Moko kauae is resurging in New Zealand. One woman's journey to receiving the traditional Māori chin tattoo, and a reporter grappling with her own identity.
Maxine Jacobs reported this episode's story. You can read it in full here.
the latest
- June 25, 2022
See No Evil (Ep 2 of 2)
If the terrorist weren't white, could he still have plotted in secret? (Episode 2 of 2 – listen to part one first!)
- June 25, 2022
See No Evil (Ep 1 of 2)
Before the Christchurch mosque attacks, not everyone was blind to the looming danger. (Episode 1 of a two-part special)
support independent NZ-owned journalism - June 18, 2022
Tortured Soul
Sleeping rough and suffering from terminal cancer, Barbara Campbell, known as Rose, was allegedly murdered in the shopfront she’d made her home. How did she come to be estranged from her family and living on the street? WARNING: One instance of strong language.
- June 11, 2022
The Heist
The drinking buddies who bamboozled police with their near-perfect bank job.
- June 4, 2022
The Electric Lake
A shallow lake nestled high in the Central Otago hill country could electrify the country, and serve as the biggest public infrastructure project in nearly half a century. Will reality, and a protected wetland, stop it in its tracks?
- May 29, 2022
The Media and the Megachurch
Allegations about megachurches have prompted significant media attention. Do they signal the end of the age of the 'hype priest'?
- May 22, 2022
The Battle of Wainuiōmata
When the anti-mandate protesters were driven off parliamentary grounds in March, many went looking for somewhere else to occupy. They set their sights on a marae in Lower Hutt.
- May 14, 2022
The murder that ripped a town apart
The killing a 15-year-old schoolgirl left a rural community in tatters and drove a pastor into hiding.
- May 6, 2022
Cabaret Confessions
For a few weird months in 1991, Adam Dudding played piano for New Zealand’s most celebrated female impersonator. But when he went in search of memories of Diamond Lil, he found a strange, tragic tale of opera, filthy double entendres – and alleged sex crimes.
- April 30, 2022
The Disappearing River
It was one meeting, in one town, about one river. But it was the flash point for a debate consuming rural New Zealand - How do we conserve our fresh water and our economy?
- April 23, 2022
The Secret History of New Zealand's Indiana Jones
During WWII, Edgar 'Sandy' Sanders was part of an elite Allied unit operating behind enemy lines. After the war, he became a treasure hunter.
- April 16, 2022
The Vanishing of Allan Woodford
Thirty-seven years ago, Allan Woodford walked out the door of his home in the middle of the night and disappeared forever.
- April 9, 2022
The Short Game
There has been a surprising emergence of competitive minigolf and putting towards representing New Zealand.
- April 2, 2022
Premmies: Raising too-tiny humans
Over 16 years, Stuff reporter Nikki Macdonald has followed five families with children born before 28 weeks gestation. These are their stories.
- March 26, 2022
Framed for murder: Episode 2 of 2
(Two-episode special – make sure you listen to Episode One first!) When David Lyttle’s best friend disappeared, police accused Lyttle of murder, then lured him into a fantasy world to get him to confess. This is Mike White’s investigation into an undercover operation that went way too far.
- March 26, 2022
Framed for murder: Episode 1 of 2
When David Lyttle’s best friend disappeared, police accused Lyttle of murder, then lured him into a fantasy world to get him to confess. This is Mike White’s investigation into an undercover operation that went way too far. (Episode One of a two-episode special.)
- March 18, 2022
Guy Hatchard and the Antivax Empire
The strange story of the man who pivoted from complaining about “bullet-hard” lentils to becoming a leading voice in New Zealand’s anti-vax movement.
- March 13, 2022
The Gospel According to Ruby Tui
Black Ferns sevens player Ruby Tui shot to international fame last year on the back of some star turns during post-match interviews at the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, she's cultivated a deeper public persona.
- March 5, 2022
The Murder of Lisa Blakie - Lone Kill or Gang Hit?
In February 2000, 20-year-old Lisa Blakie was murdered after she started hitchhiking towards the West Coast. The man convicted of the killing remains in jail, but some say police have the wrong man.
