Experts on employment predict how Covid-19 will change the way we work and impact jobs in the future. The isolating impact of Covid-19 forced us to change the way we work. It recast the relationship between employer and employee and it brought the role of technology in our workplaces forward by years. This shift was … Read more
For most of us, the commute to and from work is an unavoidably tedious part of our daily routine. But for a lucky few, it’s an opportunity to experience some of Aotearoa’s most stunning landscapes. There are few things in life more polarising than the daily commute. From gridlocked nudges along motorways listening to talk … Read more
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after the decadence of the … Read more
To complete our series looking back at 2020 and gazing ahead to 2021, we asked our big political commentary brains to nominate the three issues that will loom large in the year to come. Read more from our political year in review here. Alex Braae Who owns the water infrastructure? And more importantly, will Councils … Read more
Every year in our summer politics review we encourage our esteemed commentators to throw all caution to the wind and make a wild prediction. Most will be gloriously off-beam. But usually at least one is on the money … Read more from our political year in review here. Contrary to expectations, the huge new intake … Read more
An extra question for our esteemed politics watchers this year: what would they add to the Spinoff time capsule, our mechanism to literally encapsulate (and bury) the year 2020. Read more from our political year in review here. Some hand sanitiser – it’ll probably still be good to use when they crack the box open … Read more
Last year, there was a lot of swearing deployed to sum up the year. And then came 2020. As it reaches its close, how to describe the world this year in one sentence? Read more from our political year in review here. Is there anything we can do to help? Alex Braae 2020 is … … Read more
Every year since the distant past (2016) the Spinoff has assembled a pantheon of politics watchers to appraise the 12 months past and cast a gaze ahead at those to come. To kick us off in a year of Covid and voting, the champs and the flops of 2020. Alex Braae Champs Mark Ball Easily … Read more
With crisp notes of family, the beach and Christmas, a bottle of bubbles is much more than just a drink, it’s a moment. The Spinoff staff share their favourite memories and recommendations for Champagne and sparkling wine. Simon Day: Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV My wife’s birthday is right in the middle of December and … Read more
The erstwhile Vodafone Music Awards returned to Spark Arena last night with a new format – and a new Covid-inspired appreciation for the joys of live music. Here’s what Spinoff’s staffers thought. There was a moment during the awards last night where I had a rare feeling (for 2020 anyway) of hope. Maimoa had just … Read more
Some of the smartest people in the country examine the effects of the pandemic on Aotearoa’s future in 400 words or fewer. Read part one here. Beyond the horrific global death toll and the economic shutdowns, there is hope that Covid-19 will allow us to build a better society in the future. While much of … Read more
Some of the smartest people in the country examine the effects of the pandemic on Aotearoa’s future in 400 words or fewer. There are few corners of society that Covid-19 has not touched. From healthcare to the economy, education to professional sport, the pandemic has changed the way we interact with each other and the … Read more
Two days out from the election, what did we learn from tonight’s final leaders debate? Here’s what our debate watchers thought. Justin Giovannetti: The tank is empty Judith Collins is done. The feeling that will stick with me from that debate came afterwards when the leaders faced the media in the atrium of TVNZ. Collins, … Read more
When broadcaster Sarah Gandy received her breast cancer diagnosis, she turned to two people who knew better than anyone what she was going through: her good friends Rebecca Wadey and Delaney Tabron. This story first appeared on Ensemble magazine. Broadcaster Sarah Gandy was inspired to conceive the Change and Check campaign she launched last month … Read more
Who came out on top in the online Press Leaders’ Debate tonight? Here are our debate watchers’ verdicts. Duncan Greive: Ardern is the superior communicator. Tonight, she finally showed it The hoary boxing cliché says that styles make fights – that different yet complementary techniques will produce a better spectacle. Through the first two debates … Read more
Who came out on top in the second leaders’ debate? Here are our debate watchers’ verdicts. Duncan Greive: Collins finds her voice The second debate was superior in every way. The staging and lighting more dramatic, the question lines more urgent, the leaders more determined to clearly demark the territory between them. Within the first … Read more
Who came out on top in tonight’s leaders’ debate? Here are our debate watchers’ verdicts. Toby Manhire: Everyone is knackered Given that most of the country, most of the Covid-battered world, is basically just knackered, is it any surprise that tonight’s opening debate felt a bit knackered, too? Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins walked down … Read more
Visionweek is a not-for-profit web summit with an aim to stimulate a conversation about the future of New Zealand as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis. We asked participants to give us their big ideas to transform the country. Running June 8-12, the Visionweek online summit features an array of New Zealand’s top business leaders, … Read more
Budget 2020: In the midst of a pandemic, and with New Zealand beginning the long road to recovery, today’s budget was heralded as potentially the most momentous in a generation. So what did the experts think? Generation Zero: Good, but not good enough Around the world, experts and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank … Read more
Managing your money isn’t all about Excel sheets and financial diaries. Here are just a few apps we recommend to help you on your way. Money Lover This probably sounds bizarre, but there’s something oddly therapeutic about monitoring your money with an expense tracking app. Not only does it help keep how much you’re spending … Read more
To complete our series looking back at 2019 and peering into 2020, we asked our political sleuths to nominate the three issues that could make the difference in this year’s election. Alex Braae Many polls indicate that if Labour is to keep leading the government, it will be in charge of a coalition. There could … Read more
2019 is history. Shifting effortlessly into prophesy mode, our gallant politics-watchers plunge headlong into the crystal ball. National and NZ First will shit-talk each other all year and then form a government after the election. Alex Braae Judith Collins will defect from the National Party to lead ACT and take that party to 3% at … Read more
In part two of the year in politics 2019 (see Champs and Flops, yesterday), we asked our punditry pantheon: Give us the year in a sentence. Gosh it’s warm today. Alex Braae Pitchfork politics, big improbable lies, bad hair and a 16-year-old climate change warrior whose mere presence sent a certain sub-group into an irrational … Read more
As the sun sets on 2019, The Spinoff bounds into the political ocean for one final dip, in our traditional survey of the year (and nervous peer at the year to come). First up, our experts name and acclaim the champs and flops of 2019. Alex Braae Champs David Seymour In pure horse-race terms, his … Read more
How on earth do you fill three days without work? Clearly, by bingeing content you don’t have time for on a normal weekend. The Spinoff is here to help, with 10 favourite marathon-length suggestions. Kath & Kim (Netflix) Does it make me a crim to be a Kim? We can’t all be Kaths. The foxy ladies … Read more
The latest film by New Zealand’s celebrity director Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit, is out in cinemas now. Spinoff writers offer their thoughts on the ‘anti-hate satire’, and whether it lives up to Waititi’s catalogue of hits. Sam Brooks, culture editor I had a lovely time watching Jojo Rabbit – it’s an enjoyable, tense coming-of-age film that … Read more
When comedy documentary Funny As was made, a lot of interviews got left on the cutting room floor which NZ On Screen quickly picked up. Here are some of our favourites. We’re a pretty funny bunch us Kiwis. Trapped on a tiny island at the end of the earth it appears we’ve evolved just a … Read more
Our writers celebrate the very best episode of their favourite TV shows on NEON. Don’t @ us, our decisions are final. For all the great new television out there, nothing feels quite as comforting as returning to your favourite series and reliving the episodes that made your brain explode. It might be the one episode … Read more
In the wake of Avengers: Endgame and that huge Game of Thrones episode, everyone is up in arms about spoilers. But are they really such a big deal? There are no spoilers in this piece. Come on, guys. Don Rowe, staff writer Let me start by saying I’m glad Endgame was spoiled for people. The Avengers … Read more