Explore every episode of the podcast The Fold

It’s a throwback monopod today – Duncan Greive goes solo in a pretty raw episode, reflecting on a wonderful event with a very sobering reflection on the present and likely future of institutional media in Aotearoa. It’s a look at what’s driving the cataclysmic events of this year, and whether they’re likely to be temporary, or are baked in. And finally, why it is that the political response here seems so softly softly, when other countries are making serious attempts to defend their culture, media and journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristy McGregor was an Australian with no experience in media before founding Shepherdess, a magazine dedicated to the life and experience of rural women. However she proved a total natural, and has developed it into one of the most fascinating and instructive startups in New Zealand media. What started as a print magazine now encompasses a festival and a TV show, all made by women working part-time and hundreds of kilometres apart. She stopped by The Fold, heavily pregnant on a business trip, to tell Duncan Greive her remarkable story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Friday afternoon, Google published a post to its little-read New Zealand blog, one which immediately sent shockwaves through the local news media. It confirmed what had been rumoured – that if the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill passes in its current form, Google will pull news from all its systems and services, and cancel all its agreements with local news media. It sets up an enormously high stakes staredown with the government, with a weakened and embattled news media squeezed between. Glen Kyne joins Duncan Greive to set up the stakes, and suggest a possible compromise. Then they look at the end of Stuff Audio, and why it makes sense, even if Stuff staff must be exhausted by all this change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 years ago, Joel Little was an ex-pop punk singer who’d set up a small studio to record music for commercials. By the end of the year he'd produced a #1 single in the US, and since his enormous success with Lorde’s Pure Heroine album he has worked with a galaxy of stars. Now he’s set up Big Fan, a community space comprising studios and a venue, run by Savina Fountain, a veteran of Aotearoa's live music scene. They both join Duncan Greive on The Fold to tell the story of Big Fan and the vital function they see it as performing for New Zealand music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has any technology ever caused as much disquiet as generative AI? Duncan Greive talks to veteran tech journalist Peter Griffin about how this new generation of AI works, why it has scientists, philosophers and politicians spooked, and its implications for media industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yesterday Stuff finally announced paywalls for three of its powerhouse regional mastheads, while keeping the big Stuff platform free to all. It’s a bold experiment in making regional news the centre of a paid proposition, and runs contra local and international trends. Stuff chief content officer Jo Norris joins The Fold to explain the thinking to Duncan Greive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Zealand’s most famous demographer, professor Paul Spoonley, joins Duncan Greive to talk about the incredible changes to New Zealand’s makeup over the past 20 years, and how they are expected to accelerate in years to come. He also discusses a new study from The Fold sponsor oOh! Media which looks at post-Covid changes to mobility, hyper-ageing and the ethnic makeup of the country. Spoonley unpacks these seismic, yet poorly understood trends and explains how it all affects the media business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since uniting on Native Affairs during the rise of Māori Television, Mihi Forbes and Annabelle Lee-Mather have formed one of the longest-lasting creative partnerships in Aotearoa journalism. They join Duncan Greive to reflect on their trailblazing careers, taking in 3 News, RNZ, The Hui and now Aotearoa Media Collective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Its difficult to do your first podcast, but doing it daily is a whole other beast. Damien Venuto is the host of the New Zealand Herald's podcast 'The Front Page' which celebrates its first birthday this month. He joins Duncan Greive to talk about what it takes to host a daily podcast, and how he has grown into the role. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live episode: For the 5th birthday of The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s trailblazing daily email newsletter, its founding editor Alex Braae sat down with its current editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell at a special event for The Spinoff’s members. The pair were interviewed by The Spinoff’s editor Madeleine Chapman, and the trio provide a bunch of fascinating insights into just how that product is made, and what it requires of those who make it. Want to become a member of The Spinoff? Click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After just a year of broadcasting, Today FM hosts Tova O'Brien and Duncan Garner took over the airwaves this morning to dramatically declare that Mediaworks was considering axing the fledgling radio brand. Duncan Greive sits down in this bonus monopod to discuss the potential future that faces Today FM's employees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He's got one of the most prestigious journalism careers in the country, but RNZ’s Guyon Espiner is not slowing down anytime soon. His new series "Mate, Comrade, Brother" on political lobbying in New Zealand has already exposed a number of troubling incidents. He sits down with Duncan Greive to discuss why he supports lobbying regulation, along with a look back over a rich career in forward-thinking journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The early days of Māori Television were chaotic. After the founding CE was fired and imprisoned for fraud, Dr. Jim Mather was tapped to lead the fledging broadcaster. An account with no previous media experience, he was an unlikely choice for the role, but ended up leading the channel through some of its greatest years. He joins Duncan Greive to talk his outstanding career in consultancy and governance, his current position as chair of RNZ, and his involvement with podcast sponsor oOh!Media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Bain spent a career working across prestige brands in digital contexts before returning to New Zealand to become Data and Marketing Director (CMO in all but name) of the telco-turned-digital services provider that is Spark. It's one of the biggest marketing jobs in