- February 26, 2022
The Great Wellington Flat Hunt
It’s a student rite of passage: first year in the halls, second year flatting. But in Wellington, finding a flat has never been more expensive, or the students more desperate. This is the story of five students, embarking on the annual quest.
- February 19, 2022
The Killing of James Dorgan
In the early hours of August 27, 1921, Constable James Dorgan was shot while investigating a possible burglary in downtown Timaru. His death is the only unsolved murder of a police officer in New Zealand, but new evidence points to a suspect close to home.
- January 22, 2022
Billy the Hunted One
For 236 days across 2008 and 2009, William Stewart was the most wanted man in New Zealand. In that time he became so notorious he inspired a folk song and his own T-shirt. But the reality was much darker. This is the true story of Billy the Hunted One.
- January 15, 2022
The Berserk Incident
In 2011, a Norwegian yacht sank off the coast of Antarctica during a storm. Three of its crew were lost. A decade on, a Stuff investigation finds new revelations about why the yacht sank and New Zealand's involvement.
- January 9, 2022
Punching Above His Weight
From crime boss, to circus act boxer, to relentless force for good. Dave Letele's rollercoaster life is finally on the level.
- January 1, 2022
The Strange Case of the Christchurch Horse Fiend
A macabre killer targeting horses terrorised Christchurch at the end of the 19th century. Who was the horse fiend, whose spree spanned a decade and drew comparisons with Jack the Ripper?
- December 24, 2021
A Solitary Murder
On December 14, 1927, 82-year-old André Jose was bludgeoned to death in a Stewart Island boarding house. His death is the only known homicide on the island.
- December 18, 2021
Metoo and the New Zealand Drama School
They say they were traumatised at Toi Whakaari. This is the story of a group of students who helped force New Zealand's national drama school to overhaul its sexual harassment and bullying policies.
- December 11, 2021
Safety on the Pae
Kāwhia, in Waikato, is the ancestral home of the Tainui tribe. 100 years ago, it battled to keep the influenza pandemic at bay. Today, it is adopting a unique way of keeping Covid-19 out.
- December 5, 2021
The Madness and Genius of Tarras International Airport
For two years, a small team at Christchurch Airport plotted an audacious strike – to move in on their rival's territory. This is the unlikely story of the plan to build an international airport in a tiny town in Central Otago.
- November 27, 2021
Fried Chicken: A Love Story
Covid-19 lockdowns exposed something approaching a national fixation with KFC. Why are Kiwis so obsessed with fried chicken? The Long Read examines the light and dark sides of our collective fascination.
- November 20, 2021
The Sins of the Father
In 1991, Noeleen Marinovich was abandoned during her pregnancy by a local priest, who left her fighting a financial battle with the Catholic Church. Twenty-seven years later, Noeleen was murdered by their son.
- November 14, 2021
What Happened to Carolina Lewis?
Carolina Lewis had her whole life ahead of her, then she was gone. For two years, her family kept her story close, hoping for justice. But their pleas for a better investigation into Carolina’s death are yet to be answered.
- November 6, 2021
Still Down the Covid Rabbit Hole
Stuff journalist Charlie Mitchell reports once more from deep in the alternate universe of Covid-19 conspiracies. This time, the confounding case of a small group of doctors opposed to vaccination and other public health measures.
- October 30, 2021
Big Brother is Watching (and Listening)
A Stuff reporter was alarmed to discover his car's dashcam had been recording trips for years, long before he bought it. How far is too far for surveillance?
- October 23, 2021
The Flying Phoenix
A mysterious group called the Flying Phoenix Trust spared no expense building a large compound on farmland near Waihi. A decade on, the $50m complex is mainly used for school camps and the odd retreat. Who's behind it?
- October 17, 2021
The Price of Fish
The Antipodean albatross will be functionally extinct in 30 years. This is the story of how US supermarkets are unwittingly helping to kill New Zealand's most endangered bird.
