For the first time drug driving deaths have eclipsed drink drivers. Or have they? Don Rowe looks at the media furore around an AA press release some experts argue is unsubstantiated. Last week news broke that for the first time in New Zealand drug drivers were responsible for more deaths than drink drivers. Stuff, the … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, Auckland Council wants you to help buy trains. What’s the deal, and can they be trusted with your money? What’s all this then? Auckland Council has announced they will be making an offer of five year ‘green bonds’ … Read more
The ‘Nectarine Nero’ meets Kim Jong-un in Singapore today to pursue the shared goals of peace in Korea and a lovely Nobel prize. Don Rowe breaks down the 30 seconds or so the pair spent with the press ahead of their talks today. Well how about that, the Apprentice guy is in Singapore negotiating for an … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, Joseph Parker is heading back to the UK to rejoin the hunt for the heavyweight title. What’s all this then? Joseph Parker has signed to fight British heavyweight Dillian Whyte in London on July 28. Parker’s fighting a … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, the latest on New Zealand’s efforts to fight plastic pollution. What’s all this then? It’s a wrap on plastic, with everyone from Countdown to Coca-Cola joining a pledge to (eventually) eliminate things like straws and bags from their … Read more
For a brief moment, New Zealand was home to Big Foot, a mythically potent RTD served in a giant bottle and apparently aimed squarely at teens. Don Rowe talks to the brain behind it. Gather round children, I’m going to speak to you of the days before the voluntary RTD code. A time when Billy … Read more
Inside the cutting edge Waikato farm technology hub which makes our pastures greener and impregnates up to 80% of New Zealand’s dairy herd. The inside of a cow’s anus is warm and cavernous, and getting your hand inside is a breeze. After smearing a dollop of lubrication to a sleeved glove you simply beak your … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Chelle Fitzgerald: Dollar drinks on the dancefloor: the heyday of Dunedin student pubs “‘Going to town’ in Dunedin was fucking awesome back in the day. There was no need to preload, because all the clubs sold ‘house doubles’ (read: cheap bottom-shelf alcohol) for $2, or, … Read more
Exclusive: Following a Spinoff investigation into foreign sites using a legal loophole to advertise on TV and exploit Kiwi gamblers, the government has sworn to take action – and they’re asking the private sector to do the same. Don Rowe reports. The government has promised to close loopholes allowing offshore casino operators to exploit vulnerable … Read more
An intensive self-defence and empowerment workshop puts young women in stressful roleplays of power dynamics and attempted assault. Don Rowe visits the Stand Up programme at Rodney College. “You fucking bitch, I’ll kill you!” Dragging the girl backwards, the armoured man ranted and raved, screaming obscenities as she squirmed and struggled. First she freed her arm. … Read more
This weekend marks the release of Dancing With Atoms, veteran filmmaker Shirley Horrocks’ tribute to physicist Sir Paul Callaghan. Don Rowe talks to Horrocks about his life and legacy. According to Professor Shaun Hendy, director of Auckland research centre Te Pūnaha Matatini, in any other country luminary scientist Sir Paul Callaghan would be on everything … Read more
Headquartered in a tax haven, JackpotCity is getting around legal restrictions to advertise on television with what critics call a ‘Trojan horse’ – then using aggressive sales tactics to keep vulnerable gamblers hooked. And according to the Department of Internal Affairs, it’s all totally legal. Don Rowe investigates. Imagine yourself at home on your couch. … Read more
Commute week: You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, unless perhaps it’s a human placenta or a cello. We present the most bizarre items left behind on public transport. Amid the seething mass of humanity who drag themselves from light-polluted sleep to the various cars, coaches and carriages which deliver us to work … Read more
Midwives around New Zealand marched today, protesting pay rates and working conditions across the industry. Don Rowe joined the march up Auckland’s main street. New Zealand midwives and their supporters marched in cities around the country today, calling for urgent adjustments to what they say is an outrageously low pay scale, which can in some … Read more
