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In this episode, Michael talks with Dame Elizabeth Rata about her documentary lecture series on the history of education in New Zealand. They discuss the 19th-century origins of free, compulsory and secular schooling, why Māori leaders pushed for village schools taught in English and Rata's argument that sociocultural knowledge has displaced subject knowledge in New Zealand classrooms.

Here is a full episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Nicky Hager's new book on the Taxpayers' Union has had several of its claims publicly contradicted within days of publication. Oliver and Damien discuss the fallout and what it has already cost the organisation. Next, 51 prominent New Zealanders signed an open letter to every party leader about property rights and freedom of contract, and Oliver explains why several chief executives who agreed with every word would not put their names to it. And finally, they turn to the economics behind the proposed Foodstuffs breakup, and the report the government says backs its case. Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election. Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there. Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free…ee/id6800933200 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/03465zUGiOtfO38Yg0wVip Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

In this episode, Oliver talks with Eric Crampton, chief economist at the New Zealand Initiative, about his new paper "Breaking up the supermarkets is hard to do... and a bad idea", which finds the promised savings rest on an untested assumption about how Foodstuffs prices its supermarket banners. They run through the Newstalk ZB interviews on splitting Foodstuffs, hearing Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis in their own words and weighing their key claims against the evidence.

In this podcast episode, retired Major General John Howard joins Oliver live in a webinar to discuss his new research note "Worth Defending" and why New Zealand needs a stronger, combat-capable Defence Force. Howard, who served forty years and retired only last year, describes what decades of declining capability looked like from the inside, explains why he thinks the $9 billion of new defence money is not enough, and sets out what it would take to rebuild across two or three successive governments.

Here is a full episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. National has announced it would split Foodstuffs into separate Pak'nSave and New World chains, in the name of more competition. Oliver and Damien ask whether breaking up a family-owned cooperative is likely to persuade an Aldi or a Lidl to come here, or convince them to stay away for good. Next, Oliver watched every party leader speak at a recent conference, and came away wondering why the campaign is being fought on such small ground. And finally, plans to overhaul the 2028 census have fallen apart after Labour withdrew support, and they ask whether the country still needs one. Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election. Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there. Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free…ee/id6800933200 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/03465zUGiOtfO38Yg0wVip Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

In this episode, Michael talks to Kevin Donnelly, an Australian educator and author who co-chaired the review of Australia's national curriculum. They discuss why schools across the Anglosphere turned away from knowledge-rich teaching in the 1970s and 1980s. Donnelly argues that the knowledge-rich curricula now being developed in New Zealand and Australia will change little unless teacher training is also reformed, with the university faculties that train teachers being the source of many of the bad ideas that continue to shape classroom practice.

In this episode, Oliver talks to John Howard, senior fellow at the New Zealand Initiative, about the CIA director's public visit to Moscow and what it says about the security of Western Europe. They also discuss Germany's decision to name Russia over the drone attack on Leipzig Airport, the vote for Russia-friendly parties in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, the stalled Middle East conflict and its consequences for New Zealand's fuel supplies, and the new Cook Islands port deal.

Here is a full episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Paul Henry is standing for ACT and Taine Randell for New Zealand First. Oliver and Damien ask whether celebrity candidates actually win votes, and why New Zealand tends to produce the reverse, politicians who become famous through politics. They then unpack deadweight loss and why higher taxes change behaviour in ways revenue forecasts often ignore. And finally, they turn to MBIE's failed biometric project and whether New Zealand has created a permanent bureaucratic class too insulated from ministers and too weakly accountable when things go wrong. Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election. Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there. Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free…ee/id6800933200 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/03465zUGiOtfO38Yg0wVip Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

Here is a full episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. National has introduced a bill banning under 16s from social media, and both coalition partners have refused to back it. Oliver and Damien ask whether such a ban could work, and whether the state should be involved at all. Next, Oliver reports back from a capital gains tax event at a centre-left think tank, where nobody in the room liked Labour's version of the tax. And finally, Iceland votes on Saturday on whether to resume talks about joining the European Union, and they get to the Cod Wars, a banking collapse and what a country of 400,000 people manages to do. Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election. Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-to-disagree/id6800933200 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03465zUGiOtfO38Yg0wVip Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

In this episode, Michael talks to Tenby Powell ONZM, former mayor of Tauranga and leader of KiwiKARE, about his team's humanitarian work in Ukraine and how nearly five years of war have transformed the battlefield. Tenby describes evacuating civilians from areas too dangerous to stay in, and the stoves his workshops build from scrapped water cylinders to keep people alive in winter when energy infrastructure has been destroyed. They go on to discuss the transformation of the battlefield by drone technology, and Ukraine's success with long-range attacks on Russia's strategic assets and interdiction of Russian supply lines.

Here is the full third episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Te Pāti Māori have told supporters to give them their electorate vote and send their party vote elsewhere. Oliver and Damien ask what happens if National voters start doing the same, and whether MMP survives it. Next, they discuss coalitions and deficits, and Oliver's argument that every additional party in a coalition makes a balanced budget harder. And finally, Donald Trump scaled back a military exercise with South Korea on Truth Social, and they ask what it means for America's allies in the Pacific. Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election. Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/luxon-survives-his-third-coup-attempt/id6800933200?i=1000783221395 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/64ImZwofbaKWfhfAIsAVCP?si=fAeQNsygTICNuHQKCHkzVQ&nd=1&dlsi=a877a63fc33f42f2 Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

In this episode, Nick talks with Oliver Hartwich about how the 2026 election could break MMP from two sides. Oliver's latest research note traces Te Pāti Māori's call for supporters to split their votes, why current polling could leave National with an overhang, and how the absence of compensation for overhang seats in New Zealand, unlike the German system it copied, could produce a Parliament that does not match the popular vote.

In this episode, Oliver talks to John Howard about New Zealand's changing security environment, from the firing of Defence Minister Chris Penk to the Semtex drone at Leipzig Airport and the SIS threat assessment naming China. John argues New Zealand does not need to become fearful, but it does need to become more alert, better prepared and more serious about protecting sensitive information. Recorded on 13 August 2026

Here is the full second episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. One day after Christopher Luxon survived a confidence vote, Oliver and Damien ask whether he has finally shown the country who he really is. Next, they discuss Chris Penk's departure from politics and what it costs National. And finally, overseas, a drone carrying 800 grams of Semtex was found beside a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig Airport, and they ask why no Western government will say who put it there. Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election. Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-to-disagree/id6800576606 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03465zUGiOtfO38Yg0wVip?si=23A-Wh7GTxWpxDJtgNG-Wg Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

Free to Disagree is a new weekly podcast produced by The New Zealand Initaitive. Join Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant as they talk about New Zealand politics and economics. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election. In this episode they start with the economy, where unemployment is at its highest since 2015 and inflation is running hot, so what should the Reserve Bank do? They turn to TOP, polling at 8 per cent when almost nobody has read its policies, and ask whether voters are just going on vibes. And with 7 November closing in, they debate whether the coalition is really coming back. Recorded on Thursday 6 August 2026.