When it comes to Lynx-flavoured Mountain Dew gaming chips, everyone asks why – but nobody asks how. Don Rowe investigates a culinary mystery. Following the release of any number of Frankenstein’s monsters of food and beverages, the nation resounds with a groaning “why?”. It’s a fair question. Why should milk taste like pineapple lumps, or … Read more
Don Rowe meets the post-graduate students putting tikanga and kaupapa Māori at the centre of learning how to lead. The planet is in trouble. Since the time of the industrial revolution, the Western world has become increasingly enthralled and enchanted by the pursuit of economic and individualistic success. Power, prestige, and the perks and trappings … Read more
Israel Adesanya has fought his way to the top of his sport, and into the hearts and minds of New Zealanders – whether they want him there or not. What’s at stake when he fights this weekend in Abu Dhabi? Just two years into his UFC career, mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya is a bonafide … Read more
Summer reissue: Dragon tears, meteorites, or just plain shit – ambergris is an olfactory miracle of the deep. Sought after for thousands of years, and worth upwards of $10,000/kg today, ambergris washes up on beaches across New Zealand all year long. Don Rowe goes looking for it. This story originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine. … Read more
The School Strike 4 Climate has been widened to a general nationwide strike. Ten of thousands of New Zealanders are expected to skip work and classes today. Here is your guide to what’s going on, and where. What and when? The School Strike 4 Climate movement has invited people of all ages to a nationwide … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Don Rowe heads to Queenstown to see if a Fergburger lives up to the hype. It doesn’t take much to become an institution in New Zealand. Cast adrift at the bottom of the Earth, we cling to whatever collective … Read more
An investigation has been launched after an epileptic inmate was left in a soiled cell following a seizure over the weekend. An inmate was left traumatised and covered in excrement overnight following an epileptic seizure at Christchurch Men’s Prison. The man, who The Spinoff has chosen not to name, collapsed in his cell around 10.30pm … Read more
In our latest local elections 2019 race briefing (read the rest here), Don Rowe looks at the two horse race to control the tourism capital of New Zealand. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Where? Queenstown, the pride … Read more
Freedom camping, public transport and affordable housing are challenges Queenstown’s Mayor Jim Boult says he’s uniquely poised to solve – if only people would do what they’re told. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Queenstown is a … Read more
Finally, New Zealand history will become a compulsory school subject. So what’s so good about that? New Zealand history will be a compulsory primary and secondary school subject within the next three years, Jacinda Ardern announced today. The decision has proved popular to campaigners and academics like Vincent O’Malley who have battled for years to … Read more
The myth that Māori wiped out the Moriori people is the punchline of a new Jim Gaffigan joke. Update 13/9: Jim Gaffigan has apologised on Twitter, saying he was “simply repeating what he was told”. On the day that the government announced New Zealand history will become compulsory in schools, one of the most pervasive … Read more
In these days of alienation, singletons need all the help they can get. But who is doing love right? Only the hottest couple in Fountain Lakes, explains Don Rowe. There are a lot of unhealthy behaviours on the television folks, a lot of cheating, philandering, and promiscuity. From Game of Thrones to Euphoria, our stars … Read more
After more than 40 years the war on drugs has had brutal consequences for justice in New Zealand. The movement to end the war is gathering momentum. Like most wars started by the United States, the war on drugs was launched for spurious and racially-motivated reasons by cynical political hawks. And like most wars started … Read more
Former prime minister Helen Clark has called for New Zealanders to vote yes when they hit the booth in next year’s cannabis referendum. Former prime minister Helen Clark says New Zealanders should vote yes to the legalisation of cannabis and the wiping of minor cannabis-related convictions at the 2020 cannabis referendum. The recommendation comes off … Read more
Sixty years ago Volvo invented the modern seatbelt then gave it away free to the world. Now, to celebrate that anniversary, they’re doing it again – this time with millions of dollars of hard-won safety research. In a steel tunnel in Sweden, a giant rubber moose is in trouble. Watched from every angle by high-speed … Read more
