The Good Word - Series Two

The second season of The Good Word turns the page and picks up where it left off, with a rotating cast of readers joining host Emily Perkins to unpack everything from contemporary New Zealand fiction to international classics. Guests from across the creative sphere drop into the studio to share the titles that have shaped their lives. New this series, the show visits reallife book clubs around the country where literature and community meet. Plus Finlay MacDonald continues to unearth the stories behind some of Aotearoa’s most enduring books in Under the Covers, including Janet Frame’s Owls Do Cry, Barry Crump’s A Good Keen Man, and Dick Scott’s Ask That Mountain. Read the full episode guide here.

I got a bus to Taranaki and went into the village, and it was abandoned virtually. The houses were all empty and I think there was a couple of old old people living [there]. And one middle-aged woman invited me in for a cup of tea. When I explained that I had a sympathetic approach, she then showed me the mountan, the hillock where the cannon had been aimed at the people...

– Writer Dick Scott recalls visiting Parihaka while researching for his book about what happened

Key Cast & Crew

Jennifer Ward-Lealand

Panelist
(episodes 1, 3-4, 10-12)

Colin Hogg

Producer

Finlay Macdonald

Researcher, Reporter

Te Radar

Panelist
(episodes 1, 4-8 & 13)

Brendon Butt

Studio Director

Miriama Kamo

Panelist
(episodes 2, 4, 6-7, 9 & 11)