Josie Adams 
Here’s The Spinoff’s weekly round-up of data tracking the effects and response of Covid-19 around the world – and how New Zealand stacks up. Our weekly summaries of data and visualisations use Our World in Data’s work on the Covid-19 pandemic, which is freely available for re-use. Not all data is complete: measurement techniques vary … Read more
Waitomo is a town built on tourism. But as overseas visitors who have been flocking to its spectacular network of glow-worm caves for over a century dry up, the future looks uncertain. More than 130 years ago, the eruption of Mount Tarawera killed an estimated 153 people and buried Te Otukapuarangi and Te Tarata, the … Read more
Yesterday New Zealand recorded zero new cases for the seventh day in a row, and just one person still classified as an ‘active case’. How does that compare with other Covid-stamping countries? As we enter our first long weekend since the end of lockdown, we also prepare to join a small group of countries who’ve … Read more
Here’s The Spinoff’s weekly round-up of data tracking the effects and response of Covid-19 around the world – and how New Zealand stacks up. Our weekly summaries of data and visualisations use Our World in Data’s work on the Covid-19 pandemic, which is freely available for re-use. Not all data is complete: measurement techniques vary … Read more
In the middle of a pandemic, Dr Vanessa Beavis has just taken charge of one of Australasia’s largest medical colleges. She talks to The Spinoff about life as an anaesthetist over the past few months. In between scheduling surgeries just a week before we moved to level two, Dr Vanessa Beavis recorded a speech accepting … Read more
Here’s The Spinoff’s weekly round-up of data tracking the effects and response of Covid-19 around the world – and how New Zealand stacks up. Last week we began a weekly summary of data and visualisations drawn from Our World in Data’s work on the Covid-19 pandemic, which is freely available for re-use. Not all data … Read more
A new survey suggests 16% of us don’t want to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Josie Adams reports on what this means for herd immunity, and for New Zealand’s strategy to fight the pandemic. A new Stickybeak survey for The Spinoff of New Zealanders’ attitudes to the Covid crisis has found significant opposition to a hypothetical … Read more
Allegations have been made about Jason Derulo’s use of a New Zealand teen’s music for his new song. Here’s everything you need to know about the controversy, the teen, and how TikTok is driving it all. Who is the teenager? Jawsh 685 is a 17-year-old from Manurewa. He has some serious music production chops and … Read more
Budget 2020: No increase to benefits or wages, but investment in vocational training could future-proof New Zealand’s workers. The first major Covid-19 stimulus package, equivalent to $12.1 billion, was announced two months ago. It introduced the wage subsidy, a $25 per week increase to benefits, and financial support for leave taken due to Covid-19. At … Read more
Beginning today, The Spinoff kicks off a weekly round-up of data tracking the effects and response of Covid-19 around the world – and how New Zealand stacks up. This data and the visualisations of it are both drawn from Our World in Data’s work on the Covid-19 pandemic, which is freely available for re-use. Not … Read more
Over lockdown, a small team of music industry professionals have become emergency response workers. Josie Adams visited Spark Arena to meet them. Behind Spark Arena is a line of shipping containers filled with food and hygiene products. “Only a few months ago this was filled with Tool’s stuff,” said Tom Anderson, a coordinator of Auckland … Read more
On Wednesday night, Young Act’s vice president announced her resignation, citing ongoing harassment. The executive is now promising a cultural overhaul, reports Josie Adams. Young Act, the youth branch of right-wing political party Act, has been accused of fostering a culture of sexual harassment and slut-shaming, leading to the resignation of its vice president in … Read more
No matter how the world changes, Auckland Zoo will always have a role to play in its community. It’s a school, a mental health tool and a force against injustice; and now, it’s online. For almost a century, Auckland Zoo has brought the natural world to its urban community. It has wildlife found nowhere else … Read more
With the third and final instalment of Petals for Armor, Hayley Williams has completed the extended birth of a very large child. She talks to Josie Adams about graduating from emo to goth. Our introduction to Hayley Williams, solo artist, was ‘Simmer’. Working from the vocals up, the song pulses, breathes and viscerally dissects the … Read more
