Tim Selwyn – Aotearoa Podcast Survey August 2026

August saw seven new podcasts added who have over a thousand views. The podcasts keep getting stronger.

The survey list currently (10/09/2026) consists of 95 podcasts that are monitored. For August there were 22 inactive podcasts and 69 active podcasts. This is an increase of 12 active podcasts on the previous survey of February (posted here 05/03/2026)

There were 21 livestream podcasts in August (19 in February). There were 63 podcasts with politics appearing as a subject (40 in February). Of those included in the politics category there were 34 in long format (25 in February). This shows a growth across the all the categories in the last six months.

To give some indication of viewership growth the aggregate views of the 57 in February was 341,350; in August the 69 podcasts totalled 666,572 views. Given overlaps in audience the total viewership in this survey would I guess be about a third to a quarter of this figure, ie. 100,000 minimum to 250,000 maximum. 

The podcasts continue to be affected dramatically by high profile interviews and covering breaking news (such as the Nat’s Luxon coup). These hit and miss events greatly impact the audience of individual episodes of podcasts that can boost the average for the month significantly. Penny Marie and Vinny Eastwood, for example, return to the fringes in this survey without nameworthy interview subjects to put them in the Top 10 as they had back in February.  

The Shubz phenomenon continues a chaotic hikoi as he loses his Radio Aotearoa platform in a nefarious dealing exposed live on Sean Plunket’s The Platform show (where Shubz and his new nemesis have it out on air – glorious!). The metrics aren’t to kind for old Shubalubz because his actual livestreamed podcast only receives a fraction of the views his cut up short clips do. The slanderrific smears go on in his programme unabated, which is why every political operative seems to be feeding him defamatious stories. His interview schedule is still thick with all the names however – Peter Rowley the other day!

New Podcasts over 1000 views

Starting in March was Public Interest NZ with Wellington criminal barrister Oliver Neas who has previously written for the Spinoff. He conducts a courtly pace of discussion in his interviews and has impressive debut numbers (13,000 average views) for these longer format deep conversations. Reminds me slightly of a tutorial when only one student shows up.

Wayne’s World View stomped righteously into existence in time to come to the attention of the survey. The eye-patch wearing municipal crusader delivered a monologue outside city hall threatening accountability for Tauranga City officials. This seemed to be in connection with the Mt Maunganui/Mauao slip fatalities and the report into the city council, so the timing meant his podcast had a large pick up. Think of a steam punk pirate irate his dinghy got a parking ticket turned vox pop influencer.

The Christian rightist think tank, Maxim Institute, has a podcast The Select Committee, featuring host, Tim Wilson, and Maxim Institute staff. The Christians are very much into politics aren’t they? No radical takes here, it’s squares not queers.

Global Insight with Prof. Robert Patman from Otago University is a podcast on his own YouTube channel, and perhaps it lives somewhere else, because the clips and the page make it difficult to understand what’s going on. The show image says Global Insight with Robert Patman, but there is a host who introduces him and then interviews him – very weird. How can someone who doesn’t understand what a podcast is opine on the affairs of the world? 

Case by Case (Open Justice) hosted by NZ Herald Podcast producer Jane Yee. There is Open Justice reporting funding for this series – not sure how long it will run. These are interviews and stories from reporters on cases of note, including injustice. I liked what I saw so far.

Jurg’s Take On Politics is from a chap with a lot of hair – going by the image, but there are only really slides of info and data in these short podcasts. The big numbers for Jurg come from his very good, clear, and nicely paced diagrams and breakdown of polling results – at least that’s the material I’ve seen. It seems like a winner as a niche in election year.

Cuppa Korero is a Maori-oriented panel chat from Queenstown. They knew what they were talking about, but I’m still not sure who the hosts are, or even if they have hosts. National politics a main focus in what I saw as well as local issues. Some bigger group discussions also. Was previously “Queenstown Chew” until recently. Not shabby figures with a lot of politics going on down there. Funded by Ngai Tahu by the looks of it.

 

Top 10 Political Podcasts in Aotearoa – August 2026

Based on average YouTube viewership during the calendar month, the following programmes rank as the most watched political podcasts in Aotearoa.

