Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Housing market starts to get moving again, government reverses partnership visa decision, and man who assaulted James Shaw sentenced to prison. By a few key metrics, the housing market is starting to lift again. First of all, new listings in Auckland are way up, reports the NZ Herald. … Read more
Taxpayer funded research that could be improving the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders is being locked behind paywalls, thanks to a profit-focused approach to academic publishing, argues Mandy Henk of open access advocacy group Tohatoha NZ. It was a heady time to be in libraries. In ye olden times, libraries subscribed to scholarly journals … Read more
The Breakers’ newest recruit has a history of violent behaviour on and off the court. Glen Rice Jnr is very good at basketball. Playing in the 2018 Israel Cup final, Rice scored 28 points for his Hapoel Holon team, and hit a game-winning shot with 1.6 seconds left on the clock. He averaged 24.5 and … Read more
New book Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance explores our history of protest through objects symbolising the power and lasting legacy of activism in New Zealand. From Hone Heke cutting down the flagpole to the 1981 Springbok tour protests, New Zealand has always been a country of activists. Movements led by Māori, by … Read more
The government will put $26 million towards a partnership that aims to measure global methane emissions from space, and mission control will be right here in this country. What’s all this then? The Environmental Defense Fund – based in the US which explains the incorrect spelling – has big plans to take the fight against … Read more
Los Angeles based, New Zealand born sculptor Fiona Connor, currently showing at the Mossman Gallery in Wellington, shares her top 10 – from book of the year to favourite memory of summer. I met Fiona Connor at a busy coffee shop on a hot, bright September morning in a bustling district in East Los Angeles. … Read more
Tara Ward reviews one of AppleTV’s flagship shows, Dickinson, a dishy romp through the teenage years of Emily Dickinson. “This is such bullshit,” a young Emily Dickinson says in the opening scenes of Dickinson. It’s four in the morning sometime in the mid 1800s, and Emily’s precious writing time has been rudely interrupted by an order to … Read more
In withdrawing from the Paris agreement, Donald Trump is breaking with a tradition of political leadership and the best of humanity. But others are surging forward, writes Green Party co-leader James Shaw. At the height of the Cold War, President John F Kennedy proclaimed that all of us should have “the right to live out … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alice Neville and Matthew McAuley chugalug some new-to-NZ (kind of) Japanese coffee in a can. As a highly cultured woman of the world, I have of course been to Japan. And I can tell you that the rumours are … Read more
I will find you. I will make you pay. Emily Writes wrote this in 2015 when she had a new baby but it still stands. I just want you to know I’m going to find you. A sleep deprived mother is basically more terrifying than Liam Neeson. You need to know that. And you should … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Winston Peters takes lawsuit to the High Court, Zero Carbon bill passes second reading, and suspected idiotic fireworks users make case for ban. Winston Peters often holds court in parliament, but it isn’t quite so common for him to be in court rather than parliament. So … Read more
Tuia 250 commemorations have pressed the mute button on sexual intimacy as part of the colonial encounter. The focus is on first encounters of a public and asexual kind, writes Katie Pickles. Who knew Captain Cook had a wife? The tales told agree that after a brief intense and romantic courtship twenty-one year old Elizabeth … Read more
How to stop procrastinating and actually (finally) get on top of KiwiSaver. Because there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you don’t know a single thing about it. Read the full series here. I don’t actually remember ever starting a KiwiSaver, and that’s because I didn’t – my parents started one for me. … Read more
After years of trying, The Spinoff today launches Money – its newest section, one aimed at demystifying and making accessible the world of money. For decades, the relationship between most New Zealanders and money was broadly stable, baked into a set of milestones it was assumed all aspired to and would achieve if they strived. … Read more
