The Real Pod: Terrifying cakes and the worst episode of NZNTM yet

The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. We’re still buzzing after the rip-roaring success of the Corny Christmas party this week and we won’t even let a rogue earwig in the studio dampen our spirits. There’s a lot of exciting Real News including the … Read more

Review: Pokemon Sword and Shield finally reach the next stage of evolution

Sam Brooks reviews the latest generation of the Pokémon games which finally hits the big-ish screen. “I love Pokémon but I wish I could play it on my TV.” I’ve been playing Pokémon for 20 years and that’s been the main thing I’ve heard from my fellow Pokémon friends/fans. The games have been engrossing, addictive and entertaining … Read more

Aroa: The New Zealand company using sheep to help repair human bodies

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 Dr Brian Ward of soft-tissue repair company Aroa. Dr Paul Callaghan, who inspired Callaghan Innovation, had the idea … Read more

Cheat sheet: What’s conspiracy theory crackpot Louise Mensch doing on RNZ?

Louise Mensch is set to hit New Zealand airwaves this evening. Who is this conspiracy theorist and what could she possibly be saying to Lisa Owen? Who is Louise Mensch? She’s a former Tory MP, founder of the Rupert Murdoch-funded “no safe spaces” website Heat Street, a romance novelist, and a conspiracy theorist. She’s considered … Read more

Look out, here she comes: A review of the luminous, tender Olive, Again

Marion McLeod revels in the return of Olive Kitteridge, the compassionate curmudgeon who won Elizabeth Strout a Pulitzer Prize.  It’s the year of the sequel:  My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, Toy Story 4, Rambo 5 … Do movies ever make it to double figures? Books and miniseries certainly do. Genre fiction spawns sequels: much-loved … Read more

In praise of Neil Wagner, the Black Cap who forges beauty out of brutality

James Borrowdale spent the last cricket season examining Neil Wagner and his unique approach to bowling. Today, in the first test of the Black Caps’ summer, Wagner returns. Neil Wagner has a wicket. He freezes mid-pitch, fists clenched at his side, knees slightly bent, a roar on his lips. His brows are knitted into a … Read more

HIV in 2019: the truth, the lies, and the one big challenge

The main problem with HIV today is stigma – and it is almost entirely based on outdated information and fear, says Mark Fisher of HIV+ support organisation Body Positive ahead of the World AIDS Day Festival which opens in Auckland tomorrow. A person living with HIV on effective treatment cannot pass it on. Yes, it’s … Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Daffodils ‘Boys’ music video premiere

A press photo of the band Daffodils, shot in a wood-panelled movie theatre

The Spinoff presents the premiere of buzzed-about Auckland post-punk band Daffodils’ new music video ‘Boys’. Daffodils songwriter and frontperson Theo Spike Salmon says: I wrote ‘Boys’ two years ago, around the end of high school. We’ve revised stuff, and played around with slightly different structuring, but it’s honestly not changed much at all. When I … Read more

The brokers, the Ardern attack ‘joke’, and the spectre of a bad-meme election

A leaked email from prominent share broking firm Forsyth Barr perpetuates a tediously old-fashioned idea of the way people think – and it isn’t even salvaged by wit or originality, writes business editor Maria Slade. Investment manager Forsyth Barr’s daily market commentary came with a seasonal extra on November 1. Atop the dull recital of … Read more

Emily Writes: RIP Fanimals, New Zealand’s best kids TV show in years

A few days ago, Fanimals announced it would not be returning for another season. Emily Writes, and her kids, are heartbroken. On my list of things I might write about one day it simply said ‘Fanimals’ sandwiched between ‘How old is BeckBroJack?’ and ‘Is Peter Krause the most dad-like dad on television?’ I wanted to write … Read more

The Bulletin: How electorate changes could change parliament

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dozens of electorates will have boundary changes, Zespri launches legal action over special kiwifruit, and more tumbles out of NZ First Foundation. Dozens of electorates will see their boundaries change, and a whole new electorate will be created in Auckland, if new proposals go ahead. The Representation … Read more

Telcos declare war on phone scammers

NZ phone companies and the government are setting up a system that will identify scam callers within hours and, they hope, stop them in their tracks, the Spinoff can reveal. We’ve all received them. The calls from strange corners of the world at odd times of the day. After I made the mistake of answering … Read more

NZ Rugby just made themselves look really stupid

The process to appoint Steve Hansen’s successor looks increasingly like a farce as quality candidate after quality candidate rule themselves out. Was it all preordained, asks Jamie Wall. For an awful lot of 2019, I was one of the select few that sat in a room with Steve Hansen several times a week. There’s something … Read more

A visit to jewellery artists Lisa Walker and Karl Fritsch in a cottage by the sea

Spinoff Art editor Mark Amery and photographer Ebony Lamb pay a visit to the internationally celebrated jewellery couple at their colonial cottage above Island Bay. The white horses are galloping in from the Cook Strait as photographer and singer-songwriter Ebony Lamb (Eb and Sparrow) and I roll in to Island Bay, to the home and … Read more

All the reasons Stephen Colbert is going to jail for a very long time

Don’t get sucked in by the jovial banter and the sausage sizzle with Jacinda Ardern. Stephen Colbert is an international criminal mastermind who must be stopped.  New Zealand is fizzing today with the exciting news that someone from another country has noticed that we exist. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert aired the first part … Read more

Bashford Antiques, Part VI: Of Course This Would Happen – the state clamps down

David Farrier has been writing about clamping enthusiast Michael Organ for nearly three years. In this latest installment, the logical thing finally happens: the New Zealand government rolls up its sleeves and changes the law. Catch up with the extraordinary saga of the clamp-happy Bashford Antiques: Parts I to V are here When Michael Organ … Read more

The Auckland architecture students building for the future

In October teams of second-year Unitec Architecture students designed, modelled, then constructed interactive light installations in Devonport’s Windsor Reserve for GLOW@Artweek.  The brief is strict. Their budget is zero. And the installations must be zero waste too, both in the construction and in the afterlife of the projects. These strict conditions on Unitec’s installations for … Read more

On Rose Lu and her gorgeous, groundbreaking book of essays

Shilo Kino, a Māori writer who wove her own ties with China, rejoices at the release of Rose Lu’s debut, All Who Live on Islands.  I first met Rose Lu when she stood up to introduce herself at an Asia Leadership Network meeting earlier this year. We were all newbies, a group of under-30s chosen … Read more

The big policy changes affecting the rural sector, and why farmers are fuming

Jenée Tibshraeny of interest.co.nz surveys the issues that have farmers worried right now, and looks at the facts behind the fears. Rumblings from the dairy farming sector are becoming increasingly loud, as both the Government and Reserve Bank (RBNZ) make policy changes that affect the sector. New Zealand has for years milked its white gold … Read more

Mana whenua in the big city: The ties that bind Māori to Auckland

He Kākano Ahau is a podcast by writer and activist Kahu Kutia (Ngāi Tūhoe) that explores stories of Māori in the city, and weaves together strands of connection. In this episode: what happens when Māori are not ‘urban Māori’ as we know them, but mana whenua. For episode four of He Kākano Ahau I’ve come … Read more

SPOILER ALERT: what you didn’t notice in The Mandalorian

Seriously, if you haven’t seen The Mandalorian, look away now. This article also contains spoilers for Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Return of the Sith, and The Last Jedi. In case you didn’t read the standfirst: this article contains spoilers about The Mandalorian, and also all of Star Wars. The pictures are all … Read more

The Bulletin: Pressure mounts on NZ First, wider government

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pressure mounts over NZ First Foundation, range of changes made to overseas investment office, and accusations of bottom trawling destroying coral. The allegations swirling around the NZ First Foundation are serious enough to warrant going back to again today. Party leader Winston Peters has angrily denied … Read more

One possibility is NZ First has broken electoral law. The other possibility is worse

If what has been reported is both true and not a breach of the rules for political donations, then New Zealand’s reputation for being squeaky clean looks like a joke, writes electoral law expert Andrew Geddis. Anyone paying attention to New Zealand political parties and how they run their election campaigns has been able to … Read more

Behrouz Boochani should think twice before claiming asylum in New Zealand

New Zealanders like to claim moral superiority over their Australian neighbours when it comes to how asylum seekers are treated. But this belief is not based on reality, writes Tim Maurice of the Asylum Seekers Support Trust The local news media has welcomed Iranian asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani into New Zealand like a celebrity. There … Read more

Cheat Sheet: Everything you need to know about Disney+

Sam Brooks gives you the lowdown on Disney+, the exhaustive streaming service launching today. What on this good green world is Disney+? Disney+ is a streaming service run by, as you might expect, Disney. If you need someone to explain what Disney is to you, then this service probably isn’t for you. Stick to whatever … Read more

Cheat Sheet: Auckland Council could be making plans to buy Ihumātao land

After months of silence on Ihumātao, the government is considering a loan to Auckland Council to buy the occupied Fletcher-owned land, according to an RNZ report. What is the dispute over the land?  Fletcher Residential bought a section of land in South Auckland in 2014 for $19m with plans to build a 480-house development. A … Read more

The slow, important work of keeping women safe in our cities

Organisations from across Auckland have gathered to come up with solutions to make the city safer for women at night – including a commitment from Uber NZ to make it easier to report harassment and abuse, write Emma McInnes and Amanda Gilmore. Over 70% of women in Aotearoa have been a victim of street harassment … Read more

In pictures: The transformation of Glen Innes

In the second part of a new event series looking at the future of Auckland, The Spinoff and Auckland Council host In My Backyard: Glen Innes, to ask what the suburb can teach the rest of the city about housing. Photographer Brendan Kitto shares his images from the 2016 exhibition Redevelop which explored housing changes in … Read more