Context
Episodes
Pharmac: Bitter Pill or Best Medicine?
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
New Zealand is the only country with a drug-buying agency like Pharmac - but how did we get here? This episode traces its origins, and through politic...
Words Matter: The Speech that Shifted the Polls
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As fresh polling fuels political debate, Guyon and Corin look back on our most explosive poll results - including the one that truly changed the game....
NZ's Free Trade Hustle
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As New Zealand closes in on its first trade deal with India, we look back at the agreements that shaped the country: from Britain’s betrayal in the ...
Think Big
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As new tensions in the Middle East rattle global energy markets, we look back at the oil shocks of the 1970s and how they reshaped New Zealand’s ene...
Context Season 2 | Trailer
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Guyon Espiner & Corin Dann are back for a new season of Context. Using their decades of journalistic experience, the explore the history behind what's...
The Great NZ Sell-Off
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Telecom to Air New Zealand, the BNZ to our power companies why did governments sell our state assets, and what did we get in return? Now the Gove...
Pension Wars: The NZ Super Promise That Changed Politics
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's the third rail of New Zealand politics: Touch it and you die. From Richard Seddon's groundbreaking old-age pension, to Rob Muldoon's Dancing Coss...
How MMP changed politics
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New Zealand’s MMP voting system promised fairness and diversity — but has it delivered? In this episode of Context, Guyon Espiner and Corin Dann l...
Behind the picket lines
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the Cook Strait ferry strikes to the fiery union battles of the 1970s, New Zealand’s history is written in industrial action. Now, as nurses, t...
The Wild History of Inflation in NZ
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Muldoon’s Price Freeze to Today’s Cost of Living Crisis. Corin and Guyon look back to a time when the PM set the price of milk and froze wage...
NZ's United Nations History
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Winston Peters heads to the UN, Context looks back at how NZ has shaped the world stage — from Peter Fraser at its founding to peacekeepers in Ko...
Booze, Bans & Backlash
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why is alcohol reform such a political minefield in New Zealand? With new reforms on the table, Guyon Espiner and Corin Dann trace liquor laws back th...
Parliament's Rules
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Inside Parliament’s Rulebook: Why can’t MPs call each other liars? Why do Speakers wield so much power? And which MP was kicked out just for sarc...
Spies, Allies, and the FBI
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Kash Patel’s surprise visit to Kim Dotcom’s infamous raid, New Zealand’s relationship with the FBI and America has been anything but simple...
The Brain Drain Backstory
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From quips about "raising the IQ of both countries", to gold fever and neoliberal reform, Corin Dann and Guyon Espiner dig through the history of the ...
Introducing: Context
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
RNZ's Guyon Espiner and Corin Dann explore the backstory to today’s front page, diving into NZ’s political past and asking "how did we get here?"....