Twenty days after Winston announced it shall be Labour, the Gone By Lunchtime trio (plus one) size up the debut of Ardern, the blazing of National parliamentary guns and a goodbye to a good cat. Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas, Toby Manhire and the land’s favourite baby podcaster discuss an embarrassing start for the new government … Read more
The Gone By Lunchtime team chews over the new government, what it means for Labour, NZ First, the Greens and where it leaves National – and how we got there. Guest starring an exciting new podcasting talent. With a showmanship to put Dominic Bowden to shame, Winston Peters yesterday took the fate of the next … Read more
The 2017 election took place on Saturday but in reality it may never end. It’s all around us, it’s in us, it is us. The Gone By Lunchtime team* react in the appropriate way by dissecting it and making more definitely correct predictions of the future. *Toby Manhire is currently away in an undisclosed location … Read more
Has the Jacindaphoria evaporated? Who won the last debate? Are National’s attack lines defensible? What happened to NZ First? Who will win the election? The Gone By Lunchtime team fearlessly answer these questions with definitive and irrefutable opinions. We’re leaving together. But still it’s farewell. And maybe we’ll come back, To earth, who can tell? I … Read more
The Spinoff presents its exclusive poll of the opinions of Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire as New Zealanders flock to vote in chilled out Election 2017. Toby Manhire welcomes Annabelle Lee of The Hui, Ben Thomas of Exceltium, and the spirit of Newstalk ZB legend Leighton Smith into the penultimate Gone By Lunchtime pod … Read more
Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire weigh up the first big Bill English v Jacinda Ardern clashes, the shock National target on child poverty, the claims of a massive hole in Labour’s numbers and the poll convulsions. Advance voting opens on Monday, and election day is less than three weeks away. Burning hot with … Read more
Was this the feted mother of all scandals? Is it the bastard son of Dirty Politics? How many of Bill English’s children were on the stage at the National launch? Is Bob your uncle? This and more in NZ’s top genealogy-based election podcast. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas take a moment’s pause from … Read more
The very latest from the Ardernified election campaign, which has claimed yet another leader resignation. Fresh from having read all 140 pages of the Prefu just minutes after it was published, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire rest their chins upon their fingers and analyse the issues of the moment. How is National coping … Read more
As the breakneck pre-election pace continues, the Gone By Lunchtime committee convenes to discuss the big issues such as cabbages. With Ben Thomas marooned in Wellington, Duncan Greive pod-hops to join GBLT’s Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee, but we do take a moment to call and sing him a song. With Metiria Turei having resigned, the Green Party … Read more
Stop the election bus for just one second, please. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas have recorded a new Gone By Lunchtime podcast and it will probably be overtaken by events by teatime. Two third-term Green MPs have in effect jumped ship, saying Metiria Turei is not fit to lead the party. Will that torpedo … Read more
The Spinoff’s Gone By Lunchtime trio frantically gather their thoughts following the exit of Labour leader Andrew Little, who has been replaced by Jacinda Ardern, with Kelvin Davis as her deputy, with just over 50 days to an election. Within seconds of watching Jacinda Ardern conduct her first press conference as Labour leader, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee … Read more
Our answer to the ‘Black Hands’ podcast is ‘Rainbow Hands’, in which the Gone By Lunchtime team scoff so many M&Ms that their fingers get covered in artificial colouring. Also they discuss politics. With less than two months to polling day, Annabelle Lee, executive producer of The Hui, returns to the GBLT pod salon, joining Ben Thomas … Read more
After the best thing about Gone By Lunchtime gets tied up with actual work, three white men finally sit down to talk politics and when and how some of them should be allowed to talk politics. Toby Manhire is joined by Ben Thomas of Exceltium and Guy Williams of televised comedy to discuss the Greens’ attack on … Read more
Loaded to the eyeballs on performance enhancing mint chocolate, the Gone By Lunchtime beat combo pick over the remains of a momentous week in New Zealand politics. As the election build-up lurches through the gears, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, executive producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of Exceltium to discuss the scandal that led … Read more
