Two men in conversation sit opposite each other in a recording studio.

Logo that reads "Context"

43m

Guyon Espiner & Corin Dann explore the backstory to today’s front page, diving into NZ’s political past and asking, "How did we get here?" But there's a twist: one knows the topic, the other doesn’t.

Hosted by Corin Dann and Guyon Espiner

2 episodes

NZ's Free Trade Hustle

New
As New Zealand closes in on its first trade deal with India, we look back at the agreements that shaped the country: from Britain’s betrayal in the 1970s to closer economic relations with Australia. For a small nation at the edge of the world, survival has often meant learning to hustle
Season 2/Episode 2
43m

Think Big: Muldoon's Attempt at Energy Independence

New
As tensions in the Middle East rattle fuel prices, we look back at the oil shocks of the 1970s and how they shaped NZ’s energy story. From carless days to Muldoon’s massive Think Big projects, the echoes of the past are hard to ignore today.
Season 2/Episode 1
41m

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Six people standing in a row wearing indoor netball bibs. The person in the centre is holding a netball and smiling that the camera, everyone else looks curious or fed up. Text reads, "Here If You Need".
Against a black background, a group of opera singers sing. The green text reads: "Toiere."
The Bandits are seated in two rows. Above them is text reading: "THE SCHOOL REPEATERS."
Dark purple background with text, "Art Stories in Aotearoa".
Text reads, "House Talk" on a white brick wall background.
Alice Snedden looking into the camera and holding a megaphone up to her mouth in her left hand. In her right hand she holds up a stack of paper, on the first page is a simple drawing of the beehive with a text bubble that says, "No voting for you!!!". Text reads, "Alice Snedden's Bad News". Both the text and Alice Snedden are on a bright blue background.
A large group of smiling young performers in traditional Polynesian attire pose together outdoors. They wear orange and yellow garments, necklaces made of white spikes, and have black markings on their faces. Above them, on a yellow banner, bold black text reads “SEVEN WEEKS,” with the subtitle “JOURNEY TO POLYFEST” in italics.
Jordan a.k.a. How to DAD looks quizzically into the camera. The orange text on the left reads: "OUT OF MY LEAGUE."
In a black-and-white photograph, a Māori woman speaks into a microphone in front of a crowd. Her fist is raised defiantly in the air. At the top of the image, in small yellow lettering, reads: "THE LAST NEW ZEALAND WAR HAPPENED IN 1979. IT LASTED THREE MINUTES." Below the woman, at the bottom of the image, the text reads in yellow lettering: "THE HAKA PARTY INCIDENT." Below that text is smaller, white text that reads: "A FILM BY KATIE WOLFE."
In the middle of the image, the white text on blue reads: "RUAMATA IT'S MORE THAN HOCKEY 1 + 2" Above the text is an image of students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata doing a haka. Below the text is an image of students from the school standing in a formation with their coach, looking directly ahead.
The back of someone looking up at a big red firework exploding in the night sky. Text reads, "Giants Giants Giants". The last "Giants" fades into the background.
An archival picture of a group of Pacific Islanders posing for a group picture. The text reads "Untold Pacific History"
Three figures from different original images have been edited so that they're all standing next to each other and are of varying sizes. All three people are in the midst of performing. The background in a flat bright red colour. Text in the style of graffiti reads, "The Collective". A spray painted illustration of a crown appears above the 'e' in 'Collective'.
In a graphic made up of differently coloured brown tiles, the two main hosts of Whakamāori season three pose. Behind them is text reading: "WHAKAMĀORI."
A close up of a video game controller, the lighting makes it look slightly pink and blue. Text reads, "Game Change".
On a dark-brown background, the light-brown text reads: "MATA REPORTS."
A man sits silhouetted on some steps leading down to the water in a cave. He glances out over the incoming waves. Yellow text reads: "BEING Niuean. 50 YEARS OF PULE FAKAMOTU."
The host, Mihingarangi Forbes, smiling at the camera. Text reads, "Mata".
A person sitting on a hill looking out onto an inlet. The image is take from behind the person. Text reads, "Inside Outside". There is an overlay of a recording boarder along the perimeter of the image.
Text reads, "Treaty Talks Aotearoa, Hosted by Kara Rickard". Surrounding the text is an image of a version of the Coat of Arms, the 'Crown' figure is holding a Māori flag.
6 people are seated around a long table, four of them are wearing hi-vis tops. On the table there are little traffic cones and signs. There are two flags hanging on the wall behind them, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the Maori flag. Orange text reads, "Hi-Vis".
A sepia toned image of a family photograph depicting a woman holding the hands of two young children. The photo is deteriorating and the child on the left is almost obscured by the damage. The text reads, "Farewell Guangdong" there are also four Chinese characters, or 'Hanzi', above the text.
Against a yellow-and-orange background, the cyan-coloured text reads: "the All Goods Race."
Text reads, "Matangireia with Morgan Godfery". Background is beige with an out of focus letter M in fancy script.