William Ray

It’s the final episode of the Aotearoa History Show! Rogernomics, Ruthanasia and the referendum on MMP saw the total restructuring of our economy and voting system. Plus a snapshot of the changing… Audio

The 60s, 70s and 80s were rowdy decades. Kiwis were getting out in the streets and raising their voices about the rights of Māori, women and LGBT people, nuclear energy, the environment. Plus the most… Audio

After the war came a new quest for security and identity. With it came new political debates and alliances. Maori and Pasifika moved to the cities. The way we viewed ourselves as a nation was… Audio

A second world war swept the globe, dragging New Zealand once more onto the battlefield, this time in the Pacific as well as Europe. In the likes of Crete, Greece and North Africa and on Pacific… Audio

With World War I and the flu epidemic past, the good times rolled through the 1920s. Then came the bust of the Great Depression, prompting widespread poverty - that was worse for some - and the rise… Audio

It’s the war that claimed more New Zealand lives than any other. It’s also the event that’s often claimed as the "foundational moment” where we “became a nation”. But is that really true? In this… Audio

Through the final quarter of the 19th Century Pakeha settler numbers swelled. The immigrants sought land and started to create a new, distinct culture. But their land gain came at the cost of Maori… Audio

After the wars, politicians had to figure out how to run the new country. Bold choices saw huge spending on infrastructure, the right of women to vote and the start of refrigeration, helping us out of… Audio

As British troops leave, settler militia enter the fray. Some Māori chose to fight alongside the Crown while others join new religious movements, which seem to promise a way out of the conflict.  Audio

Hunger for land and the rise of Kingitanga prompted Governor George Grey to invade Waikato in 1863. Fighting spread over years and into the Bay of Plenty, devastating Maori. But it was not as… Audio

In Europe, factions debated the future of Aotearoa, while Māori had their own ideas how to handle the growing number of Pākehā here. In the end, Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed, but the early promise… Audio

Abel Tasman and James Cook’s first contacts with Māori were complex and sometimes violent. Europeans brought new technologies, food and ideas, such as muskets, potatoes and Christianity. In some cases… Audio

Around 850 years ago Polynesian explorers found an empty land and the story of people in Aotearoa began. A new culture emerged; tangata whenua had arrived and started to thrive. Audio

The story of New Zealand and its people, from its geological origins to modern day. Hosted by William Ray and Leigh-Marama McLachlan, with animation by Chris Maguren. Made possible by the RNZ/NZ On… Audio

The government's recent announcement that NZ history will be have to be taught in school, addresses the anomaly that saw this country one of few in the world that hasn't had its own history as a… Audio

Before people there was the land. We start the story of New Zealand 100 million years ago as tectonic forces tear apart Gondwana and Zealandia/Te Riu-a-Maiu is formed.  Audio

RNZ presents The Aotearoa History Show - this time as an audio only podcast! Audio

Professor Rangi Mātāmua talks about the 120-year-old book which has preserved his ancestors' knowledge of Māori astronomy. Audio