The Detail's co-hosts Sharon Brettkelly and Tom Kitchin, and producer Alexia Russell, roll through the highlights of nearly 300 podcasts and long reads in 2023

It's the end of the year for The Detail. In our last podcast for 2023 we look back on the highs and lows

Hanging off the edge of a cliff in a storm; the first shocking sight of Esk Valley after the cyclone; the never-ending world of conspiracies; the Israel Hamas conflict ...

In 2023, over nearly 300 episodes, The Detail has covered these issues and much more.

In today's final episode of the year, our co-host Sharon Brettkelly speaks with producer Alexia Russell and co-host Tom Kitchin about their favourite podcasts of the year.

"It's been the year of anger," Brettkelly tells Russell.

"We have had quite a lot of vitriol... I'm thinking you did a podcast about 'the murky world of the manosphere'... the reaction that you got from someone to that was so over the top really!"

Russell reads out an excerpt from the letter: "a lot of problems today are actually caused by women, who have had their minds addled by feminism," it started.

"Talking about reaction - angry reaction - some of it you expect when you do a podcast," Brettkelly says.

"For example, we did a couple on the gender wars and there was quite a lot of outrage at what we thought were very balanced podcasts. Sometimes it's whatever you put in, you're going to get at least one angry email.

"I thought that the one that you did with Stephen Hoadley was extremely balanced... and I think we got two complaints about it," Russell tells Brettkelly.

"It doesn't matter how balanced you think you are, someone on the other side or a side will take offence - we've had a lot more formal complaints this year then we've ever had before and - you talk about the year of anger - they're going straight to the official website and straight to the official complaint - nobody talks these things out anymore."

Stories about the weather were also big this year - one of Brettkelly's favourites was going to Titirangi after the Auckland anniversary weekend floods and seeing the Cyclone Gabrielle damage in Muriwai.

"There was one man I sat in the car with outside his home - that was the road that was really badly hit," Brettkelly says of her Muriwai podcast.

"He had nothing - he was living in a caravan - he didn't know what his future was.''

Brettkelly says getting out and about "is the treat" of her job…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details