the country, with a budget to match – but figuring out what Spark is and how it sells itself isn't easy, especially given its recent market travails. Matt joins Duncan to talk about the difference between brand and retail, reflect on Spark's recent Game Arena event, and explain why a live show can replace a TVC at the heart of a modern marketing campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Animation studio Mukpuddy are creating cartoons that are loved around the world, and stand on the precipice of a monster global adaptation of Spike Milligan’s 'Badjelly the Witch'. But this moment did not come easy. Mukpuddy co-founders Ryan Cooper and Alex Leighton join Duncan Greive to tell the wild story of their journey from the basement to the big time and how they survived an inhospitable local media environment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet the mastermind behind the ABC's astounding digital transformation. Gaven Morris oversaw the entire news division of the ABC during a transition from a public radio and TV behemoth, to a market leading digital operation. He talks with Duncan Greive to share what he learned in that process, and give his advice on what the future of RNZ, TVNZ and NZ on Air should look like, now that the public media merger is no longer going ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did Aotearoa's most-awarded magazine survive through some of the biggest obstacles in media history? New Zealand Geographic publisher James Frankham talks with Duncan Greive about the collapse of Bauer Media, taking the government to court, and the brilliant revenue model which helps NZ Geo turn a rare profit in print. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does a young New Zealander end up amongst televisions big leagues? While production assisting on shows like Workaholics, Georgia Rippin saw the potential that web-series had when scaled for television. Now, Georgia has created Kold Open, a marketplace which aims to connect web-series creators with big studios that produce content for streaming services. She joins Duncan to talk about the power she sees in converting digital content for traditional mediums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can companies ensure their advertising dollar is being well spent? Ooh!media is using their fleet of digital bus stop billboards to transform the industry into one of the most responsive and creative forms of advertising available. General manager Nick Vile talks with Duncan about Ooh!media's ability to adapt in a quickly changing market, and why he feels optimistic about the financial year ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For nine years he steered the ship he built, but last week Duncan Greive announced his surprise resignation as CEO of The Spinoff. He joins guest host, Jane Yee, to discuss how doing things differently took The Spinoff from an irreverent TV blog to a respected online magazine, and why he's decided to hand over the reins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet the kiwi in charge of some of the worlds biggest brands across Japan, Australia and Aotearoa. Glen Kyne went from running the commercial team at Mediaworks to fostering brands like CNN and HBO in the blink of an eye. He chats with Duncan about the future of the streaming wars, what might happen if the RNZ-TVNZ merger goes through, and what should be done if it doesn't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Duncan takes a break from hosting The Fold to guest star on an episode of The Shit Show. Hosted by Shit You Should Care About founder and personal friend, Lucy Blakiston. They talk Greta Thunberg, the Roanoke disappearance, and of course, AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of Thursday’s astonishing announcement, Duncan Greive sits down with Jacinda Ardern biographer Mad Chapman and Gone By Lunchtime host Toby Manhire to discuss Ardern's complicated relationship with both mainstream and social media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What in the Terminator has been going on in the news recently? 2022 saw AI skyrocket in the public discourse, with science-fiction becoming a looming reality. Founder of AI NZ Justin Flitter joins Duncan to discuss the rise of Dall-E 2 and ChatGPT, and discuss the way those in and out of the media should think about these tools going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anna Rawhiti-Connell is head of audience for The Spinoff, but spent most of the last decade working in social media for BNZ and the Auckland Theatre Company. She joins Duncan to do a deep dive into the changing nature and shape of social platforms – specifically what happened to links, and therefore traffic. Then they discuss two changes at Stuff – the end of Newsable, and the removal of vertical video from its homepage – before discussing the way RNZ handled the removal of a podcast episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second of a pair of high summer solo podcasts, Duncan Greive talks about the stunning advances in consumer AI in 2022, from Dall-E 2 and Midjourney to ChatGPT. He runs through how they might impact the media and society, and explains why he believes it’s such a dazzlingly confronting technology frontier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first of a pair of high summer solo podcasts, Duncan Greive runs through an alternate way of achieving public media outcomes using RNZ and NZ on Air if (as looks increasingly likely), Labour abandons its plans to merge TVNZ and RNZ. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUPERPOD is back! And for 2022, we're bigger than ever! Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime's Toby Manhire and featuring Jane Yee and Alex Casey from The Real Pod, Duncan Greive from The Fold, Leonie Hayden from Nē?, Simon Pound from Business Is Boring, The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman and The Spinoff Podcast Network's Te Aihe Butler, SUPERPOD 2022 is our multiverse of madness. From the Black Ferns' historic win to Mike King's villainous turn on Celebrity Treasure Island, we cover the incredible highs and lows of what has been a terribly special year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The country is experiencing the largest migration of audiences since the invention of the Television. As New Zealand's longest serving leader of a major media organisation, RNZ CE Paul Thompson has had a front row seat for all of it. He joins Duncan to talk about the function of publicly funded media, why the merger matters and what he has learnt from touring the world's state-owned broadcasters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who reports on the reporters? Hayden Donnell, senior producer of RNZ’s Mediawatch and former staff writer for