The Hoon

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale in Auckland talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer from Wellington and Robert Patman in Dunedin about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.

This edition also includes discussions with special guests Jonathan Lyons, PhD from Vancouver and Shamubeel Eaqub in Auckland on Iran and social cohesion in New Zealand, respectively.

This week:

* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the conflict in the Middle East and the fuel crisis, along with Christopher Luxon’s leadership vote in the National Caucus and the ensuing clash with Winston Peters.

* Bernard mentioned in passing a podcast series he recently listened to on the Suez crisis and compared New Zealand’s current fuel crisis to the 1973 fuel crisis. Peter referred to a Guardian article about Donald Trump’s voter fraud claims this week. He also referred to a podcast on Israel and a collapse in US voter support for Israel mentioned in an Ed Luce article in the FT. Bernard mentioned a WSJ-$ article on the drama in Trump’s White House.

* Bernard, Peter and Cathrine then talked about this week’s report from The Macdiarmid Institute on CleanTech. There’s more commentary on that from the Science Media Centre. Cathrine mentioned the ideas of Joseph Tainter, who wrote a book called The Collapse of Complex Societies.

* Bernard, Peter, Robert and Jonathan talked about events in the Middle East, including the history of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Jonathan’s substack post about how the assassination Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei also killed off his religious edict against nuclear weapons.

* Bernard, Peter and Shamubeel talked about yesterday’s second annual Social Cohesion in New Zealand report from the Helen Clark Foundation.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.

This edition also includes discussions with with special guest Geoffrey Miller, a strategic analyst with a PHD in New Zealand’s relations with the Middle East.

This week:

* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the conflict in the Middle East and the fuel crisis. They also talked about Bernard being in Wellington for the Kia Tika, Kia Pono—For A Just Society conference organised by Vic Uni’s Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies.

* Bernard, Peter and Cathrine then talked about research via James Hansen about a Super Duper El Niño, and research on an increased risk the AMOC will collapse early.

* Bernard, Peter, Robert and Geoffrey talked about events in the Middle East.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics .

This edition also includes discussions with with special guests Rania Abouzeid, a New Zealand-born journalist calling in from Beirut, and BusinessDesk co-founder Pattrick Smellie, on his column about a big new renewable energy plan.

This week:

* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the conflict in the Middle East and the fuel crisis. They mentioned this scoop (gift link) by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in the New York Times yesterday.

* Bernard, Peter and Cathrine then talked about new research on the increasing intensity and frequency of weather events in Aotearoa, before another intense weather event expected this weekend. They also talked about the effects of heatwaves on humans.

* Bernard, Peter, Robert and Rania then talked about Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, which threaten to upend this week’s ceasefire and which are prolonging the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

* Bernard and Peter then talked with Pattrick about his column, which referred to this research this week by the Sustainable Business Council.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guests Edward Miller and Max Rashbrooke, who are researchers and commentators.

This week:

* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about electric cars, a surfeit of news and Donald Trump’s speech yesterday. Peter recommended the last two episodes of the podcast Past, Present and Future . Bernard and Peter referred to the case that referred to NZME’s largest shareholder, Jim Grenon, and this article in Newsroom from Tim Murphy: Thumbs down for NZME’s Grenon in high-stakes court fight over tax

* Bernard, Peter and Cathrine then talked about how the responses to the fuel crisis were bedding in fossil fuel dependency.

* Bernard, Peter and Robert then talked about Trump’s speech and the events in Iran and the Middle East.

* Edward Miller then joined the show to talk about his Op-Ed in The Post-$ this week titled: ‘We’ve been left dangerously exposed by the failure to build a public diesel reserve’. He also recently wrote this on his substack: As oil prices surge, how realistic is a worst-case inflation scenario of 3.7%?