Data scientist Aaron Schiff pays tribute to the gorgeous new atlas which is also about poetry and climate change and privilege. We’ve also run an extract, here. What Chris McDowall and Tim Denee have made is a smashed-it-out-of-the-park heroically monumental work of data visualisation art. We Are Here deserves to become a much-loved dog-eared reference, … Read more
The 60 wise delegates of Botany chose their next National Party candidate last night, and they picked the man touted as a future leader to take on the blazing, unpredictable incumbent, Jami-Lee Ross. Toby Manhire was there to watch the anointment. As the sun disappeared over the fairways, upstairs at the Pakuranga Golf Club last … Read more
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: Whakawāhine Māori talk about being accepted and finding space to explore identity. I’m sitting by the window in a flat in Te Aro, Wellington. … Read more
As TVNZ celebrate 50 years of network news this week, Alex Casey celebrates 50 of the most iconic looks that otherwise might be left forgotten. This week, as TVNZ celebrates 50 years of network news, there will be much time devoted to the stories that stopped the nation. Plumes of smoke billowing out of Mt … Read more
As the HBO TV adaptation arrives on NEON, Sam Brooks looks back on His Dark Materials, the only children’s book series he was allowed to read as a kid. A little girl and her shapeshifting daemon. A sweet-voiced, evil-faced woman with a glamourous monkey for a companion. A giant polar bear wearing armour. When I … Read more
Vanessa Young visited Dr Nathaniel Davis’s lab to witness the concentrated capture of the sun’s energy. In just one hour the earth receives more energy from the sun than humanity can use in a year. But capturing the sun’s energy has been famously hard – and expensive – because it is spread out of a … Read more
The measles crisis has thrown into sharp relief how publicising targets reached – and targets missed – can affect the healthcare all of us receive, writes Carl Shuker. The debate around healthcare targets is hot right now because of two things: 1) the very public success – and, significantly for some, failure – of the … Read more
Today The Spinoff Book launches itself keenly into the world, replete with many of the best reads from five years of The Spinoff, plus a host of freshly written material and lashings of new illustrations by Toby Morris. Here’s a taste of the new stuff: an essay by the inimitable Madeleine Chapman on her time … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Massive day of trade developments for NZ’s relationship with Asia, Bill Cashmore retains top Auckland jobs, and trial of man accused of killing Grace Millane begins. The government has secured a breakthrough on trade with China, but not everyone will be entirely happy with it. Interest reports … Read more
New Zealand typically looks to Scandinavia for inspiration on improving our justice and corrections systems. But a prison expert says it’s actually Texas that can show us the best way to bring down our jail population. Ben Brooks spoke to Alex Braae about his research. If you ever have to conjure up what justice looks … Read more
A bumper crop of the best of our first five years on Planet Earth, plus a slew of new stuff, The Spinoff Book is out today. Here’s what you’ll find in it, and how to get a copy. In a bold pivot to print, The Spinoff today publishes an actual book. You can pick it … Read more
The trial of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane began today in the Auckland High Court today. What’s the latest? A jury was sworn in today at the Auckland High Court as the trial of the 27-year-old man accused of the murder of Grace Millane, the British backpacker who died while visiting … Read more
Huge numbers of Kiwi customers don’t know who owns their bank, and it’s contributing to a multi-billion dollar profit for Australian-owned banks in New Zealand every year. In 2018, Australian banks made a profit of over $5b in New Zealand. That’s $14m every day being taken out of our economy. Yet a new survey shows … Read more
A quiet revolution is growing on New Zealand farms. As debates on water and emissions grind on, a new group of farmers are showing us the way forward – regenerating the land, and themselves, writes Daniel Eb. Mum has a saying: when you’re boxed into a corner, move the walls. It’s a reference to … Read more
Survivor Australia: Champions V Contenders is back and better than ever. We take a closer look at the famous and not-so-famous Aussies vying to become Sole Survivor. There’s nothing more heartwarming than watching a bunch of Australians sit around a campfire while they metaphorically stab each other in the back, so it’s happy news that Survivor … Read more