Paperback Guerrillas

“You’re either growing or you’re shrinking. We’re like plants, none of us stays the same. We’re living things. We’re either going this way to higher things or back this way, to death.” — Tipene Harmer

Tipene Harmer is a rapper, a kaiako (teacher) of mātauranga Māori, and an all-around awesome dude.

Patreon whānau exclusive: my favourite tāonta from this kōrero was around decision making. I wrote about how I've been worki...

Paperback Guerrillas Whānau exclusive: my favourite taonga (treasured idea) from this kōrero was sparked by PNC's comments on how much of a privilege it was growing up with his mother. It made me reflect on my own privilege. You can read about it on our Patreon page here.

PNC is an award winning rapper also known as Sam Hansen. Wikipedia page.

After nearly 20 years performing at a high level and acknowledged as one of Aotearoa's ...

Jase Te Patu is the founder and driving force behind M3 Mindfulness, a programme designed to improve mental health and wellbeing of students, teachers and whānau. Jase uses Māori stories, mindfulness, and movement to make this important mahi happen. 

In this kōrero we discuss mental health (hauora hinengaro), mindfulness, decision-making, emotional maturity and Jase's journey. He explains how he channelled early pain and suffer...

“For a lot of us who get lost in the world, and aren’t loved as much as we think we should be loved, or aren’t cared for, we tend to find that other thing to fill that space. For me it was joining a gang..” — Damien

Paperback Guerrillas Whānau exclusive: my favourite taonga (treasured idea) from this kōrero was a complete reframing of the way I've been thinking about Destiny's Church at a societal vs individual impact level. You...

“I knew from a very young age that this was what I wanted to do for my life.” — DJ Spell

Paperback Guerrillas Whānau exclusive: read my favourite taonga (treasured idea) from this kōrero on our Patreon page here.


DJ Spell is a world champion turntablist, B-Boy, graffiti artist, beat-maker, te reo Māori tutor, musical tutor, graphic designer, and an artist in general.

Some of his credentials: 

• 1st place in: ...

“Don’t prioritise your schedule - schedule your priorities.” — Stephen Covey

This is a pukapuka episode, where a few of the bros sit down and discuss a book we’ve enjoyed, break down the kaupapa and talk about applying the book’s messages and lessons in real life. These episodes are a chance to discuss books we hope empower people to live well and be well.

In this episode, Sam takes us through the main points of Stephe...

“I’ve had the full spectrum from being accused of being too plastic to being criticised for being too elite. So come at me bro.” — Stacey

Stacey Morrison (Ngāi tahu, Te Arawa) is a māmā of three and is a taonga of TV and radio. She's a fierce advocate for te reo Māori and it's revitalisation across all of those platforms and more. She’s appeared on and hosted some of our most important TV show...

“I couldn’t go into KFC and order anything, or into the mall, the doctor was like, mate this is anxiety. You need to stop drinking for a bit.” — Hori

Paperback Guerrillas is the podcast for mana enhancing kōrero (life-improving conversations).

In this episode, Pera Barrett sits down with Otaki based artist, Hori. 

They talk about how and why Hori spent years fighting te ao Māori, and how he...

"A rangatira doesn’t call themselves the rangatira, a master doesn’t call themselves the master, that’s up to the people." - Te Awanui Reeder

In this episode, Te Awanui Reeder (Nesian Mystic, Big River Creative), David White, and Pera Barrett discuss Ryan Holiday's book Ego is the enemy. The kōrero starts on points from the book,  ego at aspiration, success, and failure stages of mahi, and branches out from ...

“Showing some pride in the fact we enjoy reading, it’s OK to be a little bit nerdy.” — Dave

Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to another episode of Paperback Guerrillas the podcast for mana enhancing kōrero (life-improving conversations) where we talk with people from all walks of life to share their insights, inspiration and tools, to empower everyday people like you and I to turn actions into posi...

“We’re seeing more performance based identities where people start to define themselves based on that rather than the old stuff, culture, religion or family.” — Dr. Ben Walker

Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to another episode of Paperback Guerrillas – mana enhancing kōrero (life-improving conversations) with people from all walks of life, sharing insights, inspiration and tools that everyday people like yo...

“The key is starting, so that we can start making a difference.” - Pera Barrett

Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to another episode of Paperback Guerrillas - mana enhancing kōrero (life-improving conversations) with people from all walks of life, sharing insights, inspiration and tools to empower everyday people like you and I can turn into positive actions and change. In this introductory episode, I discuss why I started the Shoebox Chr...

“ I’m very grateful for my life, and I have to say it’s because I made a decision very early on because I had a hunger for the language… where the language was just a normal part of what you do. I pat myself on the back for dropping out of varsity..” - Tainui Stephens

 In this episode of Paperback Guerrillas I sit down with Libby Hakaraia and Tainui Stephens. The couple who helped bring the Māoriland film fe...