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E164 | Mark Stafford

Mark Stafford is a radio host, who is best known as the former face of the TAB, where he spent two decades as a bookmaker and broadcaster.

But what's not so well-known is his roller-coaster ride through life with all its twists and turns.

From a car accident as a teenager, Multiple Sclerosis, testicular cancer, all the way to the heights of his time at the TAB as NZ's premier oddsmaker.

We also talk about the devastating year of 2020, where he lost his job, his sister and his best friend in a short period of time, and how he built himself back up from the depths of despair.

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E163 | Lauren Rae

Lauren Rae is a low key legend, who's currently in the fight of her life.

In 2022 the Commonwealth Games weightlifter and former surf-lifesaving professional was given a terminal cancer diagnoses for a rare non-sun related melanoma.

Staring mortality in the face, Rae questioned her diagnosis. She chose to fight, seeking second and third opinions that eventually opened the door to hope and led her family moving to Australia.

The powerful part is what happened next, Lauren's outlook and approach to life, the wisdom she's accrued and the spirit she's bringing to this fight.

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E162 | Megan Compain

Megan Compain is the newly appointed All Blacks commercial manager, whose back story is as impressive as her new role.

She’s the first Kiwi to play professional basketball in the USA, and the only New Zealand woman to have played in the WNBA.

She is a Basketball NZ hall of famer, representing the Tall Ferns for 10 years including two Olympic Games.

She then transitioned from sport to the corporate world and boasts a 20-year career in the sports industry with AND1, adidas, New Zealand Rugby, and has added sports governance to her experiences with FIBA and Basketball New Zealand.

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E161 | Jesse Mulligan

Jesse Mulligan is one of New Zealand’s best, and highest profile broadcasters – and someone that can do it all.

He’s been a standup comedian, radio host, PR practitioner, writer, food reviewer, TV presenter, and he’s even a qualified lawyer.

But he’s best known for reaching huge audiences both on his afternoon show at Radio NZ, and his stints at Seven Sharp and The Project, where he fronted the show for seven years before it shut down in 2023.

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E160 | Zion Armstrong

Zion Armstrong’s story starts in West Auckland and involves running away from the police so fast that he started an athletics career that took him to the Commonwealth Games.

At the same time, he was selling sport shoes at adidas NZ. From that toehold he climbed the corporate ladder before becoming president for adidas North America.

And then finally, in 2022, Zion walked away from this rock-and-roll lifestyle and returned to New Zealand in pursuit of being a better dad.

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E159 | Morgan Penn & Hayley Sproull

Morgan Penn and Hayley Sproull are making conversations about sex mainstream.

They're also our first ever repeat guests! The foursome you never knew you needed!

We talk all about the success of their hit podcast Sex.Life, home play, what their DMs look like. They answer all of our listener questions about sex and life, and we take a glimpse at Season 2.

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E158 | Dave Letele

Dave Letele is perhaps best known as former professional boxer ‘The Brown Buttabean’, but his story is so much bigger than that.

For the last decade, he’s worked tirelessly to create opportunities for people and leading by example.

He’s a man making a huge difference in Kiwi communities and we’re so thrilled to share his story.

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E157 | Guy Montgomery

Guy Montgomery is one of New Zealand’s best and most popular comedians who has been a fixture on Kiwi screens for over a decade. He’s been on our TV screens, while simultaneously selling out standup shows across Australia and New Zealand. In his spare time, he also created NZ’s most popular podcast called The Worst Idea of All Time – which has had over 10 million downloads.

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E156 | Dr. Inia Raumati

Dr Inia Raumati is a man who loves life in the extremes. By night he works as an emergency doctor at Auckland City Hospital, and this year, he plans on being the first person in the world to run a self-supported, multistage ultra marathon (that’s over 250 km per race) on every continent, in a single year.

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E155 | Raelene Castle

Raelene Castle is the CEO of Sport New Zealand, and one of the most accomplished and experienced administrators in sport in the country. After a successful business career, she spent six years as CEO of Netball NZ, before becoming the first female CEO of an NRL team, when she led the Bulldogs for six years. After that she smashed another glass wall, becoming Rugby Australia’s first female CEO in 2018, before returning to New Zealand to address the challenges facing sport here.

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E154 | Tim Brown

Tim Brown is a former professional footballer who played 112 times for the Wellington Phoenix and earned 30 All Whites caps. He retired from professional football at age 31 to pursue a master’s degree in management and around the same time he was forming an idea for a woollen, environmentally friendly, sustainable shoe. Four years later he was the co-founder of his shoe company – Allbirds.

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E153 | Dallas Tamaira

Dallas Tamaira is the lead singer of Fat Freddy’s Drop, one of New Zealand’s most popular bands of all time. His voice is unmistakable as the focal point of the seven-piece super group, but this year, for the first time in two decades, Dallas has released a solo EP, called Levels. It was a real privilege to get to share some time with him and unpack the best bits from his incredible life in music.

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E152 | Thomas Nabbs

Thomas Nabbs is the founder of The Waterboy – a Hamilton based not-for-profit organisation that uses sport and education to help disadvantaged youths. He’s also a low key legend! He’s just at the start of his journey and his vision is to create stronger people and communities, but that’s only part of his story.

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E151 | Lani Daniels

Lani Daniels is a world champion boxer who is aiming to be the first Kiwi woman in history to hold two world titles in two different weight classes. But her ascent to the top of the world hasn’t been without adversity. Lani Daniels is authentically Lani. She’s a gentle soul with an infectious laugh, who just happens to also be one of the best fighters in the world.

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E150 | Sir Ashley Bloomfield

Sir Ashley Bloomfield was New Zealand’s Director-General of Health during the Covid-19 pandemic and during this time became one of the most recognisable faces in the country. He is brilliant company and an exceptionally articulate communicator with a warm and empathetic style, sharing his learned insights on leadership and resilience.

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E149 | Billy Stairmand

Billy Stairmand is New Zealand’s first-ever Olympic surfer who has competed professionally around the globe for 20 years and won the national title a record eight times. Billy is a ray of light, an optimistic, fun-loving guy who has worked incredibly hard and sacrificed so much to reach the top in his sport. You’ll love his outlook and approach to life.

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E148 | Topp Twins

Dame Jools Topp and Dame Lynda Topp have captivated audiences in NZ and overseas for more than 40 years as the Topp Twins. This was a special episode, and we felt honoured to share so much time with the Untouchable Girls. Their enthusiasm for life, for fun, and for standing up for what is right make them exceptional company, Kiwi icons, and brilliant storytellers.

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E147 | Abbas Nazari

Abbas Nazari has one of the most epic stories we’ve told. When the Taliban were at the height of their power in 2001, Abbas Nazari’s parents were faced with a choice: stay and face persecution in their homeland of Afghanistan or seek security for their young children elsewhere. They chose to leave, and what happened next formed the storyline for his best-selling book After The Tampa.

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E146 | Sir Wayne Smith

Sir Wayne Smith is one of the most respected and accomplished figures in New Zealand rugby history. There’s a reason Wayne is known as The Professor, he is one of world rugby’s greatest thinkers, and this was a fascinating insight into how his brain works. It was a real honour getting to share so much of his time, quite simply, an absolute legend of the game.

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E145 | Hayley Holt

Hayley Holt is one of NZ’s highest profile broadcasters and has been a fixture on New Zealand screens for over 20 years. She has an eclectic skillset, and her life has been packed with challenges. But through all the ups and downs Hayley has kept a fun, infectious energy – and this one was a blast. She’s lived such an incredibly full and varied life – and there’s so much to learn at each chapter.

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