Kia ora! I'm Petra, and welcome to Grey Areas, back for its sixth season. We're diving deep into the conversations that matter—those tricky, often unspoken topics that can powerfully shape our lives.

Throughout this season, I sit down with incredible New Zealanders who aren't afraid to tackle the tough stuff. We explore subjects like endometriosis, our complex relationships with our bodies, singleness, loneliness, and the inner dialogue we all have—sometimes critical, sometimes empowering.

I'm excited to bring you conversations with amazing guests, including journalist Paddy Gower, broadcaster Susie Ferguson, and beloved cook and author Nici Wickes.

Plus we'll look ahead to life's next chapters—beyond the hormones and emotional turbulence—asking ourselves, "What does it mean to be retirement-ready?" and "What do we want from the next season of our lives?" Because we all know it's about more than just money, (even though that helps!)

This season, we're also welcoming our first international guest, Dr. Hillary McBride, who will share her wisdom on how we can reconnect with our bodies in meaningful ways.

Creating Grey Areas is some of the most fulfilling work of my life, and I'm so grateful to have you on this journey with me. Together, we have the opportunity to engage in conversations that just might spark revolutionary thinking. So come, join me around this virtual campfire as we launch Season 6.

New episodes drop weekly starting October 3rd on rova or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Getting up at stupid-o’clock every weekday morning to perform in front of the nation requires a certain type of strength and stamina. Add perimenopause to the pressure cooker of live television and you’ve got yourself a potent cocktail of challenges.

Part of Jenny-May Clarkson’s secret is the dynamic partnership she’s forged with her husband Dean. In this episode they share the story of their second-chance-at-love romance, and how their differences complement each other in raising twins, working hard, and navigating major life transitions.

Jenny-May also shares about receiving her moko kauae (traditional Māori tattoo), and how understanding and embracing her heritage has invited her inner critic to take a back seat.

Song credit: Korimako, Performed by Aro, Written by Emily Looker and Charles Looker and published by Songbroker.

Having children and becoming a mother is a huge part of our collective cultural script. When you’re single, the question is ‘when are you going to find someone?’ When you find someone, the question becomes ‘when are you having children?’

So what about the many women who don’t have children, either by choice, circumstance or because they’re unable to?

Otherhood is a newly published book of essays on being childless, childfree and child-adjacent.

Lil O’Brien and Kathryn van Beek are two of the editors of this anthology, which charts the challenges, joys and griefs that being without children brings, and has also inadvertently created space and a lovely community for people who aren’t mothers. Ka pai!

Song credit: Korimako, Performed by Aro, Written by Emily Looker and Charles Looker and published by Songbroker.