What was behind the fever-pitch public interest in Polkinghorne trial?

It's been a trial that seems to have gripped the nation for the past eight weeks, fuelling what's been described as unprecedented media coverage.

The murder trial of Philip Polkinghorne was centered in one of the country's most exclusive suburbs and involved drug use, escorts and infidelity.
 
Today a jury found the former eye surgeon not guilty of murdering his wife Pauline Hanna in their Remuera home in April 2021.

So why were New Zealanders seemingly so keen to hear so much detail of this case, and what does this say about our apparent thirst for such salacious news?

Sara Chatwin is a Registered Psychologist with Mindworks and she joins Emile Donovan.