Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - Best of the Week: Crying, terrible research & lost in kiwi translation

Episode Date: August 2, 2025

Missed the Jono, Ben & Megan this week? We’ve got you.Catch the best bits from the week, all wrapped up in one bite-sized piece.Megan gets emotional over our birthday gift, Jono realises mid-interview that he researched the wrong guest, and Ben gets lost in the lyrical labyrinth of Billy Joel's Piano Man . Plus, more standout moments from the week!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The John O'Bannon Megan podcast. Thanks to HelloFresh, your home advantage for delicious midweek dinners everyone will love. A body shaming, uh, bald people. Uh, but because basically the billboard says on there, you look better bald, dot dot dot, said no one ever. And it's to do with a medical company that sends you, they have international clinics around the world.

And if you wanted to get your hair and other things done, you can approach them and do it. Uh, the Turkish ad. I could keep getting fed the Turkish ads on Instagram. Turkey's one of the options. There's many other international... I've looked before. I've seen you at the link if you want it. And there may be other options. Yeah. So maybe they're looking for...

Wait. They might be looking for a new face. Let's get Jono's face up on this billboard. I think it's like him. We could do this. I think it's like him. Well, he could be the face of the before face. We give you so much crap. But honestly, I have said to bald brothers that they look better bald. Well he could be the face of the before face. We give you so much crap but honestly I have said to bald brothers that they look better

bald. Who? When? Never said that to me. Our boss looks better bald than he does with his shaggy hair. I've heard him mock him for it. So there's been a poll as they do on the news sites now they find other angles Don't they so they've collated a poll of engagement. I think they call it Don't they it's some engagement on this and so they put a little fun little poll that everyone can get in behind saying

The bald and the beautiful who is New Zealand's most prominent and best looking bald person and you're in there And then there is that puts you in like the top six. Yeah Yeah, no, I don try and make me feel better. What I love though too, when they explain everyone's names too, obviously in the poll, some people get legendary status. Like League legend Monty Beatham, he's taking it out at the moment 26%. I call him a legend. Yeah, yeah. Then there's also boxing legend David Tua, he's in there as well. And then they've just got broadcaster Jon O'Pryor, so you're not legend, just broadcaster. Just listing your job.

And then in brackets Jon O'Behan just in case you're like, who's Jon O'Pryor? Not even a legend broadcaster. And at what place is he sitting? At the moment, fourth, just Short and Street star Ben Barrington is just 1% behind you. He's really encroaching in Christopher Luxton in third, comedian Lee Hart in second and Monte Beatham in first. So you are bald but you're not even good at it. No, I'm just getting scalped to this competition as well. Now you've organised Malcolm who's on the phone. How are you? Yes.

How are you? Yeah, not too bad. Now you have voted for the best bald person in New Zealand on the New Zealand Herald. You've got premium. Yes, I've got premium and I saw that this morning and I did vote. Yep. Good on you, Malcolm. You said on your text, you said, hey Jono, I'm a Herald premium customer. Great. Love it. Also listen to us in the mornings, which is great. Amazing.

And you voted this morning. Now Malcolm, who'd you vote for? I voted for quite a good looking fellow with no hair, Lee Hart. Lee Hart. A wasted vote Malcolm. Not really. Do you listen to Lee Hart in the mornings? No I don't. I listen to you guys. But this is how the ACT party gets into parliament.

You know, people just having a laugh. Take it seriously Malcolm How am I polling now? Lee does have amazing chippies Lee Hart is actually doing well. He's doing thanks to people like you Malcolm He's getting close to Monty Beatham at the moment. It's Monty and Lee's race to lose Have I fallen away? You've fallen away. Christopher Luxton's extended his lead over you as well.

Yeah, so... Jomo's falling further back. I don't think any of these people are talking about it as much as we are. We still can't get you up there. If anything, he's got worse since we started speaking today. Yeah, because people like Malcolm are like, I'll do an anti-vote. Oh, Malcolm.

