

The Detail
RNZ
Join The Detail team six days a week as they make sense of the big stories with the country’s best journalists and experts.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 22, 2025 • 25min
Misleading figures on New Zealand youth suicide rates
A global report ranking New Zealand as the worst for youth suicide rates grabbed headlines. But two researchers say the numbers are wrong…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 21, 2025 • 23min
The injustice of a freshwater crisis
A precedent-setting High Court case could be the key to a better attitude towards cleaning up our waterways…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 20, 2025 • 24min
The high cost of getting high in New Zealand
With meth use on the rise, one former addict shares her brutal story and remarkable recovery.Kiwis from every background are now smoking meth, and the fallout is devastating. One former addict shares her story, in hopes of stopping others from picking up the pipe.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 19, 2025 • 24min
In classrooms, money lessons that matter
Why trial and error isn't the best way to learn financial literacy, and how a new curriculum could help
A new curriculum will teach financial literacy to students starting in Year 1. Experts say it could save people learning their lessons the hard - and expensive - way.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 18, 2025 • 25min
Rugby in recovery
The Detail's Amanda Gillies talks to NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson about crowds, international fixtures, financial turmoil and personal strainNZ Rugby's boss Mark Robinson is one of those 'up' people, something that shines through in spite of all the 'down' news surrounding the sport…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 16, 2025 • 24min
Research, ethics, and Artificial Intelligence
When it comes to studying how bots affect human behaviour, there are other ways to do it than pretending to be one of those bots…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 15, 2025 • 24min
When more money doesn't mean more nice things
The language of the Budget sometimes takes a professional to decode. A look at what's real, and what's nominal. Even if the government throws more than a billion extra dollars into health and education, those sectors will be standing still - the money eaten up by inflation…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 14, 2025 • 25min
Poor political strategy fans pay equity fury
The government's lightning blitz on pay equity claims has left whole sectors devastated, and the public confused about what just happened
The opposition, unions and media have all been accused of scaremongering on the pay equity legislation. But the issue's been clouded by the government's actions, which left no time for debate.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 13, 2025 • 23min
Powering New Zealand from a Wellington wind farm
On top of a turbine in the windy city, The Detail learns why too much wind isn't a good thingAfter a year of drought, heavy rainfall has brought relief to the energy sector. Whether that carries over to consumers is a different story.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

May 12, 2025 • 23min
Smokefree 2025 goal all but up in smoke
More than 80,000 Kiwi smokers need to quit their habit before the end of the year to meet the Smokefree 2025 goal, but a public health professor says there's no chanceOur world-leading Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 legislation barely survived to see this year, and the reality of addressing tobacco use is "like whack-a-mole"More than 80,000 Kiwis must quit smoking before the end of the year to meet the goal of Smokefree 2025, which was launched 14 years ago.But Professor of Public Health Chris Bullen tells The Detail that it is unlikely to happen - "I don't believe so, sadly"."The evidence suggests we are not heading in the right direction fast enough," says Bullen, who is also the director of the National Institute for Health Innovation."We have got more work to do in 2026 and beyond."The smokefree goal aims to have less than 5 percent of the population smoking by December, but the latest data reveals there are still about 300,000 daily smokers across the country.Bullen says part of the issue is, last year, the Coalition government repealed three areas of the Smokefree law, most importantly the denicotinisation of tobacco products (where the nicotine is basically taken out of cigarettes) and banning the sale of tobacco products to those born after January 1, 2009."I think we could have gotten to the goal under the previous legislation, but that was repealed by the current government."The lack of policies to support and motivate more people to think about quitting means there's an awful lot of effort on the ground that's got to go on to get 84-, 85-thousand people to quit smoking between now and the end of the year and I just don't see it happening fast enough."He says the denicotinisation strategy needs to be revisited, and a smoke-free generation approach needs to be adopted to encourage young people not to start smoking."Other countries picked up the baton when we dropped it, and I think that would lock in the very low levels of smoking in our young people, forever, and this would be a real boost for their future prospects."The Detail also speaks to Bullen about illegal tobacco and vaping, and the role they play in Smokefree Aotearoa.A tobacco industry-funded report has just revealed that 25 percent of cigarettes sold in New Zealand are from the black market, smuggled into the country, largely from China and South Korea, and available on Facebook Marketplace, at construction sites, and in some dairies…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details