Kirsty Johnston
What to Listen to Next: The Lodge
Host of Nellie's Baby, Kirsty Johnston, introduces you to your next binge listen - RNZ podcast The Lodge. What began as a promising sanctuary for healing in one of New Zealand’s most beautiful… Audio
Q&A: Will the Government’s gamble on gas work
The Government's plan to respond to a growing energy crisis has attracted a chorus of doubters - even within its own agencies. The reversal of the oil and gas ban was passed in Parliament last week… Audio
Nellie's Baby: the story of New Zealand's Mental Institutions
The last of the so-called ‘lunatic asylums’ closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety. In this special… Audio
Black Sheep Bonus Episode: The story of New Zealand's Mental Institutions
The last of the so-called ‘lunatic asylums’ closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety. In this special… Audio
E8: I'd like to find a sister
Kirsty tries to find out if Nellie did have another baby, and where that baby might be, but gets stuck in a kafkaesque nightmare of bureaucracy. Sarah reflects on her journey to find Nellie. We talk… Audio
E7: What happened to Nellie?
Nellie's coronial file reveals more about her death - and her life. There are badly healed broken bones, a skin graft, evidence of a fall three days before she died in which she broke her nose. Was… Audio
E6: Annemarie
Kirsty and Sarah go to see Mavis, Nellie's sister, who tells them that she thinks Nellie was raped, which led to her breakdown and incarcertation. Mavis tells Sarah about the day she was born, and how… Audio
E5: My daughter, Sarah
Sarah goes to meet Gordon. We learn that he can remember Nellie, and remembers being caught with her in the bushes. Gordon tells us about his time at the asylum, and Sarah takes him on an outing where… Audio
Nellie's Baby: one woman's search for her birth parents
RNZ journalist Kirsty Johnston received an email one day with an usual subject line which was: "Investigating the possible murder of my mother". The email was from a woman named Sarah, who'd been… Audio
E4: A trip to the asylum
The mystery relative turns out to be Sharon, her father's sister. She decides to fly to Australia to meet her newly-discovered niece. Sharon tells us how her family was extremely poor and her mother… Audio
E3: I found him!
Sarah and Kirsty call in the big guns: DNA. A strong match comes up: a woman who shares 28% of Sarah's DNA. Is it Nellie's first child? Eventually, Fran, the genealogist, suggests the match could be… Audio
E2: Women and Girls
Kirsty and Sarah start investigating from opposite sides of the world. We learn what it was like to live at Porirua, and fight through red tape to get Sarah's adoption records, which reveal more about… Audio
E1: Email from a stranger
Out of the blue, Kirsty receives an email from a stranger titled "Investigating the possible murder of my mother". The author is Sarah, a young woman who was born to Nellie Wilson in a psychiatric… Audio
Trailer: Nellie's Baby
Kirsty Johnston follows Sarah as she hunts for her biological mother, who turns out to have been an institutionalised mental health patient in Porirua Hospital. And that's only the start of the story.
…The Week in Detail: Smokefree, Judith Collins, and woke-washing
The Detail podcast brings you the issues behind the news every weekday. Here's what we covered this week. Audio
The Week in Detail: Smokefree, Judith Collins, and woke-washing
The Detail podcast brings you the issues behind the news every weekday. Here's what we covered this week.
AudioLong Read: The Crewe Murders
By Kirsty Johnston: The murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains New Zealand’s most infamous cold case. Audio
Long Read: The Crewe Murders
By Kirsty Johnston: The murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains New Zealand’s most infamous cold case.
AudioWho killed the Crewes? Opening the book on a cold case
The murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 is perhaps New Zealand's most infamous unsolved crime. Arthur Allan Thomas was convicted twice, pardoned and compensated… Audio
Documents reveal how far farming industry went to fight climate tax
Internal briefings about the government's failed agricultural emissions plan reveal how far the farming industry went to fight a climate tax.
The briefing documents, obtained by Radio New Zealand… Audio
