Back in 2003 broadcaster and oral historian Paul Diamond made a radio series called Ngā Manu Taiko – Māori Leaders speak. You can listen to the episodes at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington by sending a request through the catalogue. I thought of them recently the two more of the six leaders Paul interviewed died, Whatarangi Winiata and Sir Hirini Moko Mead. A Fire In Your Belly – Māori Leaders speak is Paul’s book from the interviews, named from Sir Tipene O’Regan’s words:

If you were to ask me about the nature of leadership, in terms of what I’ve learnt, I’d say you’ve got to have a fire in your belly for an outcome

Preparing audio interviews for text is an art, and this book is a wonderful example sitting alongside Judith Fyfe’s Matriarchs, a generation of New Zealand Women talk to Judith Fyfe (1990) and the books Megan Hutching wrote while working as the government oral historian at the Ministry of Culture & Heritage, among many others. Authors do not always retain the recorded interviews that informed their published work. But in all these cases we can consult the original audio interviews alongside the printed text. Not only can we see the editorial decisions that have been made, but we can also hear the precious voices. Listening today is a different experience from listening twenty or thirty years ago, or more, and there is always new meaning to uncover. A contemporary listener also brings their own context and social and historical frame of reference to what they hear, often making for quite different interpretations. How lucky we are to have public archives which look after the spoken word from generation to generation.