Summer reissue: Are we missing the rise of the far right? Marc Daalder speaks to the angry middle-aged men who want to see nationalism rise in New Zealand. This post was first published 2 February 2019. Hundreds of Kiwis have pledged to march today against an obscure UN migration pact today under the guise of … Read more
Summer reissue: Calls to Marcus Lush’s Newstalk ZB show defending the incorrect pronunciation of Māori place names in Otago have been captured and shared by angry listeners. Should we despair at the callers’ attitudes, or celebrate the popular response, asks Māori Language Commissioner Rawinia Higgins First published 29 October, 2019. “It’s the way it is.” … Read more
Summer reissue: The bad boy of hospitality is nearing retirement age, yet his capacity for bitter feuds remains undiminished. Duncan Greive meets Leo Molloy, the Viaduct’s best host and worst enemy. First published 25 June, 2019 “I know Bernie Monk,” said Leo Molloy. “He was a year ahead of me at school.” I had barely … Read more
The drug-testing organisation KnowYourStuffNZ has issued an advisory around potent MDMA pills in circulation this summer. High-dose ecstasy is in circulation ahead of New Year’s Eve, according to KnowYourStuffNZ. Their testing operations have identified the MDMA pills already this season, and says they’re “likely to be found around the country over the holiday period”. According … Read more
Summer reissue: Madeleine Chapman wrote a book and was asked to speak about it at a writers festival. The problem was, nobody wanted to listen. First published 17 May, 2019 No one came. Seriously, no one came. The first sign, a red flag drifting through my subconscious, was the modest attendance at the three person … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. These lists cover the entire year to Christmas Eve. AUCKLAND 1 The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson … Read more
Celebrate stonefruit season – and the end of this crazy old year – with a classy wee cocktail. There’s nothing quite like celebrating with an elegant cocktail and given that 2019 is drawing to a close, and peaches are now at their best, what better reason to get into the kitchen and rustle up these … Read more
Summer reissue: Dreamed of travelling long term, but at a loss about how to afford it? Here’s how Kristin Hall and her partner managed it (spoiler: involves a lot of brown rice and cabbage). This was originally published on 17 July, 2019 * Scroll to the end for an important note about privilege I’m not … Read more
Summer reissue: The $800 per ticket, council-funded festival of ‘creative collisions’ has been cancelled and the company behind it has gone bust. Alex Casey reports. This story was first published on 17 June, 2019. The first problem was that nobody knew how to say it. Without any discernible vowels, pronouncing WLG-X, the name of a … Read more
The Spinoff produced four web series in 2019. Here is the cream of the crop. Scratched: Ruia Morrison’s unlikely tennis journey from Rotorua to Wimbledon Meet Ruia Morrison, the first New Zealand woman and first Māori tennis player to compete at Wimbledon. Raised on the courts of Te Koutu in the 1940s, Morrison quickly dominated … Read more
Summer reissue: The government’s environmental policy is creating major tensions in farming communities. Alex Braae went to a meeting in Taumarunui to see it play out. This post was first published 15 June 2019. “We’ve got to get the government’s attention somehow. Okay, we’re not all going to jump on our tractors and drive to … Read more
Summer journeys: FOMO drove Kristin Hall to join her adventurous partner on a road trip from Ireland to South Africa, wending their way through the back blocks of some of the least explored countries in the world. The Spinoff Summer Journey series is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member … Read more
Summer reissue: Lani Wendt Young writes powerful Pasifika women who summon earthquakes and crack whips of pure flame. In a fierce lecture presented by the New Zealand Book Council, she landed hit after hit on the all-white castle of publishing, finishing with this rallying cry for change. First published 28 August, 2019. I read Little … Read more
There are many lessons climate scientists can learn from mātauranga Māori. Lesson one is: don’t panic. This story was made with support from the Science Journalism Fund Hank Dunn (Te Uri o Tai, Te Rarawa) has survived five shipwrecks in his lifetime. He told me this a few moments after I met him at the … Read more
Catch up on On the Rag. Based on the podcast of the same name, Alex Casey, Michele A’Court and Leonie Hayden set out to jelly wrestle with every issue under the sun. The hilarious, stressful, hidden world of menstruation Hold onto your tampon strings, the first episode of the On the Rag webseries is here! … Read more