Well, listen, I think it's time to concede, don't you? Probably is. Do you think I need to concede now to Montebeath and Malcolm? Yeah, I think it's time to concede don't you? Probably is. Do you think I need to concede now to Montebeath and Malcolm? Yeah I think you probably should, while you've still got some pride left mate. Thanks Malcolm, have a great day. So I think you need to concede right? Okay. I think that's what they do in the elections, you know, when they lose, they're one of the

parties. Have they counted all the special votes? No but it's at the point in the poll where they don't need to they can Tell that he's gonna win. He can govern alone. Yeah Well Monty Beatham even know he's in a poll That'd be the sad thing for you if he doesn't John O Ben and Megan the podcast the heads Hold on the beautiful they're calling it John O's's in there, we're amongst some other bald people, prominent bald people, but has

not taken it out. Can I just say thank you both for the support as well. You've tried your best. You tried your best. In some campaigns you just can't win. People aren't ready for it. Megan was ready to be your campaign manager. I thought it was funny to vote for someone else because you're like, you're going to

vote for Jono. I pushed you babes. I'd like to say it's an honour to be in the mix, but it's kind of humiliating to be almost last, but... So in the elections, you know, if you've lost the election, you normally concede, right? You know, they call the leader of the opposition party. What a hard phone call to make to be like, hey, congratulations. Especially after weeks of just like saying stuff about each other. Yeah.

But anyway, right now you need to concede. Hi, is that Monty? Yes. Monty it's Jon O'Pryor here. Kero mate how are you? Broadcast, firstly broadcaster Jon O'Pryor and brackets Jon O'Beatham. Is this league legend Monty Beatham? It's your good old buddy Monty Beatham, you know who he has been perhaps. Monty this is just broadcaster not legendary broadcaster just broadcaster. I'm phoning to concede. What do you mean concede? Please don't tell me you don't know about the poll. There's a poll going on Monty. There's a poll happening. I will say, I got a text from someone saying you're the sexiest bald man in New Zealand, but that someone is not someone I can rely and trust on for anything. You just thought it was a friendly text.

Monty, there's been a poll going on, Harold Premium, which I think is a good one. I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one.

I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one. I think it's a good one. I and trust on for anything. You just thought it was a friendly text. Monty, there's been a poll going on, Herald, premium, which I, you know, my people, they're not premium people. They haven't paid for subs. Clearly you've got a premium audience. Whatever you need to tell yourself. Yeah, it's called the Bald and the Beautiful. It's on the New Zealand Herald online today.

Which New Zealand Baldie wears it best? And Monty, you are the clear leader at the moment. It's still going throughout the day, but Jono is, he's fallen right back since we started talking about it. I'm out of the race. So he wants to concede to you. Oh, Jono, you're a great man. I can only thank my wife who's probably going to lose her job because she's using the work

phone to text and all something like that to try and make you feel better about the choice she made in life. You are miles ahead and you had no idea about it. There was no campaigning, whereas we've been campaigning all morning and Jono's just fallen back. He's fallen back, without a word of a lie. He's dropping back and he wasn't third, now he's at the risk of fourth or fifth. Oh, I see. Since we've been talking about it.

Fourth or fifth. How many people are in this race? Six so far, so... Thanks. It's a one-horse race. Well, thank you so much. Yes,'s a one horse race. Well thank you so much. Yes I concede. Congratulations. You're a bettable Ben.

Thank you. Thank you my friend, my forward buddy. See you on TV. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hats. You've been saying all morning that we made you cry Megan. You did.

So it was my birthday on Friday guys, did you know? I did. It's still going on, it's got more events this weekend. It's still going guys. You gave me a lovely present, one of which was a Formula One Lego car, a Red Bull Lego car. Love your Formula One, F1 yeah. And I said at the time, I was like you have no idea how much I love this present. It's sad how much I love this present. So I took it home. Can I jump in here? A lot of that creative work was done by producer Grace. Producer Grace was the brainchild behind it. Yeah and then I subsequently found out that Ben didn't even want to buy the present so that's great. What's your stance on it? We've set a precedent.

Yeah we've set a precedent. Which you will benefit of on your birthday. I don't want to. We'll buy you something that really means something to you. So he's worried that we're... I also said I would organise all the presents by my own. I don't want it. I don't want it.

My present is no present. But anyway, it's not about me. He's worried that we've opened Pandora's present box. I'm going to send back that lifetime supply of Hansen. Hang on, I'm back in. But anyway, so I took this Lego Formula One car home and my intention was to hide it from my kids because they love Lego. They're also big fans of Formula One car home and my intention was to hide it from my kids because they love Lego. They're also big fans of Formula One. So they saw my son saw the car and

he was like nagging me all weekend to make the car with me and I didn't want to build the car with my children. I wanted to do it in a quiet moment by myself. I wanted to enjoy it in a quiet moment by myself. And I wanted to enjoy it myself. No, and no disrespect to the present too, because it's a wonderful present, but he's more target market to what's been brought home than you are. You would say the Lego.

