In this episode, Simon explains his anger on the prior night’s Straight Talk panel (with Christine Rankin, Mel Taylor, and Rodney Hyde) about media treatment of allegations and its impact on families.
He shares breaking news of an Air Canada plane colliding with a fire truck at LaGuardia airport in New York. Turning to New Zealand politics, he discusses Alfred Ngaro joining New Zealand First arguing it will hurt National’s polling and shift conservative and Pasifika support, with Winston Peters again potentially the kingmaker on election night.
He highlights overseas cases he says threaten religious speech including an Icelandic Catholic priest investigated under conversion-therapy laws and a Finnish MP in court for quoting from the Bible. He criticises the New Zealand Courts leaving X for Bluesky, suggesting political bias and broader judicial overreach. Finally, Simon condemns a Herald article promoting puberty blockers as a prejudiced, inaccurate, puff piece.