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History

The Aotearoa History Show

by RNZ

Not on the Germany charts we track today.

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Latest episodes

  • Women's Suffrage

    September 18, 2022 · 33 min

    NOTE: This episode has been reuploaded to correct some inaccuracies in the original version. We all know New Zealand was the first country in the world where women could vote. But do you know how we got there? The path to suffrage is…

  • Number 8 Wire

    September 11, 2022 · 32 min

    New Zealanders like to think we have a "Number 8 Wire Mentality" - a rough and ready enthusiasm for fixing and building stuff with limited resources. New Zealanders like to think we have a "Number 8 Wire Mentality" - a rough and ready…

  • NZ Railways

    September 4, 2022 · 25 min

    From a standing start of little tank engines chugging along wooden rails, New Zealand built a vast rail network, made up of enough steel rail to wrap halfway around the moon. All aboard for a voyage into the history of New Zealand's…

  • Whaling & Sealing

    August 28, 2022 · 30 min

    Marine mammals were a source of food and clothing for Māori and Moriori, and valuable oil for Europeans. Hunting them brought cultures together, made fortunes and cost lives but today it's saving them that unites people. "Thar she…

  • The Musket Wars

    August 21, 2022 · 33 min

    These are the wars that cost more lives than any other in our history. Stretched over more than a decade & the entire country, these conflicts changed Māori warfare & much of what came next. For more than 30 years Aotearoa was beset by…

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  • Moriori

    June 12, 2022 · 32 min

    Moriori are the original people of Rēkohu (aka Chatham Island or Wharekauri) and they have a tragic and inspiring story. Unfortunately, that story's often been twisted into, well, utter rubbish. Moirori history has often been twisted out…

  • Native Land Court

    June 5, 2022 · 34 min

    In 1841 a few tiny islands of Pākehā settlement existed in an ocean of Māori land. Today, that picture has reversed & Māori own a fraction of Aotearoa. A big part of the reason? The Native Land Court. Large chunks of land changed hands…

  • The Gold Rushes

    May 29, 2022 · 31 min

    The discovery of gold drew tens of thousands to New Zealand in search of fortune. It was a hard life, but diggers brought mateship, fashion & egalitarian ideas that changed the country forever. Gold! The mania for this shiny yellow metal…

  • Epidemics

    May 22, 2022 · 31 min

    New Zealanders have battled Covid-19 for more than two years, but if you think it's the first time disease has knocked us around, well, this one's for you. Epidemics have long been part of our story. During the Covid-19 pandemic we've…

  • Teenagers

    May 15, 2022 · 29 min

    The 1950s saw an explosion of youth culture. "Bodgies and widgies' ' tearing round on motorbikes & hanging out in milk bars scandalised many Kiwi adults. Was "the teenager" invented in the 1950s? And what is a "milk bar" anyway? The 1950s…

  • Māori: The First 500 Years

    May 8, 2022 · 33 min

    The first 500 years of Māori settlement in Aotearoa saw significant, dynamic changes to how people lived; changes that challenge the idea of Māori culture as something carved in stone. There's sometimes a temptation to think of Māori as a…

  • Rabbits & Other Pests

    May 1, 2022 · 28 min

    No-one knows for sure who first introduced rabbits to New Zealand, because no-one wanted to take the blame for what became one of New Zealand's biggest environmental and economic disasters. We start season two burrowing into the…

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About the show

Deep dive into a rigorous romp through the history of New Zealand, from its volcanic beginnings, through settlement, wars and social change to the late 20th century.