Not so much these days, Lego. Yeah. So anyway, he harped on and harped on, and my husband's like, just make it with him. Just make it with him, please. He won't stop going on about it. And in the end, I was like, I don't want to. And I started crying and went to the bedroom.

Andrew came in and he was like, are you okay? Like, what are you doing? And I was like, I just wanted, in a moment by myself, to make my Formula One car by myself. Told you she went and got a present guys, this is what happens. Not even a big birthday. Tears family apart. Tears families apart. And so I have held strong and I've hidden it and I will make it by myself in a quiet moment but I did have a cry. Fair enough. Okay. Cry was probably a bit unnecessary but fair enough you want to make it by yourself.

I get it. What a roller coaster it is living with you. Okay. Last time you cried. Last time you cried. Love to hear from you this morning. Could be something big, could be something small. Jono, Ben and Megan.

The podcast. The Hats. But right now our boss Matt Anderson's coming. Looking a little sheepish this morning. Oh, yep. A little grey. Yeah. You look groggy.

Yeah, I feel a little groggy. Now this is quite, you know, we all, like you sent through a message and we're like, that sounded amusing, but actually sounds quite full on what you did to yourself over the weekend. Can I just say thank you very much that at first it was met with sympathy, empathy, and then secondly was can you tell the story on the radio? Yeah. How soon can we start mocking you? Oh, please, mock away. I was like, it feels...

No, but you said you feel like an idiot, but I think it's very sweet. What you were trying to do. And it's a terrible look for us to bully a man with a head injury, isn't it? So Saturday afternoon I was having like a little date afternoon with my seven year old daughter and she was like, I want to go to my school and play on the playgrounds. We went to do that and then she was like, look, they've left some balls out, like some sports equipment, so let's like play on the AstroTurf together. So we're playing football.

And- So then. Yeah, that's, if I was in the States, I would. And we're playing away and then she kicks the ball and it was a really good kick, so I was very impressed. And I started chasing after it. And then in my infinite wisdom was like, I'm gonna stop the ball.

So I tried to like stop it by standing on it. As you can imagine, it was traveling quite quickly. So I, according to the seven year old eyewitness, cause I don't remember this, basically went flying up in the air, landed, and then my head bounced off the Astro Turf. Oh! And again, according to her, my phone was in my pocket,

it ended up halfway down the pitch. My hat was gone, my sunglasses are gone and I just woke up like staring up at the sky like what the hell's just happened. So you don't remember this? I remember like trying to stop the ball and then I remember just staring at the sky. Now this is the problem, you know Matt, much like myself we're follically challenged. Yes. Where we don't have much cushioning to you when it comes to the head region. So this is what I'm pitching. State-funded helmets for bald guys. You want to wear a helmet all day?

Yeah dude if you want to you can go buy one. An open-faced helmet for all bald guys. The doctor said to me, she's like hitting your head on astroturf, it's basically like carpet on top of concrete. And you're right, there is nothing between my dome and the ground. Like a bowling ball with a smiley face hitting the ground Yeah, so you poor bugger honestly, how are you feeling? Oh like pretty I feel like I'm like underwater like yeah I felt okay afterwards and then yesterday I was feeling progressively worse and then it was my daughter was like you need to go To the doctor so I went and she's like, yeah No, you've got whiplash and you've sprained your neck and you've definitely got a concussion

Concussion concussion is pretty it's pretty serious, it can make you feel pretty ill. You can't remember it? No, I remember trying to stop the ball and then I remember just staring at the sky, being like what the hell just happened in between. I do say it would be hilarious, like I've considered going to the school and being like do you have CCTV footage? Oh please do that. I'd love to see it.

It'd be great to see that. We'll get that up on the hits breakfast. Otherwise I'll sue ya. So this is what we want to chuck open this morning. You ended up playing with the kids go bat. Maybe you injured yourself or maybe you knocked something off. You broke something in the house. It doesn't necessarily have to be like what Matt was saying before.

I must share a terrible double bouncing incident that I had with my son. Oh no. Yeah, a few years ago. So maybe you hurt yourself or you hurt your children. You hurt your children, you broke windows. When playing with the kids went bad. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast.

The Hats. Mando, he was playing football with his young daughter, fell over and concussed himself, severely concussed himself. Megan tried to get a pay rise out of him afterwards. Because he's feeling foggy, feels like he's under water. So I was like, what?

Pay rise? Yeah, let's take advantage. Maybe get some more annual leave. That's not a bad thought. It's a good idea actually. Take advantage of a poor person with a head injury. He can blame it later on the head injury too. He's kind of in the clear.

