Revolving Door Syndrome

Let's talk about sex. Sex education has been a particularly divisive topic, yet hasn't really had the quality debate about what good sex education should look like. I get it. People probably have very mixed experiences on how sex education was delivered to them by their schools or their parents. Some people feel squeamish about delivering sex education to their own kids and some are concerned about what is being taught in schools. There's so much confusion from parents, teachers and policymakers because there is such a huge variation in what schools can choose to teach. However, sex education is something we need to get right. While young people are having less sex than before, the research shows they are having more dangerous sex. They are less likely to use protection and more likely to engage in rough sex. Young people are also more likely to have been exposed to porn at a younger age, much of it rough and non-consensual. Could this be purely correlation or causation? The stakes are high. It's the welfare of our children we are talking about. We must balance the urge to bubble wrap our children with the need to teach them skills to stay safe on their own. Because newsflash - you won't always be around to protect them. Joining me on this podcast is Jo Robertson, experienced sex therapist, parenting expert and sex education teacher.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And in the context of our health system, prevention looks like a strong primary care service that’s focused on keeping you healthy and out of the emergency department. The problem is though, Primary Care, as we know it, is broken. Our current funding model has driven GP practices to the brink of insolvency. Many are forced to close down or are selling out to profit driven corporates, who want to make your sickness work for their shareholders. By overenrolling patients and pushing doctors to see more people in a day, we will see a two tier Primary health care service beginning to form. Where the days of knowing your local GP might be reserved for those that can afford the premium service. And at the same time, our fascination with medical specialists has relegated the humble medical generalist to the bottom of the pile. Fewer and fewer doctors are interested in pursuing pathways in generalist fields and instead are opting for more lucrative, but highly niche specialties. We know how important primary care is for keeping people healthy, but why aren’t we prioritising it? It seems like we have things backwards. On the latest episode of Revolving Door Syndrome, I kōrero with the energetic power duo that is Dr Marcia Walker (Whakatōhea/Ngāti Porou) and Dr Buzz Burrell. Both passionate about the power of primary care, brimming with real ideas about how we can tackle these issues head on.

Cults have come and gone but for the survivors, the trauma remains. Most every day people think that they'd be immune to a cult and could never fall for something as silly as a cult. The reality is that anyone can end up falling into a cult willingly or unwillingly whether as an adult or child. It is important that we equip ourselves with the skills to identify cult-like behaviours before we fall into the worst kind of echo chamber of groupthink. This is a reminder for us to not take freedom of expression and freedom of speech for granted. We must extend our empathy to survivors and people who are still in these cults where informed concept becomes a foreign concept. Joining me on this episode is Dr Caroline Ansley where we deep dive into the cultiverse and learn about the madness of groupthink and coercive control.

How have we ended up in both a housing and productivity crisis? Why can't we seem to just get on with maintaining and building more housing and infrastructure? Why does it feel like inequality is getting worse, not better? Joining me on this episode of Revolving Door is Sam Stubbs, founder and CEO of simplicity, a not-for-profit kiwisaver and investment provider. Late stage capitalism and an economy based on selling houses to each other is failing our younger generations. I ask Sam if it is possible to make capitalism work better for our young people. Us millenials and zoomers are struggling to get on the housing ladder. How easy is it to hold down a job when your landlord sells up your home? How easy is it for kids to get good education if they keep having to move schools? What effects will the stress of housing insecurity have on our health outcomes? If we can't get housing right, can we really solve any of our other problems?

When we talk about addressing the mental health issues in society, we often hear that if only we had more psychologists, more psychiatrists, more psychotherapists and counsellors, we'd be able to fix the problem. Hamish William's is a host of NewstalkZB's show, The Nutters Club. He has a different perspective on the issue, given that every Sunday night he listens to real stories from real people facing very real mental health challenges around the country. For his listeners, The Nutters Club has become a beacon of hope and a network of support forged through the airwaves. We kōrero about building communities that become self supporting and self healing. Hamish also explores his own experience as a step father and the challenges faced with raising a teenage son in the age of Andrew Tate and the Manosphere.

