Frank Ritchie hosts a weekly talkback show on Newstalk ZB; he founded a Christian chaplaincy organisation to minister to journalists and others who work in the NZ media; and until relatively recently he was also a Protestant pastor. Then, in Easter 2026, after many years of profound grappling and contemplation, he swam the Tiber and entered the Catholic Church.

After 15 years of back-and-forth on various hot button issues, sometimes on opposing sides, Frank and I finally sat down together in dialogue as ecclesial brothers. In this episode of The Dispatches we discuss what led to Frank’s conversion to Catholic Christianity, his experiences as a media personality, the crisis of dehumanisation in public discourse, and lots more.

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In this episode I sit down with Simon O’Connor for a candid conversation about his life and views on the times we find ourselves living through. We discuss everything from conspiracy theories, to his political betrayal, to being a politician during the Ardern regime, the current state of NZ politics, and whether he regrets not going out to meet with the organisers of the COVID anti-mandate protest at Parliament grounds.

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Last week a Louisiana court issued a significant ruling about how abortion pills can be accessed in their state. Within days that ruling had escalated all the way to the US Supreme Court. In this episode I explore how we got to this point and where the legal battle currently stands. I also explain the good reasons why I think that even pro-choice people should be in favour of the Louisiana ruling, as well as the deeper ideological and cultural factors at play in all of this.

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