Steve Braunias sat through every day of the Polkinghorne trial - the society murder that gripped New Zealand - and wrote the bestselling book on it. He liked the accused. He chatted with him every morning. And he more than entertains the possibility that Phil Polkinghorne is an innocent man.

But this is also the story of one of New Zealand's greatest living writers. The Motley Crüe interview that ended with him thrown against a wall. The letter that got him sacked from the Sunday magazine. Failing out of journalism school, learning to type by copying out Sylvia Plath, and 46 years of skewering phonies and squares - plus the surprisingly tender stuff: his late brother Mark, his daughter Minka, and why his dream is to one day stop writing altogether.

Futurist Frances Valintine (founder of Academy X and Tech Futures Lab) joins the show to map what New Zealand actually looks like in20 years, and it's a sobering picture.

We're one of the fastest-changing populations on earth: ageing fast, with a birth rate well below replacement and a workforce shrinking from four people per retiree toward just two. Her warning is that we're already late to plan for it.

From there the conversation turns to AI and the future of work, where Frances is blunt - every job ahead will have an AI component, and the longer you wait to understand it, the harder it gets.

For 20 years, Darren Shand was the most powerful person in All Blacks rugby that nobody knew about. As Team Manager across four Rugby World Cups - including the back-to-back title wins of 2011 and 2015 - Shand sat above the coaches, managed the operation, and helped build the cultural architecture of the most successful international rugby team in history. He worked alongside Sir Graham Henry, Sir Steve Hansen, Sir Wayne Smith, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, and some of the greatest players to ever pull on the black jersey.

Stacey Morrison has been a fixture of New Zealand television and radio for thirty years - but this is the story behind the story - growing up embarrassed by her Māori identity, a gruelling fifteen year journey to te reo fluency, the heartbreaking loss of her mum Sue, and finding the love she never thought she'd have with Scotty Morrison.

Nate Alley grew up in Tokoroa without a father, got kicked out of school at 16, and spent the better part of a decade angry, lost, and making decisions he's not proud of.

Today he runs his own Sentinel Homes franchise in the Waikato, with nearly 200 million dollars in construction work completed over the last decade.

In the most personal interview of his career, New Zealand's most beloved NBA export Steven Adams sits down with Between Two Beers exclusively to tell his full story and why giving back is the only thing that truly matters to him.

Stacey Jones has given 27 years to the Warriors - from foundation player to the coaching staff helping build the next generation.

In April 2020, during lockdown, Dai Henwood received a terminal cancer diagnosis. He kept it hidden. He kept doing stand-up. He kept doing interviews. He kept being Dai Henwood, while privately getting to grips with something nobody in his family had ever faced before.

Four and a half years after his first appearance on the show, he sits back down with Steve and Seamus.

Kieran Read is one of the greatest All Blacks of all time.

Two-time World Cup winner, Crusaders legend, and the man who replaced Richie McCaw as captain with 800 tests of combined experience suddenly out the door.

But four years on from his first appearance on Between Two Beers, the most interesting chapter of Kieran's story is only just beginning.

Ruben Miller spent 22 years as a forensic scientist in New Zealand, working on more than 160 homicide investigations.

This is the story of what it cost him.

Ruben's book The Blood Says Otherwise is out now at all good bookstores and online.

Melie Kerr joins us fresh off being named White Ferns captain across all formats and scoring a T20 century on captaincy debut - the first woman ever to do so.

But this episode goes well beyond cricket. Growing up in one of New Zealand's most celebrated cricket families, Melie was the kid who made her dad commentate 7am net sessions as if she was playing in a World Cup final. She went on to become the youngest ever White Fern, break records, and win that World Cup. From the outside, she had everything - her dream job and an amazing family.

But behind it, she was fighting something nobody could see.

Liam Messam is one of the most beloved figures in New Zealand rugby.

Two-time Super Rugby champion, All Black, World Cup winner, and a 20-year servant of the Chiefs. But behind the jersey is a story most people have never heard.

Adopted at six weeks old into a Rotorua family that went on to foster close to a thousand children, Liam opens up about identity, belonging, and the household that gave him everything he is today.

Susan Hassall arrived at Hamilton Boys' High School in 1979 as a 22-year-old English teacher. She stayed for 46 years. In 1999, she became the first woman in New Zealand to be appointed headmaster of a boys' state school, a role she held for exactly 25 years.

We talk about her mantra - "you can pretend to care, but you can't pretend to show up" - the Greek concept of aretē that became the school's cornerstone, why she believes vulnerability is the most important quality in a leader, and what people get wrong about teenage boys.

Whether you're a parent, a teacher, a coach, or just someone trying to figure out what matters most, this one's for you.

Brad Thorn is one of the most unique champions New Zealand sport has ever produced.

A dual-code legend, Brad achieved what almost no one has - winning NRL premierships, World Cups, Super Rugby titles, and earning the right to wear the All Blacks jersey at the highest level.

But behind the trophies is an obsession with discipline, standards, and doing the work that others won’t, the moments that hardened him, the sacrifices required to chase the black jersey, and why he believes “champions do extra.”

Dr Lucy Hone is one of the world’s leading voices on grief, resilience, and how humans survive life’s hardest moments.

Lucy shares the tools and insights she’s developed through her work in resilience psychology - and through personal tragedy, after losing her 12-year-old daughter Abby in a sudden accident.

And we learn that grief isn’t just about death, but about any unwanted change we’re forced to endure.

Cameron George is the CEO of the One New Zealand Warriors and one of the most influential figures in modern New Zealand sport.

Cameron reflects on leadership under pressure, the people who carried the organisation through its darkest stretch, and what it takes to build belief inside an NRL club representing an entire country.

Te Radar is one of New Zealand’s most distinctive storytellers, but his career never followed a plan.

From anarchic comedy and improvisation to the runaway success of Off The Radar, this conversation explores how curiosity, chance, and saying “yes” shaped a life in television, documentary-making, and storytelling.

It’s a thoughtful, funny, and a truly Kiwi conversation about serendipity, people, and not realising how lucky we are until we stop and look around.

Owen Eastwood is the secret weapon behind Chelsea football club, the European Ryder Cup team, the England men’s football team, the South African Proteas, and NATO’s Command Group.

He is one of the most in-demand performance coaches you’ve never heard of.

Yet he has no coaching qualifications, describes himself as an "imposter," and often refuses to watch the actual games his teams play.

For years, Mike McRoberts was the most recognisable and trusted face on New Zealand television, sitting at the 6pm news desk, delivering the biggest stories in the country. What most people never saw was where that job took him.

Mike also speaks candidly about identity, growing up “culturally malnourished,” and how learning te reo Māori later in life forced him to confront parts of himself he’d long ignored.

It’s an honest discussion about responsibility, belonging, and the personal toll of carrying other people’s stories for decades.

We’re back with another compilation of our favourite moments from the epic year that was 2025. This time, we’ve canvassed some highlights from our incredible guests across the realms of business, entertainment, and culture, including: Simon Barnett, Jay Reeve, Toni Street, Greg Foran, Bill Bailey, Girls Get Off, Al Brown, Jared Savage, Brent Impey, Dr. Alia Bojilova, and Geoff Ross.