Grief has a way of changing you.

In this deeply personal episode of The News In You, I share my own grief journey and the unexpected way loss led me to write a children’s book.

I’m joined by the incredibly talented illustrator Eleanor Sherson as we go behind the story of Where Is Pillar?, exploring the grief, love and hope that shaped it, and our dream for helping children navigate loss.

Sometimes, from the deepest places of grief, something beautiful can emerge.

Where Is Pillar? is a beautifully illustrated children’s book created for ages 3 to 8, designed to gently open conversations around grief and help children understand that although someone may no longer be physically with us, love does not disappear.

This is my grief story.

BUY THE BOOK

 📖 Where Is Pillar? 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

New Zealand Book Stores:

-Little Unity 

-Telling tales

-Books & Co

-Schrödinger's Books

The book is available in internationally including USA, UK and New Zealand, with online ordering and distribution available through major retailers.

Please get in touch if you are parent, teacher, school counsellor, principal, hospice, charity or organisation supporting children through grief.

For more information about the book, publishing, bulk orders or opportunities to work together, email Wish Upon a Word Books - [email protected]

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

In Part II of The News in You, the conversation moves beyond policy and power… and turns inward.

As AI continues to reshape the world around us, what is it quietly changing within us?

This episode explores the human cost of convenience, the erosion of critical thinking, and the subtle ways artificial intelligence is influencing how we see truth, identity, and ourselves.

Featuring leading AI ethics advisor Elle Farrell-Kingsley, may this conversation challenge you to confront a deeper question: not just what AI is becoming… but who we are becoming because of it.

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

On this episode of The News in You, Eleisha dives deep with AI strategist Elle Farrell-Kingsley to explore the high-stakes world of AI governance. They discuss how AI is shaping geopolitical conflict, the risks of oversharing data with platforms like ChatGPT, and what the U.S.–China AI race means for the future of technology. Elle also shares her insights on why AI advancement may soon hit a critical slowdown.

Don't miss Part 1 of this conversation.

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

In this episode of The News in You, we move beyond the hype to examine what AI truly is, how it functions, and why governance, power, and sovereignty now shape our collective future. Because AI is not neutral. It mirrors the values and blind spots of those who build it.

Host Eleisha Foon sits down with Eteroa Lafaele, software engineer, founder, Young New Zealander of the Year 2025, and Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, whose work through DigiTautua and Fibre Fale has opened pathways into tech for Pacific and underserved communities.

If we are building the future, who gets to belong and how do we make sure indigenous and marginalised communities are part of shaping it? Justice in the AI era begins with sovereignty and with ensuring no one is coded out of tomorrow.

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

The future of AI will not be determined by machines, it will be shaped by the values of those who build, regulate and use them. 

Artificial intelligence is shaping our economies, our politics, our media and our private lives in real time. And it is advancing faster than many institutions can regulate or fully understand.

In this episode, Eleisha sits down with AI expert Dr Andrés Domínguez Hernández to examine the ethical architecture behind the systems increasingly influencing our world. 

Who is accountable when AI causes harm? How do algorithms replicate and amplify existing social inequalities? And what happens to privacy, truth and even the environment when models are trained on our data at scale?

This conversation moves beyond hype and fear. It confronts corporate power, regulatory blind spots and the shared responsibility of developers, governments and users. Ethical AI is not simply a technical challenge. It is a moral one.

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

The finale is here.

From teacher to TikTok star, this is the story behind Paloma Diamond, the internet's favourite actress.

In part two of this exclusive interview, Eleisha Foon asks Julian Sewell to spill the tea, going beyond the character and into the realities of Hollywood and red carpets. 

He also opens up about his personal definition of success and how it has shaped every chapter of his career.

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

Who is Paloma Diamond, really?

Meet the man behind the diva. Julian Sewell, in an exclusive conversation.

Beyond the wigs, the punchlines and the millions of views lies a story of grit, reinvention and the search for belonging.

This episode explores the years before the spotlight, the four-year grind behind the virality, and what it truly took for Julian Sewell to turn content creation into a full-time career.

In this episode, we also highlight support for Julian’s hometown of Hong Kong following its second-deadliest fire disaster.

If you’d like to help, you can support the migrant community through Mission for Migrants: https://www.migrants.net/to-donate

Follow Julian's content:

Tiktok

Instagram

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

In part two of Eleisha Foon’s conversation with New Zealand journalist Cole Martin, who spent six months of 2025 in the Occupied West Bank, they confront the Church’s role in the conflict. How has scripture been used to justify violence in Gaza? Why do so many Christians stay silent? And what does faith look like in the face of genocide? This episode exposes a moral reckoning within the Church and the cost of choosing neutrality when humanity bleeds red.

Want to know more about the Palestine and Israel conflict - check out these resources:

Books on the conflict

Christ in the Rubble - Munther Isaac is a Palestinian pastor, author, and theologian based in the West Bank

Across the Divide Podcast

Follow news outlets like Al Jazeera, Guardian

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

In this episode of The News in You, journalist Eleisha Foon speaks with Cole Martin, the only New Zealand reporter to spend half a year in the occupied West Bank. 

He risked his safety to tell the truth and now, he’s sharing what he saw. From the front lines of Aida Camp to the rubble of Gaza, Cole describes the fear, faith, and resilience of those caught in the crossfire, and what it means to tell stories when truth itself is under attack.

According to the United Nations, at least 248 journalists have been killed in Gaza, more than in any other conflict in modern history. As the world debates headlines from afar, this conversation brings you closer to the reality few have seen.

This episode is part one of the raw, unfiltered interview with NZ Journalist Cole Martin.

🎙️ Hosted by Eleisha Foon — journalist, storyteller, and creator of The News in You

#TheNewsInYou#Gaza #Journalism#Gazagenocide

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com 

Choosing not to have children remains one of the most controversial and personal decisions of our time.

In this episode of The News in You, Eleisha explores the growing global conversation around being "childfree" — speaking with Kiwi creator Danni Duncan, founder of The Others Club, a community that connects people without children across more than 70 cities worldwide. 

Danni Duncan has chosen to be childfree alongside her husband and she's made that choice public by sharing her story online which has garnered support from hundreds of thousands of individuals embracing the same choice.

From cultural expectations to online backlash, this episode unpacks why the choice to live childfree still divides opinion and reveals how we define womanhood, purpose, and freedom.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Follow Danni Duncan:

https://www.instagram.com/theothersclub_/

Join The Other's Club:

https://www.instagram.com/danni___duncan/

Is Parenthood for you?

Take the Ann Davidman quiz: https://www.motherhoodisitforme.com/ 

References:

https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2023-1-in-6-people-globally-affected-by-infertility

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/brief-certain-age-related-dna-mutations-are-less-common-human-eggs

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/not-just-women-men-too-have-a-biological-clock-that-starts-ticking-at-/articleshow/124402854.cms 

Support the show

Welcome to The News In You, presented by award-winning international journalist Eleisha Foon.

Sign up now to the Patreon to support the podcast: Eleisha Foon

Follow the podcast on instagram: @thenewsinyou

For more about the host, visit eleishafoon.com