The Good Word - Series Four

Episode One
Emily Perkins returns for the fourth and final season of The Good Word. In the studio, actor Jennifer Ward-Lealand, writer Steve Braunias and broadcaster Carol Hirschfeld dig into Anne Salmond's book Bligh: William Bligh in the South Seas, exploring the famed navigator’s Pacific voyages. Former Penguin NZ managing director Graham Beattie drops by to share a longtime favourite: Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. In The Write Space segment, poet and children’s author Paula Green opens the doors to her comfortable writing space. Finally, Finlay Macdonald talks to Witi Ihimaera about the challenges of getting his landmark short story collection Pounamu, Pounamu published. 

Episode Two
Comedian Te Radar, Sunday presenter Miriama Kamo, and columnist and author Gordon McGlachlan join Emily Perkins to discuss Catch-22, Joseph Heller’s classic anti-war satire (which was chosen by Te Radar). Actor Robyn Malcolm brings along Caitlin Moran’s feminist memoir How to Be a Woman, and science history writer Rebecca Priestley gives a tour of the busy home office she shares with filmmaker husband Jonathan King. Then Finlay Macdonald sits down with author Damien Wilkins, who explains how Wellington’s windy streets shaped his novel The Miserables.

Episode Three
Steve Braunias, Te Radar and broadcaster Carol Hirschfeld sit down with Emily Perkins to discuss Paula Morris novel Rangatira, which dramatises Paratene Te Manu’s travels to Victorian England. Then, Metro magazine editor Simon Wilson shares his favourite read: Lawrence Durrell’s The Alexandria Quartet. In The Write Space, poet and novelist Ian Wedde talks about how his writing space is wherever he happens to be when inspiration strikes. Finlay Macdonald interviews Tessa Duder about how her swimming background shaped her novel Alex.

Episode Four
Te Radar, Jennifer Ward-Lealand and ex censor Bill Hastings join Emily Perkins to discuss a travelogue of sorts, selected by Hastings: Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky. Painter and writer Jacqueline Fahey shares her love for JG  Farrell’s Troubles, admiring its sense of the ridiculous. In The Write Space, novelist Sarah-Kate Lynch shows off her bedroom workspace at her lively beach house. Finlay Macdonald visits Hedley’s Booksellers in Masterton to speak with David Hedley about his publishing work with Genesis Publications on 50 Years Adrift and Blinds and Shutters.

Episode Five
Miriama Kamo, Bill Hastings and Jennifer Ward-Lealand join Emily Perkins to discuss Charles Frazier’s moody novel Nightwoods, set in the Appalachian Mountains. Photographer Jane Ussher praises the lyrically descriptive prose of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. In The Write Space, graphic novelist Ant Sang gives a tour of his sunroom studio where he transforms words to pictures, and Finlay Macdonald speaks with poet and novelist Elizabeth Smither about how her writing begins, and where the process tends to take her.

Episode Six
Steve Braunias, Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Gordon McLauchlan join host Emily Perkins to discuss This is Craig Brown, a collection of sharp satirical pieces by Englishman Craig Brown. Fur Patrol singer/songwriter Julia Deans shares her love for Harper Lee classic To Kill a Mockingbird. In The Write Space, playwright Roger Hall reflects on his belief that less-than-ideal writing conditions have produced some of his best work. Finlay Macdonald revisits From the Road, a photography book by Robin Morrison, and speaks to Morrison’s wife Dinah Bradley about how a family road trip led to the project.

Episode Seven
Gordon McLauchlan, Miriama Kamo, and Steve Braunias explore Maurice Gee’s Plumb, a novel chronicling the life of a clergyman. Then, Michael Hirst brings an ancient Roman classic to the conversation: The Golden Ass by Apuleius, written in 171 AD. Poet and essayist Kate Camp invites viewers into her garage writing space, explaining how stepping outside the main house helps her find creative focus. Finally, Finlay Macdonald chats with novelist and poet Marilyn Duckworth about her candid memoir Camping on the Fault Line, reflecting on the complexities of motherhood and creativity.

Episode Eight
Miriama Kamo, Bill Hastings, and Carol Hirschfeld discuss Bird North and Other Stories by Breton Dukes, a short story collection exploring the lives of men. Journalist and editor Sarah Daniell shares her favourite biography, Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore, on the life of the Soviet leader. Professor Jim Flynn discusses his writing routine, revealing how ideas often come to him away from his desk. Finlay Macdonald interviews Eleanor Catton about her debut novel The Rehearsal, inspired by a dramatic monologue she wrote for a drama student friend.

