Jacinda Ardern is a history-maker.
As Prime Minister of New Zealand at 37, she became only the second woman in the world to give birth while in office. But it was her leadership style that defined her time at the top, leading with empathy and kindness in the face of back-to-back tragedies, and showing the strength of coming together.
From growing up in small-town New Zealand singing country and western duets with her sister at the local community hall, to raging to Smashing Pumpkins in her first car with a discman plugged into the cassette deck, Ardern's musical taste has always been eclectic and deeply personal. She's the teenager who loved alternative music and heavy metal while being a dedicated student rep raised in the Mormon faith, and the world leader who chose a drum and bass track as her walk-on song.
Her career path was never straightforward. She ran from the possibility of becoming a politician, buying a one-way ticket to New York to escape the suggestion she should run for office. But a sense of responsibility (what she calls her "oversized sense of duty"), kept pulling her back. In 2017, everything changed in a single year: a by-election, deputy leadership, then the top job itself, all while secretly pregnant. She led her country through the Christchurch mosque shootings, the Whakaari White Island eruption, and a global pandemic, all while insisting that being human is not a weakness.
This episode was filmed for Season 5 of Take 5 with Zan Rowe at the Australian Chamber Orchestra's studios on Sydney Harbour. Jacinda caught the ferry to the location, rolling up without any entourage, proving just how down-to-earth she is. She was candid, emotional, and generous in exploring her extraordinary life across five songs. The theme that emerged was clear: optimism as a courageous act, and the enduring power of being useful.
Jacinda Ardern's song choices:
- Smashing Pumpkins - 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings'
- Fat Freddy's Drop - 'Wandering Eye'
- Cat Stevens - 'Peace Train'
- The Mountain Goats - 'This Year'
- Shapeshifter - 'Stars'
00:00 Introduction: Jacinda Ardern Made History
00:54 "They Are Us": Leading with Empathy and Kindness
05:11 Song One: Smashing Pumpkins, 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings'
08:01 Teenage Angst: Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Pantera, Nine Inch Nails
15:04 Song Two: Fat Freddy's Drop, 'Wandering Eye'
15:46 Sworn In as PM: Fat Freddy's Drop Playing on Parliament Steps
21:25 Cognitive Dissonance: Progressive Politics and the Church
22:02 Leaving the Church: "Something Had to Give"
25:39 Secretly Pregnant During Coalition Negotiations
27:49 Song Three: Cat Stevens, 'Peace Train'
28:55 Yusuf Islam Coming to New Zealand After the March 15 Terror Attack
33:13 The Christchurch Mosque Shootings: Finding Out in Bits
34:47 "Simply a Human Response": Why Emotion Isn't Weakness
37:25 "A Sadness I'll Carry for the Rest of My Life"
38:21 Song Four: The Mountain Goats, 'This Year'
41:19 Christchurch, Whakaari, COVID: "It Was Relentless"
45:43 "Nothing Left in the Tank"
46:54 "I Am Human. Politicians Are Human."
49:10 Song Five: Shapeshifter, 'Stars'
52:06 The Coffee Date with Clarke: Surprising Each Other
56:10 "15-Year-Old Jacinda Would Be Very Surprised. But I Think She'd Be Proud."
58:29 Zan's Wrap-Up: The Only World Leader with Drum and Bass as a Walk-On Song
58:44 Filmed at the ACO Studios on Sydney Harbour
59:10 Next Time: Lainey Wilson
59:55 Season 5 of Take 5 with Zan Rowe. Stream on ABC iview
This episode was filmed for Season 5 of Take 5 with Zan Rowe on ABC TV and ABC iview. You can stream the whole season on ABC iview now.
Watch this episode of Take 5 on ABC iview
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/take-5-with-zan-rowe
