Grey Areas with Petra Bagust

When I decided to make a podcast, I did wonder if anybody was gonna be interested in talking about those tricky aspects of getting older.

Well, I've been delighted by your response, so, we're back for a second season!

Coming up you'll hear Suzy Cato like never before… We’re talking boobs with Jay Jay Feeney, and getting some insider info on the gateway to goodness that is our pelvic floor.

Let’s talk more about menopause, money, anger and more.....

That's right, not only are we back - we're back chatting menopause. This time, I'm speaking with Niki Bezzant, who has literally written the book on the subject - This Changes Everything: The Honest Guide to Menopause and Perimenopause. 

As Niki says in our kōrero, understanding what's going on in our bodies is so empowering. We talk hormones, weight redistribution, mood swings, self-care habits, anxiety and more...

TV host, MC and co-author of Māori At Home, Māori Made Easy and more, this legend of New Zealand media needs little introduction. Stacey Morrison joins me for a kōrero about settling into your skin. She deep dives into her identity as wahine Māori, tells me what makes her nervous, how 'good girl syndrome' is still a thing for her, and the role spirituality plays in her everyday life...

Mary Holm is a bit of an institution. Her long-standing finance columns, radio appearances and down to earth books on savings and investment, have helped demystify what can be a daunting topic for so many. I'm particularly struck by her encouraging and reassuring tone.

Money doesn't have to be a burden, and that's a view shared by my good friend and first returning podcast guest Te Waka McLeod who's working with whānau in Taranaki to build financial stability...

I have waited so long to say this and the day is finally here! The one and only, the fabulous, the just-as-magical-in-real-life-as-you'd-imagine Suzy Cato joins me for a kōrero.

After a (slightly) unfortunate encounter with my cat, we peeled back the curtain on the so-called always-happy life of Suzy Cato. We talk about losing jobs, the end of dreams, a mother's grief and how she has found her way through the crunchier and more tender parts of life...

Did you know that about 50 percent of women will experience a prolapse? We're talking a prolapse of their anterior vaginal wall, or their uterus or bowel starting to come down...

We decided to do something a little different this episode! My wonderful counsellor Shirley Pastiroff joins for a live counselling session. What could possibly go wrong?!

Shirley is a counsellor at Renew Your Mind, parent coach, and author of 'The Mindful Parent'. She also runs the often sold-out workshop, Mindful Parenting. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, she's also a mum of five well-functioning humans...

How weird are boobs? I mean, when you think about it, they can be sexually stimulating to others, life-giving to babies, and at times even deadly to us!

How we think about our lovely lady lumps is too often dictated by everybody else, but even our own attitudes can be laced with criticism and shame.

Too small. Too big. Too uneven. Too heavy...

Meet two of my awesome mates, Pietra Brettkelly and Sandy Burgham, who are two fabulous wāhine living life to the beat of their own drums, and saying No to the script society says women need to follow. So I thought it'd be bloody good fun to sit down and swap stories, and find out what makes their brave risk-taking brains tick.

Pietra is a documentary film-maker whose body of work includes Yellow is Forbidden and The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins...

From mild irritation to annoyance to fury and rage - what is anger, really? Are women allowed to be angry in our society? What role does anger play in our lives? And is it ever a good thing?

Join me as a I discuss this with registered psychologist Nettie Cullen, gaining her professional insight into this tricky emotion, including how to understand what our anger is telling us and what we can do with it...