Episode Nine
Gordon McLauchlan, Carol Hirschfeld, and Bill Hastings reflect on The Prague Cemetery by Italian author Umberto Eco, a tale of a forger crafting secret society conspiracies. Television presenter Kevin Milne brings in a colourful history of New Zealand art, It’s All About the Image, by Dick Frizzell. Poet Kevin Ireland explains his ideal writing set-up: a silent, windowless room, free from distractions, and Finlay Macdonald sits down with historian Claudia Orange to discuss The Treaty of Waitangi, her widely read account the history of the document.

Episode Ten
Miriama Kamo, Carol Hirschfeld, and Jennifer Ward-Lealand unpack The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Kamo choose the novel, which she describes as Didion’s "dissertation on grief". Radio host Jim Mora praises Independence Day by Richard Ford, a contemplative novel tracing one man's long weekend through middle age and emotional reckonings. Writer Airini Beautrais shares her minimalist process of hand-drafting work at the kitchen table. Later, Finlay Macdonald meets author Carl Nixon to discuss his novel Settler’s Creek, exploring the cultural tensions around burial rights, sparked by a real-life news story.

Episode Eleven
Gordon McLauchlan, Miriama Kamo and Bill Hastings reflect on The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, a memoir tracing his Ephrussi family’s history. Then Shihad vocalist Jon Toogood joins Emily Perkins in the studio, his arms full of George RR Martin’s sprawling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. In the Write Space, playwright Dave Armstrong shares how his best ideas come when he is away from the desk in rehearsals or workshops. Finlay Macdonald meets author Stephanie Johnson to discuss her novel The Shag Incident, inspired by the real-life 1980s kidnapping of playwright Mervyn Thompson by a feminist group in Auckland.

Episode Twelve
Te Radar, Steve Braunias and Bill Hastings tackle The House of Silk, Anthony Horowitz’s addition to Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories. Labourt Party Deputy Leader Grant Robertson shares a favourite of his, Janet Frame’s memoir An Angel at My Table. Dame Fiona Kidman reveals her preference for writing in solitude in The Write Space, from a basement of her home that she treats as a separate workspace. Then Finlay Macdonald meets investigative journalist Nicky Hager to talk about The Hollow Men, his exposé on the National Party’s 2005 campaign strategy, based on leaked internal documents.

Episode Thirteen
Te Radar, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, and Steve Braunias take on World’s End, a century-spanning novel by TC Boyle, telling the stories of generations of Hudson River Valley families. Philanthropist and art Dame Jenny Gibbs joins Emily Perkins to talk about Hitch-22, journalist and author Christopher Hitchens' sharp, self-reflective memoir. Poet and academic Harry Ricketts shares his love for a cave-like writing space, and explains his elaborate bookshelf organisation system. Finally, Finlay Macdonald talks to writer Paul Thomas about his Ihaka Trilogy of crime novels following maverick Māori detective Tito Ihaka.

Episode Fourteen
Gordon McLauchlan, Miriama Kamo, and Te Radar discuss The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell, a series of essays on walking reshaped by the Christchurch earthquake. Then, producer/director Ant Timpson joins Emily Perkins to share one of his favourites, true crime account The Shoemaker by Flora Rheta Schreiber. For The Write Space segment, fashion writer Angela Lassig reveals her book-lined study —  perfect for research and quiet writing — which overlooks Auckland city and the Waitākere Ranges. Finally Finlay Macdonald interviews Owen Marshall on what makes the short story format special. 

Episode Fifteen
Carol Hirschfeld, Gordon McLauchlan, and Te Radar discuss JM Coetzee’s Disgrace, a stark and conflicting novel set against the backdrop of post-apartheid South Africa. Poet Sam Hunt joins Emily Perkins to reflect on a favourite poet, WB Yeats, and an edition of his Collected Poems. Poet Fiona Farrell talks about writing from her compact home in Dunedin, with views across the city that help her feel connected to her surroundings. Finally, Finlay Macdonald speaks with theologian Lloyd Geering about his provocative and controversial 1968 book God in the New World.