Summer reissue: Alie Benge on the book that built a shimmering private world for her and her sisters. First published 10 February 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn more about how you can support us from … Read more
Summer reissue: Alie Benge signed up to a dating app with a sense of dread. What she found restored her faith in people – and in love itself, she writes, in the first instalment of a new series following her dating journey. First published August 29, 2020. I went into the first lockdown a hardcore … Read more
Some of New Zealand’s best comedians unite in Golden Boy to bring us a fun, breezy sitcom that will brighten any bad day. I’m binge-watching Golden Boy after a morning at the dentist. My face is numb. I’m sliding mandarin pieces between the teeth I’m allowed to use. I want to be cheered up, and … Read more
In the final instalment of her column about her adventures in online dating, Alie Benge ponders a world that isn’t afraid of love. I’m obsessed with love. All forms are fascinating. Familial love, aromantic love, queer love, desire, friendship. But my interest has come from a position of anthropological curiosity. In my own life, I’ve … Read more
In the latest instalment of her column about her adventures in online dating, Alie Benge makes a real connection – and wonders why she can’t shake the need for romantic love. A friend told me I seem happy again. “It’s nice to have happy Alie back,” he said. “It’s been a while.” It made me … Read more
In the latest instalment of her series chronicling the ins and outs of dating in 2020, Alie Benge details the unique challenges of dating while Christian. I’m part of a rare Christian archetype: the unmarried 30-year-old. You’ll see us prowling the edges of a congregation, hook noses and one blind eye, looking for an opportune … Read more
In the latest in our series chronicling the ins and outs of dating in 2020, Alie Benge explains her reliance on the ‘friend committee’ to judge the suitability of every love interest. Abby came to my desk in a panic. She was meeting Sia that weekend. For the first time, she’d be going on a … Read more
Rose Matafeo calls Horndog a ‘silly show about love’, but what follows is a persuasive case for loving with obsessive devotion. Rose Matafeo assures us in the first few minutes of Horndog (now streaming on Neon) that it’s not a TED talk, that it won’t be one of those shows where there’s a “lesson to … Read more
Snowpiercer imagines a world where the class system follows us to the grave, but in doing so, does it fail at its own goals? It was Snowpiercer, not Parasite, that was meant to be Bong Joon-ho’s big western debut, but the film had the misfortune to be picked up by the Weinstein Company. Harvey Weinstein … Read more
In the second of our series on Alie Benge’s dating journey, she ponders if that intangible, unpredictable thing that is spark is really as crucial as she’d always believed it to be. I usually leave dates feeling buzzed from the interaction, regardless of how well it went. A few weeks ago, for the first time, … Read more
Alie Benge signed up to a dating app with a sense of dread. What she found restored her faith in people – and in love itself, she writes, in the first instalment of a new series following her dating journey. I went into the first lockdown a hardcore introvert, one of those annoying people talking … Read more
People have called it for it be pulled from the service, but the escapist fantasy of 365 Days is nothing new, writes Alie Benge. To every generation, a bullish alpha-male psychopath is born, and is for someone reason considered a romantic hero. We’ve been through a lot this year, and instead of a Covid vaccine, … Read more
Eamonn Marra’s debut novel makes a study of the mundane: sanding a fence, heating baked beans, three pizzas for $29.99 delivered. Alie Benge reckons it belongs somewhere between Sally Rooney and Elena Ferrante. It was about page three of 2000ft Above Worry Level. A feeling burst inside me: the joy of recognising something so beautiful … Read more
Alie Benge on the book that built a shimmering private world for her and her sisters. I own two copies of Little Women. One is bound in white leather, has gilt edges, a gold filigree pattern on the front, and the heft of a family Bible. Each copy of this edition is made to order. … Read more
Yesterday, we published an essay by novelist Lloyd Jones lamenting the change in New Zealand’s book culture. Today, Alie Benge responds with a passionate defence of the modern NZ library. Lloyd Jones is worried. He couldn’t find the New Zealand fiction section in Tūranga library, and now the walls are crumbling. New Zealand’s literary scene … Read more