Gone By Lunchtime
A New Zealand politics podcast hosted by The Spinoff's Toby Manhire with Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas.
The Spinoff
Show overview
Gone By Lunchtime has been publishing since 2016, and across the 10 years since has built a catalogue of 308 episodes. That works out to roughly 220 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 37 min and 51 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. Roughly 32% of episodes carry an explicit flag from the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language News show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 3 days ago, with 24 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2023, with 65 episodes published. Published by The Spinoff.
From the publisher
A New Zealand politics podcast hosted by The Spinoff's Toby Manhire with Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas.
Latest Episodes
View all 308 episodesPost-coup chat, with guest star Chris Penk
Emergency pod: Do you get déjà coup?
What is Mr Luxon doing?
Someone take away Stuart Nash's phone, please
Are the Oppies unstoppable?
Jamboree season in an election year
Unhappy families
At Large with Toby Manhire: Britain’s great big prime minister problem, continued
Hardcore lobbying and the emotional senior staffer
Budget special with Bernard Hickey
Live at Auckland Writers Festival with Tova O'Brien guest star
Jane Wrightson on Super squabbles, Seymour and the state of the media
The book everyone, politicians especially, should read in 2026
The deepest breach in the Luxon coalition, and a National reboot
Luxon stares down rebel moan squad across 100 white-knuckle hours
The force majeure election
Special ep with Anna Fifield on the US, Iran, and Winston in Washington
Is NZ getting the fuel crisis right? Here's your timely, targeted and temporary analysis
Covidesque in crisis-mode, but anti-Covid in substance, the government response to the economic shockwaves released from the war on Iran is playing out in New Zealand this week. Have Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon got it right with a $50 weekly payment that will help many, but miss out many more? Has a small-target-fixated Labour Party missed an opportunity? Are we all Hormuzologists now?Winston Peters, meanwhile, is pulling the crowds and playing the hits with a big speech in Tauranga that emphasised gentailer breakup and social conservatism, and unveiled, a little awkwardly, a new party candidate in former minister Alfred Ngaro. Has he nailed the in-power and in-opposition challenge, or is it just the populist-nationalist global winds blowing his way? And just what, by the way, is going on with the U-turn on commercial fishing size limits that everyone seems to be claiming credit for?Plus: how the claims about Chris Hipkins, made on Facebook by his ex-wife, made its way to the tiles of parliament. And Brooke van Velden is resigning from politics to spend more time with the public sector. What legacy does she leave, and what does it mean for the yellow-blue paradise of Tāmaki? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We don't know how to be any clearer, guys
It was Christopher Luxon's worst week as prime minister, beginning with flubbed attempts to explain New Zealand's position on the war on Iran and ending with a nightmare poll that put National at 28.4% and sparked headlines suggesting he was considering his position. We step through those painful days, assessing the official response to the strikes launched by the US and Israel, the criticisms levelled at Luxon, and whether he has put the matter to bed by rubbishing those suggestions he was thinking of quitting and a delivering a markedly improved performance this week. Plus: as the shockwaves of the Middle East conflict are felt as far away as the New Zealand consumer economy and an election creeps closer, is National best to lean into crisis mode? In this episode, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire also take a look at the High Court that Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s expulsion from Te Pāti Māori was unlawful: what next after her "repatriation"? And the second Royal Commission on the Covid response has been issued, and swiftly subject to some high-velocity spin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10th birthday special: Live with Wayne Brown and Andrew Little
The mayors of Wellington and Auckland join Toby, Annabelle and Ben for two very special live events in recent days at the Embassy and Q Theatres. Discussion ranges from the state of the two cities to dealing with the Luxon government, from the last decade of politics to the stakes in the 2026 election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices