“We believe good stories help us understand our world”
Our story
We are a husband and wife team with a background in journalism, broadcasting and writing books. Between us, we’ve worked for major media outlets in Europe and New Zealand, across radio, TV, print and online. We live with our young daughter in the Wairarapa countryside just outside of Wellington, New Zealand.
We’ve been making podcasts together since 2016, when Noelle was asked by Radio New Zealand to make New Zealand’s first ever long form podcast series, A Wrinkle in Time.
We’ve been making podcasts together since 2016, when Noelle was asked by Radio New Zealand to make New Zealand’s first ever long form podcast series, A Wrinkle in Time.
We set up Bird of Paradise in 2017 because we believe good stories help us understand our world. While we’re independent, we enjoy working with New Zealand’s most trusted platforms. We see partnerships and collaboration as the future of media.
Our work has been recognised nationally and internationally, and is used in schools and universities.
Our work has been recognised nationally and internationally, and is used in schools and universities.
Noelle McCarthy
Noelle is from Cork, Ireland. She started her radio career in Auckland in 2003 and since then has interviewed everyone from James Cameron to Margaret Atwood and the Dalai Llama.
Her memoir Grand won Best First Book at the New Zealand book awards in 2023. She was Writer In Residence at Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters in the same year.
Her memoir Grand won Best First Book at the New Zealand book awards in 2023. She was Writer In Residence at Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters in the same year.
John Daniell
John is an award winning non-fiction writer who spent 20 years living in France, where he played rugby professionally.
He’s also written TV drama, fiction and journalism (The Guardian, FT, Le Monde and L’Equipe among others) - and, more recently, plenty of podcast scripts.
He’s also written TV drama, fiction and journalism (The Guardian, FT, Le Monde and L’Equipe among others) - and, more recently, plenty of podcast scripts.
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