The Fold - podcast cover

The Fold

The Spinoffwww.thespinoff.co.nz
Conversations about the intersections of media, culture and technology in New Zealand, hosted by Duncan Greive, founder of The Spinoff.
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Episodes

Alice Snedden has bad news for people who love Bad News

The third season of Alice Snedden’s Bad News will be the last – and that’s fine, its creator tells Duncan Greive. Alice Snedden joins The Fold to explain why the show’s over, and how it and her have changed in the five years since it debuted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 11, 202248 min

Finlay Macdonald on what powers The Conversation and the golden age of NZ magazines

Founded in 2011, The Conversation has risen from Melbourne to become one of the most influential platforms for academic publishing in the world. Its New Zealand editor Finlay Macdonald explains the two crucial innovations which have driven its success, and reflects on his career writing and editing at The Listener when it was in the prime of its societal influence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 04, 202240 min

Elise Sterback has a radical plan for arts funding

The former ED of Tāmaki Makaurau’s trailblazing venue The Basement, Elise Sterback is currently partway through a PhD on the subject of arts funding. She thinks a lottery would produce more equitable results, and maps the current system and her proposed solutions on The Fold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 28, 202239 min

Michelle Ang on being a child star, then growing up in film and TV

She’s objectively one of the most successful actors this country has produced, in terms of the scale of her roles, yet Michelle Ang is not in it for the fame (she’s currently employed as the Spinoff’s finance person). What she is about is the brilliant tension between the creative and the disciplined, manifest in her wildly varied career, which spans Neighbours, Fear the Walking Dead, McDonald’s Young Entertainers as well four different more intimate productions released this year alone. Most no...

Aug 21, 202255 min

Rex Woodbury on all the ways Gen Z is changing the world

We say it a lot, but this really is a must-listen for anyone hoping to reach the new wave of risk takers and decision makers. Gen Z is making and consuming media in ways and at a pace that can be difficult for older generations to understand. They've never known a world without digital connection at its core and we're on the precipice of massive societal change as a result. New York-based Rex Woodbury writes a tech-meets-culture Substack called Digital Native, and Duncan is obsessed. Also obsess...

Aug 14, 20221 hr

John Tapu is building a Pacific media powerhouse in his Māngere garage

After two decades working as an exec at Sky, John Tapu resigned to start Kava Bowl Media. He's already made a rugby league show which has sold into Australia and the islands, with a special eye for talent and distinctive humour. He joins Duncan Greive on The Fold to explain how he did it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 07, 202250 min

Willie Jackson on the RNZ-TVNZ merger and his one big regret

Freshly-minted media minister Willie Jackson joins Duncan Greive to explain the government’s plans for its merged media platforms – and what that means for NZ on Air. He talks about the Public Interest Journalism Fund and why he believes settlements with Google and Facebook are the right approach to replacing it. In addition, he reminisces on his trailblazing time in the music industry, and reflects on his one big regret. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 31, 20221 hr 11 min

How Brodie Kane became a podcast powerhouse

After being let go from her radio job in 2020, Brodie Kane made the brave decision to build her own podcast company just as the pandemic hit. Now Brodie Kane Media has a smash hit on her hands in The Girls Uninterrupted, and a growing stable of related podcasts that marks her as a media entrepreneur to watch. She joins Duncan Greive to talk about her new business, her career in broadcasting and her inspirational run on Dancing With the Stars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

Jul 24, 202240 min

Jack Tame and Alex Braae on the remaking of Q+A

Alex Braae was the founding editor of The Bulletin before joining TVNZ's flagship politics show Q+A as executive producer. He and its host Jack Tame have embarked on a thoughtful reimagining of the show and its role this year, largely doing away with panels and heading out into the field more. They join Duncan Greive on The Fold to discuss the role of political current affairs shows, and how to capture younger audiences in the Tiktok era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

