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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When social licence is revoked

Big and profitable Kiwi companies hiking their prices during a cost of living crisis have been accused of losing their social licence
New episode
Air NZ, Fonterra and the power giants have two things in common. They're all accused of charging customers too much and making big profits. They're also accused of putting their social licence at risk.

The new online war against birth control

The contraceptive pill is under fire on social media. Why birth control is being called "poison" online - and what doctors say.
BIRTH CONTROL 
Birth control. 

CHASSENET / BSIP

Stormwater solutions lying in the soil

An expert in water-sensitive design urges us to think harder about what lies beneath our feet
Sue Ira is an industry expert in water-sensitive design who is the director of consulting company Koru Environmental.

The hidden heroes of child care

Inside New Zealand's kinship care movement, and what's needed to repair the cracks
Holding hands of little kid girl, giving psychological help, supporting at home.

The twists and turns of Māori politics

Amid celebrations that their youngest MP made the cover of Time, ructions that threaten to blow Māori politics apart
Eru Kapa-Kingi

What's missing from new earthquake plans

One expert says the government's changes on earthquake-prone buildings are more about saving money than lives - but there's some sensible stuff in there
Di Maxwell and Jack Poutsma outside the former BNZ building they restored and earthquake-proofed

The nothing burger of a power plan

The much anticipated government announcement of a solution to soaring power prices has fallen well short of fundamental reform
Genesis Energy Huntly Power Station is a thermal power station that can use coal, gas or both simultaneously as fuel.

Not if but when - Taiwan waits for China to leap

Taiwanese worry about living costs and their everyday lives while pushing the prospect of action from China to the back of their minds
People take shelter during an air raid drill coinciding with the Han Kuang military exercises in Taipei on July 17, 2025. The annual civilian drill is being held in cities across Taiwan this week, alongside military training, to prepare the self-governed island for a potential Chinese invasion. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by I-Hwa Cheng has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Han Kuang military exercises] instead of [Kan Huang military exercises]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry...

Digital IDs are coming

If you want to live your life more seamlessly, you might have to swallow the dead rat of information seepage
Close up of desktop with laptop and abstract glowing digital profile on blurry office background. ID and digital transformation concept. Biometrics.

A royal pain for the House of Windsor

With Fergie, Harry and Andrew in the headlines again, The Detail speaks to an insider about whether they can weather yet another storm
US President Donald Trump smiles at Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales during a State Banquet at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, on September 17, 2025, during the US President's second State Visit. US President Donald Trump arrived in Britain for an unprecedented second State Visit, with the UK government rolling out a royal red carpet welcome to win over the mercurial leader. (Photo by Yui Mok / POOL / AFP)

NZ Football League caught in offshore betting storm

A Kiwi amateur league has become a global betting goldmine, raising red flags about the risk of illegal on-field activity
Clayton Lewis leaves the Local Court in Sydney, NSW, for sentencing.

Port of Auckland hails remarkable turnaround

A new tripartite agreement for the Port of Auckland signals a turnaround for a workplace long dogged by controversy, including debt, delays and death
Ports of Auckland

Changing the future for organised crime

The final report from the Ministerial Advisory Group on Organised Crime is delivered today, and it makes for frightening reading
Some of the drugs and cash seized at Auckland Airport in June.

The viral drift of misinformation

You can roll your eyes all you want at the White House reckons on panadol, autism and vaccines, but the alarming truth is they are damaging and will turn up here
US President Donald Trump (R), alongside Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (L), speaks about autism in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on September 22, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Turtles, the pet turned pest

Turtles have a relaxed reputation, but in reality they're quick-moving and aggressive, and are wreaking havoc on our native wildlife
Donna Moot, who runs Turtle Rescue in Christchurch, says the issue driving the surge in dumped turtles is that most people don't know what they're signing up for when they make the initial purchase.

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