Don Rowe takes a deep dive into the disgusting to rank the diseases and bugs currently plaguing our shores, threatening our agriculture and tourism industries. Just as our clean green image is threatened by the various turds, both bovine and backpacker, flooding into our waterways, so too is our biosecurity consistently in danger of bugs … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Don Rowe hops in an ice bath and gets introspective with the Wim Hof Method. “Breathe into your ballsack Art. Breathe into your balls brother.” Strange words to hear when one is concerned with visualising their diaphragm as an … Read more
As the population of New Zealand booms and our largest city grinds to a standstill, the government faces a once in a generation challenge – housing the nation. Don Rowe spoke to Master Builders’ David Kelly about the state of the New Zealand construction industry, and how the private sector will play an essential role … Read more
This morning the government and Auckland Council announced a record $30b investment in solving Auckland’s transport crisis. Don Rowe reports. Atop a broken escalator the two Phils stood shoulder to shoulder, sharing a vision of a better Auckland, a cleaner Auckland; a Greater Auckland, if you will. The Government and Auckland Council together will embark … Read more
There are a handful of dead bodies in the Auckland Hilton and Don Rowe has seen them all. The controversial Body Worlds Vital exhibition is a powerful meditation on mortality and death, he writes. “We do not see things as they are,” goes the old Talmudic phrase, “We see them as we are.” How then … Read more
‘Super-gonorrhoea’ has been reported in Australia, and experts say we’re next. How bad could it get, asks Don Rowe. What’s all this then? A historically resistant strain of gonorrhoea has made its way from South East Asia to the UK and Australia, and experts are warning we are next. Antibiotic resistant superbugs? They’re like climate … Read more
An epic tale of Scandinavian myths and the father-son duo that fight them, God of War is a defining AAA game that pushes the boundaries graphically and thematically. Don Rowe reviews. I wrote last month about German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s theory of the sublime, and how a select few games have transcended the medium by embodying it’s … Read more
Ads hawking bogus Ray-Ban sunglasses are springing up all over Instagram feeds. But where do they come from and who is to blame? Don Rowe, who found despite a spotless online record he’d been spamming the bloody things himself, launches an investigation. Like scoffing at some sucker with a cracked phone screen, there’s a certain … Read more
After hurricane force winds battered Auckland on Tuesday night, lines company Vector awoke to the task of rebuilding its severely damaged network. Minoru Frederiksens talks Don Rowe through the aftermath. On Tuesday night a severe storm tore through Auckland, cutting power to more than 100,000 houses across the region. Whole suburbs went dark as trees … Read more
Joseph Parker came up short in his bout against heavyweight superstar Anthony Joshua this evening, but in doing so he might have won a bigger victory yet – that of class over crass. Don Rowe reports from Cardiff. Whoever wants to beat Britain’s Anthony Joshua from here on out better bring a second man or … Read more
Over the past two years a movement of Dunedin bands have played sold out gigs in all the major centres, riding a wave of hype unseen since the glory days of Flying Nun. Don Rowe kicks off his shoes and gets into the thick of it. On a peerless afternoon in late January, 250 people … Read more
In the final event ahead of Sunday morning’s historic heavyweight title fight, Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua weighed in in front of 4000 drunken fans. Don Rowe reports from Cardiff. The propensity of the Welsh to drink may seem an exaggeration, but as the festivities kicked off at the weigh ins in Cardiff this afternoon, … Read more
This weekend, undefeated heavyweight champion Joseph Parker seeks to unify his belts against British superstar Anthony Joshua. Three days out from the fight, the pressure is mounting on both combatants. Don Rowe reports from London in the second of a diary series leading up to the fight. If David Higgins and Team Parker are betting … Read more
This weekend, undefeated heavyweight champion Joseph Parker seeks to unify his belts against British superstar Anthony Joshua. Today they finally squared off at a press conference. Don Rowe reports from London in the first in a diary series leading up to the fight. It was grey and drizzly in Isleworth as the press hacks filed … Read more
A freakishly potent opioid has been discovered at a music festival in New Zealand. What is it, and what does its presence in this country mean? What’s all this then? Fentanyl, a drug responsible for thousands upon thousands of overdose deaths in the US and Europe, has been discovered at a festival in New Zealand. … Read more