Jul 17, 202250 min

Anna Rawhiti-Connell on the newsletter boom and the evolution of social media

She started a Twitter account for the Auckland Theatre Company, and within a few years was running social for one of New Zealand’s biggest banks; thus becoming one of the first wave of social media experts in Aotearoa. Now she’s largely abandoned the platforms in taking a new role as the author of the Bulletin – and now head of newsletters for The Spinoff. Anna Rawhiti-Connell explains her fascinating professional journey to Duncan Greive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

Jul 10, 202250 min

Te Papa's Courtney Johnston on museums as slow journalism

The relationship between media and museums is stronger than you might expect. Courtney Johnston is the youngest Tumu Whakarae / chief executive in Te Papa’s history. She oversees a staff of 600 and an institution with an unresolvable complex mission: one national museum to serve all our peoples. Yet Johnston gets a massive kick out of her big, unruly and fascinating job, and agrees with the thesis that museums were the original media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

Jul 03, 20221 hr

The digital media startup bringing hard news to Queenstown

Peter Newport founded Crux to address the fact that the big west coast towns of Te Waipounamu had no major newspaper serving them. Four years on, Crux has endured the usual startup travails, but also become a key voice in the region’s journalism. He joins The Fold to tell Duncan Greive why and how he did it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 26, 202242 min

Leigh Hart is super funny - he’s also a business genius

Known for weird and highly original TV shows, Leigh Hart is also a wildly innovative business person. In a rare earnest and out-of-character interview, he explains how he has built the singular Moon TV universe, and the way beer and chips have naturally grown out of his approach to funding his escapades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 19, 202256 min

Henry Cooke was born to be in the press gallery

Sometimes I just get to indulge in pure fandom on this show, and this is one of those times. Henry Cooke has been in the press gallery for just five years, but had a lightning fast rise to the role of chief political reporter. He writes brilliantly about all aspects of our politics with verve and a sense of the institution that belies his years (he’s 29). As he leaves on his OE, I got to ask him about one of the most fascinating jobs in journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

May 29, 202250 min

Oliver Driver and the quietly revolutionary Shortland Street

It’s 30 years since Shortland Street debuted on our screens, and in that time Aotearoa has transformed. The daily soap opera is a maligned format, but the way Shortland Street does it, it really shouldn’t be. Where many soaps are fundamentally conservative, Shortland Street has been consistently and impressively progressive. The show’s producer, and one-time star, Oliver Driver, comes on The Fold to explain how they get it done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 22, 202246 min

Wendy Youens wants to make NZ’s media accessible to all

Able is the home of the captioning and audio description services which make television accessible to hearing and vision impaired New Zealanders – and it’s about to lose the only leader it's ever had. Outgoing chief executive Wendy Youens tells The Fold about her haerenga, the importance of Able’s work – and why the same services barely exist on New Zealand’s streaming services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 15, 202246 min

Irene Gardiner on the screen industry in the time of streaming

She has produced television for decades, from every conceivable angle. Now, Irene Gardiner has taken on the presidency of producers’ guild, Spada, at the most fascinating and complex time in the sector’s history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 08, 202248 min

Bernard Hickey has charged enough for The Kākā. Now, he wants to give it away.

A second conversation with press gallery wonk, Bernard Hickey, about his newsletter / podcast product, The Kākā. It’s just 18 months old and only six months into its paywall, but already has become financially sustainable. Now he’s landed on a quixotic plan to grow it – make it free, to hundreds of thousands more people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 01, 202250 min

Netflix’s chilling numbers, and Elon’s new toy

Duncan Greive tackles two huge media stories of the past week. This week: Netflix’s big miss and Elon Musk taking Twitter private. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 27, 202229 min

Nathan Rarere's broadcasting path to First Up

From a piqued interest in high school leading him hustling into radio work, Nathan Rarere's journey in broadcasting began doing the overnight shift. Most recently finding himself as the host of First Up on RNZ, over his history as a broadcaster, Nathan has been a part of many cultural pinpoints across the spectrum. Nathan joins the pod to chat his extensive path to First Up, how an early gig became a TV pinnacle of alt youth culture, and how to make good media. Learn more about your ad choices. ...

