Ngā Here - The Many Connections

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 redemptive act that disrupts centralised power and opens the door to genuine human flourishing. 

The crew compare the Babel story to the story of Pentecost, asking what it means for the Spirit to empower a global, multilingual resistance movement in the face of modern empires. Drawing on the subversive poetry of Revelation, James shares his personal journey of learning Te Reo Māori, highlighting how actively participating in the diversity of God's creation is a powerful act of resistance against the homogenising forces of both colonial history and digital technology. 

Make sure you keep listening to the rest of the season!

Ngā Here - Many Connections is created with support from the Wilberforce Foundation, produced by Mick Andrews at CBA, with Creative Direction from James Beck. Find out more at arocha.org.nz

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 have been God's way of resisting the homogenization of humanity. 

To understand who really controls this shared digital language, the crew is joined by AI researcher Ali Knott. Ali explores why he thinks that we urgently need transparent AI governance. He also suggests that local communities could take control of their own digital infrastructure to align technology with their own values. 

Make sure you keep listening to the rest of the season!

Ngā Here - Many Connections is created with support from the Wilberforce Foundation, produced by Mick Andrews at CBA, with Creative Direction from James Beck. Find out more at arocha.org.nz

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 on with the real-world implications of Artificial Intelligence.

To find an alternative to this tech-driven world, the crew heads into a patch of regenerating bush in Aro Valley with educator Bronwyn Wood. While surrounded by birds, the crew explore the dangers of gamifying classrooms and outsourcing our cognitive work to AI, discussing why genuine education requires deep relationality and physical presence and how being attentive to creation reveals a profound counter-narrative to the homogenising power of empire.

Make sure you keep listening to the rest of the season!

Ngā Here - Many Connections is created with support from the Wilberforce Foundation, produced by Mick Andrews at CBA, with Creative Direction from James Beck. Find out more at arocha.org.nz

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 ambition of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. 

The crew then heads to Te Herenga Waka Marae to speak with Mike Ross about spaces grounded in whakapapa, diversity, and connection to the whenua. They explore the living building of Ngā Mokopuna, which has the value of manakitanga embedded in its construction. 

Make sure you keep listening to the rest of the season!

Ngā Here - Many Connections is created with support from the Wilberforce Foundation, produced by Mick Andrews at CBA, with Creative Direction from James Beck. Find out more at arocha.org.nz

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 empire. Waiora shares how Te Ao Māori values a deep, localised connection to the whenua and a diversity of thought over the homogenising power of imperial control. The crew is then joined by computer scientist Neil, who breaks down how Large Language Models actually work. Together, they explore how the universal language of ones and zeros shapes our imaginations and whether our world is blindly rushing towards a dystopian future. 

Make sure you keep listening to the rest of the season!

Ngā Here - Many Connections is created with support from the Wilberforce Foundation, produced by Mick Andrews at CBA, with Creative Direction from James Beck. Find out more at arocha.org.nz

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 are impacting our world, and how the Bible might help us to resist the powers that dehumanise us and disconnect us from the whenua that sustains us.

In this first episode, James, Waiora, and Andrew settle into an Airbnb in Pōneke to explore the moment in which we live. The crew then dive into the wild story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, which will frame a season-long exploration of empire, technology, language, power and what it means to be human.

Ngā Here - Many Connections is created with support from the Wilberforce Foundation, produced by Mick Andrews at CBA, with Creative Direction from James Beck. Find out more at arocha.org.nz

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 license to exploit, but as a high calling of responsibility and care.

Walking through native regeneration projects, Selwyn shares stories from his childhood in Napier to his time ministering in rural Southland. Together, they discuss the dangers of a consumerist economy built on coveting, and the radical invitation to live an "integrated life." It is a conversation about moving from being masters of the earth to becoming companionable guests at God’s table, learning to ask the ultimate servant-leader question: What do the other members of this household need to thrive?

Episode Credits

Ngā Here - Many Connections is a project funded by The Wilberforce Foundation in partnership with A Rocha Aotearoa.

Produced by: Mick Andrews at CBA
Creative Direction: James Beck

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 Genesis 8–9 against the backdrop of melting glaciers and disappearing habitats.

What does it mean that God remembers, that he binds himself not only to humanity but to every living creature? What does it mean to be invited into covenant partnership in a world where the human heart is still bent toward violence and greed? And what kind of posture might help us live faithfully in an age of polycrisis?

With insights from te ao Māori and the practices of Eucharist, this episode points to a way of living marked by attentiveness, gratitude, and awe. From lament to recommissioning, from grief to wonder, the rainbow covenant still invites us into the possibility of life and flourishing for all creation.

Ngā Here: the many connections between Creation, the Bible, and living in Aotearoa.

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 gold in Otago, and carried both hope and hardship into a new land.

Standing among the headstones, they reflect on the Noah story once more — the grief of loss, the chaos of flood, and the small but profound line: “But God remembered Noah.” What does it mean to be remembered by God? To be held in love when it feels like the waters are rising?

From family history to biblical myth, from natural disaster to the language of lament, this episode explores how remembrance shapes identity, hope, and faith.

Ngā Here: the many connections between Creation, the Bible, and living in Aotearoa.

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 Sanctuary, James, Waiora, and Andrew explore Noah’s obedience, the audacity of building an ark, and what it means to nurture hope in a world unravelling. Anna shares her own story of falling in love with lizards, discovering a sense of calling, and learning that acts of restoration — however small — are signs of God’s kingdom breaking in.

This conversation asks: how do we live faithfully, obediently, and hopefully, even when we cannot see the outcome?

Ngā Here: the many connections between Creation, the Bible, and living in Aotearoa.