The Hoon

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer from Wellington and Robert Patman in Dunedin about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.This edition also includes a discussion with former Productivity Commission Chair and now independent economist Ganesh R Ahirao about his substack post referring to PM Christopher Luxon’s speech on Wednesday, which included comments on migration and previewed a $300 million cut in Budget 2026’s operating allowance. This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a c...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer from Wellington and Robert Patman in Dunedin about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.This edition also includes a discussion with special guest Iain Walker, who is an expert in deliberative democracy and Executive Director of the newDemocracy Foundation (nDF) in Australia. He is visiting Wellington, Queenstown and Auckland next week for public meetings on deliberative democracy. Here’s the details.This week:* Bernard and Peter began...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale in Auckland talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer from Wellington and Robert Patman in Dunedin about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.This edition also includes a discussion with special guest Paul Spoonley about his report this week with Peter Gluckman and Georgia Lala for Koi Tū (Centre for Informed Futures) titled: People, Place & Prosperity - The case for a population strategy.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the c...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale in Auckland talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer from Wellington and Robert Patman in Dunedin about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.This edition also includes discussions with special guests Jonathan Lyons, PhD from Vancouver and Shamubeel Eaqub in Auckland on Iran and social cohesion in New Zealand, respectively.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the conflict in the Middle East and the fuel crisis, along with Christopher Luxo...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.This edition also includes discussions with with special guest Geoffrey Miller, a strategic analyst with a PHD in New Zealand’s relations with the Middle East.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the conflict in the Middle East and the fuel crisis. They also talked about Bernard being in Wellington for the Kia Tika, Kia Pono—F...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics .This edition also includes discussions with with special guests Rania Abouzeid, a New Zealand-born journalist calling in from Beirut, and BusinessDesk co-founder Pattrick Smellie, on his column about a big new renewable energy plan.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the conflict in the Middle East and the fuel crisis. They mentioned this scoop (gift link...

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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guests Edward Miller and Max Rashbrooke, who are researchers and commentators.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about electric cars, a surfeit of news and Donald Trump’s speech yesterday. Peter recommended the last two episodes of the podcast Past, Present and Future . Bernard and Peter referred to the case that referred to NZME’s larges...

I recently hosted a ‘Mini-Hoon’ on Substack Live previewing The Reality of Everything symposium to be held at Victoria University of Wellington on June 26, which will examine the interconnected crises of climate change, energy, water & food constraints, economic instability & public health.I was joined by substacker Catherine Knight and academic Mike Joy to talk about the symposium, which Catherine is helping organise and Mike is speaking at.We started by talking about the need for the Symposium and referring to the National Emergency Briefing held in the UK last year, including an address on food secu...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest Roger Dennis, an independent strategist.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the rise of reactionary and nationalist political parties globally, including in New Zealand.* Bernard and Cathrine talked about the latest WMO report on the climate in 2025 and why New Zealand’s oil consumption rose to a five-year high last year.<...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest Dileepa Fonseka , who is a columnist and reporter for BusinessDesk-$.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the Iran war, the fuel crisis and Winston Peters’ move to block a ‘globalist’ WHO measure.* Bernard and Peter then spoke with Cathrine about increased demand for EVs and whether the fuel crisis represented a tipping...

Last week I hosted a ‘Hoon’ on Substack Live previewing The Reality of Everything symposium to be held at Victoria University of Wellington on June 26, which will examine the interconnected crises of climate change, energy, water & food constraints, economic instability & public health.I was joined by regular Hoon guest Cathrine Dyer, conference speaker and Vic Uni Professor of Climate Change James Renwick and climate scientist Andy Reisinger, speaking independently and not in his role as a Climate Change Commissioner.We started by talking about the need for the Symposium and referring to the National Emergency Brie...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest Helen Clark.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a chat about the Iran war, New Zealand’s looming fuel supply issues and Marsden Point.* Bernard then spoke with Cathrine about new research confirming an acceleration of climate change, about research showing a rise in carbon dioxide in bloodstreams, and the links...

I spoke with Green Co-Leader Chloe Swarbrick last night in a Substack Live Video for over 150 subscribers about the urgent need to decarbonise & provide housing, along with challenging the bipartisan assumptions about the size of Government and Government debt to GDP — the ‘30-30’ rule. We also talked about migration policy and population growth.The full interview is above for all.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Context Setting07:22 Fuel Crisis and Government Response10:43 Housing Crisis and Emergency Solutions13:20 Economic Policy and the 30-30 Rule19:19 Debt Management and Economic Stabil...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest historian and author Jonathan Lyons.This week:* Bernard and Peter began with a discussion about deaths of a record 129 journalists reported in 2025 by the Committee to Protect Journalists, mostly in Gaza, and the risks of it worsening in an extended war in the Middle East.* Bernard and Peter talked about New Zeal...

This week I hosted a ‘Hoon’ on Substack Live previewing The Reality of Everything symposium to be held at Victoria University of Wellington on June 26, which will examine the interconnected crises of climate change, energy, water & food constraints, economic instability & public health.I was joined by regular Hoon guest Cathrine Dyer, substacker and symposium facilitator Catherine Knight, conference speaker and epidemiologist Professor Alistair Woodward from the University of Auckland, and fellow public health specialist Associate Professor Caroline Shaw from the University of Otago.We started by talking about the need for the Symposium and referring to t...

This week a speculative post on Substack by Citrini about ever-faster AI tools creating a self-reinforcing doom loop of fewer jobs & lower wages for humans -- while AI owners win big -- shook global stocks. A link to the post is below.So I decided to have a Substack Live with Ben Reid, who writes about tech and AI for Memia. The resulting chat is above.Thank you James Wilkes, Nicola Francis, Summerhaze, David, Elaine, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Reid! Join me for my next live video in...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Elaine Monaghan about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guest Associate Professor Polly Atatoa Carr from Waikato University’s Te Ngira Institute for Population Research.This week:* Bernard and Peter debated the Clerk of Parliament deciding to stop using X.* Bernard and Cathrine talked about a paper showing climate policy inconsistency depresses economic growth and employment, along with another paper showing the so...

Independent economist David Skilling gave a stark public presentation to Treasury officials and others yesterday that painted a brutal picture of New Zealand’s labour productivity and real wage catastrophe since 2010, pointing out our economy remained stuck in a low-investment rut with weakening trade connections.Skilling’s presentation in video form below is a must-watch and should be seen as a landmark moment ‘calling b******t’ on at least three decades of economic reforms focused on squeezing down the size of Government and keeping capital gains tax free at all costs.I spoke with David in a Sub...

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking with regular guests Robert Patman and Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics here, along with special guests Simplicity Chief Economist Shamubeel Eaqub and Coalition for More Homes Spokesman Scott Caldwell.This week:* Bernard, Peter and Cathrine talked about the week’s news in climate change, including criticism of the Government’s climate non-action by outgoing Tower Insurance Chair Michael Stiassny, Marc Daalder’s piece for Newsroom on climate preparedness, the US move to...