The Lake

A lethal virus. A drastic lockdown. A nation turned upside down. 

From the makers of acclaimed podcasts The Commune, True Story and Witi Underwater, this eight-part narrative series revisits the Covid-19 pandemic with the benefit of hindsight and powerful interviews. Adam Dudding and Eugene Bingham delve into what really happened – and what it taught us about ourselves. 

Subscribe to "Quarantine Nation" wherever you get your podcasts, or follow the links here: ⁠Quarantine Nation Player Links⁠,

Made with the support of NZ on Air for Stuff by Te Pūrongo Productions.

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On Easter Monday 2021, police were called to the home of a successful professional couple in the affluent Auckland suburb of Remuera. They found the body of Pauline Hanna.

In his emergency call, her husband, Philip Polkinghorne, said she killed herself. Sixteen months later he was charged with her murder. As this podcast is released, he's currently on trial at the High Court in Auckland.

Stuff's groundbreaking series returns to take you inside the Polkinghorne trial: Hear the witnesses, follow the evidence, wait for the verdict.

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Season two of Stuff's multi-award winning podcast The Trial is coming very soon.

Police are called to the multi-million dollar home of a successful couple to find the body of Pauline Hanna, also known as Pauline Polkinghorne. A year and a half later, eye surgeon Philip John Polkinghorne is charged with murdering his wife, a charge he denies.

The Trial, season two, available soon wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to Stuff Extra on Apple or Spotify to be the first to hear new episodes.

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Bonus episode: The police have made a decision about whether charges will be laid over what happened at Lake Alice - there's good news and bad news. And the Royal Commission releases findings which finally vindicate what the kids have been saying for decades.

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Finally the kids of Lake Alice will have their chance to be heard at the Royal Commission of Inquiry. We follow the survivors to Auckland, where they reunite with old friends and take their truth to the stand. Will the Crown take accountability for harm perpetrated to children in its care? Will Dr Selwyn Leeks show? Expect emotional testimony, damning witness statements and shocking disclosures. Plus one final catchup with Tyrone and Rangi - mates through everything.

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There are so many outrageous stories about Lake Alice it can be hard to sort truth from conspiracy. Often something that starts out feeling far-fetched turns out to be true. In this episode: Scientologists, deep sleep experiments & the CIA, and how NZ was found guilty of torture by the United Nations.

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Kids could only stay at the Lake Alice Child & Adolescent for so long, and at 16 they were packed up and sent on. We follow the Lake Alice kids as they try to get on with their lives through the 80s and 90s, and meet Kevin Banks, who’s been fighting for justice for more than 40 years.

Plus, Leoni decides to take on the Crown.

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While the NZ public has some idea of what happened to the kids of Lake Alice, the true horror of it lies in unfiltered accounts of the day-to-day. For these children, things like eating dinner, going to bed or watching a movie all came with the possibility of assault, or even torture.

In this episode, survivors take us inside the Lake Alice child and adolescent unit, to show us how it feels when ‘horrifying’ is your normal.

• Note, this episode contains explicit accounts of physical, sexual and psychological harm perpetrated against children. It is designed to be self-contained, so if you skip ahead to episode 5 all will still make sense.

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