The Martian Audit: Or, how New Zealand repelled an Invasion through procedural complexity
About this episode
Michael discusses Oliver Hartwich's satirical novella about alien auditors in New Zealand and the country's bureaucratic challenges.
In this episode, Michael talks to Oliver Hartwich about his new satirical novella The Martian Audit, in which two alien auditors arrive in New Zealand to assess it for invasion, only to find themselves defeated not by weapons but by the country's regulation and bureaucracy. There are no villains, just a country full of friendly people trapped in systems that don't work, from leaky homes and hospital waiting rooms to view shafts you can't legally stop to admire.
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- What New Zealand's 19th-century teachers knew but progressive educators forgot
- Why children can't learn unless they feel safe
- Who runs the country?
- Why New Zealand can't assume the fuel will keep flowing
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