Summer reissue: Dragon tears, meteorites, or just plain shit – ambergris is an olfactory miracle of the deep. Sought after for thousands of years, and worth upwards of $10,000/kg today, ambergris washes up on beaches across New Zealand all year long. Don Rowe goes looking for it. This story originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine. … Read more
Summer reissue: Marsha Pohatu has lost two front teeth and seen friends die while working in the New Zealand trucking sector. The industry’s culture of dangerous practices has to stop, she says. This story was first published on 7 February, 2019. Exhausting and illegal hours, antagonistic and exploitative management, untreated injuries and fatalities: Driver Marsha … Read more
Lauire Winkless speaks to the New Zealand scientists working to clean up the final frontier and how to make steel in a zero-carbon future. In today’s urbanised world, steel is everywhere. It’s used in everything from critical infrastructure like roads and railways, through to earthquake-resilient buildings, wind turbines and electric vehicles. But making steel comes … Read more
It’s the rejection that fuelled a comedy legend: the failed TVNZ pilot from Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Paul Horan writes about his hunt for the footage for the NZ comedy documentary Funny As. This post was originally published on 9 August, 2019. There have always been people in my line of business that are … Read more
Summer reissue: A few years ago, deep into middle age, Britta Stabenow found solace in the world of gaming. Now she’s part of a passionate community: those who love, and collect, video games. This post was originally published on 27 June, 2019. I’ll always be a video game collector, that will never change. But the … Read more
Rohan Hill and Ian Jorgensen are having so much fun running their boutique audio equipment firm that no amount of money could make them sell. Wellington electronics manufacturer Synthstrom Audible can only just keep up with demand for its flagship product. Engineer and musician Rohan Hill developed the portable Deluge synth/sequencer/sampler – “in my bedroom, … Read more
Summer reissue: Hard to break, cheap as chips, filled with instant coffee or weak tea – it’s the mug of the marae, the staffroom, the factory canteen, the church hall. It’s our mug, says John Summers. First published 8 May, 2019 Our son was born almost three months ago. He’s close by, fighting sleep in … Read more
Summer reissue: The candidates to tackle Donald Trump are very keen on the New Zealand prime minister. This post was first published 12 November, 2019. It could be because Vogue called her “the anti-Trump”. It could be the desperate shortage of tolerable left-leaning leaders in the Anglosphere. Or it could be because everyone knows it’s … Read more
Radio competitions are won by impulsive decision-makers. A giveaway on RNZ taught one woman to never hesitate. About a decade ago, on a lazy hot afternoon in early January, I was at home listening to Matinee Idle, Radio NZ’s summer programme. I was a big fan of the programme. That afternoon they were running a … Read more
Summer reissueHe’s a lot of things: a commentator, political PR guy, Twitter scrapper, dad, recovering alcoholic – even Mongolian ambassador. But Matthew Hooton’s main focus at the moment is chalking up a philosophy Master’s in London. Toby Manhire meets one of the most fascinating – and polarising – characters in NZ politics This post was … Read more
Summer reissue: With Falling Inn Love, New Zealand gets its very own Netflix romcom – so how accurate is its depiction of small town NZ? Sam Brooks investigates. This post was originally published on 29 August, 2019. When the trailer for Falling Inn Love dropped earlier this month, I had my knives out, and so … Read more
Catherine McGregor revisits some classic cafes and discovers some newcomers on a nostalgic weekend of culture and bread in Wellington. When I moved back to New Zealand from London in 2008, it took a while to feel at home. I had moved into a converted boatshed overlooking Pauatahanui inlet, a half hour north of Wellington, … Read more
Summer reissue: The standoff at Ihumātao has deep roots in the legacy of colonialism and land confiscation. Historian Vincent O’Malley writes about how it was taken by the Crown, and why that matters today. First published 27 July, 2019. The New Zealand Wars may have ended nearly 150 years ago. But their consequences continue to … Read more
Summer journeys: In the first of a special summer travel series, Linda Burgess looks back on the not-so-glamorous New Zealand holidays of her youth. The Spinoff Summer Journey series is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism, click here. American girls, in their early teens, … Read more