The Vault

Austrian born Rudolf Steiner lived from 1861 to 1925. His first school was established in 1919. The Nazis opposed his ideas but his schools and kindergartens spread rapidly around the world after… Read more Audio

Not for the first time in its long existence, the School Journal is under threat. The Vault looks back at the world's oldest children's series publication. Audio

In the lifetime of New Zealander Rewi Alley, China went through bloody revolution, followed by Communism. Now as our greatest trading partner, we owe a debt to the man who paved the way. Audio

Voices and events transport us back to the time of our most famous pioneering women aviators. Audio

One of New Zealand's premier sporting events changed hands recently, marking the end of an exclusive 30 year association with its creator. Deborah Nation heads to the archives knowing she'll find a… Read more Audio

Gay marriage is now legal here in New Zealand, but decades ago it was highly risque to even admit that one was a practicing homosexual. Audio

Deborah Nation dips into the murky waters of Rogernomics, drawing initially on street definitions from ordinary New Zealanders in 1988. Audio

Conversations between one-time residents of an historic riverside community - in the 1970s the late Elsie Locke and Rod Donald helped to create one of Christchurch's strongest riverside communities… Read more Audio

Deborah Nation has pieced together archival material on New Zealand's own 5th of November event. It was on this date in 1881, that colonial troops invaded the coastal Taranaki settlement of Parihaka… Read more Audio

Deb Nation explores the archives to celebrate the Women's Conventions which radicalised country ladies, rape victims and feminist separatists alike, 50 years ago. Audio

Deb Nation takes us to the Orient, finding recollections of childhood from a variety of people born in China, including writer EG Cousins who recalls the place "littered with Chinese" during the Boxer… Read more Audio

Treasures from the Sound Archives as a young sporting sensation called Peter Snell races around the track in record time. Audio

26 April 1986 - breaking news on the day of the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. Audio

Members of the 24th Battalion as they prepared and went to battle at Ruweisat Ridge - part of the El Alamein offensive in 1942. Audio

Radio New Zealand has had to abandon the Christchurch building that was it's base and the home of Sound Archives - Nga Taonga Korero. Deborah Nation tells its earthquake story through audio - starting… Read more Audio

Deborah Nation recalls how it was in the Sound Archives and Radio New Zealand offices in Christchurch on the day of the February earthquake. The building on the corner of Durham and Chester Street… Read more Audio

A team of 23 including leader Edmund Hillary spent long winter months waiting for the sun to come up in Antarctica. The life changing experience was remembered in 1977 and again this year at a Scott… Read more Audio

In 1987, Jack Perkins recorded an award-winning documentary capturing the life, the sounds and the personalities of Cathedral Square in Christchurch. Thirty years on, Deborah Nation parallels that… Read more Audio

The familiar voice of Dame Ngaio Marsh – leading crime fiction writer and Shakespearian producer. She sends a personal message on an acetate disc and reveals the tricks of her trade as a dramatist and… Read more Audio, Gallery

Despite a hasty retreat from its iconic building in Christchurch's Square following the February earthquake, 'The Press', is in celebration mode. It's 150 years since the paper began with a six page… Read more Audio