- October 9, 2021
Why has James Bond never been to New Zealand?
In 60 years of saving the world, 007 has visited more than 50 countries, but he has never been to New Zealand. Why not? Despite our natual beauty and burgeoning film industry, is Aotearoa too bland for Bond?
- October 2, 2021
Love Under Fire
The untold story of Major David Foote - the New Zealand army nurse who wrote a goodbye letter to his daughter, then risked his life to save others in Afghanistan.
- September 25, 2021
The Mystery of Mrs Muir
When two historians set out to learn more about the first coach of the Silver Ferns, they didn't even know her first name. Their journey took them from the netball courts of Wellington to the Central Otago goldfields.
- September 18, 2021
The Whaanga Sisters
Three sisters, Mei, Charmaine and Francess Whaanga, were children when their whānau moved from the East Coast to the city. Now in their 60s, they, like so many children of the great Māori urban migration, are without homes of their own.
- September 11, 2021
The Hoarder's Treasure
For decades, a rundown house in Christchurch secretly harboured one of New Zealand’s greatest literary treasures. This is the story of the reclusive hoarder who hid it, the woman who wrote it, and the man who rediscovered it.
- September 5, 2021
Down the Covid Rabbit Hole
Our intrepid reporter dives headlong into the world of Covid conspiracies and emerges to tell the tale.
- August 28, 2021
The Trouble With Truby King
Plunket's founder is widely acknowledged as a white supremacist who established the society to help preserve the "master race". More than 100 years on, can Plunket shake its racist past?
- August 22, 2021
After the Tampa
From refugee to Fulbright scholar. Abbas Nazari was seven years old when he fled the Taliban and was rescued from a sinking boat by the cargo ship Tampa.
- August 13, 2021
The Springbok Tour: 40 Years of Pain
Forty years on, protesters recall the heart-stopping moments and enduring consequences of the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand.
- August 8, 2021
The Awful Secret of Flight 149
The terrible truth about why 385 passengers and crew were held hostage by Saddam Hussein; and the New Zealand journalist who refused to let the story go.
- July 31, 2021
The Battle of Aotearoa
More and more of us call our home New Zealand Aotearoa, but for some the word brings an element of contention.
- July 24, 2021
Enduring: The Restoration of Te Urewera
Seven years since Te Urewera was officially recognised as a legal person, her people – Ngāi Tūhoe – are facing up to the wounds of colonisation and a Crown partnership haunted by the past.
- July 16, 2021
The Nazi and the Mountain
The pioneer behind Canterbury's Mt Hutt ski field hid a dark past on his immigration forms. Now, the woman who was closest to him is breaking her silence.
- July 9, 2021
The trial of Maketū
Nearly 180 years ago, at a central Auckland intersection, a Māori teenager was hanged before hundreds of settlers, changing the course of history.
- July 3, 2021
Kei roto i ō tātou toto – It’s in our Blood
Moko kauae is resurging in New Zealand. One woman's journey to receiving the traditional Māori chin tattoo, and a reporter grappling with her own identity.
- June 26, 2021
The Revenge of the Zombie Rivers
New Zealand’s braided rivers have been systematically strangled, and in some case, left behind zombie rivers. Now, academics and scientists are re-imagining what it means to live with rivers.
- June 19, 2021
Peak Barber
How chemical weapons, economic theory and the internet combined to squeeze ten barbershops into one Auckland suburb.
- June 11, 2021
Bunny Boilers
Skulduggery, bullying and death threats in New Zealand's rabbit breeding community.
- June 4, 2021
The Great New Zealand Kea Cull
How a roguish, beloved native bird was nearly eradicated.
- May 28, 2021
Life on the Edge of the Olympics
Thousands of people have strived to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games. Just 1371 have succeeded. This is the story of Joseph Millar's decade-long quest to be one of them.
- May 21, 2021
Plan B and the 'Infodemic'
One public health expert still believes New Zealand’s widely-lauded response to Covid-19 has been a disaster. How did Dr Simon Thornley become the “extreme outlier” in his profession and a hero to anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists?
