Let's revisit our case study on wokeness - a look into Kiwibank, one of New Zealand's most woke businesses. This was the 6th most popular McBlog episode (on YouTube) in 2025. Meanwhile our Family First team is getting ready to relaunch with new content and new shows 💥 in what's going to be an action-packed election year.

2025 wasn't a great year for Te Pāti Māori, with lots of in-fighting and political games. It was a shambles. Are they imploding? Simon O'Connor and Bob McCoskrie discuss this as we revisit a popular segment from Political Playback. Meanwhile, the Family First team will soon return with new content and new shows, in a busy year leading up to the General Election. It's going to be a cracker.

We're gearing up to soon launch into 2026 with new content (and new shows 💥). Today we revisit an episode of Family Matters with Dr Kevin Donnelly, on challenging the woke.

Dr Kevin Donnelly AM is a leading public intellectual in Australia. He is a frequent commentator and author around education and wider cultural issues. His most recent book is 'Wake Up To Woke It’s Time, Australia'.

Simon O'Connor sits down with him for a wide ranging chat from why groups are trying to push gender ideology into public libraries and schools; why parents rights are being undermined; and why progressives are obsessed with language. This and much more, so well worth tuning in.

As the Family First team are gearing up to soon launch into 2026 with new content (and new shows 💥) let's take a look at some of our most popular content of 2025. Today we revisit "The Media’s Lovefest With Jacinda (& Her Book)" - the 7th most popular McBlog episode of 2025 (on YouTube).

On this final episode of Solid Ground for 2025, Simon shares some of the year's highlights and also says a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has made the year such a success. He gives a particular thanks to all those watching and reading Family First's content throughout the year. He also shares the first photo of his treehouse podcasting studio! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

In this episode of Solid Ground, Simon addresses the recent judicial decision to block the ban on puberty blockers in New Zealand calling it more an act of activism, relying on outdated information and outright fabrications. Simon also highlights the very poor choice of ‘quote of the year’ by Massey University. He then spends time dissecting the recent speech by Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick around Bondi, noting how she avoids discussing key elements of the tragedy while also trying to uiversalise what happened. Simon then quickly covers recent news around TVNZ, the Waipareira Trust, and the imprisonment of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

In this episode of Solid Ground, Simon devotes much of the show to discussing the tragic event at Bondi Beach, where terrorists killed 15 people. He strongly critiques the societal and political response to such events, arguing for a clearer identification of the ideologies behind the violence. He also questions the near-silence from the likes of the Green Party and other left wing figures, noting their earlier rhetoric has given moral cover to those who perpetrate violence. He also speaks of how increasing antisemitism sits alongside a society that is decaying, and how we must return to reason, empirical evidence, and restraint.

In this final episode for the year – shocking scenes in Australia after a terrorist attack on a Jewish Festival at Sydney’s Bondi Beach leaves 12 people dead and 29 injured; Time Magazine can’t bring themselves to honour Charlie Kirk; new ‘hate speech’ bill in Canada targets the Bible; US states that have legalised cannabis are having second thoughts; western countries with fertility declines are finally realising they’re in trouble – but not New Zealand?; the legacy media in NZ continue to push Democrat talking points on Epstein despite the evidence; Oprah backtracks on ‘no contact’ trend which she previously promoted; and Isaiah 41:10.

In this episode of Daybreak – where do NZ MPs stand on the social media ban for under 16s; tennis world #1 Sabalenka opposes dudes in women’s sports; FIFA’s woke ‘pride’ dilemma; tech CEO needs AI to raise children; Netflix’s promotion of LGBT themes exposed; IKEA are woke; left-wing newspaper expresses concern about liberals not having children; Erika finally pushes back on the nonsense, trolls and ‘evil’ conspiracies; & an excellent column from Miranda Devine also on this issue.

In the final episode for the year – the Australian social media ban takes effect; an analysis of the latest political polls – and the interesting responses from political leaders; Jacinda tells Graham Norton what went wrong – or does she; funding Maori media and whether backbench government MPs can hold personal views; opposition parties want a code of conduct for other MPs but not for themselves; the allegations against a Labour MP that the mainstream media don’t want to talk about; why do we have a Children’s Commissioner; who do we trust when police and political leaders disagree with each other; and Bob & Simon make their predictions for 2026 – which are sure to be wrong! 😊