could lead to our ultimate undoing. James, Waiora, and Andrew look at the very end of the Babel narrative, reframing God’s scattering of humanity not as a punishment, but as a...
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Haerenga Tuarima - Part 5 - Algorithms, Alignment and Anti-Imperial Acts
In this episode, we explore how a single, unified language can fuel the dangerous ambitions of an empire, whether it is the ancient builders of Babel or the creators of the atomic bomb. James, Waiora, and Andrew unpack the end of Genesis 11, discovering that the confusion of the languages may…
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Haerenga Tuarima - Part 4 - Data, Dirt and Digital Classrooms
In this episode, we explore how the digital "cloud" is actually reliant on the earth and is sustained by a highly extractive physical economy that even treats human attention as a raw material. James, Waiora, and Andrew compare the resource extraction and cheap labour that ancient empires relied…
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Haerenga Tuarima - Part 3 - The Architecture of Empire
In this episode, we explore how the spaces we build reveal the true desires of our hearts and the values of our culture. James, Waiora, and Andrew step out of the Wellington streets and into the quiet beauty of St Peter's Anglican Church, contrasting its worshipful design with the imperial…
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Haerenga Tuarima - Part 2 - Binary Code, Babel and Automated Mansplaining
In this episode, we explore how ancient empires and modern artificial intelligence might be built on exactly the same values. James, Waiora, and Andrew continue unpacking Genesis 11, exploring how the push for a single global language and ultimate "efficiency" is the classic playbook of an…
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Haerenga Tuarima - Part 1 - Out of the Bush and Into the City
Our world has entered the era of artificial intelligence, so what can an ancient story about a tower tell us about our modern tech-obsessed world? Welcome to the new season of Ngā Here! This season, we decided to leave the bush and head into our capital city to explore how digital technologies…
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Special Episode // Selwyn Yeoman // The Hospitality of God and the Art of Companionable Living
In this special one-off episode, James Beck travels to Tirohanga, a name meaning "place of vision," to sit down with Selwyn Yeoman. Selwyn is a retired Presbyterian minister, conservationist, and theologian whose life’s work has been reclaiming the biblical vision of human "dominion" not as a...
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Haerenga Tuawhā - Part 6 - Covenant, Creation and New Beginnings
Season Four draws to a close in Makarora, surrounded by mountains, glaciers, and braided rivers — landscapes breathtaking in beauty yet marked by the realities of climate change and human impact. James, Waiora, and Andrew reflect on the Noah story one final time, reading the covenant passage of...
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Haerenga Tuawhā - Part 5 - Whakapapa, Floods and Being Remembered
On the road through Central Otago, the team makes a series of unexpected stops — not just at lizard sanctuaries, but at cemeteries. James takes Waiora and Andrew on a tour of his own whakapapa in Naseby, Hamiltons, and St Bathans, telling stories of ancestors who left famine in Ireland, sought…
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Haerenga Tuawhā - Part 4 - Grief, Lament and Faithfulness
We ended the last episode talking about hope — God’s refusal to give up on creation, and the possibility of sanctuaries that protect life. But hope is only real when it sits alongside grief, and in this episode the team wrestles with how to hold both. Back with Anna Yeoman at Mokomoko Dryland...
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Haerenga Tuawhā - Part 3 - Sanctuaries, Arks, and Possibility
In Central Otago, James, Waiora, and Andrew meet Anna Yeoman, a writer and conservationist whose unexpected love for geckos and skinks grew into years of volunteering, research, and eventually a book. Together they visit Mokomoko Dryland Sanctuary near Alexandra, a predator-free haven where...
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Haerenga Tuawhā - Part 2 - Violence, Hope, and Water
In this episode of Ngā Here, the team travels into the breathtaking Makarora Valley. Along the way, they reflect on stories of ancestral journeys, and the impacts of human land modification — from Foulden Maar to the Clyde Dam. James, Waiora, and Andrew then turn to the story of Noah in Genesis…
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Haerenga Tuawhā - Part 1 - Fossils, Faith, and the Future of Our Planet
We kick off Season Four of Ngā Here in Ōtepoti Dunedin – and our first stop takes us deep into the earth’s memory. James, Waiora, and Andrew sit down with Professor Daphne Lee, a geologist whose work with ancient fossil forests and sites like Foulden Maar has revealed extraordinary stories from...
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Special Episode // John Stenhouse // Science, Settlers, and Our Shared Story
Before we launch into season four of Ngā Here, we’re pausing to reflect with this special episode. James sits down with Associate Professor John Stenhouse in his office at Ōtakou Whakaihu Waka - The University of Otago for a wide-ranging kōrero about science, settlers, and how those things are...
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Haerenga Tuatoru - Part 7 - Questions, Consequences and the Way of Peace.
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to the final episode of season three of Ngā Here. For the first couple of seasons of Ngā Here, we went to a secluded hut on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū - Banks Peninsular so that we could be surrounded by ngahere to talk...
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Haerenga Tuatoru - Part 6 - Fugitives, Wanderers and Reconciliation
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to the sixth episode of season three of Ngā Here. For the first couple of seasons of Ngā Here, we went to a secluded hut on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū - Banks Peninsular so that we could be surrounded by ngahere to talk...
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Haerenga Tuatoru - Part 5 - The Land is Crying Out
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to the fith episode of season three of Ngā Here. For the first couple of seasons of Ngā Here, we went to a secluded hut on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū - Banks Peninsular so that we could be surrounded by ngahere to talk...
