Some people made sourdough. Some took up sewing. But Sacha Judd and her friends got through this pandemic-dominated year by developing a curious obsession with a curious sport. No one needs another thinkpiece about the effect of 2020 on our exhausted brains. You’ve already read a hundred hot takes bemoaning the fact that we can’t … Read more
Sacha Judd was never into costume parties, but when Mythbusters‘ Adam Savage invited her to Comic-Con she gave it a shot. She writes about learning to build a costume from scratch. In March this year, the students at North Bergen High School in New Jersey staged a two-night production of Alien: The Play. With a … Read more
As Russell McVeagh hits the headlines again for inappropriate behaviour by a senior staff member, former lawyer Sacha Judd says time is up on the bullying, macho, sexist culture of the legal profession. This speech was given last night at the Auckland University Law Review Alumni Dinner. I was an editor of the Auckland University … Read more
Globe-trotting superfan Sacha Judd reviews her third Harry Styles show in less than three months. And she might already have tickets to two more. A friend texts me: “Wait. This is your third Harry Styles concert?” I try to explain that, actually, I had only ever intended to see him in Auckland. And then New … Read more
One Direction fan Sacha Judd on fandom, group chats, and how difficult it is to get Harry Styles tickets in New York City. Tickets to Harry Styles’ first solo tour go on sale on a Friday in May. He’s playing small venues – iconic theatres like the Greek in Los Angeles and the Ryman in … Read more
Just days after the sacking of a Google engineer who shared an anti-diversity manifesto came the reckons of a New Zealand software executive who thinks that women just aren’t ‘wired’ for tech. Sacha Judd stopped eye-rolling long enough to compose a response. When I was a university debater in the nineties, the two most common … Read more
In November 2016, Auckland tech investor Sacha Judd delivered a talk in Berlin which became an internet hit. It was titled ‘How the tech sector could move in One Direction’, and it argued that 1D fandom contains a lot of clues to the lack of diversity in tech. Last week she delivered a follow-up talk at … Read more
Sacha Judd finds Justin Bieber’s Purpose World Tour concert at Mt Smart Stadium lacking in fun, energy and, um, purpose. I was pretty excited when my friend gave me a free ticket to Justin Bieber’s Auckland concert on Saturday. I wouldn’t describe myself as a dedicated fan, but the Biebs won me over with his … Read more
Uber seems like a terrible company. But beyond binning an app, the challenge for the tech industry is to delete an entrenched, monolithic culture that sees women and minorities leaving in droves, writes Sacha Judd This week, Susan Fowler published a blog post about her time working as an engineer for Uber, and why she … Read more