A leaked recording reveals the Kiwi founder of billion-dollar supplements firm AG1 misrepresented his criminal history in public statements and in a meeting with the company’s president and staff, just this year. Chris Ashenden’s high-powered American lawyer claimed he had never been charged with a crime, or convicted of a crime, or been the subject of an arrest warrant – but none of those things was correct.    We listen to the recording alongside Anita Mika, who lost her home in Chris’s...

Travelling to New Zealand’s southernmost city, with a chill wind that feels like it’s blowing off Antarctica, we discover it was a woman named Dee Chisholm who first blew the whistle on Chris the Kiwi’s criminal property schemes.    But tracking her down won’t be easy…until we drive out to a small remote mining village called Nightcaps.   Everyone has secrets. And in this episode, we finally meet the protagonists – some might call them antagonists – who faced off in former police officer...

We track down families who lost their homes in 'Chris the Kiwi’ Ashenden’s property dealings. And what happens next is what Powder Keg, the podcast, is all about – Ashenden, his unorthodox billion-dollar business and his magical mystery powder.    All we know is that his company AG1 is headquartered at an address in Carson City, Nevada. If it comes to the crunch and he doesn’t front, we’ll need to go there to talk with the company’s founder.   What we didn’t know is the story of criminal...

Our final episode in this season coincides with world headlines about a man facing execution for the same diagnosis that imprisoned Zita. Shaken baby syndrome is being called “junk science” in the US, but it has upended the life Zita had hoped for in New Zealand. Now out of jail, she is battling her impending deportation with Immigration NZ, all while continuing to maintain her innocence. Will she get to see her daughter? Will the international experts come through in time? And why won’t...

When investigative journalist Jonathan Milne started slugging back an expensive, vivid green AG1 shake every morning to get in shape for his 50th birthday, he knew what the company’s chief science officer said – that the green powder product would make him healthier.   What he didn’t know about were the adverse reports to the Food and Drug Administration of liver damage, nor of the scrutiny by the courts, and now of a national regulator.   Episodes 1 and 2 of Powder Keg are live now, with...

Chris Ashenden and Jonathan Milne are both Kiwi blokes in their late 40s. Chris has an unrelenting personal ambition – it’s served him well. The business leader’s quest wasn’t for the Holy Grail, it was for a holy green drink.   Jonathan is an investigative journalist. What’s served him well is his doggedness. And when Chris wouldn’t front for an interview about the success of his green powder shake and his US$1.2 billion company, Jonathan began asking questions.    At first, Chris’s AG1...

Things really start to wind up when Melanie and Bonnie have a major breakthrough and track down a UK paediatric pathologist who was at forefront of overturning murder charges in a high profile London case. She throws a whole new light on our case and will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz *Listen to the first eight episodes free. If you want to support our work and hear today’s...

Some stories grow from a green shoot; some explode like a powder keg. The global supplement market is worth $200 billion a year, and Chris Ashenden is a rock star of the industry. Yet in his home country of New Zealand, nobody had heard of him. Investigative journalist Jonathan Milne wanted to tell his story – but when Chris proved elusive, alarm bells began to ring. In the latest electrifying podcast from DELVE, we investigate the superstar endorsements, the science and the safety of the...

How did moving to live in the dream country of New Zealand end up like this? Prison, divorce and a baby in the custody of the state. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz *Listen to the first seven episodes free. If you want to support our work and hear today’s Episode 8 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free.* Hosted on Acast....

Zita continues to maintain her innocence as the courtroom drama concludes with the judge delivering a sentence Zita is totally unprepared for. In jail, she is put in an isolation wing after inmates call her a baby killer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did some of Baby K’s fractures occur while on 24 hour watch in the hospital? What about the traumatic birth? “Doctors sometimes can and do get it wrong”…all this and more in the final address of Zita’s lawyer.   *Listen to the first five episodes free. If you want to support our work and hear today’s Episode 6 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. DELVE+ subscribers get Early Release, Ad Free listening.* Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is it like to be charged with child abuse in a foreign country? Zita finds out as she faces the might of Starship Hospital at her criminal trial. *Listen to the first four episodes free. If you want to hear today's Episode 5 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. DELVE+ subscribers get Early Release, Ad Free listening.* Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The NZ police investigation ramps up and, with their child taken, the couple have their house bugged, their phones tapped and just as they think it can’t get any worse…it does. *Listen to the first three episodes free. If you want to hear today’s Episode 4 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. DELVE+ subscribers get Early Release, Ad Free listening.* Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melanie and Bonnie meet the young couple at the centre of this case and they begin to unravel the complex cascade of events that led to a young mother being accused, convicted and jailed for two and a half years - and the daunting fight that lies ahead. *If you want to hear Episode 3 as soon as it's released, become a subscriber to DELVE+* Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor...

What happens when the dream country, New Zealand, becomes a living hell? The Boy in the Water creator, multi-award-winning journalist Melanie Reid, is in the middle of another story when she receives an email that causes her to drop everything and get on a plane. After a year of extensive investigations, we now bring you that case. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

On the final day of the coronial inquest into the death of three-year-old Lachie Jones, his mother has a statement read out in court, Lachie’s father addresses the Coroner and throws more shade on the police investigations - and the lawyers play their final cards for and against an accidental drowning. We also introduce our scorching, brand new podcast investigation on DELVE, coming very soon! Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all...

Jonathan appears via videolink from his new home in Australia to respond to allegations he threw his little brother Lachie in the pond, and the young man at the centre of the Facebook messages gets riled up during cross examination. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things get heated in court when the young woman at the centre of the messages that allege Lachie’s brother threw him in the pond testifies at the inquest - and she fires back at attempts to question her motive and undermine her evidence. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A doctor from Starship Children’s Hospital is questioned on all the big mysteries in the case including that Lachie was found face up, had no water in his lungs and had no external injuries. You can see an image of a cross section of the pond on our Facebook page and our Instagram page.  Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and...

As the line-up of experts continues, we go on a crash course on the inner workings of the Gore sewerage ponds, and we hear yet another opinion on whether Lachie could have made it all the way out there by himself. You can see an image of a cross section of the pond on our Facebook page and our Instagram page.  Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at...

DELVE presents the new in-depth podcast from Melanie Reid Investigates about a controversial medical diagnosis from a New Zealand hospital and the cascade of events that followed.    A baby taken, a mother jailed, a couple forced apart and facing deportation without their daughter.    Crushed by the weight of multiple government departments working in lockstep, what happens when the dream of a new country becomes an unimaginable nightmare?    In this new investigation, Melanie Reid and her...

In today’s episode, The Depot, three months after giving evidence in the first phase of the inquest, Michelle Officer presents a new sworn statement that changes her account of her movements at the depot that afternoon, but a contractor who works from the same depot says Lachie and his mother weren’t there. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at...

Robin Bates, lawyer for the police, goes into full Crown prosecutor mode, as he tries to dent the findings, methodology and conclusion in former forensic detective Karen Smith’s report. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and search for Melanie Reid Investigates on Facebook and Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Robin Bates, the lawyer representing the police, goes head to head with former forensic detective Karen Smith. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free. Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and search for Melanie Reid Investigates on Facebook and Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.