History

A new book tells the story of Aotearoa New Zealand through the maps that guided our first inhabitants and the explorers and settlers that followed. Singing the Trail digs back into the history of the… Audio, Gallery

New Zealand saw the UK’s ‘Brentry’ into the EEC in 1973 as an existential threat to our nation’s future. It preoccupied New Zealanders for a decade and eventually all hinged on 48 hours of… Audio

Forty years ago, 257 people were killed when Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Mount Erebus. It remains the worst peacetime disaster in New Zealand history in loss of life terms. Audio

Earlier this week we talked to Matthew Hooton about teaching history in New Zealand, and the importance of story-telling in keeping young people interested and engaged. Audio

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…

It's time to dive into the week's news, in the past. This week our resident historian Robert Kelly has his heart set on going to the 1939 Centennial Exhibition this time of year in 1939. Audio

Have we grown as a nation and are able to accept defeat at the Rugby World Cup better than on previous occasions? Historian Dr Grant Morris looks back at reaction to our RWC losses. Audio

Last weekend marked the 75th anniversary of the arrival in New Zealand of over 700 Polish child refugees during World War II. Commemorations were held at Pahīatua. Video, Audio, Gallery

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…

Studying history CAN be very enjoyable and informative. It can also be very boring - and this is one of the big challenges when you're developing a new history curriculum Audio

Unity is at the core of a performance marking Kristallnacht in Wellington this week. 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…

Griff Rhys-Jones has been in New Zealand filming his new series, Griff's Great Kiwi Road Trip, which premieres next Sunday. Along with seeing the sights, he's on a quest to find out what it means to… Audio

Across a 30 year writing career, Scottish historian, broadcaster and critic William Dalrymple has been preoccupied with the history and culture of India. It's the country he now calls home for half… Audio

In the lead up to He Rā Maumahara - the New Zealand Wars Day of Remembrance - Auckland Museum ran a poetry competition to reflect on what the wars mean today. Audio

New Zealanders will be able to see the rare transit of Mercury an astronomer on Captain Cook's first voyage to Aotearoa observed 250 years ago in a little under two weeks.

The transit will happen on… Audio

The little known history of the abductions of Tokelauans and their sale into slavery in the world's last slave market in Peru is the subject of a new art installation that was launched this week in… Audio

Seventy-five years ago today, 703 Polish children traded in Persia for Pahiatua as the first refugees to New Zealand.

The mostly orphaned children arrived by boat from what's now Iran to their new… 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…