Isabel Haarhaus: Feral and Other Stories, 12 years in the making
When Isabel Haarhaus got Tracey Slaughter's comment comparing her book to Katherine Mansfield, she was staying in the house next door to Mansfield's in Wellington, looking out on Mansfield's garden. Her debut collection Feral and Other Stories, from Otago University Press, took 10 to 12 years. It began in a writers' group of six women who were, in her words, pretty ruthless with each other. Isabel arrived on the East Coast at 10 speaking only Dutch and German, and soon worked out that being a fast runner was a currency all of its own. She explains why her parents chose nuclear-free New Zealand, why she reads every draft aloud, and why her characters talk about hard things in a flippant voice. It's how girls and women have kept going.
8 Nov 2026
Josie Hunter-Annand: Taranaki gets its first Fringe festival
The new Taranaki Fringe Festival is on in New Plymouth until 15 November, with comedy, theatre, cabaret, dance and circus, and international acts alongside local talent. Artistic director Josie Hunter-Annand talks with Perlina about the festival highlights and the Evolution Dome where the shows are held. She also covers the work going into schools, why they chose a fringe over a general arts festival, and how the region has reacted.
8 Nov 2026
Queen Noveen: the live voice of God behind award shows
When you hear an unseen voice introducing stars at an award show, it's usually a real person sitting backstage, or in a trailer outside, reading live. Queen Noveen is one of those voices. She fell into the work through acting classes and booked the MTV Video Music Awards in her first year with an agency. She tells Perlina Lau how she handles a script that keeps changing during the broadcast, why a mistake has to sound like a normal sentence, and why she skips cheese on show day but keeps green apples and Lay's chips handy. Social media has become her CV, and it brought calls from the 49ers, NASCAR and the NFL. Her favourite gig was the 2022 SAG Awards, where she introduced Selena Gomez and then hurried past Meryl Streep to meet her.
Who has been a guest on Culture 101
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Una Cruickshank
Gabrielle Huria
Faye Saunders
Nyssa Mildwaters
Brydie Colquhoun
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
10,742
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 61 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
81
Social presence
0
YouTube
72
Engagement
27
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Guest appearances
Books guests
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