Imagine a future where healthcare looks more like the tiers of a Netflix subscription. Where if you can afford it, your premium, gold-plated health service gets you your own personal family doctor. Meanwhile, those on the ‘free tier’ still get access to healthcare, but it’s delivered via algorithm and internet. In the eyes of Melissa Clark-Reynolds, this could one day be a reality. An Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a futurist and a company director. Melissa is a thought leader and a game changer always at the edge of technological innovations. She uses her experiences and knowledge about human behaviour and technology to guide companies and people to a better future.

Healthcare services around the world are reeling from the consequences of a pandemic. We have news media and social media that are full of discontent with the provision of these core services and we hear the word crisis so regularly, sometimes it's easy to forget what normal is So much of our healthcare system is devoted to the treatment of disease, rather than wellbeing and prevention. So much so that we are seeing our hospitals full of patients with worsening amenable disease with ultimately worse health outcomes. Joining me today is Dr David Galler, retired intensive care doctor, health leader and author of the book Things That Matter to talk about his experiences in the intensive care unit. He shares with us his insights of working both as a clinician with our sickest people as well as the difficulties of trying to drive change as a leader within the bureuacracy. If we only focus on improving our treatments, will we continue to chase our own tails by refusing to focus on the real drivers of poor health?

Can we fix our mental health epidemic with a drastic change in what we eat? That's the question posed by Professor Julia Rucklidge. She's a psychologist and the director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Canterbury. Her research has focused on the impact of nutrition on brain metabolism, gut microbiome and how our mental health is directly tied to the gut-brain axis. We kōrero with Julia about the findings of her studies and expose the barriers she's faced challenging the status quo, with Scientific institutes unwilling to publish and promote research on the basis that it questions the existing treatments.

The issues of health, education and welfare can often feel intangible and immovable. Despite feeling like we are slipping backwards on these issues, we often look to the government, expecting them to drive change. Yet, in our focus on government as an omnipotent force, we might overlook the organic source of change at the grassroots. Charities, NGOs and Community organisations often serve as the safety net for the most vulnerable among us. However, they struggle due to insufficient funding, resources, and the means to measure their impact. Social Investment is an initiative that aims to promote and resource the grassroots programs that are working. Joining me to talk more about this is former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Sir Bill English. Today his organisation Impact Lab helps charities and NGOs better measure the impact they have. You might notice that the audio quality of this episode isn’t up to our usual standard. Unfortunately we had some issues with the recording and have had to do our best with a backup. So please bear with us, we promise it’s a conversation worth listening to.

Top of mind for Nzers, according to the media, is youth crime and ram raids. But when I speak to most people, there’s a deeper understanding that crime is just a symptom of broader societal dissonance. The risk factors for a life of crime and incarceration are well studied and well known, yet it feels like we haven't figured out how to prevent it yet. Or at least we haven't accepted that we need to keep doing the interventions that work and stop doing the interventions that don't. On this episode I'm joined by Sully Paea, Member of the New Zealand order of Merit for his services to youth work. He's an iconic fixture in Otara who has not only seen it all, but lived it.

Rarely in conversation, do we hear about the state of Asian health. Despite being over 15% of the NZ population, it feels like this issue has dropped completely off the map. If we take the data at face value, it appears that on average asians in New Zealand, are doing alright. But within this demographic are a superdiverse population, heterogenous in culture, needs and health risks. To help me unpack this often overlooked issue of asian health, I’m speaking with Ivan Yeo, deputy director of Asian Family Services. He dispels the myths that exist and shines a light on core issues affecting families he serves.

For a long time, New Zealand has traded off the back of its agricultural and farming expertise. Producing enough food to feed 40 million, we export most of that overseas. It’s made us a pretty wealthy country and afforded us access to new medicines; precision scientific instruments; animal feed and fuel. However, our heavy reliance on agriculture has come at the cost of our environment, leading to soil degradation, water pollution and excessive carbon emissions. On today’s episode I kōrero with Darryn Keiller CEO and founder of Agtech startup, WayBeyond. They’re a New Zealand company whose mission is to improve the way we cultivate food. As we know, access to quality nutrition, fruit and vegetables is critical for the health and wellbeing of our future generations. But our food systems face uncertainty in the wake of Climate Change. Cyclone Gabrielle highlighted the power of extreme weather to disrupt our food growers. So what does a more resilient and sustainable food system look like?