The Gone By Lunchtime team returns, with more hot takes than a jalapeno thief. In the latest medium-intensity-hitting Spinoff politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee of The Hui and Ben Thomas of Exceltium to sigh, pontificate and radio-jingle on a range of subjects including a dramatic UK election and what it means for New Zealand, … Read more
Gone By Lunchtime stumbles on a new theme tune to accompany Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire’s sleepy reflections on weird court rumbles, Māori places on the Labour Party list, Gerry Brownlee’s clumsy start as foreign minister, and Winston Peters bursting out of the electoral traps. Wait. That’s not it. Try this. To listen either download (right click … Read more
At last, a new Gone By Lunchtime podcast, in which Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas chew over the politics of spagh-apple pizza, the Hit and Run claims and relate a harrowing This New Zealand Life story of southern isolation. In this overdue and mildly anticipated podcast, we traverse the vast savannah of topical political happenings. Bill English’s pizza? Yes. … Read more
Gone By Lunchtime meets The Breakfast Club as leading NZ politics podcasters Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire splinter desperately into millennial solidarity. In the historic first ever Spinoff Gone By Lunchtime podcast since the arrival of LifeDirect as sponsor of the politics section, we discuss a range of important topical issues, before eventually … Read more
The Gone By Lunchtime trio talk out a whiplash start to 2017 in politics. With a hiss and a roar and an ear-splitting primal scream, the political year is under way. Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas join Toby Manhire to chew over the prime minister’s Waitangi decision, the $10k Te Tii charge to media and … Read more
In this special edition of Gone By Lunchtime, we patch in Ben Thomas from Washington DC, where he’s been rubbing shoulders among the crowds on Inauguration Day and the manifestly bigger crowds at the Women’s March. It is done: Donald J Trump is the real, actual president of the world’s most powerful country. Ben Thomas, … Read more
An old year, a new prime minister and a very tired world. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas bedeck themselves with boughs of holly and size up the winners and losers of the year 2016, and what to expect in the next one. Ho, ho, ho, really, when you think about it. Ben and … Read more
A gaggle of shell-shocked geese, in the form of Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Hayden Donnell, splutter hot-take spittle all over the mid-price microphones in the Spinoff podcast studio. Guest starring Annabelle Lee and José Barbosa. John Key, the prime minister of New Zealand, has announced his resignation. He’s done. He’s had it. He’s out. … Read more
Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas brave the Spinoff stairwell of doom to join Toby Manhire for another Gone By Lunchtime, the hi-energy Zumba workout of political podcasting. The Spinoff political podcast trio abandon all good sense and attempt to analyse the auditor-general’s report into the Saudi sheep farrago and what it means for Murray McCully … Read more
In the Spinoff’s monthly politics recap, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas join Toby Manhire for a power-walk through the topical rain forest. If you’re interested in hearing what Toby, Ben and Annabelle have to say about the local elections, the excitements of Phil Goff, someone called Tana winning the Porirua mayoralty, voter turnout, a byelection … Read more
What will Annabelle Lee do when she sees the Labour leader nude on a rug? How will elitist lickspittle Ben Thomas insult Winston Peters? How much fake cocaine will Toby Manhire snort? All these questions answered in a new Gone By Lunchtime. The Spinoff’s unrivalled monthly politics podcast returns with a deep audio dive into … Read more
Parliament may be enjoying the longest recess of all time but the Spinoff’s Gone By Lunchtime podcast is 100% sitting, friends. Joining Toby Manhire in the futuristic audio-pod are Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas Among the fat being chewed: Auckland Unitary Plan adventure (but only briefly; if you like that sort of thing, there’s more … Read more
In the second installment of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of political PR company Exceltium to discuss Ranginui Walker, Judith Collins and gangs, Pharmac, the flag, and Auckland’s unitary woes. Oh, and John Palino, naturally. Have a listen below, or download … Read more
In Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s new politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by former Native Affairs producer Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas of political PR outfit Exceltium to discuss the Waitangi kerfuffles, the trade deal row, state of the nation speeches from the four main party leaders, and home baking. Listen on iTunes or … Read more