In this podcast episode, retired Major General John Howard joins Oliver live in a webinar to discuss his new research note "Worth Defending" and why New Zealand needs a stronger, combat-capable Defence Force. Howard, who served forty years and retired only last year, describes what decades of declining capability looked like from the inside, explains why he thinks the $9 billion of new defence money is not enough, and sets out what it would take to rebuild across two or three successive governments. Read more

Why does New Zealand need a defence force at all when no one is going to attack us? In this New Zealand Initiative webinar, retired Major General John Howard launches his research note Worth Defending, which argues that a credible, combat-capable Defence Force is not discretionary spending but the foundation on which the country's security, sovereignty and economic prosperity rest. Read more

National has announced it would split Foodstuffs into separate Pak'nSave and New World chains, in the name of more competition. Oliver and Damien ask whether breaking up a family-owned cooperative is likely to persuade an Aldi or a Lidl to come here, or convince them to stay away for good. Read more

The Greens want to buy 120 supermarkets and a couple of distribution centres for $2.8 billion, which one analysis puts at a saving of $68 a household a year. Oliver and Damien ask what nationalisation would actually deliver, and why New Zealand First is proposing something similar for the BNZ. Read more

In this episode, Oliver talks to John Howard, senior fellow at the New Zealand Initiative, about the CIA director's public visit to Moscow and what it says about the security of Western Europe. They also discuss Germany's decision to name Russia over the drone attack on Leipzig Airport, the vote for Russia-friendly parties in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, the stalled Middle East conflict and its consequences for New Zealand's fuel supplies, and the new Cook Islands port deal. Read more

Paul Henry is standing for ACT and Taine Randell for New Zealand First. Oliver and Damien ask whether celebrity candidates actually win votes, and why New Zealand tends to produce the reverse, politicians who become famous through politics. Read more