The Spinoff sits down to discuss the countries 10 biggest media stories of the year. Hayden and Duncan discuss everything from the occupation of parliament to the looming public media merger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She’s Tumuaki o ngā Take Pūtea at Irirangi te Motu – the head of funding at NZ on Air – but Amie Mills is also one of the most open and curious minds in our media. She joins The Fold to talk about the challenges manifest in the organisation’s new research into the viewing and listening habits of Gen Z, before talking us through the profound changes NZ on Air has had to make in response to the media merger, which has seen its budget slashed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The former NZ First MP is leading the establishment board for ANZPM – the new entity which will run RNZ and TVNZ as they re-merge into a brand new, fit-for-the-future media powerhouse. Because they’re also being given nine figures a year by the government, the merger is causing consternation among private sector media – and Martin is tasked with figuring out how to keep everyone from freaking out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She was arrested during the 1981 Springbok tour, not long after being announced as head girl of her high school – whatever she does, Janine Morrell-Gunn does it with her whole heart. Since those early peaks, she set off into the TVNZ newsroom of the 80s, before traversing into her life’s work in kid’s TV. She co-founded Whitebait Media, the iconic Ōtautahi studio behind What Now?, The Erin Simpson Show and many other hits, influencing generations of tamariki. She was just bestowed the NZ TV Legend award, and joined The Fold to look back on a singular screen career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s no stranger to chasing down oddballs on the internet, but Mister Organ saw David Farrier finally meet his match in his second feature length documentary. It began with a story about clamping that became a huge hit saga on The Spinoff, and ended with legal threats flying and some deeply freaky confrontations. Farrier joins Duncan Greive on The Fold to discuss the film, his hit newsletter Webworm and all the fascinating and formally inventive moves he's made over his career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She started her career at The Spinoff as a 22-year-old intern in 2016, and became its editor five years later. In between time she wrote two books and became one of the most admired writers of her generation for her wit, intellect and originality. Then she got a job she didn’t even want, becoming one of the youngest editors of a “mainstream” publication ever. Madeleine Chapman sits down with Duncan Greive to reflect on her unconventional path to the role, the early years of The Spinoff and some of her most iconic pieces of writing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Hurman is a globally recognised expert in advertising effectiveness – and believes many businesses have become transfixed by generating present day sales through social and search, at the expense of those in the future, generated by brand building on other surfaces. Together they examine what New Zealand's large advertisers and media agencies are doing with their advertising spend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Consumer has had a big year – driving the conversation around the grocery duopoly in a way which has fundamentally reframed our view of supermarkets. Yet the challenges facing our consumers are big and complex, and the membership base is shrinking. He joins The Fold to explain why Consumer exists, and how it is evolving in the modern media environment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most talented creatives working in Aotearoa today, Chris Parker seems to never have met a medium he can’t master. He joins The Fold to talk about his new book, but we also traverse his comedy, his plays, his Instagram, his felting and his extraordinary reality TV appearances. But the most revelatory part of the conversation concerns why he still can’t get his dreams on screens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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. [First released February 2022.] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an extraordinary decade with Three, during which she became the zeitgeist face of the press gallery, Tova O’Brien abruptly resigned late last year. After an ugly and public employment relations authority case, she finally got to start a new gig in a new medium with a new station at Today FM. Despite all that, she is crackling with energy as she joins Duncan Greive on The Fold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a lot going on in New Zealand’s media at the moment, so Duncan Greive takes the mic alone to deliver a solo podcast on the three issues which feel most pressing, including the freaky state of the TVNZ-RNZ merger, an increasingly isolated and aggressive Facebook and how the Queen’s death marked the end of a media era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former National cabinet minister Simon Power was a surprise appointment to lead TVNZ, but his skills as a politician have come in handy with the biggest change at the state broadcaster in decades fast approaching. He joins Duncan Greive on The Fold to discuss the merger – why he believes in the concept but not the current bill, and his vision for ANZPM should he be appointed to lead it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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

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

Glen Kyne returns to join host Duncan Greive to discuss a pair of different stories which seem to head to the same conclusion. The first is Shayne Currie's report on a leaked email from TVNZ CEO Jodi O'Donnell flagging more cuts at the broadcaster, potentially at 1news.co.nz. The second is a Newsroom story about fast-rising ratings at RNZ's website. It all points to a newsroom merger, something disruptive but increasingly necessary. We also discuss the new wave of commercially funded primetime TV, and country superstar Luke Combs' rise to announcing two Eden Park shows in January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 notably Hair Now, an outstanding docu-series dropping weekly on The Spinoff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 obsessed is Duncan's friend, and real life Gen Z legend, Lucy Blakiston (Shit You Should Care About). This week the pair team up to interview Rex about why we're in the early stages of multiple major shifts and what it all means for media and society as a whole from this very moment on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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