PODCAST · society
The Podcast Hour
by RNZ
Designed to help you discover what to listen to next, host Richard Scott hunts out the best podcasts from New Zealand and around the world.
Episodes
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 3rd August 2019
A chance encounter fom the past in 'All The Best', tech show 'Reply All' solves online mysteries and tells stories of internet life, find otherworldly laughs in 'This Paranormal Life', and 'The Soundtrack Show' explores the role music plays in creating the fictional universe of our favourite films.
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'The Soundtrack Show': the music in our favourite films
'The Soundtrack Show' looks at the role that music plays in creating the fictional universe in some of our favourite films. From Jaws to Star Wars, from Psycho to Jurassic Park...and beyond! We play a clip from the first of three episodes devoted to the first part of the Lord Of The Rings…
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'This Paranormal Life': otherwordly laughs
Do you believe in aliens, or doubt that the Moon Landings ever took place? Me neither...but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying 'This Paranormal Life'! We share an excerpt from episode 67 of 'This Paranormal Life' called 'Murderous Bunny Man Escapes Asylum' presented by Rory Powers and Kit...
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'Reply All': tech mysteries
For some reason Ben can't listen to one of his favourite podcasts, 99% Invisible with Roman Mars, on the car stereo of his Mazda. But why?! We play some of 'The Roman Mars Mazda Virus', episode 140 of 'Reply All' from Gimlet Media hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman.
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Chance encounters: 'All The Best'
Have you ever got an unexpected message or a social media notification from a name from your past? One day Stephen got a Facebook alert from somebody very special to him, who he'd lost contact with 27 years before. We share some of Carey Scheer's story 'The Only Hole In My Life' produced by Tegan...
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 27th July 2019
'When We Got To The Seventh' is a quirky fiction show [1:54-13:57], having fun with self improvement in 'Personal Best' [14:01-25:19], celebrating life's simple pleasures in 'The Pleasures of Brecht' [25:19-38:28], and where does the idea of pink for girls and blue for boys from? 'Every Little...
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Pink for girls? 'Every Little Thing'
Where did the idea of the colour blue for boys and pink for girls actually come from? It's a question listener Elle Ve poses on the 'Every Little Thing' helpline and it sends host Flora Lichtmann down a rabbit hole of discovery. We play some of an episode of 'Every Little Thing' from Gimlet Media...
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Celebrating life's simple pleasures: 'The Pleasures of Brecht'
After years of exile from Germany through the Second World War, in 1954 the German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote a simple poem called Vergnügungen or a list of pleasures. 'The Pleasures of Brecht' is produced by Phil Smith who also composed the music (and recorded it in Brecht's house…
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Having fun with self help: 'Personal Best'
Have you ever wanted to be a better You?! 'Personal Best' is a Canadian show playing around with the expectations and the conventions of the self help genre. Your life coaches and spirit guides in this quest to be the best are Rob Norman and Andrew Norton. In an episode called 'How To Master The...
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'When We Got To The Seventh': a quirky fiction show
Emma Clarke is a voiceover artist and 'When We Got To The Seventh' is her fiction podcast that revolves around an encounter with a seventh something: it could be a marriage, a planet, even a victim. We play some of an episode called 'I'm Just A Very Maternal Person', written and performed by Emma...
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 20th July 2019
'Paradise': The unsolved murder of 2 British backpackers [1:45-13:30], 'The Cut on Tuesdays': Family money [13:31-29:38], Word nerds? Try 'Something Rhymes with Purple' [29:39-39:15] and designing a dream city in 'Nice Try!' [39:16-47:21]
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Designing a dream city: Nice Try!
Nice Try! is a 7-part series looking at the elusive idea of utopia- a perfect society or place- and how this concept's been interpreted at various points in history, from Hitler's plans for Berlin, to enclosed biospheres populated by environmentalists. And- spoiler alert- some kind of failure or...
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Word nerd? Try 'Something Rhymes with Purple'
Word nerds, Scrabble geeks, and language freaks are going to enjoy 'Something Rhymes with Purple'! Maggie Hough emailed me at [email protected] about it, as it's one of her favourite shows. It's an informative and amusing look at language hosted by two word nerds, Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth, who...
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'The Cut on Tuesdays': Family money
The Cut is the section of New York Magazine targeted at "women with stylish minds". Visit its website today and you'll find stories covering politics, relationships, work, and equality, alongside beauty, style and fashion tips. Its podcast 'The Cut on Tuesdays' covers similarly wide-ranging...
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'Paradise': The unsolved murder of 2 British backpackers
Back in 1978 the bodies of two British backpackers were found in the sea off the Guatemalan coast in central America. It was obvious that Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton had been been murdered, but for nearly 40 years nobody was arrested over their killings. In 'Paradise', Stephen Nolan and Dan...
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 13th July 2019
Visiting a threatened Hawaiian ecosystem in 'Offshore', 'Judge John Hodgman' litigates domestic squabbles, classical music mysteries are uncovered in 'Case Notes', and the 'Outside' podcast considers what a healthy relationship with technology could look like.
