Podcast Episodes

Leighton Smith Podcast #297 - August 13th 2025 - Thomas Harrington

Having recently listened to a few extracts from the last interview we had with Tom Harrington, I was reminded by just how good he is.

Tom’s capacity to expose wrong think, and inspire and develop how…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #296 - August 6th 2025 - Daniel Hannan

We are on holiday in Europe at the moment. Of course there will be a full account on return.

It was almost two years ago that writer and public speaker Lord Hannan was in NZ, and we recorded an inter…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #295 - July 30th 2025 - Alan Eggers

Imagine a company that has been pursuing its goal for fifteen years, with mixed progress, if you could call it that.

The company, Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) has invested over $85 million toward a d…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #294 - July 23rd 2025 - Maryanne Spurdle

Maryanne Spurdle from the Maxim Institute has produced a Discussion Paper "INTERROGATING CHOICE: Euthanasia and the ILLUSION OF AUTONOMY."

The UK has announced their intention to lower the voting age…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #293 - July 16th 2025 - David Bell

"July 19 is the last day that Member States of the World Health Organisation can withdraw from the IHR amendments (without entering a multi-year withdrawal process).

By failing to withdraw, they will…

Published on 3 months ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #292 - July 9th 2025 - A Tribute to Professor Des Gorman

A Tribute to Professor Des Gorman

After interviewing Des Gorman for Podcast 105, this is what we wrote for the podcast email…

“This week we drill down on the knowledge, wisdom and opinion of of Des G…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #291 - July 2nd 2025 - Guy Hatchard

Over the last few years there has been much scientific dispute.

Climate dominated much of the last forty years, followed and outranked by Covid-19. Both remain very much in the headlines.

Science its…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #290 - June 25th 2025 - Ramesh Thakur

Ramesh Thakur has a world of history, literally, in international affairs.

He has taught at a number of Universities including Otago and the ANU, Canberra.

But his time spent at the United Nations, c…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #289 - June 18th 2025 - George Friedman

The similarities between Ukraine’s attack on Russian bombers and the Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites have been noted. But the parallels don’t stop there.

The U.S. is involved in both conflicts…

Published on 4 months ago

Leighton Smith Podcast #288 - June 11th 2025 - Antonia Colibasanu

Romanians are still navigating the difficult path of building democratic institutions and a culture of transparency.

At the same time, widespread perceptions of corruption and cronyism have caused ma…

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago