The Detail

Skins, snow and scrutiny: How the 2026 Winter Olympics is unfolding for our athletes This year, the most contested "ice" at the Winter Olympics isn't on the rink - it's U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementGuest:Nathan Rarere, RNZ First Up presenter and sports reporterLearn more:See Olympic winter games key facts and figuresRead more about New Zealand's Olympic team hereRead more about ICE agents in Italy and why ICE agents are at the Olympic gamesRead more about the crotch-enlarging scandal here Find The Detail on Newsroom or RNZ Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Weeks after the January floods wreaked havoc on the east coast, The Detail visits two towns to see how locals are holding up - and what the future holdsSharon Brettkelly visits Ōpōtiki and Te Araroa to see how the towns are faring after the devastating January floodsGuests:Tani Atkins-Waitoa - Te Araroa localRobin Hapeta - Te Araroa localDavid Moore - Ōpōtiki mayorFind The Detail on Newsroom or RNZ Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Where does New Zealand sit in a new world order that ditches traditional international rules and favours the mighty over the tiny? There's a rupture in the international rules-based order, but that doesn't mean New Zealand will be crushed by bigger powersGuest:Tim Groser- former NZ diplomatJayme Poisson- Front Burner podcast hostLearn more:Former National leader Todd Muller's view on how New Zealand should react to the new world order. (Stuff)Steve Maharey on why New Zealand needs to listen to Mark Carney. (NZ Herald)The Conversation piece by Nicholas Ross Smith on NZ surviving and thriving in Trump's new world of great-power rivalryMark Carney's World Economic Forum addressFind The Detail on Newsroom or RNZ Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

As more and more discount chain pharmacies open, locally owned and operated chemists worry their customers won't get the high level of care that saves trips to GPs, and EDs In less than 10 years, nearly 100 Chemist Warehouses and Bargain Chemists have opened across the country - so where does that leave local pharmacies?Guests:Vicky Chan - Pakuranga pharmacistClive Cannons - Wainuiomata pharmacistLearn More: Read Dr Eric Crampton's article on pharmacy competition hereRead the press release on 12-month prescriptions hereFind The Detail on Newsroom or RNZ Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Once the election date is announced, politics can disintegrate into a toxic mess. Don't expect this year to be any different.Politicians sharpen their knives and their tongues as we bump our way to November 7Guests:Laura Walters, Newsroom's political editorThomas Coughlan, NZ Herald's political editorFind The Detail on Newsroom or RNZ Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Garth McIntyre, adventurer and seasoned commercial and recreational diver from Wellington, brings decades of shipwreck exploration. He tells stories about famous salvages like the Tasmania and Kelly Tarlton’s finds. He discusses diving limits, commercial salvage challenges, legal protections for wrecks, and the tension between souvenir-taking and preserving maritime heritage.

Khol (Cole) Gillies, a New Zealander who fought in Ukraine and survived severe battlefield injuries and amputation. Jasmine Gillies, his partner who rushed to Europe to support him in recovery. They discuss frontline combat and evacuation, being trapped days in a bunker, the risky drone ground extraction, and plans for rehab and a possible return to duty.

The record number of prisoners are bouncing between facilities around the country, stretching court resources and rehabilitation programmesWith prison numbers at their highest ever and still rising, one former prisoner and critic of this government's tough-on-crime policies has put his hope in a controversial programmeGuests:Emma Priest, criminal barristerDr Paul Wood, formerly incarcerated PhD Learn more:View the most recent prison statistics from Ara Poutama Aotearoa/ Department of CorrectionRead about plans for the next boot camp, in March Compare stats on prison populations around the worldFind The Detail on Newsroom or RNZ Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dr Mark Bloomberg, adjunct senior fellow at the School of Forestry, University of Canterbury, and forestry expert on erosion and plantation practices. He discusses the history of planting to stop erosion, why radiata pine dominated, how privatisation changed incentives, risks from large clear-fells and slash, legal responsibility under the RMA, and proposed fixes like replanting and smaller coupes.

The floods keep coming, and we keep rebuilding. Is there a better way to cope with increasing numbers of infrastructure-wrecking storms?New Zealand's most common natural hazard is flooding, but we're often unprepared for it, and more preoccupied with earthquakes or eruptionsGuests:Nick Leggett - Infrastructure NZ Chief ExecutiveRehette Stoltz - Gisborne Mayor Kate Newton - RNZ Climate Change ReporterFox Meyer - Newsroom political reporterFind The Detail on Newsroom or RNZ Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details