Full Show: 16 August 2026

Former health boss: Why hospitals are overwhelmed

New Zealand knows that flu season can overwhelm frontline health services and still fails to plan for it. Rob Campbell says the country needs a new, 'all-of-health' approach, including housing, education, and nutrition - something successive governments have failed to provide.

The former Health New Zealand chair and current chair of health alliance Ngā Kaitiaki Hauora joins Jack Tame.

The NZSAS combat soldier standing for parliament

Josh Jacobsen, a former NZSAS combat soldier, and a veteran of Afghanistan, holds an NZ Gallantry Medal - and a Green Party membership.

He's 25 on the Party's list and standing in the North Shore electorate. He joins Jack Tame to explain how his career in the defence force led him to a party that advocates non-violence.

What Kiwi soldiers in Ukraine want NZ to know

Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several New Zealand-trained soldiers have travelled to the other side of the world to take up the fight. The ones who have returned home face an uncertain future.

Whena Owen meets the volunteers who went against Government advice to fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers.

How to fix the economy? Be a 'good ancestor'

Economist and former Productivity Commissioner Ganesh Ahirao wants to see the way Governments plan borrowing and spending completely turned around: replacing the duty to return to surplus with a duty to provide every citizen with the basics they need to thrive.

He describes this central principle as 'being a good ancestor', and says it's the only way New Zealand will face down its biggest challenge: paying for the infrastructure the country will desperately need in the future. He joins Jack Tame.