The locked-down residents of a Wellington rest home – including her mum – are treated to a live gig courtesy of historian and author Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa). Ever since I was Dorothy in the New Plymouth Operatic Society’s production of The Wizard of Oz, I have wanted an international music career. Some 40 … Read more
The way we buy our food has changed hugely since the lockdown began. Small New Zealand producers have taken a massive hit, closing stores and struggling with online demand. Here are some ways shoppers can help these businesses. In the first week of lockdown, shoppers panicked. It was a perfectly natural response to the fear … Read more
Our essential workers deserve more than a round of applause, but danger pay is not the answer, writes Kerry Davies from the Public Service Association. Did you shower this morning? Is the kitchen clean? Have you changed your sheets since we went into lockdown? Have you vacuumed? Are you taking that rubbish out? For most … Read more
Reverend Scottie Reeve on the meaning of Easter during the Covid-19 pandemic, and why we need to embark on a journey of collective repentance. On Wednesday while I was going for a walk, I came across a friend on the Wellington waterfront. We’ll call him David. David had no idea what was happening at the … Read more
‘Paint is peeling from the old truck workshop walls. Some days you can taste rust on the autumn wind, like swallowing iron and blood and pollen.’ Read more Lockdown Letters here IT’S GONE BELLY UP FOR THE WORLD. I bet the doomsday preppers are feeling smug right now, locking down in their DIY bunkers. The … Read more
There’s a desperate scramble to stop more major media companies failing. Duncan Greive explains what’s going on – and how it might play out. The most recent edition of the reigning newspaper of the year, the Sunday Star-Times, was a pearler. It opened with a substantial analysis from political editor Luke Malpass about the tension … Read more
For those keen to avoid the long and awkward queues at supermarkets, there may be a new technological solution. Long supermarket lines have become the bane of the lockdown era, with many people worried that the overcrowding and long wait times may burst their bubbles. Those concerns have prompted a Dunedin-based software engineer to create … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Health minister David Clark suffers major demotion, government launches mental health tools, and more outline given on decision to leave lockdown. In breaking news, health minister David Clark has been severely demoted by the Prime Minister. Last week, a story came out about him driving to … Read more
From managing the expectations of friends and whānau to making sure there’s enough PPE, Jihee Junn talks to an Auckland-based funeral director about what their job has been like under Covid-19. More than 400 people are said to have died during New Zealand’s first week under level four lockdown. Only one had a direct connection … Read more
If and when New Zealand exits alert level four and its restrictions, contact tracing becomes the most important tool we have to prevent having to lockdown all over again. So what does it involve, and are we doing enough of it? Just quickly – what is contact tracing? Contact tracing is what happens to determine … Read more
After five years, the Final Fantasy VII Remake has finally appeared. Sam Brooks reviews the highly anticipated remake, looking back while leaping forward. Remakes have been around so long as we’ve been making art. We’re used to them, whether they’re new retellings of old myths, covers of old songs, or complete reimaginings of old films. … Read more
The face mask question is more complicated than it might at first seem, explains Siouxsie Wiles. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 crisis is only possible because of the support of members. If you can, please consider joining Spinoff Members here. Read Toby Morris’s new Side Eye comic, created with Siouxsie Wiles, here. And more of Siouxsie’s … Read more
The latest in our new series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall. This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff Members These posts collate the most recent statistics and presents them as charts and maps. The Ministry of Health typically publishes data updates in the early afternoon, which describe … Read more
If you’re a movie-lover but don’t feel like funnelling more money to a giant global corporation right now, good news: there are plenty of free – and legal – streaming options out there. You just have to know where to look. The number of people with access to linear television is growing smaller and smaller … Read more
In times of economic uncertainty, good information can be an invaluable commodity. So we’ve been working on a way to channel it to you. For many people, knowing what to do in our radically changing economy is like trying to figure out what to do when the power in your house stops working. You’re at … Read more
Laura Jean McKay is hunkered down in Palmerston North but her much-hyped novel The Animals in That Country is out there in the world – earlier than expected, too, because it’s about a strange new flu. Two women stand close to each other in an aisle labelled CANS. They’re young, with strong pink arms in … Read more
Today President Trump again touted hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19, despite a lack of good evidence that it is safe or effective against the coronavirus. Here’s what we do know about the drug Trump calls a ‘game changer’. On Saturday the US Food and Drug Administration granted authorisation of two antimalarial drugs, hydroxychloroquine … Read more
It’s a more complicated issue than simply whether one company should control the majority of the market, writes regulatory law expert Edward Willis. The closure of Bauer Media’s operations in New Zealand, along with many well-loved magazine titles, is devastating. The broad impact of the closure, coupled with the realisation that Bauer Media’s print media … Read more
‘When you reach for the exact same thing day after day, your grasp on everything else in the world loosens.’ Read more Lockdown Letters here At the end of 2001, my brother JP and I picked cherries and thinned apples at an orchard just outside Blenheim. It was hot and tiring work and it took … Read more
Alex Casey talks to a physiotherapist about how we can all save our necks and backs from a world of pain while working from home during the lockdown. As we enter another week of lockdown, you might be starting to feel a new twinge at the nape of your neck, or a growing ache in … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Debate over leaving lockdown fires up, how the tax system could change after Covid-19, and concerns as cyclone bears down on Vanuatu. Over the last few days, a debate has started to fire up about leaving level four restrictions, and restarting some of the economic activity … Read more
Scientists hope to seek evidence of the coronavirus, or its absence, in wastewater. Mirjam Guesgen explains. The fight against Covid-19 is headed for the sewers, with New Zealand scientists hoping to analyse wastewater samples for signs of the coronavirus. Tests would allow health authorities to see whether New Zealand’s elimination strategy has worked, said Michael … Read more
Since the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment relaxed the rules around the supply of essential non-food items last week, more businesses are announcing that their online stores are up and running. Some things, however, are not what leaps to mind as ‘essential’. Under the new policy allowing essential non-food items to be supplied, MBIE … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. On … Read more
Sam Brooks, a lifelong Studio Ghibli fan, presents a guide to the Japanese studio’s animated films, including which ones to show your kids when. Just heard ‘Let It Go’ for the billionth time? Sick of those class-traitor dogs that make up the cast of Paw Patrol? Look no further than the delightful films of Studio … Read more
Welcome back to Papercuts, our monthly books podcast hosted by Louisa Kasza, Jenna Todd and Kiran Dass. Well, we’ve all said we wish we had more time to read and now we’ve got what we wished for. Jenna, Kiran and Louisa delve into some book news (that’s not too heavy for our weary heads), book … Read more
There have been calls for major institutions like Auckland Art Gallery to do better in identifying LGBTQI+ or LGBTQI+ associated artists. New Auckland Art Gallery director Kirsten Paisley believes it’s ‘a conversation that needs to happen’. Writer Samuel Te Kani digs into the complications below the surface of the erasures of a queer New Zealand art … Read more
Netflix’s four-part series Unorthodox traces a woman’s escape from a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn. Emily Writes considers the lessons we can all learn from her journey. There was a moment watching Netflix’s miniseries Unorthodox when I felt like I was actually in Berlin, where much of the show is set. I felt hope and … Read more
We needed a reasonable period of time to allow the recent surging wave of highly geared first home buyers to get financially comfortable. We didn’t get it, writes David Hargreaves of interest.co.nz. You know, I was really beginning to think (as well as hope) that we might just get away with it. By ‘it’ I mean the … Read more