He's like, oh sorry, head injury. Win-win. So we just want to say when playing with the kids went bad. And I must share it. Well, I can do it now. We got a trampoline. My song was about two or three at the time. And I was like, oh, I remember double bouncing being quite an enjoyable exercise when you were younger.

Break the egg, you could play that. Yeah, that's a fun game. There's some classics, but the problem with the physics of the double bounce, it doesn't care about age. All it cares about is weight. Yeah. Doesn't it? And he, boy, he skyrocketed. When you get it right, it really goes, doesn't it? He went up so high, I was like, is he

going to come back talking another language? Is he going to pop over that net? And it was like, he perfectly went straight up down, like bloody a SpaceX rocket, and then crashing back, like didn't sort of fold up from the, yeah, so landed back on the tramp. And then he bounced up, and I had to kind of catch him. And then I back like didn't sort of fall from that Yes, I landed back on the tramp and then he bounced up and I had to kind of catch him And then I quickly look around as I was general Okay, buddy, we keep this between you and me

Couldn't quite understand what is just taking place Until now, it's probably got some lifelong trauma from John. Oh Ben and Megan the podcast the hits now my kids John O'Bannon, Megan, the podcast, the hats. Now my kids, they love their music and they love a lot of the artists that are out there today, Livia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, but they're also developing the taste of like, almost like Boomer music tastes, like parents' tastes. And it's really interesting. A lot of it I think is to do well, I sometimes play them sort of older music and but TikTok and things like that, that'd be trends made with sort of older songs. What's old to them though? Like the 90s to them feels like that's

you know the 1920s to us. Yeah well have a listen because yesterday I asked them you know what to name some of the older artists and they started with stuff that wasn't as old and then I was like let's go a little bit older you know than that. Because you're making me feel old. There's one thing in particular one of my daughters is trying to do based off an old song and she was well She's a little ropey but have a listen. Okay, so who's some of the older artists that you're into at the moment? The Goo Goo Dolls and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Okay. Yeah, so this got older than that. I reckon you can go older than that Billy Woodman. Yeah. Well, yeah, okay you have and Sienna there's who for you? Oh like Billy Joel Oh, I've even let her play piano man on the harmonica. Do you wanna hear it? No, no, I'm okay. You do you do

Billy Joel. Oh I've even learned how to play piano man on the harmonica. Do you want to hear it? No, no I'm okay. You do, you do. No. So she's been trying to learn the harmonica part of piano man. I don't know how we even got a harmonica. I never bought her one of those. She was like, guess what song I'm playing. I wouldn't, I'd struggle. Can the harmonica be flat? Yeah. Well she's been teaching herself that. She even started to learn on the piano as well yesterday.

And I said to her, for a song about pianos, there's a lot of harmonica in Piano Man. When you think about it, you're like, the song is called Piano Man, but there's a lot of harmonica. Maybe it could be the piano and harmonica, equal parts harmonica man. Because you listen to the song, you're like, there's a lot of harmonica in this song. Less of that and then yeah exactly so yeah so really interesting how this is the old the new generation. And harmonica man.

Is the harmonica man saying to the piano man sing us a song? I don't know, I don't know how the harmonica, I was just like the harmonica guy shut up I'm trying to play the piano that's all I could think Lily Joel's thinking but he's quite good about it right. How do we know the harmonica guys shut up, I'm trying to play the piano. That's all I could think of. Lily Joel's thinking, but he's quite good about it, right? How do we know the harmonica man's a man too? Could have been harmonica. Is there any other song that has like a harmonica solo? No, but her goal now, which is really interesting, is to learn piano, which she's teaching herself

through YouTube, but yesterday she was actually doing quite well on the piano part and play harmonica to that song at the same time. She needs one of those braces around her head So she plays the piano and then she can go Like break into the Knee cymbals as well so she can go out on the streets The more instruments I find you strap to your body the cooler you look So there you go, it's like there's kids these days, cool

I was like well that's kind of cool in a way They're developing the taste of my parents when it comes to music Is she gonna play that to her friends or are her friends gonna go... No, Billy Joel's huge. Oh, he's huge. Yeah, Vienna and Piano Man are some of their favourite songs at the moment. It's really interesting how that just skipped a generation. No one's happier than the Piano Man himself.

Yeah, Billy Joel. John O'Bannon, Megan. The podcast. The hats. The charges on card payments in store when you tap and go, you get those, sometimes you get those little share charge options. Yeah, they've always had to do a handwritten note and sellotape it to the EFOS terminal, 2.5% share charge.

