Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature.  His first Rebus novel, Knots & Crosses, was published in 1987 and his latest, Midnight and Blue has just ben published. Rebus also features in a stage play and television series

Nick Henry was elected Mayor of Aitutaki in September, 2024. His island is the second most visited in the Cook Islands and boasts a stunningly beautiful lagoon. 

Fijian, Rashneel Kumar studied journalism at the University of the South Pacific before joining the ‘Fiji Times’ as a reporter.  He moved to ‘Cook Islands News’ nearly 10 years ago and took over the job of editor in 2020. His paper has a history of frequent clashes with politicians over regulation and five years ago, they tried to ban him from reporting on Parliament for his coverage of their travel allowances, but ultimately decided against it.  Rashneel sees it as an essential part of the paper’s job to hold elected politicians accountable, as he explains in the podcast. He has a team of just three reporters helping him cover a nation of 13 inhabited islands which are spread across thousands of miles of the South Pacific Ocean.

Cook Islands News website: https://www.cookislandsnews.com

Robert Skews has lived a life and love of travel and tourism and  according to his own records, he's flown the equivalent of 114 times around the world!  He's a Kiwi by birth but has spent the past 35 years in the Cook Islands and is passionate about sharing his adopted homeland with the world

Stella Neale was born on remote Palmerston in the Cook Islands in 1958 where she’s returned to live and from where she spoke to me for this podcast.  She’s directly descended from William Marsters who founded a dynasty on Palmerston in the 19th century. Although administratively part of the Cooks, that island is owned in perpetuity by William’s descendants. Stella’s mother, Sarah Marsters first met Tom Neale in 1942 when she arrived on Rarotonga from Palmerston. The couple married in 1956, two years after Tom’s return from his first stay on Suwarrow.  Stella trained and worked as a nurse and is now retired, but has found a new pleasure in writing and has begun sharing some of her work on her Facebook page.