A Radio New Zealand podcast that took a deep dive into the 1985 resettlement of the nuclear test-affected Rongelap Islanders by the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior this week won its second major award in less than two weeks.
The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior, a co-production between Radio New Zealand and the Australian Broadcasting Commission, was named Best Podcast at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union prizes ceremony in Mongolia on Sunday.
The judges said the series demonstrated “a high level of narrative craftsmanship, engaging the listener from the outset…This is a thoughtfully executed and accessible production that brings an important, often overlooked issue to life with integrity and resonance.”
The six-part podcast, hosted by James Nokise and produced by RNZ’s Justin Gregory, tells the story of how the Rainbow Warrior evacuated the entire population of Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands, which had been contaminated by US nuclear testing. Within a few weeks of completing the resettlement of Rongelap Islanders to Mejatto Island in Kwajalein Atoll in May 2025, the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland harbor.
Two weeks ago, the podcast was named Best International Podcast at the Asia Podcast Awards at a ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia.
It has been a finalist at the New York Festival of Radio awards, and was named Best Documentary at the 2025 New Zealand Radio and Podcast Awards.
Two Marshall Islands Journal reporters provided interview assistance and translation services to the Radio New Zealand and ABC team that came to Marshall Islands in mid-2024 to conduct interviews and perform research for the story.
Listen to the podcast: https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/the-last-voyage-of-the-rainbow-warrior