In Depth Special Projects

The last of the ‘lunatic asylums’ closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety. But as William Ray explains,… Read more

When an adopted child goes looking for her supposed sister, it’s a tortuous search. Did she ever exist at all? And why was it so hard to try to find her? Read more

An autistic man considered too risky to release has spent half his life locked away. But is it seclusion itself that’s made him a risk? Read more

For more than 80 years, women in mental health and disability facilities in New Zealand were effectively banned from having sex. Why? Read more

Can you truly know someone when you’ve never met them? Reporter Kirsty Johnston spent a year trying to understand the tragic life and death of Nellie Wilson. Read more

The Maadi Cup is a festival of rowing steeped in tradition and prestige. But cheating allegations and hyper-competitiveness have some asking if the event has lost sight of what secondary schools sport… Read more

It was designed to give the mentally ill a refuge from the cruel world. But some patients of Porirua Lunatic Asylum say it was nothing more than a prison. Read more

Sarah is born in a psychiatric hospital, taken by the state and adopted to a new family in secret. By the time she goes looking for her birth mother, it’s too late. Nellie has died and Sarah is left… Read more

RNZ compared notes Associate Health Minister Casey Costello sent to officials, with a range of documents produced by the tobacco industry and its supporters. Intentional or not, there are frequent –… Read more

Former All Black Byron Kelleher faces domestic violence charges for an alleged assault against his partner. There’s a long, dark history of incidents that have come before it. Read more

What counts as “urgent” enough for immediate mental health care has become “narrower and narrower”, says an experienced psychologist. Read more Video

People are asking for more help, more often with mental health distress. But we are short by several hundred psychologists and psychiatrists. Read more Video

Former Health Minister Andrew Little admits “there was a bit of cannibalising the system” in the largest mental health programme introduced by Labour. Read more

Over almost half a decade, an historic $2b was poured into mental healthcare. What has it actually achieved? Read more Video

When ACT’s Brooke van Velden won the Auckland seat of Tāmaki at the election, it was a triumph of shrewd campaigning. But it was also a failure for Christian conservatism in mainstream politics. Read more Audio

At one point, Michelle says, she was convinced her 13-year-old daughter was going to kill her. She was desperate for help. Read more

People are dying while pollution continues belching into the air in one of New Zealand’s most beautiful beachside suburbs. What will it take to stop it? Read more Video

Agriculture contributes more to global warming than any other industry in Aotearoa. Yet attempts to rein in the sector’s emissions have repeatedly fallen short. Kirsty Johnston investigates how a… Read more

Agriculture contributes more to global warning than any other industry in Aotearoa. Yet attempts to rein in the sector’s emissions have fallen short once more. In Depth reporter Kirsty Johnston… Read more

Agriculture is warming the earth faster than any other industry in Aotearoa. Yet attempts to rein in the sector’s emissions have fallen short once more. In a three part Kirsty Johnston investigates… Read more

For people who leave or are kicked out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a process of ‘shunning’ follows. Followers of the faith are not allowed to associate with anyone who has left, even close family… Read more

The Loafers Lodge fire 16 May 2023 Read more

At 26, Charlie Dreaver was given a deadline. She was told she should start trying for children before she turned 30. 
 
The deadline, which was the result of an endometriosis diagnosis, meant she… Read more

This is the short version of a complicated story about changing our lives in response to big climate events like the Auckland floods. Read more

On 2 March 2022, police cleared hundreds of people from a sprawling occupation and protest in the area around New Zealand’s Parliament. 

The conclusion of the three-week occupation was angry and… Read more

Jacinda Ardern left office as the most internationally renowned New Zealand political leader in a generation.
She was admired for her unique leadership style.
She wielded power with unmatched… Read more

A cancer diagnosis should be an open korero between doctor and patient. But for Terauoriwa Pere, it was a two-minute, one-way phone call. 

In part four of RNZ's In-Depth investigation of Māori… Read more

The health workforce doesn’t reflect the patients that it serves. It’s one of the reasons some people get much sicker - and die earlier - than others.

In part three of RNZ's In-Depth investigation of… Read more

The scourge of diabetes looms darkly over the people of Aotearoa. But its impact falls much more heavily on Māori than non-Māori.

In part two of RNZ's In-Depth investigation of Māori health, Ella… Read more

Measures that directly address the racial chasm in the length of Kiwi lives should not be feared, the Māori Health Authority chief executive says.

In part one of RNZ's In-Depth investigation of Māori… Read more