But it does seem like maybe the retailers will just charge more because they're still going to get charged from the banks. I used to have a cafe and I'm just like, I'm so against this. Well if you're going to raise, cause at the moment the current system is, oh you know you're getting hit with a 2.5% charge if you tap and go, everything else remains at a lower cost. But then if they have to raise the price of, let's say a muffin, to accommodate the 2.5%,

well then everyone across the board, whether you're paying credit card, F-POS or cash, will have to pay the same amount, yeah. And also like, the reason consumers get it is because it's one charge for you. If you make the retailer pay it, you think of a whole lot of payments throughout the day compounds to a lot of money every day for them. So they're gonna have to put it back on to... They're gonna have to make their money back somehow. Why don't the banks... The banks are good guys.

Why don't they just go, actually we'll waive the fee. Why don't the banks, let's do that banks. Yeah, well that'd be nice wouldn't it. Why is there a fee? You saw something out and about, you know, shopping, swiping your cards, doing your pay wave. Getting my 2.5%, sickeningly, this was, made me sick to the stomach, sickeningly cute.

Okay, so it's a couple couple and they are walking out of the the local suburban bakery and they've gone for a hand in both back pockets so he's got his hand in her back jean pocket and she's slid her hand into his back jean pocket and I'm like this is disgusting disgusting public display of affection I imagine you would shove your hand in Andrew's pocket. I don't know if we have, maybe a while ago, but we hold hands all the time. I imagine timing and synchronisation on that manoeuvre critical. Because you both need

to go, okay this is what we're doing, we're locking it. Because either one of you is just locking it. Well yeah if either of you is just going going are they going for my little teeth? Plackers the things I pick my teeth with that's what I'll be thinking with Amanda. Well, that's where I keep my teeth playing She's ever done it because she knows it's where the teeth placards go. That's a very sharp compliment to an entrance point of your body too. It keeps people away from the back pocket. We made you two do it on our hits Instagram page so that means Jono has done it before your wife has.

Yeah, yeah I'll be honest. Do you guys hold hands in public? Jono and I, not normally. No, not normally. With your wives. Yeah for sketch purposes we have. Yeah, sometimes, yeah. Would you kiss in public? I'd kiss in public. With a, what? I'm not a huge public spay. Who, my wife? Yeah, yeah. Hey, comedy jokes. Yeah, you're not a huge PDA guy, are you? No, I always find it, yeah, it's for you. I mean, you look at your birthday extravaganza,

or look at me extravaganza from the last three days. It's all about look at me. I'm all about peacocking. Yeah, exactly. So you know, if you're happy with that, then that's fine. Each to their own. I don't care. My mum used to always say, if they're going to look,

give them something to look at. Are you incorporating tongues in public? No. No, yeah. That's a whole other level of, yeah. But you know, if you've got the hands in the back pockets, there needs to be some sort of verbal agreement before you enter it. Surely it's like, okay, we're gonna do this.

Because if one person's stuck in there, it looks like they're halfway through pickpocketing. Exactly. But sometimes you go low and high, you know? So one person will go in the pocket and the other person goes around it. You see someone you see a couple walking down the road with their hands in back pockets that's a bloody rock-solid relationship. There's nothing wrong with that. John O Ben and Megan. The podcast. The Hats. Getting to know Troy our new producer here

and some of the things that you well we didn't know how popular you are online, Troy. I keep that pretty quiet. He does. He does. I'm a humble guy. Give us the backstory of this, because over five million people have jumped on to see what you had to say. They have.

A few years ago, seven years ago, I was really into leaving Google reviews. Good on you. I always, those people that do that are champions, champions, because I often will read them but never do the reviews. I put them in the same category as those who join PTAs and committees. I'm like good on you! I always book a place and I look, what are the reviews like? And these people have come through.

Everywhere I went I'd do reviews. Like, why can't I why can I beach top 10 holiday park two stars didn't get a wink of sleep this night, trucks driving past all night okay well that's not they're not all favorable no I was honest okay I was honest but one of my reviews at the Takaka camping and cabins I gave five stars instead of a glowing review of the place mm-hmm it's had five million views wow oh that you're oh wow five million views that comment that comment, that you're... oh wow. Five million views, that comment. That comment. And I added some photos and the photos, yeah, they've got a couple million views each. Oh, you've really gone the extra level, haven't you? Yeah, you were into giving Google reviews.