The winner of the Taite Music Prize for 2020 is Troy Kingi, for his reggae album Holy Colony Burning Acres. Troy Kingi and the Upperclass have won the Taite Music Prize, an award for artistic and creative excellence in New Zealand music. Holy Colony Burning Acres is the third instalment of Kingi’s 10-year plan: 10 … Read more
Benee’s new tune ‘Lownely’, a remix of the international hit ‘Supalonely’, is premiering right here, right now. She tells us about making music in unprecedented times. Local lass and global superstar Benee is a 20-year-old with 23 million monthly listeners. She’s gone from strength to strength since last year’s EPs Stella & Steve and Fire … Read more
The Wellington-based musician’s new album is the culmination of 10 years of memories, YouTube, and jazz school. It’s been over a decade since ‘My Heart Will Go On – Recorder by Candlelight’ was uploaded to YouTube. It is a work of exceptional craftsmanship. The soft focus, the notes pitching in just the wrong places, and … Read more
Emergency departments nationwide are reporting a decrease in patients, but an increase in injuries from aspiring handyfolk. “Please,” said Southern DHB on April 2nd, “can we remind everyone to take care when undertaking DIY tasks and using power tools.” Less than a week into lockdown, its hospitals had seen an increase in orthopaedic presentations related … Read more
LA-based New Zealander Chelsea Jade’s latest single, ‘Superfan,’ is out now. She explains everything behind the stilts and the strangeness of her new video. Chelsea Jade calls herself DIY pop, and she really does do it all herself. After a couple of years touring North America with Muna and YourSmith, the songwriter, singer, director, and … Read more
The Salvation Army has issued its second Covid-19 monitoring report, urging the government to take action. A month ago, The Salvation Army began monitoring the effects of Covid-19 on vulnerable New Zealanders. Today, the organisation has come to the conclusion that an emerging “Covid-19 underclass” needs urgent and radical government intervention to prevent further distress. … Read more
For a month now, we’ve been asked to stay at home to stop the spread of Covid-19. New data visualisations now show how well we’re following that instruction. The Science Media Centre has funded data visualisations showing when and where we’ve travelled over the past month. Geographer Chris McDowall has made videos following population movements … Read more
Our lives have been shaken over the past month, and not just in the obvious ways. Here are some of the smaller, stranger things that lockdown has brought up. When everyone withdrew into their bubbles almost four weeks ago, it was clear certain things would be different: our levels of social interaction, our incomes, and … Read more
The Beths’ livestreamed concert yesterday showed that even in lockdown, live music isn’t dead. Here’s why it worked, and where you can see other Kiwis live streaming for the next week. Yesterday at 9am, Liz Stokes put a giant pineapple mask over her head and played the Animal Crossing theme on a trumpet stuffed with … Read more
Misinformation about adrenochrome and its supposed links to Covid-19 has gone into overdrive. But what is it? We separate the substance’s literary history from its real-world functions. Read more about the bizarre life of the ‘truth about adrenochrome’ story here If you’ve spent much time online lately, like everyone else in lockdown, you’ve probably fallen … Read more
Medical centres across the country are condensing services, moving online and ushering in pandemic plans. Josie Adams assesses what it’s like to access and provide essential medical care under alert level four. On Monday, Sandra Russell woke up before dawn and drove to Milford to get her blood tested. She has an incurable blood cancer, … Read more
One way to pass time, which we suddenly have a lot of, is gardening. But where can you get seeds? And what do you plant in autumn? Josie Adams finds out. While it seems many New Zealanders are exercising a newfound love of jogging, some of us are more sedentary. For those looking for a … Read more
It’s been 10 years since the release of Dane Rumble’s solo album The Experiment. Josie Adams looks back on why New Zealand fell so hard and fast. It sometimes feels like Dane Rumble was a mass hallucination. In the space of a decade, we’ve seen what was once just a standard summer bop – ‘Cruel’ … Read more
Dua Lipa’s new album, Future Nostalgia, is an ode to good memories and a gateway to Zumba. Josie Adams listened to it and took a heady trip into her past. We’re only three months in, but I’m calling it now: Future Nostalgia will be one of the best pop records released this decade. It’s dropped … Read more
The effects of Covid-19 on New Zealand music won’t be short-lived. Here’s how some members of the industry – both on stage and behind the scenes – are coping. On a plane to New York, musician Joe Locke is dry-retching. He’s having a panic attack. Soon he’ll be flying home to New Zealand, back to … Read more