Tova

The much-talked about "tightest race in US election history" never eventuated as Donald Trump and his Republican Party swept back into power, comprehensively defeating Kamala Harris and the Democrats to become the 47th president of the United States of America.

The Post’s National Affairs Editor Andrea Vance is in Washington D.C the day after the election and joins us to recap a remarkable 24 hours.

On the eve of one of the closest and most eagerly-anticipated US elections in living memory, National Affairs Editor for The Post and Sunday Star-Times Andrea Vance joins Stuff's Imogen Wells from Philadelphia for the latest on the race to the White House.

The F#$%ing News flips the script on the news - short, upbeat, inspirational and f%$#ing good fun journalism with the nation’s favourite everyman reporter, Paddy Gower.

TFN sees Paddy talking to Kiwis who are the good, the great and the brains of our nation.

This podcast is hosted by Paddy Gower and Executive Produced by Jon Bridges. It's made in partnership between Stuff and Believer Media.

National once called him the “wokester” commissioner, now they’ve secured him a plum new job heading up the government’s new social investment agency. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is leaving the job of top cop early and joins us to discuss gangs, guns, police pay and being called names by politicians. Plus, it’s the hot topic of the week thanks to a Nicola Willis directive. To work from home or not, that is the question. A chief executive and a prominent researcher debate the pros and cons.

As the Government ramps up its war on crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith joins us to talk anti-gang laws and why the Attorney-General made no “specific statements” on whether late changes to them further breach human rights. Also on the agenda, the possible unintended consequences of tougher sentences, boot camps and keeping coalition promises to New Zealand First. Plus, we continue our coverage of the state of the health service, with the exclusive results from a new survey of junior doctors about staff shortages, the hiring freeze and their impact on the frontline.

ACT’s push for a Treaty Principles Bill was a lightning rod throughout last year’s election campaign and has never been far from the headlines since. This week has seen significant developments - the principles released with changed wording, the select committee ‘debate’ period set for six months and official advice criticising the plan revealed. But ACT leader David Seymour is unmoved. On this week’s pod he tells us why - and why he maintains the Prime Minister could still support the bill. Then, Te Pāti Māori Treaty spokesperson Tākuta Ferris explains the depth of opposition from te iwi Māori, and forecasts an escalation in protests.

Chris Hipkins was our very first guest one year ago. He was Prime Minister then - a lot’s changed. After leading Labour to electoral defeat, he and the party have regrouped and started formulating the platform they hope will return them to the Beehive. On his birthday (as well as ours), Hipkins joined us for a candid interview. We talked policy, policy bonfires, health, our ageing population, the economy, Winston Peters and tax, tax, tax. Plus, from Tūrangawaewae Marae, Julian Wilcox on the new Māori Queen, Kuini Ngā Wai hono i te po, and what she means for the kotahitanga movement her father, Kīngi Tuheitia, inspired.

Retail spending is lower than during the GFC. Retailers are going to the wall more than any other business and Retail NZ’s latest survey shows 43% of businesses are unsure they’ll survive another year.

In hospo, a swathe of high-profile restaurants have shuttered and last year - for the first time in two decades - the number of cafes and restaurants was lower than the year before.

We assembled some of the sectors’ most brilliant brains to work out what went wrong, how we fix it and the prognosis for the future.

They are fashion icon Kate Sylvester, hospitality legend Luke Dallow and designer Jessie Wong - a member of the Wellington Mayor’s new business advisory group.

On the agenda: skyrocketing rents, transport woes, how the Government can help, the power of big events and whether New Zealand should become a tipping economy.

New Zealand First's de facto deputy is a self-proclaimed champion of the regions and unashamedly pro-mining, fishing and forestry. His hobbies include waging war on supermarkets, banks and - this week in particular - energy companies. We wanted to speak to him after the fiery showdown at Tūrangawaewae Marae, where the Government was accused of throwing Māori under the bus and running them over. Also on the agenda: the foreshore and seabed, the equally contentious fast-track consenting bill, why he called a High Court judge a "communist", and the future of his party and its leader, Winston Peters.

In an exclusive interview, perhaps the most famous health figure in Aotearoa takes aim at talk of a failing system and bloated bureaucracy - but doesn’t dispute that both staff and patients are at risk. He talks hospitals without doctors, how the reforms have been handled, funding, patient equity - and has strong words about the tobacco industry and its newly-gained tax breaks.