Every Thursday, The Real Pod team is delving back into the beautiful and bizarre pop culture moments that captured our nation. 

Remember when Natalia Kills and Willy Moon blew up X Factor NZ? Remember when Carlos Spencer took his top off for a Toffee Pop? Remember when The Ridges used a stunt mouse? The Real Pod certainly does. Every Thursday starting this week, Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive will be deep diving into a different pop culture moment from our past. 

The Real Pod has been a bastion of local popular culture since 2015, when we began recapping the first season of The Bachelor NZ. Since then we have covered Dancing With the Stars NZ, Married at First Sight NZ, The Real Housewives of Auckland, Celebrity Treasure Island and The Block NZ, while still covering all the bizarre local celebrity news from our beloved gossip pages. 

While we’ll still be recapping present-day reality television shows over on our Substack, we have felt a growing urge to turn our attention to a simpler, pre-pandemic, pop culture era. A time when Chris Warner pleaded about penises, a time when Justin Bieber sulked live on C4, a time when Goldstein from the ASB ads was the most beloved character on television. 

We’ll also be looking beyond television to the world of sport and film, food and politics. Remember when BlackHeart divided the nation? Abstain for the game? When the country went crazy for The Lord of the Rings, and then even crazier for a posh chocolate milk collab? And how could we ever forget when the election was ruled by a digital worm? All that, and so much more to come. 

Follow The Real Pod presents: Remember When on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts – new episodes out every Thursday. And subscribe to The Real Pod Extra on Substack for even more.