Photos: Hagen Hopkins
When RNZ presenter Charlotte Cook dreamed up a podcast idea about female body hair five years ago, she was a young broadcasting student sick of shaving, plucking and grooming her way to hairlessness.
A self-described “hairy girl”, Charlotte hoped to challenge the perception it meant unfeminine and unattractive. But with other important assignments on the go, she parked her idea.
However, half a decade later, Wellington-based Charlotte’s Hair and Loathing podcast came to fruition. The award-winning four-part series discusses women’s relationships with body hair – including her own.
“I’m the first to say I’m a hairy girl, but I never used to be,” says Charlotte, who at 29 is the youngest presenter to host a RNZ National programme. “My biggest shame was my body hair. It was embarrassing and ugly. The podcast ended up being like a love letter to my body hair. It was best to get it all out in the open.”
With warmth and wit, Charlotte discusses her struggles and self-acceptance, while chatting to other women about how ethnicity, culture, religion and upbringing impacts their decisions around body hair.
“It was this beautiful, shared connection over a really minor topic,” explains Charlotte. “But it takes up so much brain space. I was prepared for an onslaught of hate, but it didn’t come. Women in their sixties told me they wish they’d had the strength to think like this at their age.”
Hair and Loathing includes a bonus crossover episode with Petra Bagust, whose podcast Grey Areas discusses going grey. The pair met at last year’s Radio Awards and immediately created a “cool collab of women empowering women.”
Prior to working at RNZ, former producer Charlotte established herself as a multifaceted journalist. In 2017, she created her Elevator Pitch series.
“I was 20-something and had never been political,” admits Charlotte. “So I emailed the leaders of each political party and said, ‘Will you please stand in an elevator with me? You have the length of the elevator ride to tell me why I should vote for you.’”
The Palmerston North-born presenter was delighted when all the leaders, except Winston Peters, agreed. Initially, Dame Jacinda Ardern was too busy, having taken over from Andrew Little and six weeks away from the 2017 election. But Charlotte persisted until she got a yes. “I love a chase,” she grins.
Charlotte continued her quirky political interview technique with Grilled by Cook as part of RNZ’s coverage of the 2023 election, where she invited party leaders into the kitchen to quiz them on policies, how they got into politics and their kitchen skills.
A few years earlier, in 2019, Charlotte, then dairy and meat-free, went into rural news before working as a reporter in Christchurch for RNZ. Three months into her internship, she covered the March 15 mosque attacks in Christchurch.
“There’s something special, heavy and also vulnerable about speaking to a person in their worst possible moments,” says Charlotte. “It shaped how I curate people’s stories. Recently, I’ve been covering New Zealand soldiers on the frontline in Ukraine, which has been a totally new level of learning because there’s very real security concerns.”
She has also appeared in a documentary about the recent Parliament protest, which she covered live.
“There were things being thrown in the air and protestors were trying to push over portaloos! Listeners could hear the sirens, people chanting and shouting. I never thought I’d be reporting on a protest that was going awry on the air! Civil unrest is really scary.”
A calmer element of Charlotte’s life is yoga, which she began teaching four years ago. She explains, “I had a touch of the big black dog [depression] and really leant into yoga. It gave me a space to settle. Journalism and yoga are both about holding space for people, whether it’s in an interview or on a yoga mat.”
Charlotte juggles her busy career with support from her builder partner of a year, Morgan De Gregorio, 36.
“He’s amazing and listens to my show every day,” she smiles. “He’s always there at the end of the day to debrief. He’ll be on a building site and either listen on his headphones or tune the worksite radio!”
For the talented broadcaster, staying in love with journalism means tackling her work the way she always has – with authenticity and care.
“Sometimes I’m in rooms with some very powerful people,” she says. “Other times, I’m talking to our most vulnerable about survival. And I never treat anyone differently.
“Whether you’re a farmer or a beneficiary getting a food parcel, or the Prime Minister of New Zealand, you’re getting the same respect. You’re getting the same version of Charlotte.”
Charlotte presents RNZ’s Midday Report at 12-1pm and Hair and Loathing is on all streaming platforms.
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