Checkpoint Podcast Options

5:50 PM.It's our final Checkpoint programme of the year, we've done 226 shows in 2024, that's close to 500 hours of radio and we've covered a lot of really remarkable stories from Aotearoa and around the… Read more Audio

5:45 PM.Asia correspondent Erin Hale spoke to Lisa Owen about a woman who's just returned home to the Philippines after spending 14 years on death row in Indonesia, China looking to make travel more accesible… Read more Audio

5:37 PM.You wouldn't buy your child a sibling as a present, so don't buy a companion animal without thinking very hard. That's the message from Mini Vadke from Mama Mini's rescue in Palmerston North, who… Read more Audio

5:33 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report Audio

5:28 PM.Game one of the Rose Bowl series against Australia was abandoned and both teams will be hoping for a better weather forecast at the Basin Reserve for game two. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to… Read more Audio

5:24 PM.In a surprise move, the sale of polytechnics will be on the table when the national institute of technology Te Pūkenga is disestablished. Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds today announced the… Read more Audio

5:15 PM.Lavinia Mahit in Port Vila, the acting country director for Save The Children in Vanuatu spoke to Lisa Owen about the 3.7 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu. Audio

5:08 PM.Search and rescue including a specialist New Zealand team continue to scour rubble in Port Vila, with locals saying there were more than a dozen people were in the Billabong store that pancaked in… Read more Audio

4:48 PM.There's a little bit of a penguin parade going on in Oamaru. They've been wombling around the town and in out of shops in their best all year round tuxedos. A local tourism group is keeping an eye on… Read more Audio

4:42 PM.Hundreds of Manawatu residents at higher risk of developing bowel cancer have been told they won't get their regular check-up colonoscopies for at least six months. Te Whatu Ora MidCentral said it's… Read more Audio

4:32 PM.Being able to swim is often considered a life skill in a country like New Zealand - but tough economic times are forcing many families to pull their children out of swim lessons. A swim school in… Read more Audio

4:28 PM.Lawson will return home to New Zealand over the Christmas period before getting back to work in the simulator in the new year, testing on track in Bahrain in February and getting on the starting grid… Read more Audio

4:25 PM.The popularity of Electric Vehicles in New Zealand has moved into the slow lane. With the end of the clean car discount, introduction of road user charges or new ACC levies - things have kept coming… Read more Audio

4:08 PM.Someone once said a balanced diet is a cookie in each hand, they could have worked for Checkpoint. This week we've had our snouts in the good old fashioned biscuit sampler box that one of our… Read more Audio

5:43 PM.The Australian Government is seeking assurances from Malaysia that two men who took part in the 2002 Bali Bombings, now released from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, will be kept… Read more Audio

5:36 PM.Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey didn't make a Budget bid this year for more mental health service beds, despite them being at or over capacity. The Opposition says this is a massive oversight… Read more Audio

5:32 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:28 PM.It's been a tough year for foodbanks with more people in financial hardship and funding hard to come by. But one foodbank in Porirua run by Wellington iwi Ngāti Toa says collaboration and connection… Read more Audio

5:24 PM.Taupō International Motorsport Park hosted racing this year after New Zealand dropped off the schedule for a season. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.  Audio

5:15 PM.Corrections is slashing the amount of time prisoners can spend on jail phones talking to their whanau, and said some inmates have been abusing the system, resorting to violence and stand over tactics… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.An New Zealand Airforce plane carrying search and rescue equipment and disaster relief supplies has arrived in Vanuatu following the 7.3 magnitude earthquake earlier this week. MFAT consular staff and… Read more Audio

4:45 PM.An inmate's wife said severely cutting the amount of time time prisoners can spend on the phone to family could lead to more tension and violence in jail and will harm rehabilitation efforts. At the… Read more Audio

4:42 PM.The former Minister of Defence said delays to critical humanitarian flights to Vanuatu are embarassing for New Zealand. It comes after a New Zealand Defence Force Hercules plane carrying rescue staff… Read more Audio

4:36 PM.Barring a blip at the height of the pandemic and lockdowns, the latest quarterly results are the worst New Zealand's seen in more than 30 years. Political reporter Russell Palmer has more. Audio

4:31 PM.All Black Ardie Savea has been one of the big movers during the Super Rugby off-season after joining his brother at Moana Pasifika. The rugby pre-season is coming up to the Christmas break and Savea… Read more Audio