Context

RNZ podcast producer Phil Vine introduces you to his latest RNZ podcast, The Reality Machine. Hosted by television insider Dylan Reeve, Dylan dives into the history of reality TV in Aotearoa pulling back the curtain on what makes reality TV what it is. Phil also shares a short update about what stories are coming next to The Lodge podcast feed.Dylan Reeve dives into the fuzzy origins of reality TV in Aotearoa to try and figure out what we even mean when we say ‘Reality’. He looks at our local shows, ranging from fly-on-the-wall docuseries like Motorway Patrol into heavily constructed social strategy games like Treasure Island and The Traitors, exploring how a format with almost no fixed rules managed to grow into one of our biggest pop-cultural touchstones.Keep listening here for the first episode of The Reality Machine, What Even Is Reality? and check out the rest of the series on the RNZ website or on your favourite podcast app.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

As the Opportunity Party climbs above the crucial 5% threshold,, Context looks back at New Zealand's minor parties. From kingmakers and coalition partners to spectacular failures, who made it into Parliament and who fell short?Season 3 Episode 6Watch the video version of the episode on YouTube or TVNZ+.Or you can watch the full series on the RNZ website here.Thanks to Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Today's housing downturn has decades of booms and busts behind it. Context explores how governments, investors and global shocks helped turn New Zealand into a country where property became both a home and an obsession.Season 3 Episode 5Watch the video version of the episode on YouTube or TVNZ+.Or you can watch the full series on the RNZ website here.Thanks to Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A controversial remark in Parliament becomes the starting point for a deeper story. From Chinese gold miners and the poll tax to free trade and modern geopolitical tensions, Guyon Espiner and Corin Dann trace the history of one of New Zealand's most important relationshipsSeason 3 Episode 4Watch the video version of the episode on YouTube or TVNZ+.Or you can watch the full series on the RNZ website here.Thanks to Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

National is spending millions to bail out Golden Bay Cement. But when Watties and Heinz faced closure, the Government turned its back. So why do some companies get rescued while others are left to fail? A look back at the history of bailouts, who gets saved and who doesn't?Season 3 Episode 3Watch the video version of the episode on YouTube or TVNZ+.Or you can watch the full series on the RNZ website here.Thanks to Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details