While we’re on our summer break, The Front Page is taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast this year.  

New Year’s Day, 2024 will mark 26 years since Ben Smart and Olivia Hope disappeared. 

In the early hours of New Year’s Day, 1998, the two accepted an offer to stay aboard a man’s yacht while staying in the Marlborough Sounds. They were never seen again.

Their disappearances and presumed deaths have been pegged on Scott Watson for over two decades, but despite still being behind bars, Watson has always maintained his innocence.

The case has long divided the country between those who are convinced of Watson’s guilt, and those who don’t think justice was served.

Last year, broadcaster Paul Henry wrote a powerful piece for the Herald, revealing his beliefs that – even if Watson is guilty – there has been a miscarriage of justice.  

New episodes return January 15th.

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While The Front Page is taking its summer break, we will be shining a spotlight on some of the biggest podcasts and news events from the New Zealand Herald network over the last year.  

In 2023, the New Zealand Herald partnered with broadcaster Sonia Gray for a new podcast called No Such Thing as Normal. 

Based on Gray’s experiences as a parent of a neurodivergent child, and living with her own neurodivergence, this series saw her talk to experts and those with lived experience, to better understand how we can support and celebrate those whose brains are wired differently. 

Listen to the first episode of No Such Thing as Normal now, and find the full series on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While we’re on our summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top rated episodes from the podcast this year.  

In a year of big changes for New Zealand’s media industry, one moment stood out from the rest. 

Talk radio station Today FM came to a dramatic, expletive-laden end back in March. After only a year on air, Mediaworks made the shock decision to close it – sparking an on-air outburst by Today FM’s top talent. 

While the station had struggled to chip away at Newstalk ZB’s audience, the sudden closure stunned the country and raised some stark questions about the future of the media industry. 

The day it happened, the Media Insider himself Shayne Currie joined us to react to the news, and today we’ll revisit our immediate reaction to one of the most stunning moments of broadcasting Aotearoa has ever seen.  

New episodes return January 15th.

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While The Front Page is taking its summer break, we will be shining a spotlight on some of the biggest podcasts and news events from the New Zealand Herald network over the last year.  

This year marks 70 years since the Tangiwai rail disaster. 151 people died after the Wellington to Auckland express derailed, due to a lahar washing out the rail bridge over the Whangaehu river.  

The tragedy is remembered as our worst ever rail disaster, but did we learn any lessons from this incident? In this collaboration between the NZ Herald and the Motuihe Group, broadcaster Hamish Williams seeks to answer these questions. 

Listen to this excerpt from the first episode, and for the full season of Tangiwai – A Forgotten History, find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While The Front Page is taking its summer break, we will be shining a spotlight on some of the biggest podcasts and news events from the New Zealand Herald network over the last year.  

Growing up in Australia with a Danish father and a Māori-Pakeha mother, Myjanne Jensen always had this sense of not feeling Māori "enough". After moving back to the Far North in 2021, she started her journey of coming home and trying to better connect with her roots. 

In The Māori in Me, a podcast series from the NZ Herald, Jensen connects with other mixed-race Māori to discuss making that cultural connection and coming to terms with the complexity of their identities. 

In this episode, she talks with renowned Māori academic and rights activist, Professor Margaret Mutu, about what life was like in the Far North at the start of the 20th century and the impact of colonisation on the region and beyond. 

Listen to it now, and find more episodes of The Māori in Me on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite headline-grabbing ram raids becoming less common, crime was clearly still on many New Zealander's minds and a key part of many political parties’ election campaigns in 2023.

Today on The Front Page, we present some of the biggest crime stories we’ve covered this year including the Auckland CBD construction site mass shooting, and an exploration of how meth kingpin Xavier Valent became only the third NZ drug importer to be sentenced to life in prison.

We also hear from psychotherapist and co-host of The Nutters Club  Kyle MacDonald, and NZ Herald Head of Newsroom Data Chris Knox for analysis on how much criminal activity there actually is in Aotearoa, and the psychological impact crime can have on victims.

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Damien Venuto
Producer: Shaun D Wilson
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills

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2023 was a year dominated by extreme weather.  

In late January, some heavy rain in Auckland quickly turned into a city-wide disaster that caught everyone by surprise. 

It was pegged as a once in a century event – but barely a fortnight later, Cyclone Gabrielle swept down the upper North Island. While much of Auckland withstood the onslaught, the East Coast was devastated.  

Nearly a year has passed since the incidents though, and while pockets of Auckland and the Hawke’s Bay are still dealing with the effects of these storms, much of the country is looking to move on.  

So for today’s episode, we’re casting our eyes back over these extreme events as a reminder of what our country has endured, and what we need to learn to avoid things happening again. 

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Damien Venuto
Producers: Shaun D Wilson and Paddy Fox
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the year’s biggest shocks came only a few weeks into the new year. Back in January, Jacinda Ardern stunned the world when she used her first press conference of 2023 to announce her resignation as Prime Minister.  

It brought to an end the five year tenure of the reluctant premier, a politician who never sought the country’s highest office, yet found herself at the coal face for one of the most tumultuous periods in New Zealand’s history.  

There throughout her time on the ninth floor were Newstalk ZB political correspondent, Barry Soper, and NZ Herald senior political correspondent, Audrey Young. The two press gallery veterans joined us during 2023 to share their thoughts on Jacinda Ardern’s time in office and what her legacy holds.

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Damien Venuto
Producer: Shaun D Wilson and Paddy Fox
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What a year. In 2023  there seemed to be no end to turmoil and conflict around the world. Wars, coups and disasters – natural or otherwise sprang up seemly without a break. 

On The Front Page we’ve done our best to make sense of what’s been happening around the globe, and our place in all this turmoil.  

Today we revisit some of the interviews that have helped expand our understanding of a planet that sometimes seemingly defied explanation - including the Gaza conflict, the Wagner Coup attempt in Russia, Africa's coup belt, Morocco's earthquake, and the disputed territory Artsakh / Nagorno Karabakh.

Host: Damien Venuto
Producers: Shaun D Wilson and Paddy Fox
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The early weeks of 2023 were dominated by an ugly family feud on a global scale.  

Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, gave an unprecedented glimpse at the inner-workings of the Royal Family and laid bare the tensions between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the family.  
 
This set the tone for a year that was meant to be a celebration that King Charles had waited his whole life to enjoy.  

By the time his Coronation arrived in May, serious questions still lingered over how badly these divisions would hurt the Royal family as they entered a new era. 

In this look back of the year in royal news, we revisit first our recap of Spare's big revelations with UK correspondent Gavin Grey, and then return to May with NZ Herald Lifestyle Editor Jenni Mortimer live from London in the aftermath of Charles' coronation.

Host: Damien Venuto
Producers: Shaun D Wilson and Paddy Fox
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.