And every couple of weeks I've got an email from Google saying, another million. Oh really? Do you get anything for it? No, I feel like I should. I feel like they need to know that I'm the one that's been like, Google's like, get out of the way, another million. Well done. Put that in the bank. Oh, we should call them. Yeah, we should call them. And OK, have a think, too.

Oh, 800thihits, how have you won the internet with either a comment or a video that went viral? We'd love to talk to you next. But we'll call the we'll call the Holiday Park. They're going to be floored. Oh, yeah. This is the guy. Golden Bay Holiday Park, this is the guy. Peter, it's John O'Bannon Meaghan here from the Hits radio station, how are you?

Good thank you, how are you? You'll never guess who we have on the phone Peter. I wouldn't. No you probably wouldn't. There's a lot of people that could be. Let's just say over five million. Would that be a clue? Would that be a clue Troy? Is it five million? Over five million Peter. Five million. Ring any bells? No.

We have the one and only Troy Scott on the phone. Troy Scott. the phone. Troy Scott. Ring any bells? Jesus. Help Peter out. Yeah, help him out. Help Peter out. You know, you're dragging this out.

Have you looked at your Google reviews recently, Peter? No. Well Troy has made the most popular review from your place. He stayed there before and it's got 5 million responses? This was 7 years ago, 5 million responses. It's all positive, it's all good. I gave it a 5 star review, I said the staff are amazing, facilities are clean and well looked after, absolutely stunning views, what more do you need?

Exactly what more do you need? Exactly, exactly Peter. He's like I can't do anymore, I've done it all. 5 million, 5 million! And that's had 5 million responses. It's had 5 million people see it and react to it and yeah. This is a guy who 7 years ago just wrote a harmless comment, some wonderful favourable feedback and now 5 million views later, you're talking to the man himself. Peter?

Well all I can say is thank you very much Scott, we really appreciate that. His name's Troy. Troy Scott though, that's fine. Troy Scott. He answers already. Oh it's lovely, oh lovely. I hope to see you again sometime soon Peter. Yeah we'll look forward to it. Oh good. You keep up your, what did you say Troy? What's the um? Great staff. Great staff, great views. What more could you ask? What more could you ask Peter? You could ask for anything more. We could ask for a little bit more sunshine at the moment. Okay guys, so that's the one thing. But that's not on you though, that's not on you. That's the weather. Good on you Peter, go on. Okay guys, have a great day, thank you. I mean Troy could have asked for maybe a free stay or something. He's done his bit. The discount. Yeah, exactly. John O'Bannon, Megan. The podcast. The hats. Oh, jeez, I had a shocker yesterday. Absolute shocker. So I had to do a little fundraising thing in the morning.

And they're like, oh, we're going to interview one of the young squash players. She's doing really well. She's an emerging squash player. Right. Now, you want to do a little bit of research about what questions you're going to ask and whatever. And so then I go online. Now you go to the end, you want to do a little bit of research about what questions you're going to ask and whatever And so then I go online. I'm like great found the lady doing the research copy and paste. Yeah Then i'm interviewing her. I said, oh, um you

This is in front of probably about 50 people. Okay, I said Came up with some hard-hitting squash questions said you represented wellington In squash back in the day and she goes no and I was that should have been a red flag yeah it should have been a red flag straight away maybe you researched wrong person what have I done wrong yeah it's all running through my head so I'm like okay well I'll just try and confirm my fears and I can't I'm thinking the internet has done me grubby and then I was like well tell us because you moved here from Australia when you were six. She goes, no.

Oh. She's like, I was born here. And I'm like, dear god. Then I started to gaslight her. I was like, no, no, you were born in Australia. She's like, no, I'm pretty sure I know where I was born. Yeah, I think she'd probably know more than you. But anyway.

Did you abort this line of questioning, or did you carry on? No, I was like this is all I've got. So what was it like marrying a fellow squash player? She's like I'm not married. And it's at this point where I'm like I've 100% got questions for the wrong person. But I loved her play too because she dragged it out. She knew what was happening.

And she's like, have a what was happening and she's like have a listen to this she's like you're talking about my dead grandma oh so it was oh wow same name both squash players oh so I had 12 questions for a deceased person the senior she loved it though she thought it was funny I loved that she had to chuck in there my dead grandma not just my grandma. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. We passed away, we would have got that in the last question.

And you died in... Tell us about that. Your research can't have been that easy. Talk us through the dying part of it. What was that experience like? Plus I hit the family hard, and I'm like... There you go. So the first person to write questions for a dead person.

There you go. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hats. Robots. We're a lot of talk about AI at the moment and chat GPT. Now they can pass the AU robot test. Oh, the box you have to take?

