No wonder Reader's Digest is the world's most widely read magazine. Hard-hitting, thought-provoking and entertaining, with unforgettable stories in each issue, RD is packed with features short enough to read in one sitting, but stimulating enough to keep you thinking for days. Every month millions of people get inspired, informed and entertained by its wide variety of stories about people, health, humour, adventures and world events, written by the best local and international journalists. All the stories are fact checked to the smallest details to ensure that readers get the most accurate and truthful stories, making Reader’s Digest the world’s most trusted magazine.
The People’s Choice: New Zealand’s Most Trusted 2026
The Ripple Effect
The Ordeal of John Cali • Police thought the deaths of his wife and daughter were a murder-suicide but he was sure they weren’t.
SMART ANIMALS
MY (RELUCTANT) TRIP TO THE TITANIC • In 2023, the submersible Titan imploded on its way to view the famous sunken ocean liner. A year earlier, our author—a sitcom writer—took the same trip. Here’s what he saw.
LIFE • CARTOON BY Harley Schwadron
How Whittaker’s Became New Zealand’s Most Trusted Brand
Fascinating Fungi
Bluster About Extreme Weather
Making Friends with AI • Whether you’re already chummy or you’ve been avoiding getting acquainted, our guide will help you understand how to best use the technology to make your life easier… and what to watch out for
How AI IS SAVING LIVES • Artificial intelligence can find new uses for existing drugs, helping to treat rare diseases, including the one that almost killed Joseph Coates
We’re now General. Still New Zealand’s Favourite Air. • Fujitsu General may have changed its name to GENERAL New Zealand, but the quality you have relied on for generations remains.
FROM BEGINNINGS IN JAPAN THROUGH TO A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN NEW ZEALAND
THE BOY WITH THE BILLION DOLLAR SECRET • A young man’s hard work left a lasting impression on his school librarian, and as it turns out, changed the entire world
LAUGHTER, THE BEST Medicine
Choose Life • THERE ARE TIMES WHEN OUR FAILURES, GUILT AND SORROWS LEAD US TO DESPAIR. BUT WE NEED NOT GIVE IN. WE CAN RISE, WALK AGAIN AND…
News FROM THE WORLD OF MEDICINE
CHOOSING ZEN OVER ROAD PAGE • A Survival Guide to Finding Daily Gratitude When the World Is Trying Its Best to Test You.
My Heart Will Go On • A medical journalist’s surprise heart attack reveals how much she didn’t know about the No. 1 killer of women—and men
Turn the Page
The Kiwi Coat of Confidence: Why We Trust the Paint from the Garage
My Dad, the Cookie Monster
The Poison in the Pinot: A Sobering Look at the Science of Drinking. • What Happens When You Give Up the Grog?
LAST-DITCH EFFORT • THE 13-YEAR-OLD SKATEBOARDER HAD BEEN MISSING FOR THREE DAYS. THEN A SHARP-NOSED HERO PICKED UP THE TRAIL.
The RD LIST • READ, WATCH, LISTEN
QUOTABLE QUOTES
Brain GAMES • SHARPEN YOUR MIND
WORD POWER • May 4 is Star Wars Day. And this May the fourth, may the Force be with you. That’s because we’re channeling the Force here with words related to force, both physical and psychological. Will you save the galaxy or fall to the dark side? Search your feelings, then turn the page for the answers.
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ANSWERS
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Trusted Brands 2026 Winners • Special Supplement
Who Do You Actually Trust? Inside the 2026 Trusted Brands Survey
2026 New Zealand’s Most Trusted Brands
Whittaker’s • WINNER MOST TRUSTED OF ALL BRANDS SURVEYED/NEW ZEALAND ICONIC...