On this episode we kōrero with Emily King, a food systems expert and author of the book, Re-Food. We unravel sustainable agriculture, food accessibility, and the challenges posed by monopolistic supermarkets. Emily's narratives from Cuba shed light on food scarcity and resilient island communities like Waiheke. Our conversation dives into empathy, societal collaboration, and sustainable food futures, emphasizing the impact of urban sprawl on farmlands. Through diverse perspectives, we explore humanity's relationship with food, seeking solutions for a more inclusive, sustainable future. This episode navigates food system complexities, fostering contemplation and dialogue. Join us as we journey through layers of our food systems, aiming for a deeper understanding and a path towards a better tomorrow.

In this touching podcast episode, we kōrero with Bernie Harfleet to explore the profound impact of adoption, experiences in state care, and the transformative work of "Give a Kid a Blanket.", a charity Bernie co-founded with his partner, Turtle. Bernie's journey, from adoption to reconnecting with his birth family, offers a unique perspective on identity and belonging. We dive deep into the struggles faced by children in state care, emphasising the importance of giving them a voice and support. Discover how Bernie and his community are changing lives one blanket at a time. Join us for a heartwarming conversation that shows how small acts of kindness can make a world of difference.

It's been a little while since we last released an episode of the podcast, so we thought we'd share a bit about what has been happening in our personal lives that has lead to the hiatus. Just over a year ago, Nina was approached to run as a candidate for a political party. Seeing it as an opportunity to give a voice to health workers and the issues facing our health system, we jumped head first into the world of campaigns, billboards, debates and politicians. With the election wave being finally over, we're now resurfacing and thought we'd share a bit about our experience.

In this episode, we kōrero Dr. Davin Tan, an adolescent psychiatrist. We explore the profound impact parents have on their children's lives, discussing attachment, resilience, and the changing dynamics of modern families. Davin shares insights from his experiences in Youth Justice and Forensic Psychiatry units, shedding light on the delicate balance between autonomy and safety in mental health care.

This is a special episode of 'Revolving Door Syndrome', recorded live at the ASB Waterfront Theatre after a performance of 'Things That Matter'. This production is an adaptation of Dr David Galler's book of the same name. We sit down with Dr Mamaeroa David and Rob Campbell to delve into the show. During our discussion, we address the stark realities that the show sheds light on regarding our struggling health system and how its themes resonate all too closely with real life.

In this episode we kōrero with Dr. Adrian Gray, an addiction specialist. We delve into the complexities surrounding mental health, societal influences, and the transformative power of psychedelic therapy. Speaking about the rise of anxiety and depression in modern society, Dr Adrian Gray underscores how psychedelic therapies offer a 'reset', a refreshing perspective that extends beyond traditional Western medicine. As we explore substances like Ayahuasca and LSD for therapeutic use, the conversation bridges the gap between their indigenous roots and their clinical applications in contemporary settings. Amidst a growing interest in psychedelics, we discuss the potential conflicts between the holistic, community-based approaches of native cultures and the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical industry. Join us for a compelling conversation about this unconventional yet promising approach to mental health.

On this episode, we sit down with Harry Tam, a former public policy advisor and patched member of New Zealand's Mongrel Mob. Harry offers a unique perspective on crime, gang culture, and the societal and economic factors that perpetuate these issues. He criticises the media's role in sensationalising crime and the political rhetoric around being "tough on crime". Drawing from his personal experiences and observations, Harry emphasises the need to focus on changing harmful behaviours rather than trying to eliminate gangs. He also discusses the impact of economic policies on communities and how they can lead to cycles of crime and gang involvement. This episode is a deep dive into the complexities of crime, gang culture, and the societal and economic factors that contribute to these issues from the perspective of someone who has both lived experience and policy expertise.

This week we are joined by Dr Julian Buchanan, retired associate professor of criminology and addiction. He is now using his research and experiences to advocate for drug policy reform through the Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa. Julian is originally from Liverpool, UK and is now enjoying a busy ‘retirement’ in Waikenae beach.