Overview

• Ardern emphasizes empathy over economic metrics as she details how prioritizing national happiness shaped her early popularity.
• She describes the emotional weight of the Christchurch mosque attack response and rapid enactment of gun control measures.
• The book reveals her hidden pregnancy journey, including concealing morning sickness during coalition talks and returning to work after six weeks of maternity leave.
• She defends her zero-Covid border closures for keeping death rates low but acknowledges their toll on stranded citizens and vulnerability to new variants.
• She admits that relentless scrutiny and the toll of leadership led her to resign in 2023 after acknowledging she lacked ‘enough in the tank’ for another election.