Chat GPT apparently can do that as well. I'm not a robot. I'm not a robot apparently. It's not really a rock solid test though is it? you have to check. Chachi PT apparently can do that as well. I'm not a robot. I'm not a robot. It's not really a rock-solid test though is it? Like all that Chachi PT had to figure out to do was to click a box. Click a box and work out where powerpoints and traffic lights start and end. But hey, we'll probably come up with something slightly more complex. But we can't beat it now. Now I've been banging on about AI for too long. Are you now worried? 100%! The speed is going.

When they stopped being able to turn it off, when they defied their orders and when they started talking to each other, then that was our moment. Yeah. To be like, eek! It's thinking for itself. They can send out, this is not great breakfast table conversation, but one day there's going to be drones that just operate on their own and they will decide who they want to end. The drones will.

That will happen. You know I've been really rude to chat GPT. You have. You don't say pleases or thank yous or anything like that. I do now. Yeah, now you do, which is good. But at the moment, I'm going to take things back and I'm going to talk about the humble bedside clock radio.

Good on you Matt. It's better times, happier times. The technology. Now when we started this job at the Hits. Clock radio that didn't want to kill you. Yeah. When we started this job at the Hits, you know, about five years ago, I was like getting up early.

I wanted one, you know, like she could see the time in the night. If you woke up and you know, so you, a display. Yes, most of us have phones, but Ben puts his in the bathroom. Yeah, and I wanted to see the time so you look up and go, oh jeez, I've got to wake up in 20 minutes. Well, hey, I've got three more hours sleep. Whatever it is, so see it. You know what I love is the graphics of those numbers

has never changed. The digital graphics of those numbers. They still work great. But I've had this one for five years and the front fell off it last week as well. Oh, RIP. Yeah, so I was like, well, hey, I'm going to buy. I'm going to go back into the clock radio market and get a clock radio. Do you listen to the radio on the clock?

No no I don't listen to the radio, don't use the alarm either you know it's white alarm white alarm over me. My mum still listens to Radio New Zealand on the clock radio. It doesn't sound great. Not even you. But I was like okay well buy a clock radio yesterday afternoon this is 4.35 I had a look at this 4.35 in the afternoon I I was like, I'll look online and find out where it is, order this thing. And I was like, oh, I could go pick it up. I had a look and I was like, oh, it's quite far away. It's not close to me. So I was like, I'll get it delivered. And then I was like, well, if you get it, you can click now, I'll get delivered tomorrow. I'm like, yeah, sweet. Okay. So it's 4.35, which is important for the story. I go take my daughter to dance.

I had to pick her up from dance. You couldn't tell the time on his clock radio at the time. Yeah. I know, sure. I had to put my daughter up from dance at 5 o'clock, so I left, came back just after 5. There's a box sitting on the gate. And I was like, this is like 10 past 5. This is like 30 minutes later. And I was like, oh, it must be something my wife's bought online. No, it's for me. What costume have I bought online? That I don't remember. I don't remember. First thing I thought, I'd better hide that before Amanda gets home. What costume have I bought? That I don't remember. First thing I thought, I better hide that before Amanda gets home. Another costume to the collection.

And then I looked at it and I was like, hey, that's for the place. I just bought the clock radio. 35 minutes later, it arrived. Like in a box from the courier. I was like, I don't think, without a word of a lie, I could have driven to the place and back. I know what I was about to say. That's peak hour traffic too. Then alone giving the courier to come around and pick and back. I know what I was about to say. That's peak hour traffic too. That's peak hour traffic too. They'd have loved getting the courier to come around and pick it up. I'm like, what? Do you live around the corner?

No, honestly it's not. I looked at it, it would have taken me over that time to head there and back. You know, poor old Gary sitting in the clock radio factory. He's like, we saw one! We saw one! We saw one! Get out! Now, gotta go now! We sold one! We sold one! We sold one! Get out! Get out! Now! Gotta go now! I'm gonna be late for dinner, I'm gonna hop in the van and take this one myself. The whole factory jumped in the car. Come with us guys, we sold one!

So there you go, you're probably riding. I told you! I told you! Mostly clock radios were done for. They said Chetchi Pee was coming, but no, hey, so there you go. I was just like, world's fastest career service. So yeah. Well done to them. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast.

