Black Sheep

Black Sheep Season 8 is just around the corner with a whole new cast of controversial, villainous, or simply misunderstood figures from New Zealand history.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The last of the so-called 'lunatic asylums' closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety. In this special crossover with the Nellie's Baby Podcast, William Ray and Kirsty Johnston look into their origins.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

From the 1840s onward, Frederick Maning would become an increasingly bitter and angry man who demonised Māori who opposed colonisation. So what explains this radical transition from a romantic early Pākehā settler? RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates.

Frederick Maning was one of the first Europeans to settle in Aotearoa, marrying a high-ranking Ngāpuhi woman, and writing two books filled with colourful anecdotes of his time living alongside Māori. But attitude to his adopted land - and its people - twisted and turned over time, leaving a complicated legacy.

Maning was there for key moments in the early years of cross-cultural contact. He witnessed the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi at Māngungu, and allegedly counselled Māori against signing it; he took up arms in the Northern War (including the infamous Battle of Ōhaeawai); and was one of the first judges on the Native Land Court.

But while his books painted a romantic picture of his early life among Māori, Maning's private letters from later in life described Tangata Whenua using racist language, and advocated extreme violence against those who resisted colonisation.

In this two part episode of Black Sheep, we look at these two lives of Judge Frederick Maning.

For further reading:

• White Chief: the colourful life and times of Judge F E Maning of the Hokianga by John Nicholson
• Te Kooti Tango Whenua by Professor David V Williams
• Pakeha Maori: the early life and times of Frederick Edward Maning by David Calquhoun
• History of the War in the North of New Zealand by Frederick Maning
• Old New Zealand by Frederick Maning

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Frederick Maning was one of the first Europeans to settle in Aotearoa, he married a high-ranking Ngāpuhi woman, and wrote two books filled with romantic anecdotes of his time living alongside Māori. So why did so many of his private letters express such violent, racist attitudes towards Māori? RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates.

Frederick Maning was one of the first Europeans to settle in Aotearoa, marrying a high-ranking Ngāpuhi woman, and writing two books filled with colourful anecdotes of his time living alongside Māori. But attitude to his adopted land - and its people - twisted and turned over time, leaving a complicated legacy.

Maning was there for key moments in the early years of cross-cultural contact. He witnessed the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi at Māngungu, and allegedly counselled Māori against signing it; he took up arms in the Northern War (including the infamous Battle of Ōhaeawai); and was one of the first judges on the Native Land Court.

But while his books painted a romantic picture of his early life among Māori, Maning's private letters from later in life described Tangata Whenua using racist language, and advocated extreme violence against those who resisted colonisation.

In this two part episode of Black Sheep, we look at these two lives of Judge Frederick Maning.

For further reading:

• White Chief: the colourful life and times of Judge F E Maning of the Hokianga by John Nicholson
• Pakeha Maori: the early life and times of Frederick Edward Maning by David Calquhoun
• History of the War in the North of New Zealand by Frederick Maning
• Old New Zealand by Frederick Maning

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In the 1910s, Hjelmar Dannevill wowed high society with gripping tales of adventure as a medical researcher and journalist. But suspicions over her fantastical stories and insistence on wearing men's clothing saw her locked up as a German spy during WWI. RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates the mystery of "Dr Dannevill".

Content Warning: This podcast includes discussion of suicide and self-harm

In the 1910s, Hjelmar Dannevill wowed Wellington high society with gripping tales of adventure as a medical researcher and journalist. But suspicions over her fantastical stories and insistence on wearing men's clothing saw her locked up as a German spy during WWI.

So, how much of Dannevill's story was for real? And why did she insist on dressing the way she did?

RNZ's Black Sheep podcast speaks to historian and author Julie Glamuzina about the mystery of "Dr" Hjelmar Dannevill, and what it shows about attitudes to gender in early 20th century New Zealand.

For further reading:

• Spies and Lies: The Mysterious Dr Dannevill by Julie Glamuzina

Where to get help:

Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.

Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202

Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)

Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email [email protected]

What's Up: free counselling for 5 to 19 years old, online chat 11am-10.30pm 7days/week or free phone 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 11am-11pm Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.

Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254

Healthline: 0800 611 116

Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155

OUTLine: 0800 688 5463 (6pm-9pm)

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In 1935, a series of extraordinary newspaper articles claimed a backyard inventor called Victor Penny was trying to build a Death Ray for the New Zealand government. The claims seem absurd... So why were they taken so seriously?

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dr Alfred Newman may be the most notorious scientific racist in New Zealand history. His 1882 paper "A study of the causes leading to the extinction of the Māori" was so extreme that it scandalised not just Māori, but also New Zealand's wider scientific community. So what can Newman's story tell us about the history of scientific racism in Aotearoa?

Dr Alfred Newman may be the most notorious scientific racist in New Zealand history. His 1882 paper "A study of the causes leading to the extinction of the Maori" used such extreme and callous language that it scandalised not just Māori, but also New Zealand's wider scientific community.

Dr Newman's views didn't spring out of nowhere. He was building on a  longer history of racial supremacy - bouyed in part by Charles Darwin's theories of "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest", which many 19th Century Pākehā seized as a scientific justification for preexisting ideas of racial superiority.

However these ideas of white supremacy have always been contested in Aotearoa - by Māori and also some Pākehā. Dr Newman's notorious 1882 paper saw significant criticism from New Zealand's top scientists of the time.

In this episode of Black Sheep, we investigate Dr Alfred Newman's story - and the wider story of scientific racism in Aotearoa.

For further reading:

• Science, Racism, and Colonialism in Aotearoa by Dr Arama Rata
• Myth, Race, and Identity in New Zealand by James Belich
• 'A Disappearing Race Before We Came Here' by John Stenhouse
• Reading Darwin During the New Zealand Wars: Science, religion, politics and race, 1835–1900 by John Stenhouse

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In the second of a two-part episode on Charles Mackay Black Sheep investigates the mysteries surrounding the Whanganui Mayor's attempted murder of D'Arcy Cresswell - a former soldier who threatened to out the Mackay as homosexual if he didn't resign the mayoralty.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

For more than 50 years the name of Mayor Charles Mackay was all but forbidden in Whanganui. In 1920 Mackay shot a man through the chest after he threated to expose the mayor's homosexuality. RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates the downfall of Charles Mackay, and how his story is being reevaluated in modern New Zealand.

For 50 years the name Charles Mackay was all but forbidden in Whanganui. The former mayor's name was chiselled off public buildings, ripped off street signs and deliberately excluded from official histories. His official portrait was taken down and destroyed.

The reason? In 1920 Charles Mackay shot and nearly killed D'Arcy Cresswell, a 24-year-old returned soldier who had been threatening to out Mackay as homosexual.

Over the last few decades people have tried to drag Mackay's story back into the spotlight. In the 1980s, LGBTQ+ activists successfully campaigned to have his name re-inscribed on the foundation stone of the Sarjeant Gallery and in 2022 historian and author Paul Diamond released a long awaited book digging into Mackay's story.

But Mackay's story still has many unanswered questions.

Was D'Arcy Cresswell acting alone when he tried to blackmail the mayor? Was he solely motivated by homophobia, or was there something more complicated going on? In this two part episode of Black Sheep, host William Ray investigates the story of the former Mayor.

We look at Mackay's upbringing, and his meteoric rise to the mayoralty, which coincided with a meteoric rise for the town of Whanganui itself.

We investigate attitudes towards homosexuality in early 20th century New Zealand, and how Charles Mackay may have understood his attraction to other men.

And, we discuss the multiple scandals leading up to the Mayors arrest, including a catastrophic concert for a member of the royal family

Further reading:

• Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay by Paul Diamond
• Mates and Lovers: A History of Gay NZ by Professor Chris Brickell

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

RNZ multi award-winning podcast Black Sheep returns on May 26th with a new cast of mysterious misfits, violent villains and controversial characters.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details