Rodney Hide entered Parliament as a list member of the ACT Party in 1996.

He became ACT Leader in 2004, and following the 2008 election he was appointed Minister for three portfolios; Local Government, Regulatory Reform and Associate Minister of Commerce.

His degrees in science and economics lent credibility to his commentary in other fields like climate change.

It has been interesting following his philosophical journey since leaving parliament in 2011.

And ...for the first time we talked for two full hours.

As a result we have split the wide ranging discussion into two podcasts… part two next week.

And we finish up in The Mailroom with Mrs Producer.

File your comments and complaints at Leighton@newstalkzb.co.nz OR Carolyn@newstalkzb.co.nz

Haven't listened to a podcast before? Check out our simple how-to guide.

Listen here on iHeartRadio

Leighton Smith's podcast also available on iTunes:
To subscribe via iTunes click here