Apr 24, 20221 hr 5 min

Don Mann on the spectrum of community serving

At the height of a global pandemic (thus in an amplified and tense state), being new to the media world is no easy task. However, taking it in his stride and coming from a large breadth of diversified roles, his decades of experience elsewhere have lead Don Mann to his current position as CEO of the Pacific Media Network. Although each pinpoint in his working career are seemingly different, Don sees and implements their core similarity as a driving force: serving community. Today, he joins The F...

Apr 17, 202240 min

Olivia Carville on covering big tech at one of the world’s greatest magazines

She started her career in journalism in her hometown of Ōtautahi, three months before the quakes. Four years later she left and effectively restarted from scratch in Canada, only to do that all over again a few years later in New York. This combination of doggedness, ambition and a willingness to humble herself in pursuit of true greatness has now landed Olivia Carville at Businessweek, the flagship of global business media giant Bloomberg. She tells her incredible story to Duncan Greive, and gi...

Apr 11, 202253 min

Viva La Dirt League on building a YouTube empire from West Auckland

10 years ago, Viva La Dirt League started doing musical parodies of gaming logic. Now, three friends have built out a truly unique YouTube channel with over 3m subscribers and revenue which would dwarf all but a handful of NZ media companies. They join the Fold to explain how they did it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 05, 202241 min

Tim Harper on how NFTs can build a better future for artists

Crypto, NFTs and web3 have an impressive ability to prompt one of four core reactions: fury, greed, idealism or "????" Glorious is a web3 company from Aotearoa which has started in fine art and with a focus on how to improve outcomes for artists. Co-founder and CEO Tim Harper has a specific and differentiated view of how the space will evolve – and how it will create its own lane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 27, 202245 min

Anna Fifield vs the public service comms machine

After two decades overseas in major roles at the Financial Times and Washington Post, Anna Fifield returned home in 2020 to edit the Dominion Post. One of the biggest challenges she's faced in the new job has been deliberately obstructive communication work from the public service – and so she's made it her mission to try and change that culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 20, 202245 min

How the ACC became a sports entertainment juggernaut

It started as just this side of a joke, in a caravan, calling what was one of the worst ever Black Caps sides. Just eight years later the Black Caps are world test champions and the Alternative Commentary Collective has become one of the most interesting and powerful innovations in New Zealand’s media. Co-founder Mike Lane explains how it happened, and what’s next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 13, 202254 min

Sanjana Hattotuwa’s month watching the parliament protest

A research fellow with Te Pūnaha Matatini, Sanjana Hattotuwa has been studying information disorder for two decades. He’s spent the last month watching the occupation at parliament spread and outrate the mainstream media in venues like Facebook Live and Telegram, and explains why Aotearoa has to view this as a sign of things to come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 06, 202251 min

Emily Writes on the year that changed her life

One year on from taking on a Substack Pro deal, Emily Writes finds herself able to live as a full-time writer for the first time. She joins Duncan Greive to explain how it happened, what it’s done for her life and why writers need to get more comfortable straight up asking for money. Subscribe to Emily's newsletter at emilywrites.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 27, 202244 min

Julie Zhu is telling everyday immigrant stories

New observational documentary series Takeout Kids (watch now on The Spinoff) follows the day-to-day lives of four young people growing up in takeaway shops and family-run restaurants. Director Julie Zhu joins The Fold to talk about making the series, how representation alone is not enough and the need to break away from the “exceptional immigrant” narrative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 20, 202242 min

Joe Daymond is building a comedy empire

In a few short years Joe Daymond went from sleeping on a mate’s couch to selling out Sky City Theatre with his stand-up show, all driven by a very smart and analytical use of social media. But the plan was always to build a TV empire – and with production company West Park, he’s already well on his way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 13, 202247 min
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