* Max Rashbrooke from The IDEA Charitable Trust then joined to talk about his columns: How to protect the poorest during a fuel crisis and The government’s fuel crisis package looks weaker with each passing day

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

I recently hosted a ‘Mini-Hoon’ on Substack Live previewing The Reality of Everything symposium to be held at Victoria University of Wellington on June 26, which will examine the interconnected crises of climate change, energy, water & food constraints, economic instability & public health.

I was joined by substacker Catherine Knight and academic Mike Joy to talk about the symposium, which Catherine is helping organise and Mike is speaking at.

We started by talking about the need for the Symposium and referring to the National Emergency Briefing held in the UK last year, including an address on food security by Paul Behrens. The video of his address is below via Youtube.

Here’s recent posts on substack by Mike Joy and Catherine Knight on these topics.

Here’s Catherine’s substack post announcing the conference.

Thank you Lou Nash, Pauline Arnold, Terry A, Greg Nalder, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest Roger Dennis, an independent strategist.

This week:

* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the rise of reactionary and nationalist political parties globally, including in New Zealand.

* Bernard and Cathrine talked about the latest WMO report on the climate in 2025 and why New Zealand’s oil consumption rose to a five-year high last year.

* Bernard, Peter and Robert talked about the latest news in the Iran conflict.

* Bernard, Peter and Roger talked about the preparedness of New Zealand organizations for such a crisis.

* Peter referred to this video by LedbyDonkeys as the skateboarding dog.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest Dileepa Fonseka , who is a columnist and reporter for BusinessDesk-$.

This week:

* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the Iran war, the fuel crisis and Winston Peters’ move to block a ‘globalist’ WHO measure.

* Bernard and Peter then spoke with Cathrine about increased demand for EVs and whether the fuel crisis represented a tipping point for climate action.

* Then Bernard, Peter and Dileepa talked about the fuel crisis.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

Last week I hosted a ‘Hoon’ on Substack Live previewing The Reality of Everything symposium to be held at Victoria University of Wellington on June 26, which will examine the interconnected crises of climate change, energy, water & food constraints, economic instability & public health.

I was joined by regular Hoon guest Cathrine Dyer, conference speaker and Vic Uni Professor of Climate Change James Renwick and climate scientist Andy Reisinger, speaking independently and not in his role as a Climate Change Commissioner.

We started by talking about the need for the Symposium and referring to the National Emergency Briefing held in the UK last year, including an address by Zennström Professor of Climate and Energy at Uppsala University and Chair of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester, Professor Kevin Anderson. The video of his address is below via Youtube.

We talked about the intersection of climate change with other crises, the realities of climate science, the urgency of action, and the systemic changes needed to address the climate crisis.

Here’s Catherine’s substack post announcing the conference.

And a follow-up post with the latest details.

Here’s the chapters in the video above:

00:00 Introduction to Climate Change and the Reality of Everything Conference

01:25 Overview of the Reality of Everything Conference

02:17 Insights from the UK National Emergency Briefing

04:49 The Current State of Global Warming

07:31 The Impacts of Climate Change and Tipping Points

10:58 Radical Transformations Required for a Sustainable Future

14:12 The Reality of Climate Change and Public Awareness

16:57 The Necessity of Rapid Change

19:33 The Consequences of Inaction

22:18 Engaging Politicians and the Public

24:44 The Role of Corporations and Governance

27:15 Exploring Solutions at the Conference

Thank you Susan St John, Mike Joy, Paul Singh, Melanie, Brian Rathbone, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest Helen Clark.

This week:

* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the Iran war, New Zealand’s looming fuel supply issues and Marsden Point.

* Bernard then spoke with Cathrine about new research confirming an acceleration of climate change, about research showing a rise in carbon dioxide in bloodstreams, and the links between the Middle East conflicts and climate change.

* Then Bernard, Peter, Robert and Helen talked about the current mess in the Middle East, New Zealand’s weak response, our health system and an upcoming play about Helen Clark called ‘Helen Clark in Six Outfits’

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard