Alex Casey 
Working to combat New Zealand’s loneliness epidemic, Dinner Together matches volunteers with elderly people for a cup of tea and a spot of dinner. When Katie Brown was tasked with ringing Wainuiomata locals to check if they had their voting papers, she didn’t anticipate having her heart shattered into tiny pieces. But that’s exactly what … Read more
Every day in the lead-up to Christmas, open the door to reveal a Spinoff writer’s short, sizzling commentary on a weighty subject. Our arbitrary and strictly enforced word limit: 365. Today: Alex Casey on the only social media influencer worth following. As we drag our heels towards the end of December, it’s the perfect time … Read more
The Spinoff partnered with UMR to survey the attitudes of our readers, and the nation as a whole. Today, how social are The Spinoff readers? And how much do we suck at chores? Turns out The Spinoff readers love having friends more than anything else in this tumultuous journey we call life – including having … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Medulla Oblongata following their shock elimination from House of Drag. Medulla Oblongata is the name of the stem that connects the spinal cord to the brain. It’s also the part that controls the gag reflex. It’s also the name of the recently-eliminated contestant from House of Drag, a non-binary former refugee … Read more
Alex Casey talks to the key players involved in one of the greatest moments in New Zealand television history. Erin Simpson is playing air guitar beneath guttural groans. A kid is doing enthusiastic devil horns. A death metal band is playing against a purple sequin background. It was 4.30 in the afternoon, 2010, when TV2 … Read more
Every day in the leadup to Christmas, open the door to reveal a Spinoff writer’s short, sizzling commentary on a weighty subject. Our arbitrary and strictly enforced word limit: 365. Today: Alex Casey on dreams. If nobody talked about their dreams, we wouldn’t have The Terminator. We wouldn’t have Google. We wouldn’t have Einstein’s theory … Read more
Alex Casey talks to a Rose Young, a Wellington artist who sculpts teeny-tiny meals. It began with a tiny hot dog, inspired by a life-sized hot dog, made by a man named Klauss who operates out of the Wellington dump. “He’s just this old German guy who owns a hot dog truck at the dump … Read more
While multiple New Zealand Christmas parades are maintaining the Dutch ‘black Pete’ character, one of the most famous has decided to end it. Willem van der Velde tells Alex Casey why. A Dutch restaurant owner has told The Spinoff that blackface has no place in Christmas parades as it is hurtful to people. His comments … Read more
Speaking to The Spinoff’s On the Rag podcast, Clementine Ford predicted one man would turn up to protest her speaking event. What she didn’t anticipate… was four. Last night in the Auckland suburb of Freeman’s Bay, feminist commentator Clementine Ford’s speaking event was met with a small group of angry protesters. With protest plans laid … Read more
The latest forecast for our most beloved weather presenter? Cloudy with a chance of cheese rolls. It’s been four years since Jim Hickey left our screens, leaving a cavernous cumburger-shaped hole in hearts. Sure, Dan the Weatherman is 100% a living icon and has well and truly run with the catchphrase gauntlet. But it doesn’t … Read more
In the same week that a petition was launched to ban “sexist” ride-sharing app DriveHer, Uber has launched a new initiative to end gender violence in their cars. Uber has launched a new safety initiative in New Zealand and Australia called Driving Change, part of a commitment to preventing gender-based violence for users of the … Read more
Over 24 hours, The Spinoff received more than 100 stories from New Zealand women who have been made to feel unsafe in a taxi or Uber. This article contains description of sexual assault and harassment, please take care. Yesterday, a feeble troll of a petition on Change.org announced that the new women-only ride-sharing app DriveHer … Read more
Alex Casey talks to national treasure Suzy Cato about her new kids album, life after Dancing With the Stars and remaining zen about the pending future hellscape. It’s been half an hour and I can’t get Suzy Cato to say a bad word about anyone or anything. Not The Wiggles (“full support to The Wiggles, … Read more
This year the Basement Christmas show enters its tenth year with Work Do, written by superstar comedians Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden. Alex Casey talks to the duo about office parties, Christmas fantasies and Michelle Obama. Somewhere in London, Rose Matafeo is lying on her bed, embroiled in a late night battle with what she … Read more
