The Detail

Join The Detail team six days a week as they make sense of the big stories with the country’s best journalists and experts.

A Newsroom production for RNZ, supported by NZ On Air

On air:

Monday - Saturday at 4.30am, encore on weeknights at 10.15pm on RNZ National

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One for the political tragics

Two big political memoirs have hit the bookshops this year - but which high profile politicians are missing from the shelves
Dame Jacinda Ardern, and Grant Robertson have both released memoirs this year

Trump's backflip on beefed up tariffs

A surprise reversal on high beef tariffs has been a welcome relief for farmers, but with Trump in the White House, celebrations are muted
No caption

The year of the kākāpō

Kākāpō numbers are recovering at such a rate that we are running out of pest-free islands to put them on
Kākāpō chicks under a branch, photo taken in darkness.

Police face deepening crisis of trust

Government pressed for action as scandal over police handling of McSkimming complaints sparks national reckoning
Jevon McSkimming

The rising crisis of child sexual exploitation in NZ

Sexual exploitation of children is seen as one of the worst crimes out there - but do the prison terms reflect the severity?
discusses child sexual abuse and exploitation
Hooded figure in front of laptop

How Kiwi kids are becoming the new face of 'adult' diabetes

Type 1 diabetes used to be called 'juvenile diabetes', and Type 2 affected adults. But that's no longer the case, and the number of kids with Type 2 in New Zealand is rising.
A teenager with type 1 diabetes uses a CGM - a continuous glucose monitoring device.

The "inherently unsafe" brakes in some 70,000 vehicles

For years, a father has been fighting for Waka Kotahi to do more about the dangers of a vehicle braking system involved in his son's death. Now a coroner's report backs him up, but NZTA still disagrees.
Selwyn Rabbits father of Graeme Rabbits

The BBC edit heard around the world

Editing scandal at BBC sparks 'existential crisis' for public-service broadcaster and puts the spotlight on trust in journalism
Members of the media work in the rain outside the entrance to the BBC in London on November 10, 2025. The outgoing CEO of BBC News said on November 10, 2025 that the broadcaster was "not institutionally biased", after she resigned over accusations that it had misleadingly edited a speech by Donald Trump. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Earth's weakest link may be in space

Space terrorism is no longer relegated to sci-fi movies: it's happening already, and one legal expert warns we're far from prepared
a space shuttle is flying over the earth, space station over the horizon, view from space

Fears of bubble trouble with AI shares

As AI share prices soar, some economic doomsayers have started to ring the warning bells of a bubble risk 
Cyber security specialist working on a computer in a control room with multiple screens. (Photo by GORODENKOFF PRODUCTIONS/SCIENCE / GPR / Science Photo Library via AFP)

An economy based on tourism burns

Ruapehu District's mayor says the huge fire still burning in the region could have the same effect on the local economy as the 1996 eruption
The Tongariro National Park fire is leaving the surrounding sky covered in hazy smoke

In Taiwan, invasion by disinformation

In a country swamped by disinformation, two entrepreneurs have come up with solutions to tackle the problem, on and offline
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 24: Audrey Tang speaks onstage during the Clinton Global Initiative 2025 Annual Meeting at New York Hilton Midtown on September 24, 2025 in New York City.   JP Yim/Getty Images for Clinton Global Initiative/AFP (Photo by JP Yim / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Life in a peaceful country with war on its doorstep

The Detail's Sharon Brettkelly visits Jordan, where the tourism industry propping up the country's economy has been all but decimated by the war in neighbouring Israel
Two horses carry tourists over the desert landscape of Jordan

Efforts ramp up to eradicate the yellow-legged hornet

This nasty pest can be destroyed, but it will take government resources and extreme vigilance from the public to do it.
Yellow-legged hornets (Vespa velutina) have recently been sighted in the Auckland region. MPI have put out advisories after a queen was found on 17 October 2025.

Behind the education overhaul

A key player in the curriculum rewrite says the criticism is overblown - and not a reflection of what the sector thinks
Dr Michael Johnston, a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative.

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