Sir Ashley Bloomfield was the director general of health when Covid-19 came to New Zealand early in 2020.
He became one of the most recognizable faces and names in New Zealand for his daily 1pm briefings with the PM which because essential viewing.
We sat down for this podcast conversation on the 3rd anniversary of New Zealand’s initial Covid lockdown.
He turned up to my place on a bike (not one with a battery either, full old school bike) wearing a correctly fixed helmet, of course.
We chat about his marathon running experiences and why he is taking a break from mountain biking for a while.
His early life growing up and meeting his wife Libby at medical school.
The anxiety of facing the media at 1pm every day and the terror of doing radio interviews with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB.
His relationship with Jacinda Ardern during the pandemic and their relationship now
The viral "spread your legs" moment. His Knighthood and much more.
We had limited time so there was a lot of stuff I would have liked to cover that we didn’t get round to. But I can’t thank Dr Bloomfield enough for being so generous with his time, experience and stories. I loved his company and our chat- he came in with really good energy. I genuinely hope you guys like it too.
Thanks to my friends at Radix Nutrition for sponsoring this episode.
If you haven’t tried their stuff, you should give them a go:
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