Around 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff counts down the 100 most iconic local television moments of the 2010s. Today, moments 20-1. Previously: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #60 … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. It’s the second to last week on The Great Kiwi Bake Off and utterances of “don’ like jelleh?” are ringing through the land. Booze jellies, udder jellies and ancient Egyptian jellies abound, our final four bakers pulled … Read more
We love a cheeky bevvy here in Aotearoa, but upon what have we been supping in the 2010s? These are 10 libations that captured the mood of the decade. Coconut water Obvs the refreshing clear liquid held within coconuts has been drunk by people in places where coconut palms grow since forever, but the 21st … Read more
Presenting: the fourth and final instalment in our best-of-the-year series, put together by the Spinoff and various benevolent elves. This time it’s poetry, and there was a lot of it this year, so it was extremely difficult to choose just ten titles. These are just a handful of the poetry collections that moved us, that … Read more
A new poem by Whanganui poet Airini Beautrais. Swingball We’ll rent a holiday home at the beach with all of our children, seven to twenty-seven and everyone will feel enthusiastic. We’ll take towels and sunblock, food and other necessities: board games, insect repellent, beer, a pop-up tent, a swingball set. My children … 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. AUCKLAND 1 The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Chatto & Windus, $48) Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. 2 Girl, Woman, Other by … Read more
With 12,000 employees from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, The Warehouse works hard to make end-of-year celebrations as inclusive and warm as possible. Dina Gharbo may not celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense, but says it’s hard for her not to get swept up by the good vibes of the New Zealand festive season. … Read more
Join various hosts of The Spinoff podcasts Gone by Lunchtime, On The Rag, The Real Pod, Paper Cuts, The Offspin, and Dietary Requirements as we look back at the car crash that was 2019. In this special end of year podcast hosted by Leonie Hayden, we dissect the country’s response to national disasters, the highs and lows … Read more
The 2010s started with Taika Waititi’s breakout movie; it ended with him being tipped for a Best Picture Oscar. But this wasn’t just the Taika Decade. Here are 10 movies that epitomised New Zealand cinema in the 2010s, as judged by Josie Adams, Sam Brooks and Alice Webb-Liddall. Boy It’s not the first film Taika … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government proposes hefty ETS changes, wide ranging review of road rules, and Dunedin’s stadium promises tussle with Christchurch. Everyone serious agrees that carbon emissions are too high, so how to actually go about bringing them down? The government has set out a way forward, with proposals … Read more
The Spinoff is seeking applications for the role of business journalist, starting February 2020. The Spinoff is seeking a journalist to run our business section. Primarily a writing and reporting role, they will also commission and edit from within our (we think) excellent group of staff writers, and occasionally outside the room too. Our business … Read more
Most of the coal reserves on corporates’ balance sheets will never be extracted meaning they are worthless. This has implications for people’s retirement savings, writes John Berry. Westland’s mayor Bruce Smith recently rallied against proposed restrictions on West Coast coal mining, telling Radio New Zealand “coal is a critical part of how we live every … Read more
Thirty per cent of the Swedish population live in public housing. New Zealand could learn a lot from their system, argues a former Auckland renter. After many years living in rented flats in Wellington and Auckland, I’ve found myself living in public housing in Gothenburg, Sweden. I’m writing home to tell the tale of a … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Robyn McLean, co-founder of The Hello Cup. This week on Business is Boring is one of the co-founders … Read more
OPINION: Flick Electric CEO Steve O’Connor explains why the independent power retailers are calling out the major gentailers. When we started Flick Electric Co. back in 2014, we had a dream in mind: an Aotearoa backed by a reliable electricity industry, where our most vulnerable communities can afford the cost of power, and where our … Read more
Around 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff counts down the 100 most iconic local television moments of the 2010s. Today, moments 40-21. Previously: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #60 … Read more
Musical-theatre sceptic Anna Knox writes about her conversion to the hilarious Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, as the fourth and final season drops on Netflix Let it be known before I say anything favourable that throughout the first few episodes of My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend I was in a state of deep cringe. I cringed at the exaggerated characters. … Read more
Young Millennials and Gen-Zers are the first generation to have had KiwiSaver accounts for their entire working lives. Many aren’t worried about becoming homeowners, so why is it important they stick with the investment scheme? My first job was waitressing part-time at a Mexican restaurant with my best friend Mollie. She’s a lot smarter than … Read more
*Yes it is. But in the latest episode of On The Rag, based on the podcast of the same name, Michele, Alex and Leonie go looking for all the reasons we have to be a little bit hopeful. In this end-of-year, possibly end-of-world episode, Michele does the unthinkable on behalf of all boomers, Alex discovers … Read more
The latest Star Wars film is out, and a lot of people have a lot of opinions about it, including culture editor Sam Brooks who saw a midnight screening last night. These are his fast reckons. Spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, obviously. Did you read the headline? Look. Nobody wants a review of … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Josh Thomson about his satanic transformation in tonight’s Wellington Paranormal Christmas special on TVNZ2. There’s a scene in the Wellington Paranormal Christmas special tonight that is sure to cheer up even the grizzliest of Christmas grinches. Due to a clerical error, Tawa Mall has accidentally booked Satan instead of Santa and … Read more
It’s the holidays! We’re all stressed, and we can all be kind of on edge. So here’s a few easy tips to not being a dick to those around you, and also not being a dick to yourself. Was there ever a point in time where the end of the year didn’t bring stress? And … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Complainants respond to report on former Labour staffer allegations, prominent businessman arrested in Australia, and worrying new report into tourism’s environmental impacts. Complainants in the fresh inquiry into the conduct of a former Labour staffer have responded to the QC findings. The Spinoff reports that the inquiry … Read more
In part two of the year in politics 2019 (see Champs and Flops, yesterday), we asked our punditry pantheon: Give us the year in a sentence. Gosh it’s warm today. Alex Braae Pitchfork politics, big improbable lies, bad hair and a 16-year-old climate change warrior whose mere presence sent a certain sub-group into an irrational … Read more
The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read the rest of the series here.
Former Labour volunteers say they’re left feeling ‘shattered’ following the report, which substantially finds the allegations, including sexual assault, are ‘not established’, and finds that evidence presented by a key complainant was unreliable. Note: Representatives of the respondent have contacted The Spinoff reiterating that he adamantly rejects any allegations of sexual assault, and noting that … Read more
Michael Fuyala helps run his family’s wildly popular Misa Christmas Tree Farm in Auckland. But in recent months, he’s decided to venture into something a little bit different, setting up not just one but two startups: an online fundraising platform for charities, schools and clubs called Rewardhub, and an affiliate marketing network called Linkshop. Jihee … Read more
Changes to GST for overseas retailers came into effect on December 1. What do these changes mean for consumers, local businesses, and the online shopping market in New Zealand? This Christmas thousands of smart Kiwi consumers have done a lot of their gift shopping online. After all, it seems a waste of time to join … Read more
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report is very clear – our tourism industry is contributing to serious environmental degradation in its current form. So what does that mean? What’s all this then? Tourism in this country has a huge problem. It is heavily dependent on the image of New Zealand as clean and green. … Read more