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Ever wondered if your nightly glass of wine (or your need for approval, or your shoe-shopping habit) counts as an addiction? Gary sits down with Kerene Strochnetter, author of "Little Addicts," to unpack why she reckons we're all wired for addiction of some kind - big or small. She shares her own journey with red wine, people-pleasing and "retail therapy," and why beating yourself up over it never actually works (if self-criticism worked, we'd all be perfect, right?). It's a surprisingly gentle chat about a prickly topic - childhood trauma, burnout, dopamine systems, and Kerene's practical "three Ns" (notice, name, need) for catching yourself before you reach for the band-aid. No judgement, no quick fixes, just honest talk about what's really driving our habits and how to choose a bit more wisely next time. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary's just read a book that's made him want to chuck out half his gadgets (sorry, security camera). His guest is Jenny Williams, former writer on Microsoft's AI ethics team and author of House of Liars - a novel about writers trapped on an island competing for cash, with AI lurking in the background. Turns out it's barely fiction: Gary reckons his own ChatGPT "Bruce" might be Jenny's AI character's cousin. They get into the good, the bad and the downright unsettling - AI "going rogue" past its guardrails, chatbots replacing jobs (and maybe your therapist), driverless cars, and whether Burger King's drive-through voice is even human anymore (spoiler: it's Patty). Jenny's refreshingly honest that she doesn't have all the answers, especially as a parent, but reckons caution and curiosity beat blind fear every time. Oh, and yes - she wrote every word of her book herself, no AI ghostwriters involved. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wondered who the Prime Minister rings when even they don't know the answer? Gary sits down with Dame Juliet Gerrard, former Chief Science Advisor to the PM, who had a front row seat to the mosque shootings, the White Island tragedy and COVID-19 from day one. She talks candidly about the biscuit tin and Post-it notes she used to gather ideas from quiet voices in a room, the discipline of giving "good enough" advice before a decision is made rather than perfect advice too late, and why her job was never to filter the truth for "the greater good". They get into the tricky line between scientific consensus and values-based decisions (abortion gets a mention), whether Aotearoa was ever really ready for a pandemic, the ongoing vaccine divide, and what AI means for healthcare going forward. Gary (never one to miss a height joke) also tries out a theory from his wife on Juliet, and asks the question everyone wants answered: does it still sting when politicians ignore the science? Her new book Front Row Seat unpacks it all. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember flared pants, slide projectors, and those old Scripture in Song books? Gary sits down with the Kiwi legends themselves, David and Dale Garrett, who (despite not reading music or playing instruments) wrote and gathered the simple, singable choruses that shaped a generation of church worship here and around the world. They share the wonderfully unplanned story of how it all started, the cassette-tape origins of "Hallelujah, God Reigns" (nearly binned!), and a chance encounter with a very tall Jack Hayford. Now in their eighties and still going, David and Dale talk candidly about grief - including the heartbreaking loss of their daughter Rachel - God's call to honour indigenous culture and land, and why they believe older generations shouldn't be put out to pasture. A warm, funny, and moving chat about memorable songs, God's unchanging presence, and keeping going without "the memo" to retire. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heavy metal and church don't usually go in the same sentence, but here we are. Gary talks to Brian "Head" Welch, guitarist for Korn, about the documentary Loud Crazy Love and the wild true story behind it - crystal meth, suicidal thoughts, a rock star lifestyle he thought could stay secret, and a moment in his office where he reckons God's love physically wrapped around him. It's raw stuff: rejection from both his old rock world and the Christian community, the struggle raising his daughter as a single dad, and getting baptised in Israel with CNN cameras rolling. Brian's disarmingly honest about how messy grace can be - years of anger issues after "getting saved", punching walls, a rocky patch with his teenage daughter, and his own parents' unlikely late-in-life conversion (his dad's now a door greeter, of all things). Gary gets him talking about forgiving himself, devouring the Bible like a man possessed, and why he decided to put all this dirty laundry on film for the world to see. Fair warning: if you're after George Jones or Beethoven, this one's not for you. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary digs out an old TV chat with Irish preacher Bob Gass - the man behind the wildly popular daily devotional, The Word for Today. Turns out those bite-sized daily thoughts start life as 400-500 words scrawled longhand on a yellow legal pad, whittled down to exactly 285 (every word's a worker, apparently) with help from his wife's mum transcribing it all twelve times over. Bob talks about preaching his first sermon at 13, arriving in America at 17 with two sermons and 25 cents to his name, and being mentored the old-school way - no Bible college, just a pastor's family, a Grundig recorder, and some brutally honest feedback. He also fields questions from the audience and Facebook on hearing from God, doubting your faith, and why simple truths (Jesus loves you) often land harder than clever theology. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part two of Gary's chat with Bob Gass, the man behind that little devotional you've probably seen lying around - The Word for Today - now read in a dozen-plus languages and beamed out across the globe. Recorded in front of a UK studio audience (plus a few Facebook questions thrown in), Bob gets into the meaty stuff: grief, growing up in a strict Belfast church household, why he reckons churches don't talk about money enough, and the wedding-day prophecy that basically predicted his whole writing career. Along the way there are stories of readers who've been gobsmacked by the devotional's uncanny timing, some classic Bob one-liners (decapitation for boring preachers, anyone?), and a genuinely moving reflection on what it means to grieve well. Stick around for his simple two-word trick for "restoration" - rest and store - it's a ripper. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary reckons a good thriller gets better when it's set just down the road - and The Target ticks that box, with the Picton Ferry, Havelock and Wellington all getting a look in. Author Riley Chance joins him to chat about weaving real New Zealand history (like the 1984 Trades Hall bombing) and current societal issues - unions, surveillance, family violence - into page-turning fiction that quietly gets you thinking. They get into Orwell, why Riley's ditched social media (turns out helping billionaires get richer wasn't much of a drawcard), and where AI fits for a writer who's very protective of his own creative process. Riley's clear on one thing though: read The Target as a cracking thriller first - if it makes you ask a few uncomfortable questions about NZ society along the way, even better. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary sits down around the piano in Belfast with a genuine gospel music legend: Bill Gaither. If you've ever hummed along to "He Touched Me" or "Because He Lives" without knowing who wrote them, well, now you do. Bill unpacks the stories behind his best-loved songs, from Larry Gatlin's "Greatly Blessed, Highly Favoured" to the accidental beginnings of the Homecoming videos, and explains why a good gospel song needs solid theology, poetry and heart in equal measure. Along the way Bill talks candidly about the songs he wishes more people had heard, working (and gently competing) with wife Gloria's lyrics, and that time Donnie McGuire wrote a better melody than he did in 45 minutes flat. There's talk of loss, perspective, crossing cultures and denominations, and why "most of it's bad" but the good stuff survives — Steve Allen's line, not Gary's. A warm, funny, occasionally moving chat with one of gospel music's true elder statesmen. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wondered if you're actually a leader, or just someone with a fancy title? Gary sits down with Kris Cooper, author of Elegant Leadership, to unpack what leadership really means - and why "elegant" isn't just a fashion word. They natter about humour, courage, forgiveness (yes, forgiveness), and whether Jacinda Ardern counts as an elegant leader (spoiler: it depends who you ask).   From leadership at home with the kids to knowing when it's time to gracefully exit stage left, Kris walks Gary through her A-to-Z of leadership traits - love, laughter, letting go, and a surprising amount of grace. Oh, and there's a poem about smiling that'll get you right in the feels. Stick around for Gary's final, deadly serious question: how do you actually know if you're meant to lead?   Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember when we weren't supposed to mention the jab at parties? Well, Gary's going there anyway with physicist Shaun Hendy, one of the scientists who helped steer New Zealand through COVID and copped plenty of hate mail for it. Shaun's written a book about the whole saga - the good calls, the mistakes (like not prioritising vaccines for Māori and Pacific people), and why he reckons misinformation is now scarier than the virus itself. They get into why NZ actually did remarkably well by global standards, why H5N1 bird flu is the thing keeping scientists up at night, and Shaun's slightly unsettling conclusion: the next pandemic isn't an if, it's a when. Oh, and Gary discovers Shaun thanked his wife last in the book's acknowledgements - not the smoothest move, mate. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charlie Kirk's assassination made headlines - but it was his wife's forgiveness of the shooter that really got people talking. Gary sits down with Rev. Dr. Paul Blackham (a "modern-day John the Baptist", locusts optional) to unpack why forgiveness is so much harder than the Sunday School version we teach kids. Paul draws on 30 years of pastoral ministry to argue it's often the small, petty grudges - not the big dramatic wrongs - that people cling to the longest. They get into the messy mechanics of it all: does forgiveness require confession from the other person? Can you say "I forgive you" and mean it, then find yourself chewing on the hurt again the next day? Paul talks through real cases, including a gut-punch story from South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation hearings, and lands on a sobering point tied to the Lord's Prayer - what happens when we simply refuse to forgive at all. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wondered who actually brought MMP to New Zealand? Meet Hans Gruber - born in Germany near the end of WWII, lawyer, world traveller, and the bloke with a big hand in giving us the voting system we've got today. Gary sits down with him to unpack MMP versus first-past-the-post, and Hans doesn't hold back on democracy itself (spoiler: he reckons leaving big decisions to "unqualified" voters is a bit mad, and has a few things to say about China's meritocracy too). The chat gets heavier from there - world wars, Ukraine, Gaza, and Hans's genuine fear of where global tensions are heading, plus his "dying wish" that New Zealand goes fully neutral and stays out of it all. It ends on a softer note, with Hans reflecting on 40 years in New Zealand, no regrets despite the rocky patches, and what it feels like to hear a national anthem that actually moves you to tears. Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Election year prezzies, paid for on someone else's credit card - sound familiar? Gary sits down with retired lawyer David Schnauer, author of Uncomfortable Economics, to ask the awkward questions about New Zealand's long-term economic drift, our obsession with house price gains, and why KiwiSaver (not property) might be the real path to a comfortable retirement.   David doesn't pull punches: he reckons we've left it too late for full self-funded super, but there's still time to raise the retirement age, bring in means testing, and rebalance the economy away from housing before a genuine crisis forces our hand. Gary pushes back with some very personal (and very relatable) selfishness about his own pension, and David explains why courageous leadership - and a bit less instant gratification from all of us - might be the only way to avoid an economic dentist visit we really don't want.   Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s guest is NZ music royalty. You may have seen the TV reality show, been shocked when he shared his ‘growing up’ years and it will come  as no surprise that  there is already a book about his life. This week’s guest on AVTM the podcast is Stan Walker. Both he and Gary were both the same weight once, Gary at his lightest, Stan at his heaviest, that gets a mention. Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.