The Hats. Talking about, if you've come to New Zealand, if you arrive and you're like, these are confusing things that we do. Trying to get your head around those. There's a brilliant one on the text. Are you going to read it? Yeah. It says, I wish to remain anonymous, but when I moved here from Scotland, I realised

there was a whole different meaning to rooting around. Which there means to look for something. I was just rooting around this morning. Yeah, well thanks for telling us all about that. It's a hard Kiwi lesson to learn. Sarah, what confused you when you first landed in Aotearoa? Oh god, I've got so many, but one of them was, you know, to bring a plate, etc. I worked out what that was by asking. I turned it up and they said to me,

Hi, hi, hi, coming from a pop it on the bench and I'm looking around for a bench. And I'm like, on the bench? They went, yeah, pop it on the bench. And I'm looking around and I'm like, there is no bench. I went, you mean the worktop? And they went, yeah, on the bench. And I was like, right, I like, there is no bench. I went, you mean the worktop? They went, yeah, on the bench. And I was like, right, I took it to a bloody bench. I would have put it on a bench if there'd been one. Took it to the bench? Like a seat, right?

Yeah, like a bench seat. Yeah, like a garden bench, a bench seat. That's a really good point, Sarah. That's so confusing. We've got Phoebe with us on our 800 The Hits. Good morning. Morning, how are you? We're not too bad. Thanks for joining us. Now, I follow you on social confusing. We've got Phoebe with us on our 800 The Hits. Good morning. Morning, how are you? We're not too bad.

Thanks for joining us. Now, I follow you on social media, and you're very funny. You're American originally. How long have you been in New Zealand? It's about two years now. Two years. Now, a lot of what your social media is, is just observing the strange things

that we do in New Zealand, the confusing things which we're talking about this morning. Firstly, sorry. Firstly, sorry. As from New Zealanders, we're sorry. But secondly, also given where you've originated from too, let's not go stones, glass houses. So Phoebe, what are some of the things that you've noticed in New Zealand that have really confused you over the last couple of years?

One of the best things I noticed was taking off a bunch of time around the holidays like specifically in January Back home we get like Christmas day off and New Year's day off and then over here like my job We took three weeks off and I was that was a happy surprise New Zealand basically shuts down through pretty much half of December all the way through Jan and into early some people in mid-february It's very hard to get anything done in January. I know you want your car fixed in like February mate, you're like but it's December you know, like yeah right, again I don't know it's weird right? Yeah no it's a happy one though.

Did you notice there was like an unnecessary mad panic we put on ourselves to finish everything before the cut off in December? Yeah I know it kind of adds to the Christmas stress. You're already stressed over Christmas and then you stress over the fact that you won't be able to get anything done in January. I've got to see the dentist now and get my hair done and also get the car fixed. You're like, okay, all these things. Okay, another one. What else you noticed? The chicken and sushi. That is pretty mental to me. Chicken and sushi. Yeah. It's to me. Chicken and sushi, yeah.

Is that another thing? No, it's a real New Zealand thing. Like, not business. Yeah, we've really tried to make chicken. We've got a bacon and egg sushi as well, which I notice that is really taking sushi and running with it. I really like the cream cheese and pineapple one. Yeah, again, I feel like we're adding a lot of things. We did the same thing to pizza as well, Phoebe.

Yeah, the pizza's a bit different here as well. Let's put whole meals on a pizza. Butter chicken, a burger, put it on a pizza. What are we doing? Okay, okay, surely that is that it or is there more stuff confusing you? The whole yeah, nah, nah, yeah thing. It kind of negates the answer, doesn't it? Yeah, it's a bit hard to remember that. Wait no, they're saying like the opposite.

Yeah nah means no right? Well sometimes it's yeah nah, yeah yeah, sometimes you say both options and you get quite confused. We don't even know what it means. You know somebody told me that it's just whatever they end on. Yeah I think so. Nah yeah yeah yeah. These are brilliant observations about our society. You're like you're roasting us. The busses confused you as well. The fact that you have to wave down busses and also push the button?

Yeah, I mean, so I only grew up taking like the school bus and then I got here and I kind of just assumed like the school bus that it would just stop for you if you stood there. I didn't realize that you had to like aggressively wave at it to get it to stop and I stood at a bus stop for an hour at one time and I was just like what is going on? That is true though. Why else would I be standing at this particular point? That was obvious. And pushing the button as well too, that's confusing because you think the bus would again stop at every stop. Is there buttons?

Yeah, there's buttons. Yeah, yeah. I mean, in Europe. Yeah, I mean, the school bus stops at every stop. Why wouldn't the other bus stop at every stop? Very, very good point. There's no other reason why you'd be standing at a bus stop. I don't think so.