The Aotearoa History Show

No-one knows for sure who first introduced rabbits to New Zealand, because no-one wanted to take the blame for what became one of New Zealand's biggest environmental and economic disasters. We start season two burrowing into the devastating history of rabbits and other pests.

The first 500 years of Māori settlement in Aotearoa saw significant, dynamic changes to how people lived; changes that challenge the idea of Māori culture as something carved in stone.

The 1950s saw an explosion of youth culture. "Bodgies and widgies' ' tearing round on motorbikes & hanging out in milk bars scandalised many Kiwi adults. Was "the teenager" invented in the 1950s? And what is a "milk bar" anyway?

New Zealanders have battled Covid-19 for more than two years, but if you think it's the first time disease has knocked us around, well, this one's for you. Epidemics have long been part of our story.

The discovery of gold drew tens of thousands to New Zealand in search of fortune. It was a hard life, but diggers brought mateship, fashion & egalitarian ideas that changed the country forever.

In 1841 a few tiny islands of Pākehā settlement existed in an ocean of Māori land. Today, that picture has reversed & Māori own a fraction of Aotearoa. A big part of the reason? The Native Land Court.

Moriori are the original people of Rēkohu (aka Chatham Island or Wharekauri) & they have a tragic and inspiring story. Unfortunately, that story's often been twisted into, well, utter rubbish.

These are the wars that cost more lives than any other in our history. Stretched over more than a decade & the entire country, these conflicts changed Māori warfare & much of what came next.

Marine mammals were a source of food and clothing for Māori and Moriori, and valuable oil for Europeans. Hunting them brought cultures together, made fortunes and cost lives but today it's saving them that unites people.

From a standing start of little tank engines chugging along wooden rails, New Zealand built a vast rail network, made up of enough steel rail to wrap halfway around the moon.

New Zealanders like to think we have a "Number 8 Wire Mentality" - a rough and ready enthusiasm for fixing and building stuff with limited resources.

NOTE: This episode has been reuploaded to correct some inaccuracies in the original version. We all know New Zealand was the first country in the world where women could vote. But do you know how we got there? The path to suffrage is littered with alcohol, hidden heroes & dirty tricks.

It seems an almost heretical question, but it’s gotta be asked! Why are NZ and Australia different countries? You might be surprised to know that we did consider joining up with our mates across the Tasman back in the late 19th/early 20th century, but it never worked out. And that’s just a small fragment of the fascinating history of our Trans-Tasman relationship with our mates across the ditch.

New Zealand has had some big ambitions in the Pacific and mixed relations with our neighbours.