

History of Aotearoa New Zealand
Thomas Rillstone
In this “unashamedly homegrown” podcast we tell the story of our islands from the time before people arrived all the way up to the year 2000. Winner of the bronze award for Best Indie Podcast in the NZ Podcast Awards 2021, Silver for Best Educational and Best Indie in 2022 and Silver for Best History in 2023 and 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 18, 2025 • 41min
175 - Knock Knock, It's Europe 3. Remember Us?
We left off when Cook opened his sealed orders which instructed him to head south in search of the Great Southern Land, Terra Australis, at the direct contradiction of Tupaia, who wanted to go west. Today the Endeavour heads south in search of the holy grail of European explorers in the Pacific.Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron!You find the Gisborne Port Authority report mentioned in the episode here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 11, 2025 • 26min
174 - Breaking the Seal
James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour no longer have a reason to remain in the Society Islands. As such, they need to decide where their voyage will take them next. To do this, Cook pulls out his secret, sealed orders from the Admiralty and cracks them open.Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 4, 2025 • 27min
173 - Island Holiday
Cook starts to explore more of the Society Islands, with Tupaia’s direction and knowledge proving invaluable.Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 27, 2025 • 30min
172 - Greener Pastures
Now that the Endeavour no longer has any need to remain in Tahiti, a bunch of people start making decisions about their future, some less well thought out than others.Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 20, 2025 • 43min
171 - The Transit of Venus
Cook finally does the thing he came halfway around the world to do: Observe the Transit of Venus.Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 13, 2025 • 31min
My Birb of the Year 2025
It's that time of year again! BOTY is back! As is tradition, I've picked a bird to tell you all about and hopefully pick up your vote. This year we are discussing the ngutu pare, the wrybill!birdoftheyear.org.nzCheck out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 6, 2025 • 32min
170 - Will They, Won't They
We return to May 1769 where the quadrant, a vital piece of equipment for observing the Transit of Venus, was stolen and then recovered. In the course of this, Tutaha had been arrested against Cook’s orders, being handled rather roughly and in such a way to cause great insult. Today we see how this affected the pair's relationship.Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aug 30, 2025 • 28min
169 - Twice as Nice
Tupaia is trying to navigate his way through the ever changing and deadly world of Tahitan politics as the two major leaders of the island clash. Can he come out the other side unscathed?Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aug 23, 2025 • 26min
168 - Game of Thrones
Tupaia has escaped to Tahiti and soon realises that if he wants to survive he needs to make himself useful. The island is going through a rather chaotic time politically and Tupaia is known to be a smooth operator, in more ways than one, so he hitches his wagon to Purea.Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aug 16, 2025 • 35min
167 - Tupaia
James Cook has now met Tupaia, high priest of Tahiti and advisor to the chief Purea. He is going to become very important to our story so it is worth going back a few years in the timeline to talk about his early life as well as the culture and history of the Society Islands through his eyes. This will set us up nicely for the next episode where we will explain the backstory of the conflict that the Europeans had found themselves in the middle of!Check out the website and shownotes!Become a Patron! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