Alex Casey visits the chaotic House of Drag mansion, and meets the dragstars changing the face of local reality TV. At the end of the winding driveway of the House of Drag mansion, we are met with two drag queens luxuriating in nude underwear, eating cheeseburgers and dangling their feet in the enormous fountain. It … Read more
Alex Casey braves blue alcohol at 10.30am and social media paparazzi to learn female entrepreneurial lessons at the petal cupcake-festooned Girls in Business gathering. The day opened with an emergency announcement: the free fake tan in the goodie bags was leaking. “Make sure you keep them upright ladies,” event organiser Iyia Liu advised the 450-strong crowd. … Read more
Alex Casey dives into the second season of the least relatable show on television. What have you been up to over the past couple of weeks? Have you been fighting the council to protect the lives of stray cats, judging Miss Rotorua, selling wine barrels barrels across the country, luxuriating at Huka Lodge and necking … Read more
Ahead of her stadium gig in Auckland, New Zealand, the pop star took a pay-per-minute electric scooter for a ride along Mission Bay, according to Ben Prince-Saxon. We talked to Ben to find out more about this epochal moment. EVEN MORE CRUCIAL UPDATE, ONE WEEK LATER: Confirming prank suspicions, it was revealed on the final episode … Read more
Alex Casey scours the internet to assemble the definitive guide to eating like a celebrity in New Zealand. Just like a teacher buying bog roll at the supermarket or a chimpanzee riding a Segway in dungarees, there’s something not quite right about seeing a celebrity eat somewhere normal. Because if celebrities eat at normal places, … Read more
Alex Casey dissects a destructive obsession with discount pharmacy Chemist Warehouse. Within the four walls of the Chemist Warehouse, a malevolent force commandeers my mind, body and soul. I walk in a confident, independent woman in charge of a small shopping list (SPF moisturiser, dry shampoo, mascara) and I leave a gormless, penniless drone, lobotomised … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, we assemble with armfuls of Halloween candy to talk about the past week in reality TV and real life in New Zealand. MAFSNZ is over, so what did we … Read more
Alex Casey spends a few hours with some rainbow volunteers shining a light on the trans community. It’s a sunny Friday on Karangahape Road, and rainbow activists Sam Orchard and Toni Duder are nervously waiting outside adult store Peaches and Cream. “Can you do the talking?” Orchard asks. “Sure,” says Duder. Wielding armfuls of colourful … Read more
Spinoff royal correspondent Alex Casey waits at the Auckland Viaduct for the celebrity encounter of a lifetime. ‘They will be here any second,” said a feverish woman holding a GoPro, an accurate 23 minutes before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would wobble their way down the Viaduct like me after a mad night at … Read more
Alex Casey celebrates New Zealand’s king of the costume box, Rawdon Christie. Here at The Spinoff, we’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the mystery man they call Rawdy. Gracing the couch on TVNZ’s Breakfast for four years, he was a beloved early morning oddity who interrogated politicians as sternly as he … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her final sermon on season two of Married at First Sight NZ. As the experiment draws to a close, I have one thing to say to Married at First Sight NZ. To borrow an ancient proverb from Ottie, I feel like we’ve all suffered through this experiment together, day by day, for what … Read more
Alex Casey plucks out the most exciting highlights from TVNZ’s new season line-up. As we slide dramatically into the end of the year like a starved polar bear off a rapidly melting ice cap, it feels like there isn’t a hell of a lot to look forward to in 2019. Psychic Betsey Lewis – who … Read more
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more succinct summary of the way that sexual violence lives in the air that we breathe,” writes Alex Casey of Boys Will Be Boys. I’ve never written a book review before, so I’m assuming it’s totally canon and intelligentsia to start by talking about the cover. Boys Will … Read more
From deep within her grave, Alex Casey delivers the power rankings for week four on Married at First Sight NZ. Honestly, liquidate my heart, pour it into a Soda Stream, blast it with ice cold fizz and pour it out in the Adrenalin Forest, because I just can’t take this anymore. We are nearly at … Read more
Inspired by a weak reality TV brew and The Spinoff’s own teabag tapes, Alex Casey spills the tea on making the perfect cuppa. First published in October 2018. Last week was a huge week for tea disasters. It began on Married at First Sight NZ, where policy analyst and gaming enthusiast Fraser Lee (nee Pearce) … Read more