A distinctly colonial institution, banking has long ignored te ao Māori. Teaho Pihama believes investment in tikanga Māori at Kiwibank can have significant, positive outcomes for Māori. In early 90s Tāmaki Makaurau, when Teahooterangi (Teaho) Pihama was growing up riding his bike around the streets of Kingsland until the streetlights came on, the inner city … Read more
Simon Day spoke to Charlotte Ward, chief people officer at Kiwibank, about what it was like to return to Aotearoa in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Charlotte Ward has constantly been on the move. Now, she’s found her way home and doesn’t plan on going anywhere any time soon. The newly appointed chief people … Read more
Simon Day celebrates the arrival of summer by ranking the five flavours of New Zealand’s most beloved frozen treat. The Fruju is the perfect accompaniment to the New Zealand summer. While I fully endorse the role of the scooped ice cream in the Kiwi culinary cultural canon, when the asphalt starts to shimmer and the … Read more
Men find it hard to seek help when they experience perinatal distress. Simon Day shares his story of postnatal anxiety and talks to parenting advocates about what fathers need to do when they’re feeling down. In late December 2019, our twin boys arrived two weeks earlier than expected. They were happy and healthy, but at … Read more
Simon Day didn’t learn te reo Māori as a child. Now a parent himself, he’s passionate about giving his sons the opportunity. My great grandfather, Tom French, was born under a tree at Waipapa marae in Kawhia, overlooking the black sands of the town’s harbour on the North Island’s west coast. As a young man … Read more
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration. When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z Energy picked up 7,500 … Read more
Simon Day shares some lessons from his first three months as a dad. When my twin boys were born on Boxing Day 2019, Corona was still just a beer. The first 12 weeks with our boys felt like a lifetime, and after seven weeks of lockdown, those first 12 weeks now feel like a lifetime … Read more
A severe drought has forced Auckland Council to impose water restrictions for the first time in 25 years. Simon Day spoke to Watercare CEO Raveen Jaduram about why saving water this winter is essential. Over the past five months, when I pause on my (almost) daily run with my dog to take in the view … Read more
New Zealand has never experienced anything like the Covid-19 lockdown of the past seven weeks. Simon Day spoke to a University of Otago researcher analysing the way lockdown has affected New Zealanders’ perception of the world. When New Zealand went into lockdown at midnight on March 25, and the government demanded New Zealanders stay at … Read more
The number of Māori academic staff remains disproportionately low at New Zealand universities. Simon Day spoke to three newly appointed Māori professors at the University of Otago about why putting te ao Māori at the centre of their work is so important. Māori participation in tertiary education is steadily increasing. According to the Ministry of … Read more
Being a new parent is scary and overwhelming and you can forget that it’s also full of happiness. Simon Day shares the moments of joy that have pulled him through the first eight weeks of being a new dad to twins. It’s 3:36am and I’ve just fed, changed, burped, and put my twin boys back … Read more
As sure as a floor strewn with wrapping paper and a mild hangover, the days following Christmas will bring leftover ham. Simon Day shares some tasty ideas for how to deal with it. My favourite part of Christmas comes after December 25 itself. I embrace the days and weeks, even months, of leftover ham. I … Read more
Simon Day eats a burger and considers becoming a vegetarian (again). For two years in my 20s, I was vegetarian. It was a choice based on the idea that it’s a much more efficient and much less environmentally invasive way to feed the world. I used to habitually roll out a quote attributed to Einstein: … Read more
Simon Day trials the new Sunbeam Mixmaster Hand Mixer with its unique HeatSoft Technology to make some bespoke butters, and share his recipes. Butter makes everything better. A cob of sweetcorn glistening in fat, whipped butter melting on McDonald’s hotcakes, white popcorn turned golden, a dripping crumpet, a potato transformed into something heavenly, a croissant … Read more
Covering Climate Now: The release of the new Nissan Leaf electric vehicle signals a shift in the role of cars in our society. Simon Day was at the launch of the new model. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here! According to the Ministry of … Read more
