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

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

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The longevity obsession

Bio-hackers are looking for the answers to stretching out their lives as long as possible, but research says there's a biological end point for our bodies
Bryan Johnson and his son.

A home for granny, a headache for the homeowner

Rule changes for putting a granny flat on your section cut very little red tape, but move questions of liability from councils to homeowners
Table and chairs on the terrace of a flat in summer.

All stick, no carrot with move-on laws

The government's making city shop owners happy with its decisive move-on orders for homeless people, but there are doubts they'll achieve anything
Homelessness Bin the Ban letter for parliment

Citizens arrests, armed guards, and the power of Sunny Kaushal

For the past decade, Sunny Kaushal has been a man on a mission to crack down on retail crime, and he's one step closer to getting his way
Sunny Kaushal

The arrest heard around the world

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's dramatic arrest is the first of its kind for the royal family in nearly 400 years, and has shaken the House of Windsor
This general view shows a sign for a street originally named after Britain's former prince Andrew, with the title of "prince" blackened out, along a road in the town of Carrickfergus, County Antrim in Northern Ireland on November 25, 2025. A Northern Irish council has voted to rename a street in the town of Carrickfergus called after Britain's disgraced former Prince Andrew after now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. (Photo by Paul Faith / AFP)

Barker's of Geraldine in a jam over waste

The Canterbury preserves company wants to spray wastewater - which contains cleaning chemicals - onto a neighbouring DOC reserve. It's a stark difference to the way the company deals with wastewater at its French plant.
The Hae Hae Te Moana river, DOC conservation land, Barker's in the background

The great Australian rivalry, in New Zealand

Between State of Origin coming to Auckland and rule changes allowing Kiwis to play, NRL strengthens its foothold on a New Zealand audience
Blues' Zac Lomax (R) and Maroons' Kalyn Ponga contest a high-ball during game two of the men's State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and New South Wales Blues at Optus Stadium in Perth on June 18, 2025. (Photo by COLIN MURTY / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --

A state of emergency, again and again and again

After another wild week of weather, The Detail looks at the surge in declarations of states of emergency, and whether we risk 'crying wolf'
A ute is submerged at Robert Prescott's home on Phillips Road in Ōtorohanga - 14 February 2026

Reality bites for Kiwi job seekers as unemployment climbs

Unemployment is at its highest level in more than a decade, but one expert offers a silver lining, saying that could actually be a sign of early economic growth
Jobseeker support. Benefit. Beneficiaries. Work and Income.

The wine industry headache

Too many grapes, international headwinds and a dramatic drop in drinkers is proving problematic for our wine producers
Two Paddocks' Red Bank Vineyard in the Earnscleugh Valley

The winners and losers from the India trade deal

It hasn't been ratified yet but the terms of New Zealand's free trade deal with India have been agreed on, even though the details are somewhat mysterious
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 17 March 2025.

New dietary guidelines from the US stir the pot 

It's not so much what's in the recommendations as how they were put together that's concerning some in the medical and nutrition worlds
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 08: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveils the department's new dietary guidelines food chart during a policy announcement event at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on January 8, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration announced new dietary guidelines on Wednesday including an emphasis on proteins and full-fat dairy, and limits on processed foods.   Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Love, lies, and prime-time pressure

What started as an experiment has become a global phenomenon. MAFS is a ratings powerhouse and one of the world's most argued-about shows.
Amanda Gillies and John Aiken discussing the new season of Married at First Sight.

LNG plan sparks showdown in parliament

The Government's LNG plan has triggered an explosive row over the difference between a tax and a levy, but the major question is whether it will keep the lights on
Christopher Luxon at Cockle Bay School, February 2026.

Raw sewage still pouring into Welly waters raises questions, and anger 

More than 600 million litres of untreated sewage have poured into Wellington water, leaving beaches empty and questions over who's responsible  
Untreated water is leaking onto the capital's south coast beaches due to the Moa Point Treatment Plant flooding and being turned off from early this morning.

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