Today I am catching up with Blake Forbes and Paul Barlow

Blake has a disability. He has spastic cerebral palsy with mild autism and ADHD, but that hasn’t stopped him running a very effective interview podcast called BFG (short for Blake Forbes Gentle) which he produces with co-host Paul Barlow .

Paul has a media background and, in addition to working with Blake, runs his own podcast show entitled Paul The Other One.

Blake has become an effective advocate for people with disabilities and at the moment is rightly concerned about the loss of respite funding for care givers.

And Paul is into anyalizing the Local Body elections.

Kia kaha Blake and Paul .Thank you for a very enjoyable and informative conversation.

If you want to check out Blake’s Channel you can find it here:

https://www.youtube.com/@thebfgpodcast

Paul’s personal channel Paul The Other One is here:

https://www.youtube.com/@Paul...theotherone

Paul is a former political commentator with a background in media studies and pop culture, and has over 35000 followers of his content from across Aotearoa.

This content is also available in video formats on Tik Tok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram as well as audio versions from wherever you get your Podcasts.

Thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who help fund my Head2Head interviews are free to access. Please consider supporting my public journalism work by becoming a paid subscriber for $10 a month (including GST) as only paid subscribers can comment in the chat room.

Part of my job as a public interest journalist and documentary maker is to give a voice to people in our community who find it difficult to be heard.

Disability access to houses and public buildings is one of those issues that doesn’t get enough attention in Aotearoa New Zealand, and as advocate Nick Ruane points out in today’s interview, any of us can find ourselves having to use a wheel chair as a result of an accident or illness or simply because of mobility problems associated with aging.

Accessing public spaces is something we recognise by law as a right everyone should have - a right that is embedded, for example, in The New Zealand Building Code.

These regulations, however, don’t apply to the buildings we inhabit most each day - our private homes or rental accommodation. This is a much greyer area where voluntary accessibility is encouraged and, in some cases, incentivised, but not compulsory.

Private landlords, for example, are not legally required to provide no-step entries, wide doors, accessible bathrooms or even lever handles instead of knobs.

There is however government support for modifying existing homes to accommodate people with disabilities, including the Ministry of Health’s Housing Modification Service, which provides funding for necessary changes such as ramps, stair lifts, and accessible bathrooms.

You can find out about what is available and may be possible here:

https://www.govt.nz/browse/health/help-in-your-home/modifying-your-house/#825

Head2Head is made possible thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers. If you are receiving this post for free,please consider becoming one of them.

For $10 a month (including GST ) - less a cup of coffee each week- you can help to have more issues investigated, give a voice to those not being heard and call government to account.

You will not only get access to my documentaries, interviews and premium posts, you will also be able to join a group of New Zealanders in our chatroom who comment on posts and discuss the issues that are important to all us who want to live in a fairer, more democratic society.

All subscription money goes on production.

As regular readers will know, Monday on my Susbstack is Hope day, and for over 30 years Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has been bringing hope to children living in our most deprived homes, by fighting for their rights to food, housing, health and education.

They are an independent, registered charity, that since its inception has been working to eliminate child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand through research, education and advocacy

Here’s their website.

https://www.cpag.org.nz

As their name suggests CPAG has been a driving force in getting the idea that there is such a thing as child poverty accepted, to the point where in 2018 The Child Poverty Reduction Act was passed, which set up a framework for measuring and reporting on it.

So when CPAG’s Executive Officer Sarita Divis received an invitation to a Child Poverty Reduction Summit, hosted by Ministry Of Social Development at Parliament Buildings. she was looking forward to hearing what initiatives the National/ACT/NZ First coalition government were going to announce.

In this episode of Head2Head Sarita not only describes her disappointment after attending the event - in which the assembled charities were told the onus would be on communities to look after the vulnerable - but points up some solutions we need to put in place at government level to ensure the well-being of all our children.

Recording interviews like this one is made possible by the generosity of my paid subscribers. If you are receiving this post for free, please consider supporting my public journalism by upgrading to paid status.

For $9 a month (less than a cup of coffee each week) will not only give you access to my documentaries and premium posts, you will also get to join a group of New Zealanders in our chatroom who comment on posts and discuss the issues that are important to all us who want to live in a fairer,more democratic society.

All subscriptions go to meet production costs.

Please share and restack posts you find useful as it all helps to build readership.

Thank you.

Last Monday I wrote a Hope post about two independent film makers who are trying to crowd fund the money to finish their self- funded feature film 1978 .

They need $15,000 to do the post production and finish their film so it can be shown in cinemas up and down the country. As I write they have reached $10,834 on the Arts Foundation Boosted site. If they reach their target in the next 7 days they get the money. If they don’t they get nothing.

Cruel, I reckon.

But there it is.

Yesterday I spoke with Director Isaac Lee and Co -Director April Phillips about their quintessential Kiwi film - where the idea came from, the struggles they have had to shoot their feature length film which has now been edited and just needs some post production polishing before it gets released for the big screens around our country.

Do have a listen to the interview and if you can afford something to help them out please do. Every bit helps.

