Whether you’re intrigued by the stories behind New Zealand’s archaeology, the wonder of our collections, or the history and culture of our places, the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga podcast series offer you a new way to experience heritage in the digital age.
Reporter Reads: The unlikely salvage of RMS Niagara
Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he recounts the story of RMS Niagara, from her maiden voyage in 1912 through to her sinking at the hands of a German sea mine near Whangārei during the Second World War.
Become a Supporter to discover more of Aotearoa New Zealand's most important heritage stories!
3 May 2026
Reporter Reads: "One of the strangest maritime episodes of World War II"
Join John O'Hare as he recounts the story of SS Erlangen, a German cargo vessel that escaped Dunedin at the start of the Second World War.
This story first featured in the Otago Daily Times as "The Great Escape".
Reporter Reads
Reporter Reads also feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Sign up here.
19 Aug 2025
Reporter Reads: HMS New Zealand and the Battle of Jutland
Join our Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he recounts the remarkable story of HMS New Zealand, a Indefatigable class battlecruiser that took part in the largest naval battle of the First World War.
This story first featured in the August-September 2025 issue of New Zealand Memories magazine.
Reporter Reads
Reporter Reads also feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Sign up here.
24 Apr 2025
Reporter Reads: Recollections of a US serviceman in Aotearoa
The personal recollections of a US Navy sailor who was stationed in Northland during the early years of World War II have revealed the human face of the thousands of US servicemen who trained here prior to fighting in the Pacific.
Join our Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his recent article.
Reporter Reads
Reporter Reads feature in Heritage this Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here.
5 Aug 2024
A Love Affair with Christchurch Modern Homes
An edited live recording of the Open Christchurch 2024 event where four panelists discuss what it's like to live in and care for a mid-century home. Hosted in partnership by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture & City Making.
4 Apr 2024
Reporter Reads: A Unique Window into St Faith’s
Join Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch as she reads her story examining conservation work undertaken at St Faith's Anglican Church.
St Faith’s is built on land gifted by Ngāti Whakaue at Ōhinemutu on the shore of Lake Rotorua. Its rich Māori interior style is attributed to Frederick Augustus Bennett, the first Māori Bishop of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Reporter Reads
Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Sign up here (https://confirmsubscription.com/h/t/BC19F985A43DBAA0).
1 Feb 2024
Reporter Reads: The Experimental World of Electricity in 1930s Kerikeri
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you paid for electricity by the number of appliances you own rather than usage? (It's just as chaotic as you're imagining!)
Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his article on the wild world of do-it-yourself electricity in 1930s Kerikeri.
Reporter Reads
Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here (https://www.heritage.org.nz/resources/publications/nga-taonga-i-tenei-marama-heritage-this-month).
1 Nov 2023
Reporter Reads: Through the Tunnel on a Jigger
Join Outreach Advisor Dr Rosemary Baird as she reads her article on the experience of collecting oral history memories at the Ōtira Tunnel centenary celebrations.
Ōtira Tunnel
The Ōtira Tunnel was commissioned to link Ōtautahi Christchurch to Māwhera Greymouth in 1907. This 8,529 metre tunnel was the longest in the British Empire at the time of its construction. Five years were allowed for the project but in fact the tunnel took 15 years to complete, opening in 1923.
Reporter Reads
Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here (https://www.heritage.org.nz/resources/publications/nga-taonga-i-tenei-marama-heritage-this-month).
3 Oct 2023
Reporter Reads: Tung Nut Scheme Not Quite the Good Oil
Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his recent article on the boom-and-bust world of tung nut oil in 1930s Northland.
Tung Nuts in Aotearoa New Zealand
The economic potential of the tung tree, whose seeds produce an oil that has been used by the Chinese as a natural varnish for 2,500 years, was identified and promoted in parts of the North Island in the 1930s as a sure-fire investment.
Its future, however, appears to have been cut short by climate, mismanagement, and the dire impacts of the Great Depression.
For Kerikeri resident, Jack Kemp, the tung nut collapse in the 1930s is personal. One of his great aunts – Daisy Herd – invested in the fledgling tung oil industry and felt firsthand the ‘tung lashing’ that happened when the whole scheme collapsed.
Reporter Reads
Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here (https://www.heritage.org.nz/resources/publications/nga-taonga-i-tenei-marama-heritage-this-month).
30 Jun 2023
Matariki 2023
For our 2023 Matariki podcast join Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch, as she interviews two of our Māori Heritage Team staff.
Dean Whiting and Nitika Erueti-Satish reflect on past Matariki celebrations, and share mātauranga, waiata, and their plans for Matariki this year.
20 Jun 2022
Matariki 2022
Our first HNZPT Matariki podcast episode features interviews with five Māori Heritage New Zealand staff who share their wide-ranging thoughts and experiences about Matariki.
Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch interviews:
Tharron Bloomfield - growing, harvesting and eating taputini; a variety of kumara that were originally cultivated by Māori.
Millie Harris - Matariki representing a way of life that she grew up with.
Kellee-Rei Harris - Matariki as way to reconnect with her culture and her whakapapa roots in Te Tai Tokerau after an urban upbringing.
Nigel Harris – kai gathering and cooking preparations for a magnificent Matariki feast at Te Whare Waiututu Kate Sheppard House.
Matene Simon - the revival of the ancient Matariki ceremony, Te Hautapu Umukohukohu Whetū, at Taurua Marae Rotoiti in 2021.
23 Sept 2020
Saving the Town
This week we talk to Dr Glen Hazelton, Director Organisational Development about Saving the Town, a toolkit that highlights successful experiences and case studies from around Aotearoa, New Zealand that illustrate proactive, contemporary approaches to heritage.
Glen provides insight into the toolkit, the case studies behind it and why it is an invaluable resource on how to facilitate and encourage heritage retention, preservation and reuse in areas, towns and cities of all sizes.
27 Apr 2020
What does heritage mean to you? - Part One
While in lockdown we have recorded our first episode of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Podcast to take you behind the scenes of the heritage we care for throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand.
In our first episode we ask some of our staff members from different backgrounds the question, ‘What does heritage mean to you?’ Their answers to this question shows the breadth of what we do as an organisation and the role that each New Zealander plays in our shared and individual heritage.
This episode features Caroline Toplis, Program Manager of Tohu Whenua, bringing together significant heritage places across the country; Dean Whiting, Director Kaiwhakahaere Tautiaki Taonga and Kaupapa Maori in the Maori Heritage Team, supporting kaitiaki across the country to benefit their communities and taonga, and Michelle Horwood Manager Heritage Listing, working with two programs our New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero and National Historic Landmarks, highlighting Aotearoa, New Zealand’s most significant cultural heritage that have shaped us as New Zealanders.
Take a listen to hear from our staff members during lockdown.
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