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Digital downsizing? The 'Outside' podcast
Even if you worry about using your smartphone too much, the idea of simply unplugging or ditching it altogether just isn't an option for most of us. So how can we strike the right balance between our tech usage and important stuff like interacting with our family, friends and the world around us...
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Classical music mysteries: 'Case Notes'
Black magic, theft, grave digging, gruesome crimes...some of our most famous classical composers led dark and interesting lives. It certainly wasn't all powdered wigs and harpsichord recitals for genteel society! We share some of 'Haydn's Missing Head' from Case Notes hosted by Tim Lihoreau for...
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'Judge John Hodgman': litigating domestic squabbles
Next time you have a trivial disagreement don't just bicker and squabble about it, have it properly decided by a Minor Television Personality and self-certified 'fake internet judge'! That's the compelling appeal of 'Judge John Hodgman', a long-running show that involves the actor and writer John...
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Visiting a threatened Hawaiian ecosystem: 'Offshore'
Only a select few visit the distant Hawaiian island group, Papahanaumokuakea. It's a massive but remote conservation area, covering ten islands and almost one million square kilometres of the Pacific. Nathan and Alana Eagle recorded a visit there for the podcast 'Offshore'. We share some of the...
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 6th July 2019
A true crime parody in 'This Sounds Serious', 'Extremities' takes you to the world's most isolated places. Solving screen time struggles in the ABC's 'Parental As Anything', and reviewing every Black film ever made in 'The Micheaux Mission'.
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Reviewing every Black film ever: 'The Micheaux Mission'
Robert Monroe emailed us at [email protected] to tell us about his favorite podcast, "The Micheaux Mission". The show's name comes from the pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux and in it hosts Len Webb and Vince Williams are on a mission to watch and review every single Black film…
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Screen time struggles: 'Parental As Anything'
How to manage screen time is a delicate topic in many households: like how much is too much? Are some screen-based activities better than others? And how can parents make sure they stick to the rules themselves and don't end up looking like total hypocrites!? The ABC's 'Parental As Anything'…
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'Extremities': taking you to the world's most isolated places
With 50 people, 75 buildings, and an occasionally dark past, Pitcairn Island's about as isolated as it's possible to get on Earth; more than 5,500 kilometres from New Zealand and just about slap bang in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. A new show called 'Extremities' finds out what it's…
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True crime parody: 'This Sounds Serious'
'This Sounds Serious' is a comedy fiction show sending up the true crime genre and its conventions. In 'Missing Melissa', host Gwen Radford finds herself on the trail of America's most missing person: Melissa Turner's a 28-year-old from Idaho who goes AWOL so often she's earned the nickname...
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 29 June 2019
Featuring 'The Shrink Next Door', 'Inside The Comedian with David Reed', 'True Crime New Zealand' and 'Borrowed'.
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Sharing stories beyond the book shelves: 'Borrowed'
'Borrowed' from Brooklyn Public Library in New York shares the stories happening between the shelves that hold the more than 4 million books in its collection. Like any good library it has reading recommendations, but it's not all about the books! Recorded in the library's own recording studio…
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'True Crime New Zealand': DIY show scales NZ's podcast charts
A new locally produced true crime show- made by a husband and wife team in their spare time- has been rising up the New Zealand podcast charts to appear alongside big names like Joe Rogan, Stuff You Should Know, and The Daily. We speak to Sirius Rust (not his real name!) who initially thought…
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Improvising interviews: 'Inside The Comedian'
Do you ever hear celebrity interviews that sound a little bit forced and scripted, like they're trotting out the same old answers to questions they've heard a hundred times before? If so, try a dose of 'Inside The Comedian' with David Reed. It's an interview show with a refreshing difference: the...
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'The Shrink Next Door': meet the neighbours
Doctor: patient, lawyer: client- there are some special relationships where we trust a professional to do the right thing and to act in our best interests at all times. The relationship between a psychiatrist and the person going to see them shouldn't be any different. But as 'The Shrink Next…
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 22 June 2019
'Revisionist History' challenges conventional wisdom. Then what humans can learn from the animal kingdom in '30 Animals That Made Us Smarter', 'The Beautiful Brain' investigates the link between head injuries and sport and music, fandom, and the creative process is explored in 'I Only Listen To…
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Music, creation, fandom: 'I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats'
The Mountain Goats' front man, the singer and songwriter John Darnielle, talks about the songs on his latest album 'In League With Dragons' with the writer and podcaster Joseph Fink. Fink's long-running audio series 'Welcome to Night Vale' imagines life in the very strange desert town of Night...
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'The Beautiful Brain': head injuries and sport
'The Beautiful Brain' (Audible) is a series about the brain and how it gets affected by the sports we play. The show focusses on the degenerative brain condition called CTE (short for chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which shows up in an increased risk of dementia, problems with memory,...
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Learning from animals: '30 Animals That Made Us Smarter'
From designing better camouflage to making quieter trains, we humans can learn lots from the animal kingdom. This growing area of research- called biomimicry- is explored in a series called '30 Animals That Made Us Smarter' (BBC World Service).