1. EDITOR IN CHIEF with Duncan Garner
2. Q+A with Jack Tame
3. PUBLIC INTEREST NZ
4. TE AO with Moana
5. RYAN BRIDGE TODAY
6. GONE BY LUNCHTIME
7. CROSS PARTY LINES
8. BHN – Big Hairy News
9. THE BRADBURY GROUP
10. MATA with Mihi Forbes

Top 10 Livestreamed Political Podcasts

Livestreamed political programmes represent a growing segment of the podcast ecosystem, with several shows broadcasting live discussion panels and interviews.

1. EDITOR IN CHIEF with Duncan Garner
2. RYAN BRIDGE TODAY
3. GONE BY LUNCHTIME
4. BHN – Big Hairy News
5. THE BRADBURY GROUP
6. BHN – Bright Hairy News (Fri)
7. THE HOON
8. SHUBZ
9. POLITICAL PLAYBACK
10. DAYBREAK

Full List of Active Aotearoa Political Podcasts

The following directory lists all currently active political, news and current affairs podcasts monitored for the survey and the average YouTube views for August 2026.

Rank : Podcast : Views

1. TFS TV	110,000
2. BETWEEN TWO BEERS	88,000
3. NEW ZEALAND TODAY	65,000
4. EDITOR IN CHIEF	40,000
5. Q+A with Jack Tame	38,000
6. POLITICS STUFF	36,000
7. SOMETHING FOR THE PEOPLE	25,000
8. PADDY GOWER HAS ISSUES	18,000
9. THE PLATFORM with Michael Laws	16,000
10. WAYNES WORLD VIEW	15,000
11. PUBLIC INTEREST NZ	13,000
12. THE FRONT PAGE	13,000
13. CONTEXT	13,000
14. THE PLATFORM with Sean Plunket	12,500
15. THE DOM HARVEY PODCAST	12,500
16. WHANGAREI TIM	12,500
17. TE AO with Moana	12,000
18. THE ANGLO SAXON	12,000
19. CHRIS LYNCH INTERVIEWS	10,500
20. HERALD NOW -RYAN BRIDGE TODAY	9,000
21. MIKE’S MINUTE	8,400
22. GONE BY LUNCHTIME	8,400
23. UNFILTERED with Dave Letele	7,600
24. CROSS PARTY LINES	6,000
25. BHN Big Hairy News	5,250
26. THE PLATFORM with Leah Panapa	5,000
27. MICHAEL MORRAH INVESTIGATES	4,500
28. THE BRADBURY GROUP	4,350
29. MATA	4,100
30. THE NBR PODCAST	3,900
31. THE SELECT COMMITTEE	3,100
32. GLOBAL INSIGHT	2,500
33. CASE BY CASE (OPEN JUSTICE)	2,300
34. BHN Bright Hairy News (Fri)	2,000
35. G NEWS The Good News	2,000
36. THE HOON	1,900
37. JURG’S TAKE ON POLITICS	1,900
38. STRAIGHT TALK	1,850
39. SHUBZ	1,400
40. PAUL POLITIK	1,400
41. POLITICAL PLAYBACK	1,400
42. DAYBREAK	1,400
43. CUPPA KORERO	1,200
44. HNOW: BUSINESS with Garth Bray	1,000
45. TE KAUPAPA	1,000
46. McBLOG	900
47. ATA TU	900
48. TE KARERE	900
49. RCR 360 UNPLUGGED	850
50. THE DETAIL	750
51. THE ORDER PAPER	750
52. SOLID GROUND	666
53. ASK ME ANYTHING	640
54. PAUL… THE OTHER ONE	600
55. PENNY MARIE NZ	600
56. DIFFERENT MATTERS Damien Grant	578
57. COFFEE AND CONTEXT	500
58. NINE TO NOON POLITICS	360
59. FAMILY MATTERS	350
60. THE FRONTLINE w Dr Gary Payinda	318
61. MEDIAWATCH	300
62. PACIFIC MORNINGS	300
63. FOCUS ON POLITICS	280
64. BIG JIM	250
65. THE ALL REPORT – LIVE	220
66. THE VINNY EASTWOOD SHOW	220
67. AOTEAROA TONIGHT	200
68. THE HOUSE	180
69. ON KAUPAPA PODCAST	110