Simon Day learns about the history and power of Chinese five-spice. Both the origins of Chinese five-spice and the flavour itself are a little mysterious. My internet investigations revealed the powder’s name could be in reference to the use of five spices (although this often grows to six or seven), or it could refer to … Read more
Nancy Silverton is one of the world’s great chefs and for three nights in August, she took over a restaurant in Wellington. Simon Day was there. The first thing legendary Californian chef Nancy Silverton does after she greets the bright-eyed dining room that’s gathered at Wellington restaurant Shepherd to see her in the flesh and … Read more
In June Simon Day learned he was going to become a father – to twins. To find out what he was in for he spoke to Jay Reeve about his first five years raising twin boys. This story originally ran on Barkers 1972 blog I’ll never forget sitting in the dim of the radiology theatre at … Read more
Black Caps Cricket World Cup hero Jimmy Neesham reveals what happened on that ill-fated day at Lord’s and how to move on. Jimmy Neesham is doing OK now. But it’s taken a while. For those still suffering from the lead-weight despair of seeing the Black Caps losing the World Cup final in the closest possible … Read more
Simon Day dined alone at Monique Fiso’s Wellington restaurant Hiakai, and discovered it was the perfect way to appreciate the meaning of this special food. “Would you like a few more minutes with your phone?” the waitress at Hiakai asked sympathetically as I mashed a final goodbye text to my wife on the touchscreen. I’d … Read more
Simon Day has eaten great food in iconic cities all over the world. Nothing beats Wellington’s food scene, even on a bad day. Wellington is my favourite food city in the world. I’ve eaten croissants in Paris, and pizza in Rome, and pickled herring in Copenhagen. I’ve tried modern Japanese in Melbourne, and eaten my … Read more
Why Simon Day hopes baking a bacon and egg pie will guide the Black Caps to glory tonight. For a sport dominated by statistics, logic and precision, cricket is strangely superstitious. Every Tweet has a consequence, every movement away from the television affects the game thousands of kilometres away. Certain scores have magical properties. Nelson … Read more
In 1992 the New Zealand cricket team had an unlikely and romantic run at the World Cup. Simon Day retraces the tournament that changed his life forever. I went to the opening game with my grandma and fell in love with Martin Crowe. After every game I watched on TV I’d call her to debrief. … Read more
Ahead of the Black Caps’ first match in the 2019 World Cup, superfan Simon Day longs for his former leader. Every day I miss Brendon McCullum. Whenever he was on the field as captain I felt an unusual sensation as a longterm Black Caps fan – optimism. No matter what the scoreboard said, I thought “we’re … Read more
Beer is a big deal in New Zealand and even as we drink less, its contribution to our economy grows. Simon Day spoke to the Brewers Association’s Dylan Firth about the industry’s growth. New Zealand loves beer – it’s been a constant and colourful part of our colonial history since the arrival of Captain Cook. The … Read more
The first fisherman shows Simon Day how to fillet a fish using the famous Gisborne method. On a dull January afternoon, Clarke Gayford took two of The Spinoff staff into the Hauraki Gulf on a fishing expedition. I was there to take photos, while Spinoff editor Toby Manhire interviewed Gayford about his famous partner’s first … Read more
For most of his life, Brian Ireland had no idea about his Māori whakapapa, but when he discovered it he found a whole new way to look at the world and to teach about how we look after it. He spoke to Simon Day about bringing mātauranga Māori to the Auckland Zoo. “Most of this … Read more
CubaDupa festival hosts nearly 200 artists across two days in the heart of Wellington to mark the end of summer. Trip glitch, Indian jazz fusion, 80s glam, alt dream-pop, contemporary jazz Afrofuturism, German electronic jazz, postpunk dream pop, and psychedelic kraut space rock. These are just a few of the nearly 100 different genres of … Read more
Simon Day was at the last night of the tumultuous 20th anniversary tour of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She was meant to be late. She was supposed to be sick. She’s meant to be a “diva”. Lauryn Hill’s relationship with her live audiences has been complicated for a long time. When you’re the last … Read more