Pod Uni

This live episode features an interview with two of Aotearoa’s leading investigative journalists: David Fisher and Guyon Espiner. Both have been in journalism for over 30 years, both have won numerous journalism awards, and both have hosted investigative journalism podcasts. On this episode, we ask: what does the medium of podcasting offer investigative journalists that other broadcast media—print, radio, TV—do not? We listen to audio clips from each of their podcasts and discuss the unique affordances and challenges of podcasting as a mode of investigative journalism. 

This episode was recorded live at the NZ Podcast Summit 2025. Find out more about the NZ Podcast Summit at ⁠https://www.nzpodsummit.com/⁠ 

Podcasts discussed on this episode:  

• Chasing Ghosts: The Puppeteer

• The Service 

• Red Line

• 30 with Guyon Espiner

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a senior lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Produced by Tim Jurgens

Website: www.collinbjork.com

Email: [email protected]

Bluesky: @collinbjork.bsky.social

Transcripts will be available at www.collinbjork.com/Poduni.html  

Music Credit: Collin Bjork

This episode features an interview with the podcasting masterminds behind Bird of Paradise Productions: Noelle McCarthy and John Daniell. Listeners will appreciate this free-ranging discussion which includes a description of how they started their own production company as well as their intertwined approach to audio storytelling and interview technique.

Be sure to listen to their latest narrative podcast project, which has just launched with The NZ Herald: Mr. Asia: A Forgotten History.

Bird of Paradise podcasts discussed on this episode:  

• Getting Better 

• The Service

• Dear Jane

• He’ll Be Right

• Slice of Heaven

• Fair Game

• Red Line

• A Wrinkle in Time 

Find out more at https://www.birdofparadise.co.nz/ 

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a senior lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand 

Produced by Tim Jurgens

Website: www.collinbjork.com

Email: [email protected]

Bluesky: @collinbjork.bsky.social

Transcripts will be available at www.collinbjork.com/Poduni.html  

Music Credit: Collin Bjork

This episode features an interview with scientist-turned-author, audiobook narrator and science communicator Dr Melissa Gunn, discussing her experience of the practical and cultural differences between podcasting and audiobooks. Writers and podcasters will appreciate this discussion about producing audiobooks in a home environment. Listeners who are also authors will find useful tips and tricks for beginning to record audiobook narration. 

Things discussed in this episode:

Content warning: This podcast refers to squirrels! 

Find Melissa’s audiobooks and ebooks at https://www.melissagunn.com

Find out more about Melissa Gunn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-gunn-76a5455/

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a senior lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand 

Produced by Melissa Gunn 

Website: www.collinbjork.com

Email: [email protected]

X: @collin_bjork

Transcripts will be available at www.collinbjork.com/Poduni.html  

Music Credit: Collin Bjork

This episode features a live recording of Dr Collin Bjork interviewing a panel of podcasters at the New Zealand Podcasting Summit, held in May 2024. The panelists are Michael Wright (a journalist, reporter and producer of the podcasts White Silence, Collapse and The Trial) and Ryan Wolf (a lawyer, actor and producer of the true-crime podcast Guilt). They discuss a variety of legal and ethical issues involved in producing the popular yet often problematic genre of true crime podcasts. Both true crime enthusiasts and skeptics are likely to find this episode of interest.

Find out more about Michael Wright at https://www.stuff.co.nz/authors/michael-wright. Read more about Ryan Wolf and his podcast Guilt at https://www.theguiltpodcast.com/.

Content Warning: This episode includes some swearing, and it includes references to murder and death.

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a senior lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand

Produced by Melissa Gunn (www.melissagunn.com)

Website: www.collinbjork.com

Email: [email protected]

X: @collin_bjork

Transcripts will be available at www.collinbjork.com/Poduni.html 

Music Credit: Collin Bjork

PS Thanks for your patience with the highly compressed audio. Recording at a live

This episode features a conversation between contributors to the book Teaching Students to Podcast. The authors—members of the Humanities Podcast Network—discuss the ways they integrate podcasting into their work, the challenges and opportunities that arise when students make podcasts, and also their contributions to the open-access, lesson-plan-based book. Teachers, academics and others interested in incorporating podcasting into their teaching will find this episode and the book it discusses invaluable. 