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Haerenga Tuatoru - Part 4 - Rangiaowhia
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to the forth episode of season three of Ngā Here. For the first couple of seasons of Ngā Here, we went to a secluded hut on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū - Banks Peninsular so that we could be surrounded by ngahere to talk...
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Haerenga Tuatoru - Part 3 - One Kept Flocks
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to the third episode of season three of Ngā Here. For the first couple of seasons of Ngā Here, we went to a secluded hut on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū - Banks Peninsular so that we could be surrounded by ngahere to talk...
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Haerenga Tuatoru - Part 2 - Te Horopaki
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to the second episode of season three of Ngā Here. For the first couple of seasons of Ngā Here, we went to a secluded hut on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū - Banks Peninsular so that we could be surrounded by ngahere to talk...
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Haerenga Tuatoru - Part 1 - Te Karanga
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to the first episode of season three of Ngā Here. For the first couple of seasons of Ngā Here, we went to a secluded hut on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū - Banks Peninsular so that we could be surrounded by ngahere to talk...
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Special Episode // Tony Rinaudo Interviewed in the Hut
E ngā maunga whakahī o te motu, tena rā tatou katoa, Ko James Beck tēni I’m James Beck. And welcome to this one-off episode of Ngā Here. If you have listened to Ngā Here before, you will know that usually, I take a couple of people to some remote location, to discuss what the bible might have to...
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Special Episode // Peter Harris Interviewed in the Hut
E ngā maunga whakahī o te motu, tena rā tatou katoa, Ko James Beck tēni I’m James Beck. And welcome to this one-off episode of Ngā Here. If you have listened to Ngā Here before, you will know that usually, I take a couple of people to some remote location, to discuss what the bible might have to...
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Haerenga Tuarua - Part 6 - A Sneaky Snake and Living Waters
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to episode six of the second season of Ngā Here. In the last episode, we discussed proximity and relationship and how the human vocation depends on partnership. We pick up in this episode by jumping into Genesis 3. We...
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Haerenga Tuarua - Part 5 - What Happened In The Garden?
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to episode five of the second season of Ngā Here. In the last episode, we discussed what the abundant life is really about, and what it might mean for us to change the way we engage with our stuff. We pick up in this...
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Haerenga Tuarua - Part 4 - The Abundant Life Is Rubbish
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to episode four of the second season of Ngā Here. In the last episode, we discussed our relationship with the whenua, and what it might mean for us to see God as a gardener. We pick up in this episode by discussing…
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Haerenga Tuarua - Part 3 - Humans Are Dirt
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa, and welcome to episode three of the second season of Ngā Here. Nau mai, tauti mai, piki mai rā. Last time on Ngā Here we had a deep conversation about the disconnection that many of us feel as a result of the many changes that…
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Haerenga Tuarua - Part 2 - Acceleration and Alienation
E aku nui, e aku rahi, e aku rau rangatira mā, tēnā rā tatou katoa. Welcome to episode two of the second season of Ngā Here. Last time on Ngā Here, we had just got the team back together. We went to a local reserve and planted a few native plants and had a whole bunch of conversations about how…
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Haerenga Tuarua - Part 1 - Finding Our Place
E ngā maunga whakahī o te motu, tena rā tatou katoa, welcome to season two of Ngā Here. Now just to recap In our first season of Nga Here, I came up with this crazy plan. I was looking at the health of our planet and the wellbeing of the people who live in Aotearoa - and I had some pretty big...
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Haerenga Tuatahi - Part 6 - The Return
E aku rau rangatira, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko James Beck tēnei, I’m James Beck and welcome to episode 6 of Ngā Here. Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and we’ve got…
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Haerenga Tuatahi - Part 5 - The Response
E aku nui, e aku rahi, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko James Beck tēnei, I’m James Beck and welcome to Episode 5 of Ngā Here. Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and we’ve got...
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Haerenga Tuatahi - Part 4 - The Human Calling
E ngā maunga whakahī o te motu, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko James Beck tēnei, I’m James Beck and welcome to Episode 4 of Ngā Here. Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and...
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Haerenga Tuatahi - Part 3 - Myths and Braided Rivers
E te tī, e te tā, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko James Beck tēnei, I’m James Beck and welcome to episode 3 of Ngā Here. Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and we’ve got some...
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Haerenga Tuatahi - Part 2 - The Problem
E rere atu ngā hau o mihi, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko james Beck tēnei, I’m James Beck and welcome to episode 2 of Ngā Here. Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and we’ve…
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Haerenga Tuatahi - Part 1 - The Departure
E te tī, e te tā, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko James Beck tēnei, I’m James Beck and welcome to episode 1 of Ngā Here. Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and we’ve got some...
About this show
Over the years I’ve noticed that there are a lot of us who can see that our planet is a bit broken and that how we live as a people in Aotearoa is a bit broken too - and we’ve got some pretty big questions.
Questions about what the Bible might have to say about the way we live and care for creation. Questions about how we can deeply connect with the world around us and each other. Questions about why the church seems so useless when it comes to caring for God’s creation. And questions about how Māori and Pākehā can learn from each other, and grow together.
So if you’re keen - I’d love to invite you to come along on this crazy, beautiful, journey with me, Waiora Te Moni, and Dr Andrew Shepherd - as we explore Ngā Here - The Many Connections that exist between creation, the Bible and living in Aotearoa.
Ngā Here - The Many Connections is a project funded by The Wilberforce Foundation. Produced by James Beck, with Creative Direction from the Revered Spanky Moore
Hosted by
James Beck
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