The People's Podcast
The People's Podcast explores the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of New Zealand. Hosted by Bernadette Soares, it brings together leaders and influential voices for thoughtful, respectful, and meaningful dialogue.
Episodes
Why Kiwis Pay Too Much For Everything, with Dr David Wilson
Bernadette welcomes Dr David Wilson back to The People's Podcast for a wide ranging conversation about why New Zealand feels expensive, why our productivity has stalled, and what a genuinely different economic approach would look like.David breaks down the "cosy oligopoly" running our banking sector and the real cost it adds to your mortgage, why splitting the gentailers apart could pull hundreds
The Persecution India Won't Report with Reverend Samuel
Thirteen Indian states now have anti conversion laws, and Reverend Samuel says the pastors, home churches and families caught under them have almost no way of being heard outside the country. He joins Bernadette to walk through the cases he has documented, from a dismissed army officer to church raids, arrests and killings, and to explain why he believes the courts, the police and the media no lon
Why New Zealand Can't Keep Avoiding the Immigration Debate, with Dharmesh Parikh
Immigration has become one of the hardest conversations New Zealand is having, and too often it gets reduced to slogans. This week Bernadette sits down with Dharmesh Parikh, a community leader and businessman who arrived from India in 1986, for an honest exchange between two immigrants who love this country and do not always agree on what it needs, covering population growth in Auckland, what inte
Why New Zealand Should Buy Back the BNZ, with Dr. David Wilson
In this episode of The People's Podcast, Bernadette is joined once again by Dr. David Wilson for a wide-ranging conversation about New Zealand's economic future. They dig into New Zealand First's proposal to buy back the Bank of New Zealand, what economic sovereignty actually means, and why other small nations have built enormous wealth while we sold ours off.David explains how an oligopolistic ba
Who Are We? Identity, Belonging and Finding Hope in Uncertain Times with Alfred Ngaro
What does it mean to find your identity in a world that keeps trying to put you in a box? In this episode of People's Podcast, Bernadette sits down with Alfred Ngaro for a wide-ranging conversation about hope, purpose and identity in modern New Zealand.Alfred draws on decades of community leadership, pastoral work, politics and fatherhood to speak honestly about the struggles New Zealanders are fa
Turning Pain into Purpose: The Power of Maximum Impact with Shubz
Shubz is one of New Zealand's most recognisable podcasters and public voices, but his journey to get here was anything but easy. Growing up moving between nearly 20 schools, navigating abuse, addiction, and cycles of trauma, Shubz has lived a life that mirrors the reality of countless young New Zealanders who feel unseen and unheard.In this powerful conversation with host Bernadette, Shubz opens u
Why Small Business is Struggling in NZ with David Wilson
NZ First MP David Wilson joins Bernadette on The People's Platform to unpack the real pressures facing small business owners across New Zealand, from rising power costs and supermarket duopolies to banking profits leaving the country. They also dig into the growing skills shortage and why vocational training has been left behind in favour of university degrees, and what needs to change. Topics c
Hope, Purpose and Identity: Finding Your Anchor in Uncertain Times with Alfred Ngaro
In this episode of The People's Platform, Bernadette Soares is joined once again by Alfred Ngaro — former Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, pastor, and community leader — for a candid conversation about the three things many New Zealanders are quietly searching for right now: hope, purpose, and identity. From the lasting trauma of the pandemic still being carried by communities, to the press