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'Revisionist History': challenging conventional wisdom
With the fourth season of Malcolm Gladwell's popular show 'Revisionist History' (Pushkin Industries) starting this week, we share two past episodes. 'Divide and Conquer' tells the story of how a single punctuation mark could have changed the course of US history. And in 'Analysis, Parapraxis,...
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 15 June 2019
Getting to grips with death and bereavement, the problem with tiki bars, why parole fails, an obsession with escalators, and the challenge of designing Indian army rations.
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Army rations: The Intersection's 'War and Peas'
Feeding an army during wartime's always been a huge logistical challenge. And those challenges were magnified for the Indian army in the Second World War. From an Indian podcast called 'The Intersection', which explores stories at the meeting point of culture, science and history, we share some…
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Escalating obsession: 'People Movers'
'People Movers' is a one woman passion project, an independent podcast mining a very particular niche: escalators! Lindsey Green was commuting through Melbourne station when she started noticing that some escalators seemed to be moving faster than others, depending on the time of day and how busy...
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Parole insights: 'Supervision'
Parole- that intermediate step between prison and freedom- doesn't get much interest or positive coverage in the mainstream press. In the northeastern US state of New Hampshire, about half of all people on parole end up back in prison within three years. So in 'Supervision' (New Hampshire Public...
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'Long Distance': tiki (bar) tour
With their blend of kitsch decor, exotic drinks, hula skirts and loud shirts, nothing said fun quite like the tiki bars and Polynesian-themed cocktail lounges that sprang up in the US back in the Fifties and the Sixties. Paola Mardo's an audio producer based in California whose show 'Long…
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A podcast about love, grief and hope
'Death: a podcast about love, grief and hope' (Newshub) is a new locally produced show, that tries to find some answers about how we can cope with grief, and how we can help others do the same. And the story's told by a man who's experienced incomprehensible loss himself. In 2011, Mark Longley's...
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 8 June 2019
Overthinkers unite in 'Adrift'. 'A Way With Words' explores interesting words and phrases. 'Brexitcast' gives you a behind-the-scenes view of Brexit. And 'Here Be Monsters' offers an anxiety-laden look into our fears.
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Unknown pleasures: 'Here Be Monsters'
Back in Ye Olden Days 'Here Be Monsters' is what map-makers are supposed to have written over unknown and unexplored parts of the world on their charts. It's also the name of an offbeat, arty show that describes itself as a podcast about the unknown. Producer Bethany Denton made 'Hypnosis of...
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Brexitcast: Behind-the-scenes Brexit
Listener Janet emailed [email protected] about Brexitcast, a show she's got addicted to that features some top BBC journalists explaining what's going on with Brexit. As Janet writes "... it's very back-room. And surprisingly entertaining if not funny". We speak to the show's producer Dino Sofos and...
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Word games: 'A Way With Words'
'A Way With Words' is a long-running US phone-in show that answers listener questions about the origins and use of interesting words and phrases. For example, when do clothes become laundry? Where does the saying 'high and dry' come from? And how on earth should you pronounce turmeric?! This...
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'Adrift': overthinkers unite!
In 'Adrift', serial overthinker Geoff Lloyd and co-host and confidante Annabel Port pick over their listeners' social dilemmas and stories about their failed interactions with other human beings. The two hosts have an easy rapport and some of the deeply uncomfortable (and often minutely…
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The Podcast Hour for Saturday 1 June 2019
The podcast poet: 'Have You Heard George's Podcast?' aims for social change. 'Backlisted' brings new life to old books. 'Conversations With People Who Hate Me' introduces online haters to their targets. Finally, 'Words To That Effect' looks at how big ideas enter the popular imagination through...
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'Words To That Effect': a brainy look at some big ideas
'Words To That Effect' looks at how some big ideas enter the popular imagination through books and film. Zombies, overpopulation, steampunk and imaginary countries are just some of the topics covered by the Irish writer and researcher Conor Reid and we share an excerpt from an episode called...
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'Conversations With People Who Hate Me'
In 'Conversations With People Who Hate Me' the actor and activist Dylan Marron speaks directly to the people making hateful comments about him (and others) online. Four years ago Colleen tweeted "I'm not sure I hate any celebrity the way I hate Amanda Palmer". So of course Dylan engineers a...
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New life for old books: 'Backlisted'
'Backlisted' takes neglected books and gives them new life for the modern reader. It's a bit like a clever book club where everyone does all the reading! The show's hosted by Andy Miller and John Mitchinson (who spent lots of time here in New Zealand growing up). We speak to John about how the...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Podcast Hour have?
The Podcast Hour currently has 252 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Podcast Hour about?
Designed to help you discover what to listen to next, host Richard Scott hunts out the best podcasts from New Zealand and around the world.
How often does The Podcast Hour release new episodes?
The Podcast Hour publishes regularly with 252 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Podcast Hour?
You can listen to The Podcast Hour on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Podcast Hour?
The Podcast Hour is created and hosted by RNZ.
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