Find out more about the Humanities Podcast Network at https://humanitiespodnetwork.org/ and check out their book at https://humanitiespodnetwork.org/teaching-manual/. 

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand 

Produced by Melissa Gunn (www.melissagunn.com)

Website: www.collinbjork.com

Email: [email protected]

X: @collin_bjork

Transcripts will be available at www.collinbjork.com/Poduni.html  

Music Credit: Collin Bjork

This episode features a clip from Ketsa’s I hear echoes.

**CONTENT WARNING** Just a heads up - this episode does feature a little bit of colourful language.

An interview with Kirsten Johnstone and Melody Thomas of PopSock Media. PopSock Media is an award-winning narrative podcasting company that connects and engages audiences through beautiful and impactful storytelling. Their unique approach to true-crime podcasting puts them at the forefront of the genre, and they have some great insights for aspiring podcasters – especially those leaning towards the narrative non-fiction genre. Be sure to check out their multi-award winning podcast series hosted and researched by renowned freelance journalist, Aaron Smale: “The Lake”, which is a deep dive into the abuse endured by children at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Facility; and “True Justice”, a five-part podcast series sharing the stories of those who have been through New Zealand prisons and advocating for a more just justice system in Aotearoa. Also keep an eye out for their new and upcoming projects: “The Good Sex Project”, which is about good sex, good relationships and how to have them, and “Untidy”, a podcast about parenting the parents. “The Good Sex Project” will be available soon through Stuff and Re: News. “Untidy” is currently available through Rova and Apple Podcasts.

Listen to The Lake here, True Justice here, and Untidy here.

Find out more about PopSock Media at popsockmedia.com

Transcripts available at collinbjork.com/poduni.html

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Website: www.collinbjork.com

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @collin_bjork

Produced by Tama Lennox

Music credit: Tama Lennox

An interview with Luce Blakiston, the founder of Shit You Should Care About (SYSCA). SYSCA is a multimedia news platform founded by Luce along with her two best mates, Liv and Rubes. They aim to take the news and focus on the parts that are more uplifting to get away from the depressing nature of the news, making it more digestible. Luce sheds light on what it is like to build and maintain a multimedia platform –from a daily newsletter to a podcast to all the socials. She gives great insights into what goes into creating different forms of content, and the benefits of approaching content from multiple angles.

Find out more about Luce and the team at SYSCA at https://shityoushouldcareabout.substack.com/, or follow them on Instagram at shityoushouldcareabout,

Transcripts available at collinbjork.com/poduni.html

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Produced by

Music

An interview with award-winning author and playwright, Whiti Hereaka. She gives us insight through her experience in both writing and theatre performance on how to write for effective vocal delivery and how stories come together, which are both essential tools in any aspiring podcaster’s repertoire.

Find out more about Whiti’s work on her website www.whitihereaka.co.nz, or through Huia Publishers https://huia.co.nz/blogs/author/whiti-hereaka

Transcripts available at collinbjork.com/poduni.html

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. Website: www.collinbjork.com Email: [email protected] Twitter: @collin_bjork

Produced by Tama Lennox

Music credit: Tama Lennox

A short monopod update about the 3 upcoming episodes, all interviews with award-winning guests! Also, a brief digression about the cultural practices that inform podcasting and how they shape my selection of interviewees. In this episode, I refer to the NZ Podcast Awards (nzpodcastawards.com), and I also shoutout to the student producer of the summer season, Tama Lennox. As usual, transcripts of all episodes can be found at collinbjork.com/poduni. Stay tuned!

An interview with science communicator and podcaster Dr Claire Concannon. She gives us a behind the scenes look at the processes that go into producing the award-winning Our Changing World podcast and radio show produced by RNZ. She also discusses some of the most important topics in science and science communication today, while simultaneously providing tips to budding podcasters. Enjoy!

Transcripts available at collinbjork.com/poduni.html.

Hosted by Collin Bjork, a lecturer at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. Website: www.collinbjork.com Email: [email protected] Twitter: @collin_bjork