TaiTokerau Rugby League is a breakaway competition aiming to bring power back to the people in the Far North. But under the lead of CEO Hone Harawira, it’s not without its critics. Don Rowe reports. This feature is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Three … Read more
The outbreak of measles has reached a dangerous tipping point. What does ‘herd immunity’ mean, and why does that matter? Welcome to New Zealand, 2019, where 850 cases of measles have been reported since January and experts are warning of mass contaminations at sports tournaments and public gatherings. I’m writing this from Auckland, where at … Read more
1000 Words is a Spinoff series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In this instalment, Don Rowe speaks to Chris McKeen, the photographer who shot Pania Newton at Ihumātao. The story of Ihumātao is, in a certain sense, one of timing and potentiality. At a moment of ascension for a new … Read more
Research shows young New Zealanders are stubbing out cannabis – and Māori more than most. Research released today shows kids are smoking less and less weed, with Māori and Pasifika in particular increasingly choosing to abstain. Academics from the University of Otago, University of Auckland, and Victoria University of Wellington cross-analysed three National Youth Health … Read more
A ‘health based’ approach to drug enforcement is one step closer to being written into law after the third reading of the Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment Bill. Don Rowe reports. The Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment bill has passed its third reading tonight in what MPs and harm reduction advocates are calling the most … Read more
The white supremacist terrorist who killed 20 people in El Paso over the weekend claimed direct inspiration from the Christchurch mosque shootings. Don Rowe explores how our darkest day became an aspirational target for the far right. Scrolling 8chan after another white supremacist terrorist attack was foreshadowed on the site over the weekend I flicked … Read more
Despite two unsuccessful appeals against his convictions for child sex abuse, doubts around the reliability of the evidence against Peter Ellis have hung heavy for almost three decades. Yesterday it was announced that the Supreme Court would give him an opportunity to clear his name. What’s all this then? Peter Ellis, a convicted child sex … Read more
Otago scientists say the lobby group has misrepresented the research. Academics from the University of Otago have torn apart claims made by Family First about the links between cannabis, psychosis and violence in a paper published this morning. Prompted by a Family First petition calling for a government inquiry, the paper critiques a “tendentious” argument … Read more
After months of protest, the last occupants were moved off Ihumātao in south Auckland by police this afternoon. Don Rowe reports. Most of the occupants of Ihumātao had been moved on. The police, numbering at least 30, had finally made good on their promise to remove mana whenua from Kaitiaki Village, enforcing Fletcher Building’s demands … Read more
Every fish on the iconic New Zealand Commercial Fish Species poster, ranked. There are a few staples of the quintessential fish and chip shop: sticky plastic curtains, soggy paper tickets with a little red number, tin pottles of Wattie’s tomato sauce, even some unlabelled aioli if you’re feeling bougie. And then there’s the New Zealand … Read more
It’s landlords who are finding themselves out in the cold as property managers begin to walk away from clients who haven’t insulated their rentals, reports Don Rowe. Two weeks after the first of New Zealand’s healthy homes deadlines, property managers are dropping landlords who refuse to insulate. David Faulkner, director of property management consulting firm … Read more
The Black Caps’ World Cup loss at Lord’s this morning has much of the country feeling pretty shit. From massage to mindfulness, here are five ways to feel just a tiny bit better. There’s a lot of weepy people out there today folks, a lot of real sad individuals. When you draw twice and still … Read more
A new ‘bath salt’ mimicking MDMA has been found circulating at the University of Otago re-orientation week. Drug testing by the New Zealand Drug Foundation has revealed a batch of the previously unidentified substance eutylone is currently circulating at the University of Otago’s re-orientation week. Eutylone, first detected by KnowYourStuffNZ in December 2018 (known then … Read more
Immediately following the Christchurch Mosque Shootings the National Telehealth Service expanded by 120 staff to counsel more than 800 New Zealanders by phone. Don Rowe visits to learn how they did it. In the 24 hours following the Christchurch Mosque Shootings an army of counsellors mobilised across New Zealand. Psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers scrambled … Read more