History

Each of us has a story written in our DNA. But that's only part of the puzzle. Researching the family tree is one of those projects that starts but never quite finishes. Audio, Gallery

Over the years, thousands of New Zealand women worked in public service typing pools since the 1940s. "Typing pool" is an obsolete term these days, but government departments and private businesses… Audio

John Drummond looks at famous pieces of piano music as windows into the world in which they were created. A composer cannot help but reflect the world he lives in, his understanding of life, his… Audio

Black magic, theft, grave digging, gruesome crimes...some of our most famous classical composers led dark and interesting lives. It certainly wasn't all powdered wigs and harpsichord recitals for… Audio

In December 1968 a 22-year-old David Bowie penned what is now one of his most loved songs, 'Space Oddity'. It offered a dystopian counter-image to the overwhelming global enthusiasm for space… Audio

50 years ago humans landed on the moon for the first time and now footage from the Apollo missions has been crafted together in a documentary, Apollo: Missions To The Moon, which will screen on the… Audio, Gallery

We know the story of World War Two, the causes, the atrocities, the battles. But what about what life was like during the war? What were the experiences of New Zealanders? Author Renée Hollis wants to… Audio

Sir Tom Clark is one of New Zealand's most celebrated ceramicists, having transformed the Crown Lynn company from a modest conglomerate of brick and pipe manufacturers into a tableware colossus. Audio

Timaru man Colin Murdoch was one of the world's great inventors. Produced by Justin Gregory. Audio

Steve Bales was 26 years old, a NASA Guidance officer in Mission Control, when he had to make the decision of a lifetime.  Audio, Gallery

How do you prevent priceless geological taonga falling prey to the diggers? It's a problem that's most recently come to light with the case of Foulden Maar near Middlemarch in Otago.  Audio, Gallery

Celebrations of Matariki seem pale in comparison to those for Chinese New Year and Diwali - why? And do we need to have a look at rearranging our public holiday schedule to mark it?  Audio

Simon Schama is Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University in New York. He has written and presented forty television documentary films for the BBC, PBS, and The History Channel… Audio

It's time to dive into the week's news, in the past. This week our resident historian Robert Kelly is looking at the history of a particularly insidious law, the ghost of which still hangs over race… Audio

Dr Grant Morris from Victoria University is currently in Japan and has been exploring the history of the relations between our two nations. Audio

Bruce Mason was widely regarded as New Zealand's best playwright, known mostly for The Pohutukawa Tree and his solo show The End of the Golden Weather Audio

In 1995 rugby dropped its amateur ethos and went openly professional - but not before nearly tearing itself in two. Produced by Justin Gregory Audio