Thank you to everyone who has chipped in so far.

As you will hear in the interview they really appreciate your support.

Here’s the link

https://www.thearts.co.nz/boosted/projects/post-production-1978

Here is their website

https://www.1978.co.nz

And their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/1978NZ

Let’s help make their inspiring 1978 film happen!

Thanks

Bryan

Please share this post with whanau and friends.

Dr. Ganesh Nana is one of New Zealand’s most distinguished economists who has dedicated his career to addressing complex economic challenges.

He was formerly BERL Research Director and Chair of the Productivity Commission Te Kōmihana Whai Hua o Aotearoa leveraging his expertise to advocate for equitable policy reforms until the Commission was shut down by Finance Minister Nicola Wills who refused even to meet with them.

Which was short sighted to say the least, because increasing productivity is one of the secrets to growing our economy. If productivity is not increasing it affects our standard of living.

So I caught up with Ganesh this week to ask him to explain why our productivity is not increasing as much as it should, and it wasn’t long before we got on to the topic of what an economy is for away.

Head2Head is made possible thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers. If you are receiving this post for free, please consider upgrading to paid. $9 a month (less than a cup of coffee each week) will not only give you access to all my documentaries and premium posts, you will get to join a group of New Zealanders in our chatroom who comment on posts and discuss the issues that are important to all us who want to live in a fairer,more democratic society.

Please restack and share posts you find worthwhile as it all helps to build readership.

Who am I? What do I stand for and believe? What is the purpose of my life? are all questions any thinking person will ask themselves at some point in their life’s journey.

Am I happy living up to the image others have defined for me? Or am I unhappy because I am not being true to myself - what psychologists call being “ authentic”?

Harold Hillman Ph.D, the author of Passion and Purpose, was married with two daughters and had a successful career as an officer in the US Air Force when, at the age of 42, he found himself having to face up to the fact that he was gay, and that for all his adult life he had been living a lie.

How he reassessed his purpose in life, is something he shares in his latest book Passion and Purpose - Leading and Living Life with Greater Fulfillment - and also with me in today’s interview.

I must admt that when I was first sent Harold’s self-help book to review I thought his publicist had made a mistake. After all, I’m the guy who is constantly calling out our ME centred society and wanting us to develop the kind of WE society that allows every child to thrive and the best that they can be.

But then, as I began to read Passion and Purpose, it dawned on me that there is a difference between being selfish and being self-aware and how being true to yourself can help you become true to others -especially if you develop empathy for others, as part of your self definition.

The relationship between the individual and society is complex. Our family, friends, society as a whole, present us with definitions of who we are and what is expected of us that can sometimes cause tensions within us if it conflicts with how you see ourselves.

You may have wanted to go to Art School, for example, but the Careers Advisor said “You’re good a numbers kid you should be an accountant.” So that’s what you are and now at age 40, you maybe wondering why you are not happy.

So, I think that for anyone trying to assess who they are and what matters to them, at any age, Hillman’s book is a worthwhile read, especially as he gives practical thought- provoking excercises at the end of each chapter to help his reader figure out their passion and purpose in life.

In Hamlet Act 1, Scene 3, Shakespeare has Poloius give Laertes, his son who is leaving home, the sage advice ”And above all, to thine own self be true.”

In 2025 Laertes might ask, “How do I do that Dad?” and Polonius might say “ Here, take this copy of Passion and Purpose. You might find it useful.”

Enjoy the interview.

You can purchase a copy of Harold’s book here:

https://www.sigmoidcurve.co.nz/collections/guides/products/passion-purpose-leading-and-living-life-with-greater-fulfilment-available-from-30-april-2025

(Because of the way Substack works you may have to copy and paste this link into you browser.)

Head2Head is made possible thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers. If you are receiving this post for free, please consider upgrading to paid. $9 a month (less than a cup of coffee each week) will not only give you access to all my documentaries and premium posts, you will get to join a group of New Zealanders in our chatroom who comment on posts and discuss the issues that are important to all us who want to live in a fairer,more democratic society.

Please restack and share posts you find worthwhile as it all helps to build readership.

Peter Bruce - Iri is a climate activist based in Whangarei who has written a quite remarkable book about the important role plants play in cooling our planet.

He says we humans have degraded about half of the vegetation of land and oceans and thereby destabilising the climate and warming the planet.

His message is that by stopping this destruction, revegetating as much as possible, regenerating soils and the water cycle, and eliminating our use of fossil fuels we can heal the climate sooner than we might might think.

I talk with him about his very readable book and his idea that we can use plants to heal the climate. I particularly like the practical advice on what you and I can do to help fix the climate mess we have created.( My favourite is not mowing the lawn!)

Head2Head is made possible thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers. If you are receiving this post for free, please consider upgrading to paid. For $9 a month (less than a cup of coffee each week) will not only give you access to all my documentaries and premium posts, you will get to join a group of New Zealanders in our chatroom who comment on posts and discuss the issues that are important to all us who want to live in a fairer,more democratic society.

Please restack and share posts you find worthwhile as it all helps to build readership.