The Leighton Smith Podcast

After 33 years behind the Newstalk ZB microphone, Leighton can’t give it up completely. There were so many requests to continue his opinionated commentary that the prospect of podcasting was born.So, without restriction, Leighton continues to serve up on everything you want to hear about and some things you don’t. Stand by to be enlightened, educated and enraged!

01:16:30 2024-03-27
Roger L Simon is a writer of books, both fiction and non-fiction. He was the founding CEO of PJ Media, but he is also a screenwriter of standing, a political commentator and columnist with the Epoch Times. We talked about his column, “What it Means That...
01:22:13 2024-03-20
The Jim Allan commentary on the NZ Supreme Court’s Smith v Fonterra decision (Podcast 229) encouraged considerable reaction from the 'court of the pen’. Foremost was correspondence from Gary Judd KC, who not only communicated to us but published a cor...
01:24:31 2024-03-13
George Friedman, founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures, is in the studio with us this week. And there’s plenty to discuss; wars and rumours of more wars. Possible peace in Ukraine, Star Wars, politics and crises, and the part New Zealand has to p...
01:47:02 2024-03-06
The legal fraternity in this part of the world is delighted at the Supreme Court’s decision on Smith v Fonterra. But not everyone feels that way. In his inevitable style, Professor James Allan critiques the decision and the direction a collection of un-...
01:34:12 2024-02-28
Canadian Jonathan Roth, founder of Resource Wars, recently recorded an interview with the former Mossad Chief Efraim Halevy. He did not get the answers he was expecting. Roth maintains that "progress and wealth are impossible without resources. All empire...
01:28:59 2024-02-20
Bitcoin trail blazed the interest and development of digital money. As a result, the drive for a cashless society with fiat currency being replaced with CBDCs is being pursued by an increasing number of countries. Currently, that count is a worrying 130. ...
01:27:42 2024-02-14
If, like me, you love venturing into unknown territory and investigating challenges that are essentially beyond us, then here’s a question..As we know, time goes forward, but can it go back?Physicist Tom Sheahen explains how to expand human thinking and...
01:25:51 2024-02-06
After six years of being mismanaged on so many fronts, New Zealand requires firm direction. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, opens up on our relationship with the U.S., the Middle East, China and Russia. We discuss th...
00:58:59 2024-01-30
Leighton is on summer break, so we are highlighting some of his favourite guests from 2023. Three NZ academics have recently written that NZ’s Tertiary Education Sector is in deep financial crisis, and that our universities are losing their best people....
01:04:47 2024-01-23
Leighton is on summer break, so we are highlighting some of his favourite guests from 2023. Ramesh Thakur, Emeritus Professor of the Crawford School of Public Policy. He has held academic appointments in Fiji, New Zealand (Otago), Canada and Australia. He...
01:12:21 2024-01-16
Leighton is on summer break, so we are highlighting some of his favourite guests from 2023. Professor James Allan returns to discuss our election, Jordan Peterson, The Voice, and Trumps legal challenges. Jim encourages any so-called conservative parties t...
00:57:37 2024-01-09
Leighton is on summer break, so we are highlighting some of his favourite guests from 2023. In a world of lies, scepticism is your friend.David Bell is a Public Health Physician and biotech consultant in global health.What he has to say should be heard by...
00:56:20 2024-01-02
Leighton is on summer break, so we are highlighting some of his favourite guests from 2023. Stephen Jennings is a Kiwi expat. His first job after university was with Treasury in 1984, a noted time of economic and political change. Jennings life has centre...
01:04:24 2023-12-26
Leighton is on summer break, so we are highlighting some of his favourite guests from 2023. Science is in trouble.Facts have taken a back seat to ideology, and political activism masquerades as scholarship. We live in an age of increasing unreason. Can sc...
00:48:06 2023-12-19
Leighton is on summer break, so we are highlighting some of his favourite guests from 2023. AGAINST THE GREAT RESET; 18 THESES CONTRA THE NEW WORLD ORDER… In one of the most informative and enjoyable interviews, we talk with editor and contributor Micha...
00:41:18 2023-12-12
The events in Israel on October 7 shocked the world. The differing reactions from various countries, cultures, races and religions should have shocked just as much. The lack of historical knowledge and perspective exposed the thin veneer of civilisation. ...
01:15:26 2023-12-05
Daniel Hannan sat as a Conservative MEP for 21 years. During that period he made countless speeches, usually berating the European Parliament itself. He was arguably one of the best members of the European Parliament. Daniel was keen to discuss matters Co...
01:34:48 2023-11-29
'The Treason of the Experts’, by Thomas Harrington, underscores the need to apply intellectual discernment on all pressing questions in a case-by-case manner.Tom suggests that having more educational credentials is no guarantee against the danger of bel...
01:19:48 2023-11-22
The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) is the brainchild of Dr Jordan Peterson. It had its inaugural conference in London at the end of October. There were 1500 attendees from over 100 countries; including the author of “Unsettled”, Professor ...
01:10:30 2023-11-15
It’s not just national government that should concern us. Local government should concern us too. Auckland has spent an inordinate amount of time and money trying to become a world class city. But still, Auckland's problems seem to grow. From a growing ...
01:31:46 2023-11-08
Three weeks post election, and we are still no nearer to knowing what the final make up of the government will be. We speak with Steven Joyce, in what we thought might be a half hour chat. But even after his barking dog was edited from the interview, we s...
01:30:06 2023-10-31
In July this year we spoke with Jonathan Sumption, and we catch up with him again during his trip to New Zealand. In the interim there has been a lot of change that is worthy of his opinion - the Hamas attack, Israel’s response, and the associated react...
01:24:39 2023-10-25
Three NZ academics have recently written that NZ’s Tertiary Education Sector is in deep financial crisis, and that our universities are losing their best people. At the same time a new private institution, the University of Austin, Texas, is prepping fo...
01:19:37 2023-10-18
With the election over (apart from half a million votes still to be counted), we look at how the country can encourage a more positive approach to economic recovery. “Commerce beats politics, every time.” This quote comes from our guest, Earl Rattray,...
01:15:53 2023-10-10
Is Democracy a failed idea? How badly has Ardernism damaged the country? We also discuss the failure of the judicial system with retired judge Anthony Willy, on the eve of the most important election of our lifetime. Words of warning from Ayaan Hirsi Ali ...
01:31:11 2023-10-03
During September, London cardiologist Aseem Malhotra toured New Zealand giving talks on matters covid.Overseas, he has been tagged controversial (controversy has a place in science).We interviewed Malhotra, so you could have access to his opinions and dec...
01:21:18 2023-09-26
John Banks spent 21 years in Parliament. For many of those years, he held high profile ministerial portfolios. He was also a two term Mayor of Auckland. This week, he gives us his stark and honest account of NZ’s current position. He concludes that the ...
01:32:26 2023-09-20
I first met George Friedman in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1986. George was then a Professor at the War College. A few years later he established Stratfor.com and then in 2015, GeopoliticalFutures.com. He has authored a number of books and is now writing...
01:23:34 2023-09-13
On this week's podcast: Trust has declined at all levels at an increasing rate. Without trust we cannot operate at a successful level. With the election almost upon us, deciding who we can trust is a challenge for many. Oxford Associate Professor Thomas W...
01:24:43 2023-09-06
On this week's podcast: In what many think is the most important election we’ve ever had, there are many issues to consider. Arguably, freedom is the most important. Without liberty, we are not the masters of our own lives. New Zealanders have experienc...
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